In the United States, an undergraduate or an "undergrad" is a student pursuing a bachelor's degree (usually 4 years) at a college or university or a 2-year associate's degree program at a college, community college or vocational/technical school. A graduate or a "grad student" is a student who, having obtained a bachelor's degree, is now pursuing a master's or "graduate degree" in a 1-6 year graduate school program that is typically completed in 2-3 years. These concepts are often confused, because the terminology in much of the rest of the world is different. What's known as undergraduate studies in the US is referred to as graduate studies in most other countries. And the equivalent for graduates (graduate students, graduate studies) in the US are known as post-graduates (or post-graduate students, post-graduate studies) in most of the rest of the world.
Bachelor's degree, application and fee (per school), GRE test scores, undergraduate transcript, letters of commendation (may be optional), FAFSA or other financial aid.
High school diploma, application and fee (per school), SAT test scores, ACT test scores, TOEFL scores (sometimes), high school transcript, letters of recommendation (may be optional), FAFSA or other financial aid.
In the U.S., graduate students go to accredited colleges and universities for 1-6 years (typically 2-3) after earning a bachelor's degree in order to specialize in a field and increase their earning power by receiving a master's or doctoral degree. General master's degrees are Master of Arts (MA) and Master of Science (MS or MSc); globally, other more common and specialized degrees include
Undergraduate degrees in the U.S., acquired after completing a 4-year college or university program are Bachelor of Arts (BA) or Bachelor of Science (BS or BSc). There are dozens of bachelor's degree specializations that are called tagged degrees in everything from architecture to information systems, biology to English literature, and management to performance (theatrical). Two-year Associate in Arts (AA or A.A.) also offers dozens of specialties. These degrees are fundamentally geared towards support positions in a variety of fields including automotive maintenance, early childhood special education, culinary arts, medical assisting, legal office administration, graphic arts, etc.
While many countries consider U.S. undergraduate degrees to be graduate degrees in their nation, and U.S. graduate degrees to be post-grad citations, degrees earned in the U.S. are widely accepted worldwide as indications of a degreed individuals knowledge, capability and performance value. In fact, almost one million of the 4.5 million international students seeking degrees do so in the U.S. because of their value in the world job market.
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