About the Adventist Colleges Abroad Online Application Process

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1 About the Adventist Colleges Abroad Online Application Process Did you know... Over the last eight years, ACA has added seven foreign schools to its network, and seen a 25% percent increase in student participation. During that same time frame, our office staff has remained the same. In years past, we ve had applications arrive in our office that were incomplete or hard to read. Requiring students to input their own data online should help eliminate both of those problems. Utilizing an online database allows us to better communicate with students, parents, and schools. All information is stored securely in a professionally protected environment. Before you start... Students who are planning to attend more than one session (i.e. both summer and academic year) should complete the online application ONLY ONCE, even if they plan to attend different schools. They will be prompted to notify ACA staff, who will add the additional school/session; once that is done, the forms for separate sessions will be available in the student interface. IMPORTANT: Academic year applicants should not purchase an airline ticket until AFTER they have 1) received notice of acceptance from ACA, and 2) obtained a visa for the host country. Students applying for collegiate credit should apply through an ACA Consortium College (list of colleges/universities available online) to insure that their credits can be transferred upon completion. This is their home school. High School students applying for secondary (high school/academy) credit should apply either through a Seventh day Adventist academy within the North American Division or through a college/university for deferred college credit. (Secondary credit is available for summer programs only). Financial arrangements should be handled through the ACA Consortium school, except for summer programs where payment is made in full ahead of time. If a paper application is used by the college to enroll in the program, the information must still be entered in our online system by the student.

2 To start the application process, visit noborders.com, choose APPLICATIONS, and APPLY ONLINE. Complete the first page, shown at the left. If you have a personal e mail you can use (i.e. gmail or yahoo, rather than one through your college), you have a better chance of receiving our automated confirmation message. Most colleges have aggressive spam filters that don t always allow things like this to go through. If you don t receive the confirmation message, please contact info@aca noborders.com, and it will be resent or manually confirmed. Why do we need a CAPTCHA? This feature is designed to prevent automated web bots from submitting hundreds of nonsense applications, which could happen if we eliminated this step. Note that you can click the REFRESH button to get a new set of words, or the speaker button to have the characters read for you. It is important that we confirm your e mail address because we would like to be sure that we can use it to reach you. Once you ve confirmed your e mail, you should receive an e mail with an APPLICATION ACCESS LINK in it. You ll need to keep that message so you can use the link to return to your application as needed.

3 This is the home page of the application itself. The INTRO tab describes the process for completing the application. Note that the directions for summer programs (below) are slightly different from those for academic year programs (right). The example at right also illustrates a student attending two different sessions at two different schools. (Additional session added by ACA office.) Two sets of forms are linked above the yellow box, one for each requested session.

4 As soon as you ve reached the home page for the first time, you can print out pages 3 & 4 of your application form(s). They require signatures and additional information that may take a while to complete. Page 3 includes the directions given on the INTRO tab, and Page 4 states the deadline by which your home school should send the completed application (pages 1 4) to our office.

5 Each of the tabs on the home page brings up additional information. You can tell if a tab requires attention by whether it has (!) at the top. Required fields are indicated with yellow highlighting. Items that are valid show a green check mark. Items that are missing are indicated with a red exclamation point. The SCHOOL tab includes some items like home school, session, and host school that you are not permitted to change. If any of them are blank, or you need to modify any of those fields, please e mail info@aca noborders.com. We ll be happy to take care of that for you. When all tabs are completed with valid information, you ll be able to print the first two pages of the application. Note that there are SAVE buttons both at the top and the bottom of the page. Clicking back and forth between tabs should not lose any information, but it s a good idea to SAVE frequently.

6 You can enter up to three people on the parent/guardian tab. Once you ve entered the first one and clicked SAVE, a blank section will appear below for a second person. The FILES tab provides a way to scan and upload documents. Some schools require a scan of your passport or transcript. If that is the case, this page will say REQUIRED. Otherwise, it s optional. If you have a condition requiring special accommodation (i.e. wheelchair accessibility), you should use this page to upload a doctor s note. Items on this tab don t have to be completed before you can print the application.

7 Once all tabs show complete [no more (!) at the top], you ll be able to print out the first two pages of your application. They ll look something like this: Once all four pages are complete, you ll need to attach 2 passport size photos to page 1, along with any application fee required by your home school, and submit all four pages to your ACA coordinator or Admissions office. The school is responsible for reviewing the application and submitting it to our office in Silver Spring. Note the deadline stated on page 4 of the application. And please remember that your application must be entered in our online system, not just submitted on paper. You will receive an acceptance letter from our office with further instructions.