General Process for Transfer
While enrolled at your current community college and well before the end of the semester, begin visiting the Web site of the prospective new school. Go straight to the page that discusses the admission procedures, select the section on international applicants applying for transfer admission, and carefully read the requirements for transfer. The procedures should be clearly listed so that you know what test scores and transcripts are needed. Pay attention to other requirements such as essays, letters of recommendation, and other relevant topics. Make careful note of the application deadline date. The majority of institutions, particularly larger public schools, can be quite serious about the dates by which the application and all supporting materials must be received.

Transfer Admission Criteria
As with freshman admission, transfer admission criteria vary by school. Size, reputation, type of school (public versus private), intended major, number of international students are all factors that can affect admission criteria and practices. Schools with high-profile reputations always receive many more applications than the ultimate semester intake can allow. Public schools often have legislative mandates that prescribe the percentage of out-of-state residents (the pool in which international students also fall) allowed at any given time.

Certain majors popular among all types of students also attract more applicants than will be admitted in any term. These programs tend to include engineering, architecture, business, computer science, and communication. Health profession majors frequently require special admission standards due either to popularity or to the nature of the profession as it exists in the United States. Some of the majors most affected in this way are nursing, pharmacy, physical therapy, and occupational therapy. Remember: law and medicine are graduate degrees in the United States, unlike in many countries around the world.