Study in the USA STUDY USA

In the traditional system, students follow the academic system and school requirements to apply for degrees, often needing to prepare for English exams such as TOEFL/IELTS and standardized tests like GRE/GMAT, causing students to feel overwhelmed by the pressure to meet application requirements. Hence, the pathway of conditional admission has emerged. Simply put, "conditional admission" is a way to obtain admission with conditions, where students only need to fulfill the school's requirements before formal admission to become students of that school.

Common admission conditions can be divided into two categories: exam scores and academic performance. Exam scores refer to exempting various exam standards, allowing students to submit below-standard TOEFL/IELTS scores during application, with the requirement to reach the threshold before admission or attend a language preparatory course at the school. As for academic performance, it allows students with slightly lower GPAs to improve through credit preparatory courses or enables students changing fields to take basic courses. In other words, conditional admission provides students with breathing space and time, making the American academic pathway diverse and adaptable.

Conditional admission to the United States provides new study opportunities for international students and can also alleviate the cultural shock that students accustomed to Asian education may encounter while studying in the United States. The duration of conditional admission can range from one semester to one to two years. However, not all students need to delay their graduation time for bridging courses. Many programs have well-designed credit plans, allowing students to graduate with only an additional semester or even on time.

In the United States, university/graduate school applications are different from those in the Philippines. In addition to academic performance and standardized tests (GRE/GMAT, TOEFL/IELTS), U.S. universities also place significant emphasis on students' extracurricular activities, internship/work experience, and all application materials. Therefore, in the application process, Self-Help Home recommends that applicants should plan their schedules early, prepare all required application materials for each application, ensure that progress aligns with the application timeline, in order to increase the chances of being accepted to their ideal schools.