Ideally, you should start with the application procedure 18-24 months before the admission date. The application procedure is more complicated than filling in your name and obtaining foreign bank drafts. There is a lot of research involved in the procedure.

1. First decide what programs you are interested in - Business, Engineering, Music, undecided.

2. After you have narrowed down the exact program that you are interested in look up the US news rankings for that program and familiarize yourself with all the college names and rankings. (This is not the bible but it will provide you with a general idea of how good the colleges are comparatively. The rankings are updated annually.)

3. Selection of schools should be based on the following criteria:

• Rankings of the college - Rankings of colleges are dependent on various factors. Students should use these rankings only as general guidelines. However, rankings are important, as they are the only sensible method to compare colleges. These are also used by recruiters, faculty, students, and any other stakeholders in the education industry.

• Financial information - Ensure that the selected schools are within your budget. If they are not within the required budget, ensure that the institution provides financial aid to international students or awards scholarships.

• Application requirements - Make sure that you are committed to the requirements of the application i.e. if the college requires 3 essays, 4 recommendation letters, then you should be committed to providing them.

• Standardized tests required - Check if the college requires SAT I or and SAT II and the TOEFL. If you are not prepared to appear for SAT II, please don’t not apply to those colleges that require it.

• Students’ rankings and performance - If the college only admits the top 5% of the graduating class and your performance is average, chances are that you are not going to be admitted to this college. However, there is no harm in trying if you are very keen on a particular college. Your application might have something unique that the admissions committee appreciates.

• Recruitment Rate - Let’s not forget that most people opt for higher education to ensure a secure future. If you are interested in working in the United States the recruitment rate is a good indicator of job prospects after graduation.

• Flexibility to change programs / Variety of programs offered - Unless you are 200% sure of a particular program we don’t recommend you choose a specialty school. Choose a school that has a wide variety of programs, as this will provide you with various opportunities of minors, associate programs or double majors etc.

• Weather conditions - This is a very important topic as most of us are used to 3 seasons- Summer, Summer and the Monsoons (hot, hotter, humid!). However, most parts of America experience all of the four main seasons - Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. There is nothing as magical as sitting in your dorm room, looking out of the window and watching your first snow fall with some nice warm hot chocolate and marsh mellows. However, we doubt you will care once you realize that it takes you twenty extra minutes to get dressed due to the ten layers you will be wearing and you have to spend thirty minutes shuffling snow from your tires, and realize you have put on 20 pounds of winter weight and your ears are still stinging from the wind chill factor! Winter temperatures very often dip way below zero degrees! Trust us this magical, wonderful, fluffy, pretty stuff will be the bane of your existence for nine months of the year. It will affect you physically, mentally and socially!!! So when you choose a college be aware of this factor and ensure that you are fully prepared for the weather! If the cold really bothers you, think about selecting a college in one of the warmer states (such as Florida or California or Texas).

• Proximity to cities - It would be advisable to choose a school, which is close by to a city. And when I mean city, I mean it should have an international airport! The big schools are mostly situated in small towns. Ensure that there is a city close by otherwise you will have to take another journey once you land in the States to your campus. Further, unless it’s a big college, recruiters will not make the trip down to meet you and you will have to camp at the nearest city to meet them. Don’t worry about this too much but a general enquiry about proximity to a city should be done.

• Housing - Dorm life is the best way to adjust to your new surroundings. Ensure that your college provides housing for the entire four years. If not ensure that there are apartments for college students. Some colleges even have a tenants association to help you with the process of searching for an apartment and ensuring that the landlord does not cheat an innocent student. The costs for apartments and dorm housing depend on each university and the location in which it is situated.

4. Once you have narrowed down your list to about 20 universities send out pre application emails requesting more information.

5. After you have done your basic research - start networking!!! Meet people who have studied in the US and discuss your college choices. This is very important as all colleges might look great in the brochures and on the web site but will be different once you go there.

6. Try to visit college campuses the year before you plan to go to college. Almost every American student plans ahead to visit colleges before they make their decision, so that they can make an informed decision on where to spend the next four years of their lives. Getting a feel for whether you can fit in with the other students, the campus surroundings, and seeing for yourself the different options available to you can make a world of difference when it comes to deciding which college offer to accept!