Guides
Up-to-date guides for international students: choosing programs, applying, costs, campus life and careers in the US.
172 articles
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Legacy Admissions After the Affirmative Action Ruling: Which U.S. States and Colleges Have Ended Them
Since the U.S. Supreme Court ended race-conscious admissions in 2023, the debate over fairness in selective college admissions has shifted to another long-standing practice: legacy preferences, the extra consideration some colleges give to the children and relatives of alumni (a… Oct 1, 2025
- Your International Student Office (OISS/ISSS): What It Does and When to Contact It Every U.S. college that enrolls F-1 or J-1 students has an office that handles their immigration records and support, usually called the Office of International Students and Scholars (OISS) or International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS). For international students it is th… Sep 30, 2025
- STEM and AI-Focused MBA Programs: Career Changes, Alumni Networks and STEM OPT Many people start an MBA to change careers: an engineer who wants to move into product management, a scientist who wants to work in finance, or a professional who wants to lead technology projects. In the past few years U.S. business schools have redesigned their programs around… Sep 30, 2025
- UConn’s Accelerated 4+1 MPP: How the Fast-Track Public Policy Master’s Works Accelerated "4+1" programs let undergraduates start a master's degree before they finish their bachelor's, so they can earn both in about five years instead of six. The University of Connecticut's School of Public Policy runs one of these for its Master of Public Policy (MPP) an… Sep 26, 2025
- The Fulbright Program Explained: U.S. Student Awards, Foreign Student Grants and Who Can Apply The Fulbright Program is the U.S. government's flagship international exchange program. It has two main student tracks that are often confused: the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, which sends Americans abroad, and the Foreign Fulbright Student Program, which brings students from… Sep 26, 2025
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Purdue’s DUIRI Program: Paid Interdisciplinary Research for Undergraduates
The Discovery Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Research Internship (DUIRI) is a Purdue University program that places undergraduates on faculty-led research projects that combine at least two disciplines, and pays a fellowship to students who complete the session. Run through Pur… Sep 10, 2025
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A Parent’s Guide to College: Supporting Independence, Privacy Rules and When to Step In
When a student starts college, the parent's role changes from manager to adviser. Universities expect students to handle their own classes, appointments and problems, and federal privacy law limits what a college can tell parents. This guide explains how much to step back, when … Sep 6, 2025
- Brown University’s Open Curriculum: How It Works and What Applicants Should Know Brown University is best known among applicants for its Open Curriculum: there are no general education or distribution requirements, and students build their own course of study around a concentration. Every fall the idea is introduced to new students in the first days on campu… Sep 5, 2025
- Syracuse University Student Organizations: How to Find, Join and Start a Club Student organizations are one of the easiest ways to make friends and build experience at Syracuse University. This guide, current as of November 2026, explains how many groups there are, how to find and join them, how to start a new one, and what international students should k… Sep 3, 2025
- Virginia Tech’s First-Year Experiences Program: How Major-Based First-Year Courses Work Most U.S. colleges offer some kind of first-year experience: a seminar, orientation course or learning community meant to help new students adjust to college, learn how the university works and find people to rely on. Virginia Tech takes an unusual approach. Instead of one gener… Aug 29, 2025
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