4 types of documents that international students must prepare to study in the US | IDP Vietnam

After determining their intention to study abroad, students need to prepare a set of documents to conduct an interview with the Consulate and provide information to the school. A complete and accurate study abroad application will help you make your study abroad journey smoothly.

A complete U.S. study abroad application includes the following documents. Readers, let's find out with IDP what you need to study in the US and what the US study abroad application includes so that the preparation process goes the smoothest!

1.1. Personal profile

• Original birth certificate

• Household registration book

• Passport

• Parents' marriage certificate

• 5 international standard 5x5 photos

1.2. Educational records

These are the documents that need to be prepared in the education registration dossier:

• Application and application fee

• Latest school report and transcript (notarized translation can be used, or bilingual English-Vietnamese translation with the school's certification stamp)

• Diploma at all levels (level 2/ level 3/ intermediate/ college/ university)

• Certificate/ student ID card if you are attending school

• English Certificate (TOEIC/TOEFL/IELTS other certificate alternative)

• Certifications such as SAT/ACT (optional)

• Certificates of merit and extracurricular certificates (optional)

• Letter of recommendation from a teacher who has taught directly at the school (for college/university students)

• Personal statement (U.S. universities may ask you for a 650-word personal essay)

• Sub-essay (depending on each school)

Note:

• Firstly: in case you have attended a school abroad, you need to have academic documents in that country and transcripts of courses studied, passport, visa...

• Second: when considering the admission application of international students, schools in the US will consider the individual requirements of each school and there is no common standard

• Third: pupils and students only need to have an average or higher academic ability to be admitted to high schools or colleges. Universities require your academic ability to be average or better

1.3. Proof of financial documents

To be eligible to study in the US, students need to prove their financial ability honestly and accurately due to the strict requirements of the US government in this regard.

Amount of proof of financial support for studying in the US = Cost of studying abroad (first 1 year) + Living expenses (first 1 year). Parents need to help their children prepare the following documents to apply to study in the United States:

• Passbook/ Bank account balance confirmation

• Certificate of housing and land; papers of the owner of the means of transport...

• If you are a business owner, you need business registration documents, if you are an employee, you need an appointment letter or labor contract

• Documents confirming tax payment: business tax, personal income tax, etc.

• Economic contracts (house/land lease, product sale,...), investment contracts,...

• Proof of monthly income of the sponsor: If receiving cash salary, you need a monthly payslip, if you transfer money, you need to make an account statement for the last 3-6 months

• Documents confirming other financial sources (if any)

1.4. Application for a US student visa

Here are the documents you need to prepare to apply for a visa after receiving an I-20 letter of offer:

Students in the process of preparing their own documents to study in the US may make unnecessary mistakes that affect the visa application process. Here are some common mistakes when preparing a study abroad application:

2.1. Preparation of financial documents that are not strong enough or do not prove financial ability

For example, if the cost of studying and living for an American international student a month is about 700 million VND and your family can only afford 200 million VND/month, the Embassy may also question your financial ability. In addition, financial records are accepted when confirmed by documents with full legality.

Read more: [NEW] How much money does it cost to study in the USA?

2.2. Information provided in an unclear - truthful manner

Your application will be checked using tools by the U.S. Consulate. Your information needs to be correct and match what has been declared, school records need to be notarized, check personal information accurately such as date of birth, home address, etc.

For example, students can meet all the requirements, but if the Consulate detects that you falsified your transcripts or falsified English certificates, your application will most likely fail.

2.3. Unsatisfactory interview answers

In fact, there have been many cases of students being rejected for studying in the US because their answers to interview questions do not match their profiles even though they have consulted the interview questions and answers on social networking sites. The reason may be that you remember the wrong information, enter the wrong information in the file, or it may be that you are too nervous.

Therefore, you should spend 2 to 4 weeks practicing for the visa interview. A long enough time and careful preparation and practice will help you have enough knowledge and confidence to be able to pass the interview in the best way.

2.4. Poor preparation of essays/introductions

Even if you don't have a truly outstanding academic record, a good self-introduction and essay will still greatly increase the likelihood of your resume getting approved. A good introduction should show your full academic capacity as well as your social experience before studying abroad. You should give specific evidence to convince the Consulate and the school of your ability.

To do that, you need to invest time and effort in learning about your school and field of study and presenting a detailed and accurate essay/introduction. You should not present in an overly ostentatious way, just write your thoughts in the most sincere and honest way to make a good impression on the Consul and the school.

2.5. Not understanding the process of preparing documents to study in the US

The preparation of documents to study in the US requires quite a lot of documents as well as procedures. The time to prepare documents for the application may be prolonged or the order of completing the procedures is not correct if you do not understand the preparation process. When you prepare your own documents, some documents or certificates may be missing... This is very easy to happen and can miss the enrollment time of students and students.

Before studying in the US, readers need to firmly grasp 4 steps to be able to prepare their application in the most effective way. IDP will thoroughly analyze the 4 steps below:

1 - Step 1: Find out information about the school

You need to learn carefully about the training majors, annual tuition fees, scholarship and bonus regimes, preferential policies for international students, regulations and laws of the school, surcharges incurred during the study process, living expenses in the living area, etc.

2 – Step 2: Get an I-20

After you have thoroughly researched the school and applied for admission, you will receive a certificate of admission from the school.

3 - Step 3: Pay the Sevis, fill out the DS-160 online visa application, make an appointment for a visa interview, pay the visa fee

First, you need to fill out the DS160 application (US student visa application). Then pay the Sevis security fee and visa fee to book an interview appointment. In the process of filling out the DS-160 interview application, you need to prepare a 5×5 personal photo file with a white background – with a deadline of the last 6 months.

4 - Step 4: Interview at the Consulate/Embassy

And the last step to complete the application to study in the US is that you will go to the US Consulate or Embassy in Vietnam for an interview. You just need to be calm, confident and well prepared to get through this last step.

In addition to the steps to grasp when preparing a dossier to study in the US, readers should also note the following 7 things to make the application process go more smoothly:

• Bring the original of the real resume when going to the interview

• Arrange your records in order

• Good communication in English

• Choose the right school for yourself and your family's economic conditions

• All documents must be notarized to submit the I-20 file, fill out the DS-160 online form and schedule an interview appointment

• Honesty and friendliness are required

• Accurately present the plan and purpose of studying in the US to convince the Consulate

Thus, through the above article, readers have been able to clearly identify the types of papers and procedures to apply to study in the US. Hopefully, the above useful information will help your application preparation process go smoothly.

If you want to have a complete and accurate set of documents to study in the US, readers can ask for the help of IDP - the leading prestigious and professional US study abroad application consulting center in Vietnam. Coming to IDP, you will receive enthusiastic advice and support from leading study abroad experts to prepare the most accurate and complete study abroad application for your study abroad trip to the United States.

IDP has been established in the world for more than 50 years and has been present in Vietnam for more than 25 years. Playing an important role in international education, IDP has helped more than 450,000 students successfully study abroad at schools in Australia, the UK, the US, Canada, New Zealand and Ireland. Please contact our consultants for answers to all your questions!

Contact IDP's consultants through the website: https://www.idp.com/vietnam/ or hotline: 19006555 to receive the most detailed and suitable study abroad advice in the US.

See more:

Make your own application to study in the US

Detailed instructions on how to make the most standard study abroad application with IDP

8 experiences of studying in the U.S. from international students