Online Resources and Tools

Updated on Tuesday 03 June 2008

The internet is a fantastic place to obtain al lthe information you need quickly and easily. Your first starting place should be at any major search site such as Google, Yahoo or MSN. You should be searching on keywords that you are looking for information on, for example if you are looking for financial aid you should try keywords such as:

1. "USA Financial Aid"
2. "Financial Aid for Studying in the USA"
3. "Loans for International Students"
4. "International Student Loans"
5. "International Scholarships"

and be sure you keep searching using all different variations - the more variations and words you use the describe what you are doing the more in-depth your results will be.

Numerous sites have been designed especially for the purpose of advising on study in the United States or preparing for admission to U.S. institutions. Some provide interactive programs that help you in selecting institutions. Try these:

- College Admissions Help - HowToGetIn.com
- Educational Testing Services (ETS)
- Graduate Record Examination (GRE)
- Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)
- Graduate Management Admission Council (Gmac)
- Peterson's Education Center
- College Source
- US Journal

There are also a number of online tools to help you search for colleges:

College Search from International Student - Online searchable database of Universities and Colleges in the USA. Users can search by State of course of study and results contain a paragraph of information about the school and a link to the institutions website

College Board Search - Searches can be tailored very specifically to include enrollment size, financial aid availability for international students, and majors. Matches are linked to school data pages which offer more in-depth information. A sophisticated browser is recommended. The College Board site also offers on-line purchasing of its publications, videos, and software.

Peterson's Undergraduate Program Search - On-line searching of the guide above. Some entries offer links to electronic forms, or forms that can be downloaded, for admission purposes.