August checklist: 7 things to do before school starts if you're applying to a foreign university
So, school is maybe three weeks away. You've been meaning to "do something about the university thing" all summer and somehow it's still sitting on the to-do list giving you that nagging feeling every time you remember it exists.
No judgment. We've seen this approximately a thousand times.
The good news is that three weeks is actually enough to get yourself into a genuinely good position before September, if you spend it on the right things. Not everything. Not perfectly. Just the right things.
Here's your August checklist. Practical, specific, no fluff.
1. Make your university list an actual document
Not a bunch of tabs you've left open for three weeks. Not a vague mental shortlist. An actual document, such as notes app, Google doc, a piece of paper, whatever, with the universities you're seriously considering written down, one per line.
Next to each one, write:
The country and city
The specific program you'd apply to
The application deadline
The language requirement (do you need an IELTS score? A Dutch language test? Nothing?)
One sentence on why it's on the list
This takes one focused afternoon and it transforms "I should look into some universities" into "I have six concrete options with deadlines." The psychological difference between those two states is enormous. One of them is a plan. The other is a source of background anxiety.
For the EU destinations most worth your attention right now - Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Ireland- deadlines vary much more than people expect. Some Dutch programs fill up months before their official deadline. Some German programs have rolling admission. Knowing your specific deadlines now means no nasty surprises in November.
2. Research the application system for each country you're targeting
This is the thing students skip and then massively regret.
Every country, and sometimes every university within a country, has its own application system. They don't all work like UCAS. They don't all want the same documents. And they definitely don't all have the same deadlines.
Netherlands: Most bachelor's programs use Studielink, the Dutch centralised system. Some popular programs (like Psychology at UvA or International Business at RSM) have numerus fixus; limited places, often allocated by lottery or early application. If you're targeting one of these, you need to know this now, not in January.
Germany: No single central system , applications often go directly to the university through their own portal, or through uni-assist for international applicants. Some programs require a Motivationsschreiben (motivation letter) rather than a personal statement. Requirements vary significantly.
Denmark: Most programs use the coordinated enrollment system, but international applicants often apply directly. Copenhagen Business School, DTU, and Aarhus have their own international application portals with specific document requirements.
Ireland: The CAO system handles most undergraduate applications for EU students. The deadline for most programs is February 1, earlier than many students expect.
Spend one evening mapping out exactly which system each of your target universities uses, what documents they require, and what the actual deadline is. Write it in your document from step 1. This is not glamorous work. It will save you enormous stress in three months.
3. Check your grades against the entry requirements
Not optimistically. Honestly.
Pull up the entry requirements for each program on your list and compare them against your current grades and predicted grades. Be realistic. If a program asks for a GPA equivalent of 3.7 and you're at 3.2, that's information worth having now rather than in February when you've already spent months on an application.
This isn't about giving up on ambitious choices, it's about building the right list. Two or three reach programs where you'd need to perform your best, three or four solid matches where your profile fits well, and one or two realistic options where you're confident. That's the list that gives you the best outcome, not the one full of only the most prestigious names.
If your grades aren't where you need them and school is three weeks away that's actually useful timing. You still have a term or two to move the needle before applications close.
4. Start your motivation letter or personal statement
Not finish. Not polish. Just start.
Open a blank document and write, without stopping and without editing, about why you want to study what you want to study. Not the impressive version. The true version. What actually got you interested? What question keeps coming back to you? What would you study if nobody was watching and there was no prestige involved?
Write for fifteen minutes. It will probably be messy and slightly embarrassing and not at all what you'd want an admissions tutor to read. That's fine. That's what a first draft is supposed to be.
The students who produce the best motivation letters are almost never the ones who wrote them in one polished sitting under deadline pressure. They're the ones who started early, let the first draft be bad, and gradually figured out what they actually wanted to say. Starting in August means you have that time. Waiting until October means you don't.
5. Sort out your language test situation
If you're applying to English-taught programs and English isn't your first language, almost every EU university will require proof of English proficiency, usually IELTS Academic, TOEFL iBT, or Cambridge C1 Advanced.
Check the specific requirement for each program on your list. Minimum scores vary, some programs require IELTS 6.0, others 6.5 or 7.0. Make sure you know exactly what you need before you book a test.
Then book it. This week if possible. September and October sittings at test centres across Central Europe are filling up now, and those are the sittings that give you results in time for most EU application deadlines. If you need a retake, you want to find that out in October, not January.
If you're confident in your English, still take a practice test before you book the real thing. IELTS and TOEFL have very specific formats that trip up even fluent speakers if they go in unprepared.
6. Get your documents in order
This is the most unglamorous item on the list and also the one that causes the most last-minute chaos.
Most EU universities will ask for some combination of: your high school transcripts (often officially translated), a copy of your passport, proof of English proficiency, a motivation letter or personal statement, and sometimes a CV or portfolio depending on the program.
Official translations of transcripts can take weeks to arrange, especially if you need an apostille or certified translation. Some students discover this in December when they're trying to submit an application with a February deadline and the translation service has a six-week waiting list.
Start gathering what you have now. Figure out what needs to be officially translated and get the process started. It's boring and administrative and you will thank yourself enormously for doing it in August rather than December.
7. Have one honest conversation with your parents about budget
Not the "we'll figure it out" version. The actual numbers version.
Sit down with your parents -or whoever is involved in funding your education- and work out what's realistically available. Tuition, rent, food, flights home, a buffer for emergencies. The full picture.
This conversation feels uncomfortable and most students avoid it for as long as possible. But it's one of the most useful things you can do in August, because it determines which destinations are actually on the table.
The good news if you're an EU student targeting the Netherlands, Germany, or Denmark: tuition is dramatically lower than most families assume. The Netherlands charges EU students around €2,530 per year. Germany is largely tuition-free at public universities. Denmark is free for EU citizens. The main cost in all three destinations is living — and that varies significantly by city.
Knowing your realistic budget now means your university list reflects what's actually possible, not just what sounds good. It also means you can start researching scholarships and student finance options, like the Dutch DUO grant system, which EU students are often eligible for, while there's still time to apply.
The honest version of what this adds up to
None of these seven things requires you to work all day every day for three weeks. Together they probably add up to ten to fifteen focused hours spread across August, one afternoon per item, roughly.
What they give you is this: you start September knowing what you're doing, why you're doing it, and what the next few months look like. That's not a small thing. That's the difference between feeling like university applications are something happening to you and feeling like they're something you're doing deliberately.
If you want help working through any of this -building your university list, figuring out which destination actually makes sense for your grades and goals, starting your motivation letter- that's exactly what a free Lumen consultation is for.