How to check interview times with US universities

There are many time zones in the US, if not paying attention, candidates may miss their interview schedule with the admissions committee of universities in this country.

Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Khuong, an independent consultant in the US, guides how to convert US time to Vietnam time:

Vietnam's time zone is called Indochina Time (ICT). Meanwhile, the United States has 6 time zones:

- Hawaii-Aleutian Time Zone (HST) includes the state of Hawaii and part of the state of Alaska.

- Alaska Time Zone (AKST) applies only to the state of Alaska.

- Pacific Time Zone (PT) includes west coast states such as California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada.

- Mountain Time Zone (MT): includes states such as Colorado, Utah, Arizona.

- Central Time Zone (CT) includes states such as Minnesota, Texas, and Illinois.

- Eastern Time Zone (ET) includes east coast states such as New York, Florida, Pennsylvania.

I use PT, MT, CT, and ET frequently because these are the four time zones of the continental United States. Each time zone is one hour ahead of the other. For example, ET is one hour ahead of CT; CT is one hour ahead of MT, etc. If ET is 10pm, CT is 9pm, and MT is 8pm.

From early November to mid-March of the following year, the time in Vietnam will be exactly 12 hours behind ET. For example, if it is 7pm on Saturday in Vietnam, it is 7am on Saturday in New York City, New York, or in Miami, Florida. From there, you can calculate the time of CT, MT, and PT yourself.

If you are still unsure, just go to Google, type in "Time in Maryland" or "Time in Utah" and you will see the current time there, from there you can calculate the time zone distance to Vietnam.

Daylight Saving Time

Every year in mid-March, all time zones in the US (with a few, very rare exceptions) add an hour, with the goal of making daylight hours longer. In early November, the time zones revert back to normal. So from mid-March to early November, Vietnam time is exactly 12 hours ahead of CT time.

For example, I am writing this article at 8pm on a Friday (Minnesota), which is 8am on a Saturday in Vietnam. If you are booking an interview and are worried about this time zone change, check your Google Calendar, as it will automatically calculate the difference.

Daylight saving time is observed in many countries in the Northern Hemisphere, including the United States, Canada, European countries, and parts of Australia and New Zealand. Some states in the United States use two different time zones, such as Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee, because they are located near the border between two time zones, or because a certain area wants to follow the time zone of a larger city next door.

For example, Gary, Indiana, is a suburb of Chicago, so they use Chicago's Central Time (CT) zone, while 95% of Indiana uses ET (Eastern Time Zone).

At the end of 2021, I had a student who was invited to interview with Coe College. The school is located in Iowa so the time zone is (CT). However, the student got the ET time wrong and was an hour late for the interview. Luckily, the school gave him another appointment.

Some ways to see the time:

Search Google for the city name, followed by the word "time" to find out what time it is there. For example, Colorado College is located in Colorado Springs, so you type "Colorado Springs time". If it is 8pm in Vietnam, it will be 7am in Colorado Springs on the same day, meaning they are 13 hours behind you. From there, you can calculate the interview time in the US and Vietnam.

In addition, when inviting you for an interview, the school will usually send a calendar invite to your gmail. You just need to go to Google calendar of gmail and it will display the time in Vietnam, as long as you set the setting to "Indochina Time".

Nguyen Ngoc Khuong

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