I have been asked about how to apply to American universities. Well， its not a simple answer. If you decide to apply completely on your own， you need to start early！ It took me a year to prepare for graduate school in America.

Id suggest you do some research on where you want to study in America before you sign up for language tests， like the TOEFL， IELTS or even GRE， if you plan to go to grad school. Some universities offer good programs with reasonable tuition while others may be more expensive but provide good internship opportunities. Climate， scholarships， living costs， facilities， class sizes and the credibility of the school and the program are all factors for consideration.

Research may take a long time but with the help of the Internet and information from education fairs， the U.S. embassy to China， and from people who return from America after the completing their education， you will get some good ideas.

While youre doing your research， you may also start preparing for the language tests. Always check with the university that youre applying to about admission requirements. Different programs within the same college may have different admission requirements. After you browse through the university website， make sure you contact the admissions office by email. Feel free to ask about all your concerns surrounding the program.

Once you straighten out what international test score you need to provide to your aspired university， you may prepare for the test and have the test provider send the test results directly to the university. It may take about six months to complete this part of application.

You need make sure your application form together with all the other materials， including application fees and transcripts， arrive at the admissions office by the deadline. This is very important. Every year American universities receive tens of thousands of applications. Your belated[遲到的] application wont change the fact that you have to apply again next year.

It takes about another two to three months for the admission decision to be made. So I strongly recommend you send out your applications early， and apply to as many colleges as possible. Thatll increase the chance of acceptance. Once you receive an acceptance letter and you accept it， youll receive immigration documents from the university for your student visa application.

It looks like a lot to do， to apply to an American university， but with patience and early planning， you will prove to yourself， as well as to the visa officers， that your wish to study in America is genuine and determined. This way is more effective than having an agent do all these things for you， and of course itll save you money as well.