Selecting a School or Summer Program

When you are ready to consider a U.S. program, review the presentations on our website. Read what opportunities each school has to offer. Match them with your personal interests and academic goals. Complete the Request for Information form on this website. When you send an email please say that you learned about the school in Boarding Schools in the U.S.A.

Read each viewbook, visit the website and watch each video you receive carefully. Be sure to note special characteristics about each school. Is there a dress code? What is the surrounding area like? Are Advanced Placement courses offered?

Visit the Boarding Schools in the U.S.A. website
(www.BoardingschoolsUSA.com) or the SSAT website for more information about schools and links to their websites. Check to see if the schools that interest you accept a common application. If they do, you may download the common application from SSAT’s website without having to wait for application materials to arrive by mail.

On the Boarding Schools site, you can contact and apply directly to participating schools with our handy online “Information Request Forms” and “Apply Now” buttons.

The application form will ask you to provide detailed information about yourself and your family. You may be asked to write about your interests and abilities. Most schools will also ask you to write and essay in English. The application may also ask for verification of your family’s ability to pay school costs.

There will be a form asking your current school to send your official transcripts (grades). You will provide written recommendations from one or more of your teachers.

You might also ask for a personal visit from someone representing the school. Many boarding schools have graduates living overseas who would gladly meet with prospective students in their own country. They will answer questions and give first-hand information about life and values at the school.
If possible, you should give serious thought to visiting the boarding schools you are considering. An actual visit to the school is the best way to determine if you will be happy there.

Some of the schools presented in this magazine may ask you to take a test called the Secondary School Admission Test (SSAT) and/or the TOEFL. Outside of the U.S.A. and Canada, the SSAT is given five times per year (in November, December, January, March and April) at 189 locations in 76 countries. The test costs US $145 and will give both you and the school an objective indication of your academic ability. If you are unable to take the test on one of the scheduled test dates, you may arrange to take the test at another time at an independent test center. A list of independent test centers is available on the SSAT website.

To contact SSAT in Princeton, NJ, visit the SSAT website www.ssat.org, call (609) 683-4440, or fax your questions to (609) 683-4507. The SSAT address is info@ssat.org.

You will then send the following information to schools in which you are interested:

• an application with an essay in English
• current transcript (school record)
• teacher recommendations (usually 2 or 3)
• an application fee (US $25 - US $100)
• SSAT or TOEFL test results (if required)

If you are accepted, the school will send you a letter, enrollment contract and an I-20 document necessary for obtaining a Student Visa. Once you confirm your attendance at the school by sending an enrollment deposit, you will receive a registration packet full of information you will need in preparing for your stay in the U.S.A.

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