May 29, 2025
Going deeper with researching our options
Article prepared by Nikola Princova, student leader of CCC Latvia
Hi, everyone!
It’s me – Nikola – again! The topic of this month was still “Research Your Options,” and I believe it is one of the most important—and also one of the hardest—parts of the process. Making a plan is actually easy when you know what you want, but figuring out what you want and what’s best for you is a whole different story. So, let’s dive into our small wins and the lessons we learned this month!
As promised, I’ll start by telling you about our first “serious” assignment that we began working on at the end of last month—our College Choice Presentations. At first, it sounded easy: just make a presentation about a college. But then came the harder question—which one? That’s when the real work of researching universities and colleges began. There were specific things we had to find, such as the number of international students, required documents and tests for applying, interesting facts, and more. While it may sound like a lot of work (and it really was), it was also pretty exciting. As you dug through school websites, you could start to picture yourself there and get a sense of whether the school was the right fit for you. The presentations took place on May 6, and over the course of nearly two hours, we learned tons of interesting facts about schools like Yale University, the University of Washington, the University of Pennsylvania, Boston University, and many more. I believe we all got inspired in the process—whether by researching our dream universities or by listening to our like-minded peers share theirs!
This month was full of interactive activities for us as students. In one of our next sessions, we had a particularly interesting task: case studies. We were given hypothetical student profiles along with their acceptance letters, and by doing some research, we had to decide which school would be the best fit for each student. What made this task even more exciting was that we worked in groups, which gave us a great opportunity to connect with one another. After all, what better way to get to know each other than by solving problems together?
We also had the opportunity to join a live stream on the EducationUSA Virtual YouTube channel about applying to U.S. colleges using one of the most popular application platforms, the Common App. The session was hosted by Jameia Tennie, Director of Student Engagement Programs at Common App. I highly encourage you to watch the video (I’ll share the link below), especially if you’re an international student planning to apply to a U.S. college or university. Understanding how the Common App works is one of the first important steps in the application process.
Here are some of my key takeaways from the conversation:
– Applying for Early Action is non-binding;
– Applying for Early Decision is binding;
– Applying for Regular Decision is non-binding;
– “Binding” = if accepted, you must attend that college/university;
– For a strong application, you need to be authentic;
– You can apply to up to 20 colleges on Common App.
To wrap things up, I’d say this month was full of engaging webinars that helped us learn how to determine which university is the best fit for us. One especially helpful resource was the “Admissions Boot Camp MOOC,” which is an online course designed to guide us through the U.S. college application process. We needed to complete Step 1: Research Your Options. I believe that this month's activities not only developed our research, critical thinking, and presenting skills, but also brought our group closer and gave us more chances to connect and get to know each other better. One thing I’ve learned is that you can never have too much networking. :)
Here will be the link to the video about “Applying to U.S. Colleges with the Common App”: Applying to U.S. Colleges with the Common App
Don’t forget to subscribe to the EducationUSA Virtual YouTube channel so you won’t miss any interesting and useful live streams about applying to U.S. colleges!
P.S. – Next month, we’ll talk about something mentioned in one of ABBA’s song titles. Can you guess what it is?
Yours sincerely,
Nikola Princova
Student Leader of CCC Latvia
It’s me – Nikola – again! The topic of this month was still “Research Your Options,” and I believe it is one of the most important—and also one of the hardest—parts of the process. Making a plan is actually easy when you know what you want, but figuring out what you want and what’s best for you is a whole different story. So, let’s dive into our small wins and the lessons we learned this month!
As promised, I’ll start by telling you about our first “serious” assignment that we began working on at the end of last month—our College Choice Presentations. At first, it sounded easy: just make a presentation about a college. But then came the harder question—which one? That’s when the real work of researching universities and colleges began. There were specific things we had to find, such as the number of international students, required documents and tests for applying, interesting facts, and more. While it may sound like a lot of work (and it really was), it was also pretty exciting. As you dug through school websites, you could start to picture yourself there and get a sense of whether the school was the right fit for you. The presentations took place on May 6, and over the course of nearly two hours, we learned tons of interesting facts about schools like Yale University, the University of Washington, the University of Pennsylvania, Boston University, and many more. I believe we all got inspired in the process—whether by researching our dream universities or by listening to our like-minded peers share theirs!
This month was full of interactive activities for us as students. In one of our next sessions, we had a particularly interesting task: case studies. We were given hypothetical student profiles along with their acceptance letters, and by doing some research, we had to decide which school would be the best fit for each student. What made this task even more exciting was that we worked in groups, which gave us a great opportunity to connect with one another. After all, what better way to get to know each other than by solving problems together?
We also had the opportunity to join a live stream on the EducationUSA Virtual YouTube channel about applying to U.S. colleges using one of the most popular application platforms, the Common App. The session was hosted by Jameia Tennie, Director of Student Engagement Programs at Common App. I highly encourage you to watch the video (I’ll share the link below), especially if you’re an international student planning to apply to a U.S. college or university. Understanding how the Common App works is one of the first important steps in the application process.
Here are some of my key takeaways from the conversation:
– Applying for Early Action is non-binding;
– Applying for Early Decision is binding;
– Applying for Regular Decision is non-binding;
– “Binding” = if accepted, you must attend that college/university;
– For a strong application, you need to be authentic;
– You can apply to up to 20 colleges on Common App.
To wrap things up, I’d say this month was full of engaging webinars that helped us learn how to determine which university is the best fit for us. One especially helpful resource was the “Admissions Boot Camp MOOC,” which is an online course designed to guide us through the U.S. college application process. We needed to complete Step 1: Research Your Options. I believe that this month's activities not only developed our research, critical thinking, and presenting skills, but also brought our group closer and gave us more chances to connect and get to know each other better. One thing I’ve learned is that you can never have too much networking. :)
Here will be the link to the video about “Applying to U.S. Colleges with the Common App”: Applying to U.S. Colleges with the Common App
Don’t forget to subscribe to the EducationUSA Virtual YouTube channel so you won’t miss any interesting and useful live streams about applying to U.S. colleges!
P.S. – Next month, we’ll talk about something mentioned in one of ABBA’s song titles. Can you guess what it is?
Yours sincerely,
Nikola Princova
Student Leader of CCC Latvia
EducationUSA is a U.S. Department of State network of over 430 international student advising centers in more than 175 countries and territories.
EducationUSA Virtual
EducationUSA is a U.S. Department of State network of over 430 international student advising centers in more than 175 countries and territories.