— Shriya Biswas

I am currently pursuing my Bachelor’s Degree at Union College N.Y. I decided that I wanted to study in the US in Class 11, and what attracted me the most was that I did not have to declare my major right away. I am allowed to explore courses of my interest until the end of my sophomore year.

Before coming to the US, I attended Modern High School For Girls in Kolkata, and I received a lot of help from my school counsellor when it came to securing admissions in the US. I also worked with CollegeSource, Kolkata who helped me navigate through the intense application process for the both USA and the UK.

The application process for the USA is very holistic and the main components include:

— Common application essay

— High school transcript

— Two mandatory letters of recommendation

— SAT/ACT/IELTS/TOEFL scores

— Financial documents, if applying for financial aid.

Along with that, some colleges require supplemental essays. These are additional pieces of writing that can be directed toward a specific characteristic or a tradition of a college or they can require the applicant to elaborate on a meaningful day in their life or why a certain community is important to them. While supplemental essays are a mandatory part of the application for some colleges/universities, many do not require them.

However, it is always a good idea to do supplemental essays as it shows your interest in the respective college or university. One key thing to remember during application season is to start early otherwise the process can become quite overwhelming as there are a lot of things to get together to submit in the application.

I have decided to double major in BA Political Science and BS Psychology. I have had a variety of courses in the last two terms which included material about Politics in the United States, situations that determine decisions about how global scenarios will be dealt with, progressive movement in the early 1900s, how music affects political sentiments, etc.

Along with the major requirements, here in the USA, we have to also fulfil certain general education requirements. The purpose of this is to provide students with a broad understanding of subjects outside their major, for example, to fulfil my literature requirement I took a course on Dramatic Literature and Social Justice.

There is no specific course structure, you just have to fulfil both general and major requirements in four years.

I applied for financial aid and the criteria are different for each applicant, based on their financial background. International students are required to submit the College Scholarship Service Profile (CSS Profile) and need-based aid is determined based on that.

Merit Scholarships also exist and each college/university has its criteria for them, for example, my college i.e. Union College gives merit scholarships based on outstanding academic and personal achievement.

I started preparing myself mentally from the day I started getting my acceptance letters from colleges abroad. I travelled with a friend from my city who also studies at my college and that did make the long and tedious travel easier.

Initially, I did have some issues adjusting to the food as I am used to a higher level of spice. Also, I felt weird for the first few weeks when I was told that I had to call everyone by their first name here, irrespective of their age and designation. I am used to it now, though, but it took some time to adjust to this cultural shift.

My experience has been great so far. Of course, there have been ups and downs but I am proud of myself for combating those challenges and being a better version of myself every day. I am most grateful for all the support that I get here from my professors, friends, and people who are involved in the extracurricular activities that I am a part of.

One thing that I noticed is different from India here is that we have mandatory assignments every day that count toward our final grade and this was not very common in my school. I think that helps the students keep up with what is being taught in the classrooms and also helps us assess our performance. However, my school in India prepared me efficiently to deal with the academic load and at the same time manage all my other responsibilities.

For students who are planning to head abroad shortly, it may seem daunting but eventually, everything will fall into place. It is very important to do your research about the city and the university that you are going to be living in and what area of study you want to pursue as it is very important to choose something that aligns with your interest.

(This letter is part of a series by The Indian Express where we bring to you the experiences of students at different foreign universities. From scholarships and loans to food and cultural experiences — students tell us how life is different in those countries and things they are learning other than academics)