I started the process early senior year of HS(fr: début de terminal) with standard tests. I was a soccer player back home so I was looking for a combo of strong academics and decent soccer program. I had an agent sending videos of my games to different coaches, I received a few offers, then picked the best soccer / academics / scholarship.

This process is both very exciting and stressing. It is very different once you actually get on campus for the first time and realize that despite being a western country, the culture in the US is very different. Adapting to that is important. Then after a few years, the most challening part of your adaption imo is to resolve your adopted culture with the culture you grew up with.