Upcoming Intakes to Study in USA

Studying abroad and determining the best college from the list of universities is a major undertaking as well as a decision. And, like any major undertaking, it requires long-term planning and careful decision-making.

If you are planning to study in USA, many things that you need to carefully consider are deciding on which intake you intend to apply and the deadlines. To help you make a sense out of the confusion of intakes and deadlines and make an informed decision, here is a guided tour of intakes of the US universities and colleges.

US Universities’ Intakes: The Basics

In US universities, an academic year is divided into two semesters. Unlike India, universities and colleges across the US enrol students three times in an academic year: Fall, Spring, and Summer.

Here is a snap view of some of the principal facts about the intakes.

Which Intake for Me?

You need to decide carefully which intake best suits you. You must consider the fact that the deadlines for applying to an intake are usually a few months before the date of the starting of the semester. Ideally, you should begin applications 9-12 months before the intake. US universities usually take about 8-10 weeks to process the applications.

However, Fall intake is usually the preferred intake. Not all universities offer the Spring or the Summer Intake.

Fall vs. Spring: Undecided?

Now that you know about the main intakes in the US, you might be asking, “I am planning for an MS in the US. What should I opt for? Fall or Spring?” Or you might be planning to undertake an MBA at a top Business School. We suggest that before you decide, consider the following.

Spring Intake Universities in USA

• Harvard University
• Yale University
• University of Massachusetts
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
• University of Illinois, Chicago
• University of Central Florida
• Washington State University
• University of Dayton
• Pace University
• San Francisco State University
• Nova Southeastern University
• University of Colorado
• Penn State Harrisburg
• Temple University
• San Jose State University

Fall Intake Universities in USA

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, Massachusetts
• Stanford University, California
• Harvard University, Massachusetts
• California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
• Washington State University, Pullman, Washington
• George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia
• University of Massachusetts, Amherst
• University of Illinois, Champaign County, Illinois
• Auburn University, Alabama
• University of Dayton, Ohio

Deadlines

Application deadlines are important milestones in your application process. Different universities have different deadlines. Top universities normally set their deadlines 8-12 months before the commencement of the program. Hence, you must be very clear about your deadlines. Here is a general guideline.

• Fall Intake
  • Top Universities (A, A+): November/December of the previous year
  • A-, B, B+, C grade universities: February/March of the same year
  • C-, D grade universities: June/July of the same year

• Spring Intake
  • Top Universities (A, A+): March/April of the same year
  • A-, B, B+, C grade universities: July/August of the same year
  • C-, D grade universities: October/November

• Summer Intake: March

Types of Deadlines

MS: In the case of Master’s, there are generally two types of deadlines:

• Financial Aid deadline
• Regular deadline

MBA: Most B-schools have various rounds of deadlines: Round 1, Round 2, Round 3, etc.

• Round 1 deadline for B-schools is generally in the month of September or October
• Round 2 deadline is usually in the month of January
• Round 3 deadlines are usually for domestic applicants in the US

Round 1 and Round 2 are for international applicants. A sizeable number of applicants target Round 1. However, if you are a B-school applicant and your application is not ready for the Round 1 deadline, then you should focus on honing your application and target the Round 2 deadline.

UG: In the case of UG Admissions in USA, there are usually three types of deadlines:

• Early Action deadline (Deadline is in November)
• An applicant targeting this deadline will expect an early admissions decision; it is not legally binding
• Early Decision deadline (Deadline is in November)
• An applicant targeting this deadline will expect an early admissions decision; it is legally binding
• Regular deadline (Deadline is usually in January for top colleges)

To help you get an idea of application deadlines, here is a sneak peek of the representative deadlines for Fall and Spring 2022 of a few MS programs in some US universities. However, owing to the extraordinary situation because of the CoViD-19 situation, we strongly recommend that you check out your target university website before applying.

If you are feeling confused, you can reach out to us at Manya – The Princeton Review. We would be happy to assist you with all your queries.

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