How to Choose University
A huge variety of universities turns the process of choosing the best match into a challenge. You should carefully consider what is important, acceptable, and desirable to you. Answer the following questions to narrow down the list of universities:
- What do you want to study? If you want to study law, you can apply to a lot of universities. But if you want to learn something specific, like horology, you should take pains to find one. By the way, your image of the subject and what it really is can differ a lot. Gather information to make sure it is what you want to study and to implement in your career. Check the university rankings by subject to find the best place to apply to.
- Is the location essential for you? A lot of freshmen travel home every week feeling homesick. But if you can sacrifice visiting hometown for getting valuable knowledge, do not take the distance from home into account.
- How much tuition can you afford? Not everybody is lucky to get a scholarship. If you have to work a lot to pay fees, it may reflect on your grades. The financial aid can be a solution. Look for a university that provides students with it.
- What are your chances? Check the admissions rate, admissions criteria and answer honestly what are your odds to be accepted to this university.
- Do the campus facilities meet your expectations? If your subject requires practical lessons, check whether necessary laboratories, equipment, etc. are available in your potential university.
Universities Abroad
If you are to get top-quality education, experience immersion in a different culture, gain a global mindset, and expand future employment prospects, you should take into account some advice about studying abroad:
- Choose a country/city/university/major carefully. Do a research and make a somparative table to visualize advantages and disadvantages of a potential school.
- Arrange all required documents for applying. Starting with your passport, visa (or do you mean credit card?) , health insurance, ID card, and finishing with the application form and the rest of academic documents - everything should be in order. Contact the chosen university and ask what set of documents you need.
- Immerse yourself in the local culture. Hone your language skills, watch movies about the country you are going to, chat with students from the same university and city online.
What Admission Officers Pay Attention to in Personal Statement
On average, admissions officers have only 15 minutes to look through your application including the personal statement. Your papers go 3 circles before the final decision is taken. Read our tips how to pass by “Deny” and “Waitlist” notes and get the “Admit” recommendation:
- Be yourself. Do not try to be someone you are not in the essay. Admissions counselors seek the insight into the personality of the student. Show them your individuality.
- Describe what you can offer. Accepting you to the university, the admissions committee wants to be sure that you will contribute to the life of the campus. Do not hesitate to explain what you care about outside the school.
- Show how you can overcome obstacles. If you think your cumulative GPA does not reflect your overall high school career, touch this topic in your essay. Explain a decline in your grades and how you turned it around. It is a great way to show the admissions officers how you respond to failures.
- Watch your grammar. You will be supposed to write a lot at university and one of the admissions officers’ tasks is to check your writing skills.
- Do not underestimate the introduction and conclusion. You should grab your reader’s attention with the opener and leave a strong impression with the closer.
What Good Motivation Letter Should Include
Do not confuse a motivation letter with a personal statement. While a personal statement focuses on your life experience and your personality, you are supposed to write about your future goals in a motivation letter. In order to show why the admission committee should choose you, answer the following questions:
- Why are you applying for this program?
- What distinguishes this program from similar ones?
- How are your future career and life goals connected with this program?
- What specific area or topic of the subject would you like to explore?
- What makes you the ideal candidate for this university?
Assistance with Application Essay
You have only one chance to create the first impression. So do not put your career at risk - proofread your admission essay.
Re-read your paper after a while to make sure it does not contain any errors, is clear, concise, and engaging. Never submit the first draft.
Ask for help if you do not have enough faith in yourself. Did you always have troubles with essay assignments at high school? Are you afraid to fail because of poor writing skills or lack of English language knowledge? In your case it would be better to describe your personality and life goals in brief and order an admission essay.
Although we cannot influence the admissions committee decision, we can advise you some reliable writing agencies that can make your personal statement or motivation letter more powerful and worth reading.