University pathway programs are a good alternative to the regular entry requirements needed to get into a US university. These one-year courses combine academic study in a variety of areas such as business, law and communications with academic English and in most cases lead to advanced entry into year two of a four year university degree.

Some students outside the United States do not qualify for direct entry into a US university because they need to take SATs and the English-language requirements are quite high for entry into freshman year. One way around these problems is a pathway program as there are no SAT requirements, a lower language requirement and often a lower high school GPA requirement.

Pathway programs are especially designed with international students in mind and they make sure that international students are properly prepared for study at a US university. Even for American students, the first year at university can be quite daunting with big lectures of 300 or more students at a time.

Students that have done a pathway program consistently outperform those that entered the university directly and in some cases they get better GPAs than the local students.

The pathway program is usually equal to the first year of the partner university’s four year degree program.

There are a several private organizations that offer pathway programs in partnership with a number of US universities. These organizations teach the pathway programs on partner university campuses, on successful completion of the course there is guaranteed progression into year two of the partner university degree in most cases. Sometimes the progression is only advanced entry into the first year. GetSet works closely with all the US university pathway providers so contact us to get the low down on all the progressions. 

Most pathway programs are split into different academic streams such as business, law and engineering etc. So, for example, if you chose a pathway in business you would study various business courses in addition to English language classes. The class sizes are smaller than those you would attend as a regular university student which ensures personal attention from your teachers.

• Senior high school diploma and transcript.
• TOEFL iBT requirements range between 35 and 60 (IELTS 5.0 -5.5) depending on the institution.
• Academic references. We can help you out with these if you’re unsure.
• A personal statement. A what? Relax, we’ll show you what you need to do here.