Starting As A Tourist
People who are interested in attending college in the US may wish to visit a number of colleges first. If the student intends to remain in the US after he or she has found a college place then they must first be careful how they plan to enter the US . In this case the student should apply for a B-2 tourist visa and make it plain in their B-2 application that it is their intention to look for a college to attend. By making their intentions known, the B-2 visa will be marked accordingly. When the student is accepted onto a course he or she will not be able to actually attend classes until they have applied for and have been granted an F-1 student visa.
For students who enter the US under the visa waiver program, they will not be allowed to extend their stay in order to attend college. Instead, they will be required to take their acceptance letter from the college back to their home country and complete their F-1 student visa application there.