Universities take anywhere between 2 weeks to 4 months to give their admission decision. Students can always enquire about their application status by writing to the Graduate Admissions Office or speaking with them over phone.

Offers of admission can be one of:

• Conditional: If for some reason, the application packet sent by the student is incomplete or the student has not submitted transcripts for all the semesters (which is usually the case) because the student has not graduated yet during the time of application, then the student is offered a conditional admission that is contingent on the student being able to produce all the required documents at a later stage.
• Admission with a scholarship: A scholarship may come in the form of a tuition waiver (either part of full)
• Admission with an assistantship: A teaching assistantship (TA) or a research assistantship (RA). This form of assistantship is usually sufficient to cover living expenses.
• Admission without any financial aid

Upon receiving an offer of admission, the student then needs to confirm to the university about his/her decision to enroll. On confirming, the university then sends the I-20 Form.

The I-20 Form is an official document from the university that allows a student to apply for student visa (F-1) at a U.S. Consulate. The I-20 will include information of tuition fees, living expenses, financial aid (if any), scholarship information (if any) for one year.

The student then has to apply for the F-1 Visa.