May 7
Using a Timeline or Calendar for International Students
A lot of international students applying to U.S. universities like to use timelines or calendars to give them a schedule of tasks they need to complete. That’s a good thing. Timelines are useful tools for international students. We’ve offered Summer and Fall timelines on this very blog. The internet is full of similar schedules – you can see two examples here and here.
These kinds of resources can really help you prepare your application for U.S. universities. Timelines can keep you aware of upcoming deadlines and help you structure your time. However, there is a limit to how useful these tools can be, and in my experience a lot of international students end up losing time because of them.
Here’s why: often, international students download and study one of these timelines. They resolve to follow it exactly. However, they are intimidated by all the work the schedule says they have to do. As a result, they find reasons to procrastinate. They fall behind the schedule. Now they feel really terrible. Not only do they have a lot of work to do, but they have a shorter amount of time to do it! They feel even more intimidated, which makes them procrastinate more, which makes the further behind. And so on and so forth until, at the last minute, they whip together an application. Which is often not very good.
To avoid this situation, follow these simple guidelines:
- Remember, timelines for international students are guides, not rules. If you work according to a different schedule – if you start later on some tasks and earlier on others – that’s OK.
- If you fall behind the schedule, try to remember that it is very possible to catch up. Applying to a U.S. university is a lot of work, but it’s not an impossible amount of work. You can do it!!!
- Try to develop strategies that keep you from procrastinating. Here are some internet resources to help you do just that.
- Finally, and most importantly, RELAX. Remember that you are a smart, dedicated, effective person. Remember that you want to complete your applications. Remember that you want to spend the time to make those applications good. Remember that you want to finish them ahead of schedule, to reduce your stress. Focusing on the fact that you want to do all these things will reduce any feelings you have that you “have” to follow the schedule.
In short, use schedules and timelines as a tool. But remember that you are the one controlling the tool – the tool shouldn’t control you.
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Tags: admissions, applying to U.S. universities, strategies for international students to avoid stress, study in the United States, using timelines for applying to U.S. universties
