Pre-Application Forms

Many Universities have Pre-application forms that have to be filled in electronically or sent through email to the respective institutions by international candidates. Candidates will be able to submit details like GPA, Courses completed, GRE, TOEFL Scores, Research Interest, SOP, etc. through the pre-application. It provides useful information about the candidate’s profile to the admission committee. There is no fee applicable for submitting a pre-application, and the process does not include official transcripts and letters of recommendation.

If the admission committee approves the profile the candidate submitted, the candidate will be encouraged to apply officially. Many Universities recommend international students apply for pre-application forms. Some universities also require candidates to submit pre-applications before officially applying in order to be considered for acceptance. It is highly recommended that candidates opt to send the pre-application irrespective of whether the institution requires it compulsorily or not. It will save the candidate the official application fee since they will know where to apply and where not to. Again, the candidate will not receive an official offer for admission by submitting the pre-application form but will be encouraged to apply depending on the quality of the application.

Pre-Application Forms for some Programs

• Temple University - School of sports, Tourism and Hospitality Management
• College of Engineering & Computer University of Central Florida
• Penn State: Pre-Application for Graduate Program in Biology
• Mechanical Engineering & Mechanics PC Rossin College of Engineering & Applied Science Lehigh University
• NYU - Stern: Executive MBA
• Iowa State- NEURO graduate program
• University of Maryland - School of Dentistry
• Biomedical Sciences- UC San Diego
• Graduate School- University of New Hampshire

While sending information in the pre-application form, candidates should treat it exactly like an official application. Being rejected during the pre-application process leads to an obvious rejection during the official admission process even if the candidate applies again. Errors in the application form along with missing or inaccurate documents being uploaded can lead to the pre-application being rejected even if the candidate has a strong profile that fits the college requirements. Despite having a pre-application form, it is common for certain colleges and institutions to not get back to the candidate. In such cases, they are advised to apply officially anyway.

Note: Not all colleges offer pre-application evaluation. Some colleges will not respond if the candidate tries to contact them about their profile/credentials. Each department receives thousands of applications and it's really not possible to evaluate each application.