— Disclaimer: This checklist is focused on the non-US admissions process . If you are considering applying to colleges in the US, please check out the U.S. College Application Timeline for International Students.
A note from the authors: The content of this article won’t help every applicant, as we understand that every situation is sensitive and unique, and education is continuously changing. However, we want to be transparent that our goal is to give you context, steps, and tools for further research so you can be empowered in your next decisions
Being open to studying in countries all over the world is awesome. So many programs, cultures, and experiences at our fingertips! Tons of places where you can get a great education for a low cost! The challenge comes when you suddenly need to keep all the deadlines straight for writing your applications to those awesome locations.
Some countries have application procedures with centralized systems and deadlines (US, UK, Netherlands… somewhat). But the more countries you add to your college list, the more timelines you will be juggling. And juggling multiple timelines is challenging.
The application checklist below will help you think through the coming few years when it comes to applying for non-U.S. colleges and universities.
This article is primarily focused on organizing your deadlines while applying to multiple countries. But how do you decide which countries to add to your list? To investigate the myriad opportunities for pursuing higher education abroad, we recommend:
As you narrow in on the countries you hope to apply to for university, you will quickly realize that basically every country has a unique admissions process. Sometimes there are even multiple unique processes within a country… even as many as one unique process for each university!
As we said earlier, every situation is unique and higher education is continuously changing. To get you started, the bullets below will give you a sense of what time of year you will need to be focusing on applications to some of the major higher education destinations around the world.
The list below does not capture every country - and simply listing may not suit everyone’s organizational style. We encourage you to build calendars that help you stay organized.
Using the chart/list above as a starting point, and then finding reliable sources for country-specific research, you should be able to find the date when applications are due for each country/school on your list. But even within a single university, you may encounter multiple deadlines depending on what application components are required in their admissions process.
No matter which countries or schools are on your list, here are some things you should keep in mind for all non-U.S. applications:
Need a handy place to keep track of everything? Here is a chart you can use to keep track of deadlines for different application components at universities around the world:
