Applying to California universities for an IT major?

Question

IT education

Autumn is coming soon, ahead of the 12th grade (I'm from Latvia), it's time to start preparing applications for universities. I have defined a geographical place for myself a long time ago - California, USA. I also have an approximate list of universities in my head - Southern California, Caltech, Stanford, Berkeley and the like. Specialty - there is nothing clear in the head, but this must necessarily include the development of both hardware and software. Most likely robotics, or some kind of automation of something, or even the space industry. Not the point, I'll figure it out.
The main problem is that I have no experience in applying to American universities, which is quite logical. And, unfortunately, I could not find people in my environment who could suggest something in this regard. I read all sorts of (kind of) tutorials on admission, official texts on the websites of universities, applied to the relevant bureaus.
I have an approximate picture in front of me - TOEFL + SAT + school grades + ... + all standard operations. But there is no way to find out what pitfalls are, how to prepare for these exams, when it is better to take them, how to send documents, and many other little things that cannot be adjusted to the general case.
Actually, a request - please share your experience of admission (at least briefly), or give a tip where this can be done or has already been done.
PS I'm asking on Habré because this is the only place where you can find people who have already traveled a similar path.

Answer 1

From the general experience (admission to non-IT):

1. talk to a person from the admissions office (Admissions office), ask about the requirements and deadlines. In general, being in contact is useful. It is possible that these same people will make decisions when considering your documents.
2. work out the financial part. Contact the relevant department at the university. This is a separate big topic. Most likely, you will need proof of solvency and many other documents. As for the pitfalls - for immigrants, the price of education may be different; The cost of teaching materials is usually not included in the cost of education, and sometimes a set of textbooks for a semester can cost several hundred. In general, funds count with a margin. Another student visa does not allow you to work, only inside the university. Probably not without a sponsor.
3. documents must be submitted almost a year before the start of the first semester. Usually, as soon as the enrollment for the current year has ended, the enrollment for the next one opens. It happens that applications are considered in the order in which they are received: the earlier you apply, the more chances you have. The best thing is to ask in Admissions

I didn’t have to send documents from another country, so I won’t say. Once I learned about the translation of the certificate. The scheme was such that the translation company forwarded the result to the indicated universities.
Good luck!

Answer 2

You will definitely need to write an essay about yourself, about your future, show yourself as a person, recommendations from 2 teachers (At least to elite universities). Exams depend on the university, somewhere you need TOEFL, somewhere SAT - you need to look at the website. We also need documents on the ability to pay for the first year of study, but this is after enrollment (As I remember).