Awesome! Let’s talk about what we will be doing and when we will be doing in order to apply for the USA education.

I have prepared this timeline for taking the admission in the Fall term (August) after a year of your high school graduation. I have set a year offset, so that you will have enough time to craft your strong application and present yourself to the most competitive universities in the USA like Harvard and Stanford. However, if you want to apply for the immediate Fall term following your high school graduation or for the spring term, feel free to compress the timeline as you need to. Things to be done are the same.

Let’s start from your highschool.

During high school means before you complete your Board exams in May. Our timeline starts in March but let’s talk about what you should do during high school in general.

Maintain good academic grades:

Your GPA influences your chance of getting admission and scholarships.

Explore different fields of Study:

You should also ponder upon what is the best field of study for you. This will help you to search great colleges for your major.

College Search:

You should research about colleges and put them in your college list.

Extracurricular Activities (ECAs):

Universities/Colleges in the US want to see your involvement in activities related to your preferred major of study. Read the “Todo in Highschool” category for more.

Look around the SAT practice sets:

You should start introducing yourself with the SAT.

Actually, college search and ECAs are never-ending tasks. You should be doing this after your graduation as well. The best-fit college for you might not have been discovered yet. Also, there are many ECA opportunities that you can participate in after your graduation. Check the “ECA Opportunities” category to explore them.

This is around the end of class 12 and your board exams are approaching. Wait, there is a thing that you need to do as a part of the USA college application process. You have to apply to the Opportunity Fund Program organized by USEF Nepal.

Read articles on the “Opportunity Fund” category to learn the process.

Around May, you will have just completed your class 12 board exams. Congratulations on completing the exams. Now it is time to prepare to destroy another exam: SAT. As I have been saying, the SAT is crucial to demonstrate your academic interest and ability. Read articles under the “SAT Resources” category to achieve a great SAT score.

While you prepare for the SAT, don’t forget to register for the August SAT.

Depending upon your last SAT score, you may want to retake the SAT and improve your score. If that is the case, go ahead and register for the October SAT and prepare for it. However, this time you will have to do additional things simultaneously. So, please focus on nailing the previous SAT in August itself.

September is the month of EPT (TOEFL, IELTS, or Duolingo), resume and letters of recommendation.

You should prepare for and take one of the English language tests. Learn more about it in the articles of the “English Proficiency Tests” category.

Do you recall me saying we need ECAs to demonstrate our interest in the field. I’m sure you have participated in many ECAs so far and now we have to document them in a resume. Check out the “ECA Opportunities” category to find out some meaningful activities you can participate in to build a strong resume. I have talked about building resumes in the “Building Application” category.

You should also go to your principal/counselor and two favorite teachers asking for a letter of recommendation. The best way of doing this is by providing a format and complete details about you, so that they can mention everything about you. Later they will submit the letter in the Common App. I have talked about this process in detail in the “Building Application” category.

October is the month of essays. To tell your stories, interest, and background, you have to write essays on your own words. Essays have super power. You can make the admission officer fall in love with you through essays. So, October is an important month.

In the last two week of this month, you will start filling in the Common App. Especially if you are applying by November 1 deadlines.

Read articles of the “Building Application” category to build your application.

By November, you should have your college list ready.

You will submit your ED application and EA applications following your college list and deadlines. You may have to write some college specific essays.

You will submit some more EA applications. You will also hear from the universities if you have applied in November. Congratulations if the admission decision letter says “Congratulations” and now you can have a relaxed time ahead.

If you are not accepted in ED or have been deferred to RD, you will have to revise/edit your personal essay and write more college specific essays.

You will build and submit your RD applications.

You will build and submit your RD applications.

You will submit rolling admission applications if any.

You will get RD application admission notifications.

If you are accepted to your top-choice colleges or reach colleges, congratulations! If not, don’t worry. You must have your safety colleges. Choose the best option from the safety college-list.

Many students cry in April because they don’t have any safety colleges to consider. So, be wise while building your college list.

May is the official reply month for the universities in the USA. This means you will tell your selected college that you are admitting yourself there. You may have to pay the enrollment fees if it is not waived for you.

After you reply to the university, you will receive an I-20 form from the university. With this I-20 form, you have to proceed with your Visa interview. Read articles under the category “VISA Process” for detailed guidance.

You have to hunt for available slots to book a visa interview. You can schedule it to any date between May, June or July. After your interview is scheduled, you should grab the “green slip” on the interview day. Check out articles of the “Visa Interview” category to succeed here.

After you get your visa approved, you should proceed with the immunization process. You should get your no-objection-certificate (NOC) and make a bank draft to take money to the USA. Finally, you should get a flight ticket scheduled a few days prior to the starting of your class. Read articles under the “Prepare to Fly” category for the complete guide.

Yay, if you are done with this timeline, you are in the USA continuing your education in your favorite college or university. Congratulations!

In the next article, we will discuss the things that you should do in your highschool. Meet you there.