Actually, first of all you need to decide which universities you would like to send your papers to. Their number (of universities, not papers) can vary from three to eight. A typical mistake of applicants and their parents is inflated ambitions and fixation on one name (“We only want Oxford or Cambridge”). Applying to a single university on the principle of “if you love, love a queen...” is not rational. It is better to compile a sort of “comprehensive menu” that will include both two or three prestigious universities and several simpler institutions. If you manage to eat the first course - great, the second is also good.
Then you need to get in touch with these educational institutions. This is usually done at least a year before the planned admission. You need to find out the address of the admissions committee, write a request there so that they send you document forms. Usually it is enough to send an email. Addresses are taken from the websites of educational institutions or from reference books that can be found in the library.
So, they will definitely send you by mail a booklet and application forms with detailed explanations on how to fill them out. Each university indicates the deadline by which documents must be submitted. All that remains is to collect the requested documents, translate them into the language of the corresponding country and have them notarized. And only after that can you plan a seaside holiday at your favorite recreation center or boarding house.
Documents should be sent observing the deadlines for international students. For prestigious universities, to start studying in September, documents must be submitted as much as nine months in advance, by January 15.
In many countries, applications for bachelor's programs are accepted centrally. In Germany, for example, this is done by the Central Office for the Allocation of Study Places (ZVS, Zentralstelle fur die Vergabe von Studienplaetzen). An application for admission must be submitted by the applicant before January 15 for admission from the summer semester (classes begin April 1) and before July 15 for admission from the winter semester (classes begin October 1). ZVS accepts document packages by mail with legendary German punctuality - for example, until 24:00 on July 15.
In the UK, this function is performed by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS). An application form can be obtained at the nearest British Council office, paying £15 by bank transfer for the processing of the application. You can also request the form by mail directly from the UCAS office. According to Lyubov Zavarykina, an employee of the British Council's information department, in the near future it will even be possible to fill out the questionnaire directly on the website www.educationuk.org, paying for its processing by credit card. The acceptance of applications for the 2004-2005 academic year begins on September 1. For Oxford and Cambridge, all papers must be sent by October 15; for all other universities, the formal deadline is January 15 (for design-related specialties - March 7). However, students from abroad can send applications until June 30, so you can target that date.
In the UK, there is also a special procedure for distributing remaining places, Clearance (reminiscent of selling cinema reserved seats 15 minutes before the start of a show). From June 30 to September 20, information about available places is published on the UCAS website (the reason is the outflow of applicants who have been admitted to several universities at once, which is common practice). If you have not been accepted and places appear on Clearance, you need to quickly call the university and negotiate directly. However, this is already aerobatics, which not even all consultants at educational agencies master.
In France, there is its own specificity. The applicant must prepare a whole package of documents called Dossier de demande d’admission prealable. It must be sent to the admissions committee between November 15 and January 31 of the year preceding the start of studies. It can be sent through the cultural department (Service culturel) of the French embassy.
In the USA, applications for admission must be sent directly to the universities themselves. The ideal admission schedule is spelled out literally month by month by consultants from the US Education Information Center. According to Alla Mironenko, senior consultant on education in the USA, the whole process usually takes 1-1.5 years. That is, this spring you needed to apply for a program starting in the fall of the next year. Accordingly, applicants are recommended to weigh their motives, assess their level of English proficiency, expected expenses, and begin preparation for admission even 1.5 years in advance. After that, they are offered to choose 10-15 universities with a suitable program and compare them with each other. In April-July, write to the selected educational institutions and ask them to send application forms. By the way, many universities now post them on their websites, where they can simply be downloaded. In July-September, you need to conduct intensive preparation for tests, collect the necessary documents, and in October-November register to take the tests. In October-December, fill out and send packages of documents. Wait for answers until April, then contact those who have not sent letters of admission (or refusal, respectively). Finally, in April-June, choose the one university where you will study and notify the others (if any) that you are declining the place.
Of course, there is also a certain American specificity. The need to take the SAT I or ACT test when applying to bachelor's programs. The minimum TOEFL score is 213 points, although for some specialties it is 250 points.
It should be said that abroad, the university admission procedure is largely formalized. One missed or carelessly completed step is enough to ruin everything. So get ready for a long siege, with ladders and heavy artillery. Or... contact an educational agency, where for a certain fee almost everything will be done for you.
When everything necessary is done, the hardest part remains - to wait. Sit on the riverbank and watch the calendar pages float by. When the first reply comes, you will be VERY excited. Whatever it may be, it is most often negative. Then others will come. And one fine day you will find in your mailbox the long-awaited letter, the meaning of which comes down to the phrase “yes, we accept you.” Champagne. Curtain. But this is not the end of the film.