Special AdmissionPrograms: Conditional Admission and Bridge Programs
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Now that you know what types of deadlines are there, you have to plan a timeline for submitting your application. You will have to consider the question, "is this the best application I have created or could it be better if I wait to apply?"
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Look at your IELTS/TOEFL and test scores. Are they good enough or you wish to retake the test to improve the test scores.
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How many essays you have to write? And how much time you require to write them?
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Will the best version of your application be ready by November, December, or January?
For the first point, if you feel your application's only weak point is your English language ability, there are special admission programs that you should look into. There are two types, and the first is called conditional admission. If you receive a conditional admission offer, it means the university has evaluated your application on all of these pieces, except your IELTS or TOEFL scores. If they feel you would make a good student, they offer conditional acceptance which states "we will fully accept you as soon as you meet our English language requirements".
The good thing about the conditional admission is that you can submit your application by the deadline even if your IELTS or TOEFL scores maybe aren't as high as you would like. You have the security of the fact that the university wishes to accept you, only if you meet that one final requirement.
Remember, you can't attend a college with a conditional admission. You need a full acceptance offer after you fulfill that last requirement to enroll in a university.
Not all colleges offer conditional admission. It is usually not an option at most places, and the top universities don't offer conditional admission. There is no way to research about which colleges offer conditional admission and which don't. The only way is to get in touch with each college and check.
The second type of special admission program is called either a bridge or pathways program. These are offered by colleges that offer intensive English language program on campus. A bridge program will allow you to enroll in both the university and the English program at once. One part of the course will be English language courses, and the other part of the course will be the degree courses.
Your performance is reviewed for usually a year and if you perform well, you will move out of the bridge program and you can now become a full-time degree student. The problem with finding out the bridge programs is that they all go by different names. So there is no way to do research on these programs as well. So once again, you will have to get in touch with the colleges if you wish to know more.
Also read:
IELTS Band Scores are widely accepted across universities in USA, Canada and other English speaking countries. Check: IELTS Scores at the Best Universities in US IELTS scores across popular universities in the US:
| S.no. | Universities | Required IELTS score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arizona State University | 6.0 |
| 2 | Washington University in State Louis | 6.5 |
| 3 | University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign | 6.5 |
| 4 | Colorado State University | 6.0 |
| 5 | Saint Louis University | 6.5 |
| 6 | The University of Texas at Arlington | 6.5 |
| 7 | Pace University | 7.0 |
| 8 | University of New Haven | 7.5 |
| 9 | Iowa State University | 6.0 |
| 10 | Northeastern University | 7.0 |
An IELTS band score between 5.0 and 5.5 is considered a modest score. And will not make you eligible to apply to Tier I universities abroad. Students should note that English language scores are university specific. So while your English language scores would be required as part of your student visa application, however, they are an integral part of your university admission requirements. An IELTS band score of 5.0 – 5.5 will not make you eligible for top-ranking universities. However, with an IELTS 5.5 band score, you will be eligible to select a few universities in countries like Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, Germany, Ireland, Denmark, France, Norway, Sweden, United Arab Emirates, Malaysia and Singapore among others. Candidates can check out universities accepting a 5.5 band scale using our score filter here: https://studyabroad.shiksha.com/ms-in-computer-science-engineering-from-abroad-ds11509277
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In order to be eligible to study abroad, IELTS ecam scores will be required in majority of the English speaking countries. In total there are 140 countries which accept IELTS scores for admissions from international students. Some of these top countries are as follows: