Great LakesPartners

Your U.S. admissions partner

We take international students from first shortlist to visa interview, and help U.S. institutions reach them.

Undergraduate

First-year applications, and transfer from community college into a four-year degree.

Master's

Coursework and thesis programmes, including STEM designations that extend work authorisation.

Law and LLM

For lawyers qualified outside the United States, including state bar eligibility.

Doctoral

Funded PhD applications, where the funding offer is the point of the application.

For students and families

A U.S. degree is within reach of far more families than ever attempt one.

What usually stops a family is not merit — it is a system that is hard to see from the outside. We work through the parts that matter most: how your transcript will be read, what a programme actually costs after aid, and what the consular officer is looking for. You make every decision. We make sure you make it with real information.

  • Shortlisting against your file. Programmes matched to your grades, budget and visa profile, not to a ranking table.
  • Transcripts and credential evaluation. WES, ECE and institution-specific requirements, prepared before deadlines force your hand.
  • Testing plan. Which of TOEFL, IELTS, Duolingo, GRE, GMAT or LSAT you actually need, and which schools have waived them.
  • Essays and recommendations. Structured drafting in your own voice. We do not write your application for you.
  • Cost and funding. Full cost of attendance, assistantships, and the exact sum you must document for the I-20.
  • Visa and arrival. SEVIS I-901, DS-160, interview preparation, and what to do in your first week on campus.
Tell us about your application

For U.S. colleges and universities

Recruitment that survives the yield stage.

International applications are easy to generate and hard to convert. We work with admissions and enrolment teams on pipelines that hold up through offer, I-20, visa and matriculation.

  • Market strategy for South Asia and the Gulf, grounded in who actually enrols and who defers.
  • Screened applicants reviewed for academic and financial readiness before they reach your desk.
  • Credential context — what a Pakistani LLB or a three-year Indian BCom means when it lands in your review queue.
  • Pathway and articulation design for conditional admission and transfer agreements.
  • Yield support from offer through visa issuance, where most international pipelines quietly lose their class.
Request a partnership conversation

The application year, in order

A U.S. application takes about eighteen months from first conversation to first day of class. This is the cycle for a Fall 2027 start. Families who begin at stage three usually lose a year.

SpringMar – May 2026

Decide what you are applying for

Field, degree level, budget ceiling, and whether you intend to work in the U.S. afterwards. These four answers determine every later step, and changing them in December is expensive.

SummerJun – Aug 2026

Testing and the shortlist

Sit English and aptitude tests early enough to retake them. Build a list of eight to twelve programmes across reach, match and financially safe categories — with at least two you could afford without aid.

Early autumnSep – Oct 2026

Documents and drafting

Order transcripts, start credential evaluation, request recommendations with six weeks' notice, and draft statements. Credential evaluation is the step that most often runs late.

Deadline seasonNov 2026 – Jan 2027

Submit

Undergraduate early action typically closes 1 or 15 November, regular decision on 1 January. Graduate priority deadlines fall between 1 December and 15 January, and funded doctoral programmes are usually earliest of all.

DecisionsFeb – Apr 2027

Offers, aid and the financial affidavit

Compare full cost of attendance rather than tuition alone. Assemble bank statements and sponsor letters for the amount each school requires before it will issue an I-20.

VisaMay – Jul 2027

I-20, SEVIS and the interview

Pay the SEVIS I-901 fee, file the DS-160, and book the earliest interview slot available — appointment backlogs, not refusals, are what most often delay a start. Then housing, insurance and arrival.

What to expect from us

International admissions attracts agents who promise things they cannot deliver. Here is what we commit to, so you can hold us to it — and use it as a checklist on anyone else you speak to.

If your file is not competitive this cycle, we will tell you in the first conversation rather than after you have paid application fees.

  • We do not guarantee admission

    No one can, and anyone who does is either misreading the process or misleading you. We can tell you the realistic range of outcomes for your file.

  • You see the real cost before you apply

    Tuition, fees, insurance and living costs for each programme, alongside the sum you will need to document for the I-20.

  • Your application stays yours

    We structure, question and edit. We do not write personal statements, and we do not submit on your behalf without your review.

  • Any institutional relationship is disclosed

    Where a university compensates us for recruitment, you are told in writing before it enters your shortlist.

Start an inquiry

Tell us where you are in the process. We reply within two business days with an honest read on timing and next steps. There is no charge for a first conversation.

  • Ann Arbor, Michigan

Grades, test scores, budget, or a deadline you're working towards.

We use what you send only to answer you. We never sell or share your details.