/Education%20Program%20Info

College, University and High School Application Information Dear Seed: If you are interested in studying in the United States, the Seeds of Peace staff can assist you, to a certain degree, in your application process by: giving you a list of US colleges and universities where Seeds have studied, providing you with letters of recommendation, and giving you basic information on the American application process.

However, Seeds of Peace cannot help you obtain a scholarship to study in the US; Seeds of Peace does not offer scholarships. You must earn a scholarship directly from the college, university or high school to which you apply.

In order for Seeds of Peace to write a letter of recommendation on your behalf, in the school application process, you must fill out and return the attached application form. You must take the TOEFL exam and in most cases have at least a predicted score of 230 on the computer-based test (550 paper test) before you can apply for Seeds of Peace assistance. The Education Program staff, including several Seeds graduates who have studied in the US, will review all applications and evaluate whether or not Seeds of Peace can write a letter of recommendation for you. This decision will be based on the following criteria:    

TOEFL score—except in rare cases, every Seed must have at least a 230 TOEFL score Academics—Seeds must have an average of 85% or higher in grades 9-11 SOP Involvement—Seeds must be involved in SOP activities and be willing and able to continue their involvement once they arrive in the US for school.

Personal Maturity—Seeds must be mature enough to make responsible decisions about the way they live their life without the supervision of their parents and families.

In the next few pages, you will find some basic information about the application process. Please read this carefully with your parents.

Best wishes and hope to hear from you soon!

In order to apply to schools (college/university/high school) in the US, you must do the following things: 1. TOEFL exam This is a test of your English language ability, not of mathematics or any other subject. This is one of the most important parts of your application. Go to the TOEFL website to find a testing center nearest to you (www.toefl.org), to register for the test. The test costs approximately $140. For this reason, you will only want to take the test one time, so, make sure that you have studied sufficiently and are prepared before you take it.

When you register for the TOEFL, you are eligible to receive free study materials from the TOEFL organization—make sure to ask for these, and take as many of the practice exams as you need. Make sure that you are reading books in English, and are speaking English as much as possible to practice. You should plan to take the test in September or October of your final year in high school (if applying to college/university), or, the year before you plan to attend school in the US (if applying for high school). *The TOEFL is offered at the Amideast Center in Ramallah, and also in Tel Aviv. To register to take the test, please contact the appropriate office directly: Ramallah Office Street Address: Al-Watanieh Towers, First Floor 34 El-Bireh Municipality Street El-Bireh, PNA

Tel Aviv Office REGION 12 - EUROPE/NEW INDEPENDENT CALL: 31-320-239-540 (Lelystad, The Netherlands) FAX: 31-320-239-541 TEL AVIV

Mailing Address: P. O. Box 19665 East Jerusalem 91193

TEST CENTER NUMBER: 8049 TESTS OFFERED: GMAT, GRE, TOEFL

Telephone: 972 (or 970) -2-240-8023 Fax: 972 (or 970) -2-240-8017 E-Mail: westbank-gaza@amideast.org Hours: Sunday to Thursday, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m **To register for the TOEFL in Ramallah, call: Region 7 - MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA Call: 31 320 239 530 (The Netherlands) FAX: 31 320 239 531 The test is offered Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday of every week. You will need a credit card in order to register over the phone.

2. SAT I and/or SAT II (only required for some colleges) The SAT I is a standardized test that assesses your English vocabulary and grammar skills, mathematics skills, and reasoning skills. This test is not required for international applicants to some colleges and universities in the US. Some of the more selective universities and colleges do require the SAT I from international student applicants. Go to each school’s website to find out if you will need to take the SAT I. The SAT II is another form of standardized test that covers different subjects. Again, most schools do NOT require the SAT II for international students. If they do require the SAT II, then you should go to the SAT website (www.sat.org), and find a list of all of the SAT II subject tests offered. You will have to choose three subjects you wish to be tested in. Some examples are: English literature, mathematics, history, biology, Spanish, etc. Go to each school’s website to find out if you will need to take the SAT II. 2

You can register for both tests and find the testing center nearest you by going to www.sat.org.

3. Recommendations letters You will need two recommendations from teachers from high school. Usually, the schools will ask for one recommendation from your English teacher, and one from your Mathematics teacher. You will have to get these recommendations translated into English if your teachers do not speak English.

You can apply for a recommendation letter from a Seeds of Peace staff member. To this end, please fill out the attached application and send it back to Aeshna (contact information on page 1). Your request will then be studied by our staff; it may or not be accepted. You can access the online Request for Recommendation form here: http://www.seedsofpeace.org/recommendation_request 4. Official copies of your high school transcripts translated into English You will need to ask your high school for official, stamped, copies of your grades from 9th grade until 12th grade translated into English to send to each of the schools to which you apply. You will also want to include a description of your school’s grading system if it is different from the system in the US. (For example, a brief description of Bagrut or Tawjihi.)

5. Application For each school to which you wish to apply, there will be an application that you need to fill out. You can go to each school’s website to download the application, or, request an application by mail.

The application will ask you questions about yourself. For some questions, your answer will be a short paragraph-- such as, what academic honors have you received? In what sports teams or activities do you participate? What leadership roles have you held? There will also be a personal essay question. This essay is the one part of the application that allows you to share with the admissions committee at the school something about yourself that is not listed anywhere else in your application. Usually the question will be vague, for example: What is a difficult situation that you have had to face in your life? Or, what is one experience that has shaped you as a person? Or, who is one person that you admire? Your essay should be approximately two pages long. Remember to include a title and edit your essay.

Common Application: In many cases, the schools will accept the Common Application . In this case, you only need to fill out one “Common Application” and you can send copies of the same application to many colleges and universities. In most cases, the individual schools that accept the Common Application will also require a specific “supplement” in addition to the Common Application. Go to www.commonapp.org to see a list of the universities and colleges that accept the Common Application, and, to find information about the supplements that are required.

You may also set up an account on www.commonapp.org that will allow you to save your application and let you come back as many times as necessary to work on it. You can then email your finished application to the schools to which you wish to apply.

Remember to keep track of important deadlines.

Good Luck!

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