Study in the USA

Information You Need to Know

Why Study In The USA?

There are a great number of reasons that students choose to study in the United States. Among
them are quality, choice, and value.
Quality
The United States has some of the worlds finest colleges and universities. Worldwide, they are
reputed for quality programs, faculty, facility, and resources. U.S. higher education accreditation
systems are in place to ensure quality standards.
Choice
The U.S. higher education system offers the worlds largest choice in types of institutions,
academic and social environments, entry requirements, degrees, and fields of study. Currently,
there are more than 4,000 institutions of higher education in the United States.
Value
Considering a U.S. degree as an investment in your future, it offers great value for the money.
There is a wide range of college costs, as well as some excellent scholarships available from
colleges and universities.
Currently, more than 670,000 international students are studying in the United States. More
than 11,500 of these international students are from Nepal!
Prerequisites: Is U.S. Higher Education Appropriate For You?
Studying in the United States is a big decision, and you must consider whether it is an
appropriate one. Evaluate if you are a suitable candidate by considering the following factors
which we call pre-requisites for studying in the USA.
1. Adequate funding
Studying in the U.S. is expensive. Colleges and universities in the U.S. cost between
$12,000 and $50,000 per year. A bachelors program is typically a four year course of
study, and a masters program is usually two years. If you do not have this amount of
money available, you will need to apply for a scholarship.
2. Strong academic background
If you have a strong academic record, your chances of admission and scholarship at U.S.
colleges and universities increase.
3. English language skills
In order to succeed as a student in the U.S., it is integral to have a strong command over
English.

4. Standardized exams
Most U.S. colleges and universities require TOEFL. Some undergraduate institutions
additionally require SAT orACT. Some graduate programs require GRE or GMAT.
5. Student visa
Youll need this to travel to the U.S. Attend USEFs Student Visa Info Session to learn more
about student visas and tips on visa interview success.
U.S. Educational System & Where You Fit In
There are some similarities and a lot of differences between the education systems in Nepal and
the U.S. For instance, we have 3-year as well as 4-year bachelors programs in Nepal. In the U.S.,
however, bachelors programs are no shorter than four years. Therefore, it is important to
understand the education system in the U.S. and to know where you fit in.

High School
In Nepal, our education system uses board exams, where students take the same set of exams
administered by an educational or university board. In Nepal, we have the SLC board exam which
is taken at the end of grade ten. Known as the iron gate, a lot of importance is given to the SLC.
After SLC, students typically join a Plus Two, A-Levels, PCL or Intermediate Level program.
By contrast, high school in the U.S. is grades nine through twelve. Furthermore, each school is
autonomous and students do not take board exams in the U.S. In general, a student who has
successfully completed Plus Two, A-Levels, PCL, Intermediate Level, or a similar program, can be
compared with a high school graduate from the U.S. system.
Undergraduate Studies
We used to have a 2-year bachelors program in Nepal. We now have many 3-year bachelors
programs, 4-year bachelors programs, and some programs which are even longer in duration. In
contrast, bachelors programs in the U.S. are no shorter than four years and are one form of
Undergraduate programs. Students who have completed twelve years of education are eligible
to join undergraduate programs in the U.S. There is a name given to each of the four years of
bachelors study namely freshman, sophomore, junior and senior years.
There exists another form of undergraduate education in the U.S., which is the associates
degree. An associates degree is a 2-year degree earned at a community college. Community
colleges usually serve a small community around them. Per year college tuition is usually much
less expensive than per year tuition at a 4-year college. Students who opt for an associates
degree may choose upon completion to transfer to a 4-year college/university in the U.S. to
continue studies for a bachelors degree.
Hence, students seeking bachelors degrees in the U.S. have two options. They can either
directly join a 4-year bachelors program, or study at a community college and then transfer to a
4-year bachelors program. Students should carefully evaluate these two options. You may find
that studying at a community college is less expensive, but then it is generally difficult to obtain
scholarship when you transfer to the 4-year institution. Furthermore, community colleges may
not have housing and students might have to live off campus.

Graduate Studies
We have M.Phil and Post Graduate degrees in Nepal that do not exist in the U.S. Both masters
and PhD level studies are referred to as Graduate studies in the U.S. A masters degree is
usually earned after two years of study beyond a 4-year bachelors program and a PhD degree
takes somewhere between four to eight years.
What to do if you have a 3-year bachelors
Since no bachelors program in the U.S. is shorter than four years, a student intending to join a
graduate program in the U.S. should have at least sixteen years of education in the relevant
field. Students who have 2 or 3-year bachelors degrees or who are currently enrolled in a
bachelors program have three options to choose from:
Option 1
Complete a masters degree in the relevant field and then apply for graduate study in the U.S. In
some cases, students will apply for the masters program again and in some cases, depending
upon the institution, students can directly apply for the PhD program. Contact institutions directly
to know which program you are eligible for.
Option 2
Transfer to an undergraduate program in the U.S. With this option, you can earn an
undergraduate degree from the U.S. However, this option could be costly for some students as it
might take between one to three years to complete the undergraduate degree. It can take up to
three years because different colleges have different graduation requirements and you may not
earn transfer credit for some of the coursework you have completed in Nepal.
Students are encouraged to weigh Option 1 and Option 2 and opt for the one that is best for
them.
Option 3
A third option is available for students applying for an MBA in the U.S. You could apply for a
bridge program (sometimes referred to as a pre-MBA) in the U.S. Very few colleges provide such
bridge programs and you have to contact the college directly to find out the requirements for
admission. A bridge program generally runs for one to one and a half years and you generally
will need to complete your MBA at the same school.
Applying to U.S. Colleges and Universities
The terms college, university, and school are used interchangeably when we refer to
degree-granting institutions offering higher education in the United States. For simplicity, well
use the term college.
To apply to colleges in the United States, you should start 12-18 months in advance of when you
plan to begin your studies. If you are an undergraduate applicant (applying for a bachelors
degree), starting you application process by the beginning of Class 12 will help ensure that you

do not have a gap year between Class 12 and the beginning of your undergraduate program in
the U.S. Similarly, graduate applicants, those applying for a masters or a PhD, should also start
their application process 12-18 months in advance.
Why does it take so long to apply to American colleges? In addition to having to carefully
research and choose colleges, prepare for and take the standardized exams, you will need to
meet each colleges application deadline date. Some deadlines especially for colleges that are
competitive and colleges that offer good scholarships are eight or nine months in advance of
the start of class.

There are two semesters for which you can apply for admission, the fall semester (classes start
in August or September) and the spring semester (classes start in January). All colleges offer
admission in fall, as it is the beginning of the academic year. Not all colleges offer admissions in
spring. If you are searching for a scholarship, the best semester to apply for is fall (generally, not
much scholarship is available in spring). The application deadline date depends on which
semester you apply for, and which college you are choosing.
To apply to U.S. colleges, heres what you should do:
1. Attend a Group Advising session at USEF. These intensive two-hour sessions, usually
held on Friday mornings, teach you about the entire application process. Register on
Mondays to attend the free Group Advising session.
2. Choose between 5 and 10 colleges to apply to. Use USEFs library resources and
Internet resources to make your decisions. You must find colleges that are the best fit for
you. Carefully research criteria such as your field of study, cost, scholarship opportunities,
location, competitiveness, and admissions requirements. Applying to 5-10 well chosen
colleges will give you a higher chance of admission than just applying to one or two.
Certainly, you can choose to apply to more than 10 colleges if you like, but do ensure you
are sending quality applications to all!
3. Download the colleges application forms from their websites. Its free and easy to
download application forms.
4. Register for and take the standardized exams. All students must take at least the
TOEFL (some colleges also accept IELTS), which is a test that measures your English
language skills.
USEF highly recommends that all undergraduate applicants also take the SAT (Reasoning
Test) or ACT. Both exams measure your English and Math skills; ACT additionally measures
your Science skills. USEF also highly recommends taking the SAT Subject Tests, which are
subject-specific tests that demonstrate to a U.S. college that you have skills in a certain
subject. Good scores on the SAT / ACT and SAT Subject Tests will be very important
especially if you are applying to competitive colleges and for scholarships. Furthermore,
for many American colleges, submission of a SAT/ ACT score is required in order to apply

for admission. Therefore, it is in your best interest to take not only TOEFL, but also SAT /
ACT and SAT Subject Tests.
USEF recommends graduate applicants take the GRE (Graduate Record Examination) or
the GMAT (Graduate Management Admissions Test) in addition to the TOEFL. Student who
are applying for an MBA or similar degree usually take the GMAT, while all other graduate
applicants take the GRE. Like the SAT for undergraduates, the GRE/ GMAT may not be
required by all colleges, but having good scores will certainly boost your chances of
admission and scholarships. See our Standardized Tests section for additional details on
the tests.
To obtain information about a standardized test such as TOEFL, SAT, ACT, GRE, or GMAT,
collect a test bulletin from USEF-Nepal or refer to the tests official website
(www.ets.org/toef for TOEFL, www.collegeboard.com for SAT,www.actstudent.org for
ACT, www.ets.org/gre for GRE, and www.mba.com for GMAT). It is recommended that you
register at least two months before your preferred test date. Many students spend a lot of
time preparing for these exams: make sure you allocate enough time for preparation.
5. Send your applications to the colleges. Colleges must receive your complete
application by the deadline date.
6. If you are accepted, you will receive an I-20 from the college. An I-20 contains
information about you, the college, and the amount you are expected to pay each year. An
I-20 is required to apply for a student visa to the U.S..
7. Choose the best I-20 and apply for a student visa.
You will need to identify one I-20 to use when you apply for a student visa at the U.S.
Embassy in Kathmandu