Application Procedures
All applicants should follow the steps listed below in order to complete the American University in Bulgaria (AUBG) application process:
1. APPLICATION FORM: Submit the completed application form with a non-refundable 25 USD application fee, unless you are applying online free of charge. All international students are required to attach a copy of the first page of their international passports. Please attach a check, money order, or receipt for a bank transfer payable to AUBG to your application. A direct deposit to the AUBG account should go to: Bulgarian Post Bank Sofia, Branch Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria, account in leva: IBAN BG58 BPBI 7922 1040 0153 01 BIC: BPBIBGSF; account in US dollars: IBAN BG05 BPBI 7922 1140 0153 01 BIC: BPBIBGSF. Visit www.aubg.bg/payments for payment information.
2. ENGLISH REQUIREMENT: Arrange to have the official Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) score sent by ETS to the AUBG Admissions Office, or the official IELTS or ESOL tests, unless you are a native speaker of English. Please note that AUBG does not accept personal score reports sent directly to the student or photocopies. The AUBG institutional code for receiving official TOEFL scores is 2451. An applicant who is not a native speaker of English may fulfill AUBG English Language Proficiency requirement by achieving a satisfactory score on the tests: iBT/IELTS/ESOL. The minimum satisfactory scores are 80/6/CPE>C respectively. The TOEFL/IELTS must have been taken within two years of the proposed term of entry. To register for TOEFL please visit www.toefl.org or request a registration bulletin from TOEFL Services, Educational Testing Service, P.O. Box 6151, Princeton, NJ 08541-6151, USA. To order official score report for the IELTS visit the British Council at www.britishcouncil.org and for ESOL visit www.cambridgeesol.org To order official score report for the IELTS visit the British Council at www.britishcouncil.org and for ESOL visit www.cambridgeesol.org.
3. DIPLOMA: Arrange to have a high school leaving certificate or diploma and/or college transcript(s) sent to the AUBG Admissions Office. Bulgarian high school diplomas are considered as true copies if certified by a notary and officially translated in English. Non-Bulgarian diplomas are considered true copies if certified by an Apostille. Information about the Hague Convention on legalization of foreign public documents is available at: www.hcch.net. Applicants who do not hold a high school diploma at the time of applying must present an official high school transcript or record for the last three years of secondary school study. Transcripts are considered official if they bear an official high school stamp and the signature of the high school principal. Academic transcripts should include the school’s contact information. Records must list the subjects taken, grades earned or examination results in each subject, and certificates or diplomas with a calculated annual grade point average (GPA). If the documents are not in English, they must have a certified English translation accompanying them.
4. RECOMMENDATIONS: Submit three letters of recommendation from teachers, professors, guidance counselors, and/or academic advisors familiar with your academic performance and potential for leadership. Any letter not written in English must be accompanied by a certified English translation.
5. ESSAY: Write an essay, which will help the AUBG Admissions Committee become acquainted with you, understand your motivation to attend AUBG, and determine how well you can express yourself. The essay should be on the following topic: “How an AUBG education will broaden your global perspective and cultivate your capacity for social responsibility.” The essay will be evaluated on the basis of clarity, creativity, completeness of response, sentence structure, paragraphing, spelling, grammar, and style.
6. SAT REASONING TEST/ACT: Arrange to have an official SAT Reasoning test or ACT score report sent to the AUBG Admissions Office directly from College Board. The AUBG institutional code for receiving official SAT Reasoning scores is 2451 and the code for the ACT scores is 5465. Only official score reports sent to the AUBG Admissions Office directly from College Board and ACT are acceptable. To register for the SAT please visit www.collegeboard.com or request a registration bulletin from College Board, SAT Program, P.O. Box 6200, Princeton, NJ 08541-6200, USA. To order official score report for the ACT please visit: www.act.org/aap.
If you are a gold or silver medalist or a valedictorian, you will be exempt from the SAT and ACT exams.