International Middle Schools – Get a head start

The United States is home to some of the greatest colleges and universities in the world. Students from all over the world work hard in their early academic careers to prepare for admission to schools in the US. Many strategies may be involved, but this article will introduce some of the benefits of attending an International Middle School in the US.

In addition to good grades, university admissions departments also look at something they call demonstrated interest. This isn’t the type of interest that says, “I want to go to your university because I’ve heard it is famous.” It doesn’t say, “I want YOU to give ME admission to your university because I barely meet your requirements.” What it does say is, “Your University is the only match for me because, I share your core beliefs and want to contribute so and so.” It says, I’ve read the works of Professor Smith, and I want to work with him and his department to further develop the theory of so and so.” It shows an intimate knowledge of the school and why you wish to attend.

This demonstrated interest is conveyed through your essay, and such an essay can’t just be thrown together during your senior year of high school.

Attending an International Middle School in the United States provides the opportunity to visit universities and learn about them first hand. You can learn from your teachers how to begin planning your high school years so you can target a small number of top universities. This is also a much better time to discover that you might not like some particular reality of a university, or that as good as its reputation is, you just don’t like the size or atmosphere or city, or so on.

College admissions have become so competitive that even the California State University system turned away over 10,000 qualified applicants in the fall of 2009. Don’t wait until it is too late. Find a school that can issue an i-20 visa and bring you here to study before you get to high school—even if it is only for a semester or two.