|
|
|
|
Master’s Education in the US
Admissions Eligibility, Requirements & Expectations
|
Graduate admissions:
Anyone who has finished a four year Bachelors Degree or its US equivalent and wish to go to US
for higher studies can apply to get into Graduate programs—Masters/PhD. Often Masters Degree is
NOT required to get into PhD program straightaway. A Four year Bachelors Degree is good enough
to be admitted into PhD Coursework.
|
|
Admission Requirements
Requirements and expectations:
To get into a Graduate program for your Masters or PhD course work, consistent good academic
record is an important factor. However, grades alone would not ensure success in getting into
program. Graduate admissions office would also look for the evidence of research capability,
motivation and work/research experience while reviewing prospective students’ applications.
Personal characteristics that would contribute to the strength and diversity of the class are
also considered positive factors. Positive letters of recommendations; a well focused approach
of your study goal and how well it relates to the current research work being done in your
department play perhaps the most important role in admission and assistantship process. A
good GRE/GMAT and TOEFL score would additionally help you in getting into the program of your
choice. In a nutshell, the Graduate school is essentially is looking for those applicants who
can make the best use of the resources available at the disposal of the University.
|
Admission Factors: The six trusted criteria of academic success are:
Academic Course preparation and performance
Academic grade point average (GPA)
Grade trends
Class rank
Entrance Tests
Language proficiency
|
|
Academic Course preparation and performance:
Applicants are expected to achieve a high level of performance in the course work they
pursue. Quality and rigor of the course curriculum are very important factors. Academic
preparation and solid grades earned during undergraduate coursework are important
predictors of academic success. Grades/Marks earned in the last two years are given
more weightage than those earned during the first two years.
Academic grade point average (GPA):
American Education System often operates on 0-4 grading scale. A GPA of 3.0 and above is
desirable. International applicants whose grading system are not on a 0-4 scale need not
worry about their GPA since their academic records are converted into US 0-4 GPA system
by International Credential Evaluation Experts of the American Universities themselves.
Except for a few American universities, majority of American Universities would not
accept outsider’s evaluation as official. However, if you still would like to get your
grades converted into US GPA System, you can contact any of the 19 International
Credential Evaluators as approved by National Association of Credential Evaluation
Services (NACES) www.naces.org
Grade trends:
Increasingly consistent good academic performance is more desirable than a couple of
isolated bright performance. Good grades are always welcome but grades alone would not
be the deciding factor at Graduate Level. If there are any extenuating circumstances
resulting in not-so-good grades, you must explain it candidly in a separate note and
attach it with the Grade Report to help admission officer make a realistic assessment
of your past academic performance.
Class rank:
Class rank is a good predictor of the relative academic performance vis-à-vis others in
the same class group and circumstances. It helps US Admission officials understand how
well an applicant has utilized the resources and opportunities available at their disposal.
A percentile Rank certificate from the College/ University Officials would be very helpful
in case an absolute class rank is not available or not applicable.
Entrance Tests:
US academic institutions often require a decent score on GRE. GRE (Graduate Record
Examination) is administered by The College Board, NJ, USA. This test is conducted at
periodical intervals at centers all over the world. For Test details and a list of
Centers and registration process please check their website www.gre.org
Language proficiency:
English is the sole medium of instructions in American Universities. One must be
proficient in English language to attend US Graduate/Professional Schools and
perform academically well. US academic institutions often require satisfactory
results from TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language). All prospective
students whose native language is not English are required to take TOEFL. TOEFL
is administered by the College Board, USA across the centers world wide every
week round the year. Usually a score of 79/120 on Internet Based TOEFL (or 213/300
on Computer based TOEFL or 550 on paper-based TOEFL) is considered satisfactory.
For Test details and a list of Centers and registration process, please check the
website www.toefl.org
Back to Top
Where, When and How
Short listing--Profile matching:
Through Mentors’ PRISM Technology, our SmartLIST will create for you a logical list
of handful of institutions in your chosen filed of study. Once the tentative list is
ready, you can fix an appointment with Mentors’ admissions counselors and engage them
in a one to one discussion to further bring down your list to a manageable number of
Universities that you finally choose to apply.
Ranking and Academic Reputation:
Who would not like to study at Top Schools like Harvard, Columbia, and Yale.
America is also home to the world renowned universities like Stanford, Berkley,
MIT, Caltech and many more. While ranking is a somewhat subjective issue, its
value and necessity cannot be ignored. There are various rankings available in
different categories as mentioned below:
Top National Universities,
Top National Engineering Schools,
Top National Business Schools,
Top National Law Schools,
Top National Medical Schools,
Top Education Programs,
Top programs in The Sciences,
Top Programs in Social Sciences & Humanities,
Top Library & Information Studies Programs,
Top Health Programs ,
Top Public Affairs Programs ,
Top Fine Arts Programs
Contact us for the relevant latest admission related data for each of these
Universities in various Departments.
There are various independent rating agencies in USA helping prospective applicants
get a fair amount of idea about the quality of the academic institutions both at
regional level and national level. The two most prominent ones are US News and
World Report and www.phds.org
Short listing a dozen of Schools out of more than 1,800 Universities in America is painful
and quite confusing! Myriad options and varying admission and financial assistance policy
make it all rather a more challenging task. Through Mentors’ PRISM Technology, our SmartLIST
will create for you a logical list that would help you find out the right institutions in
your chosen filed of study. Here we are to explore step-by-step how you need to formulate
a strategy to manage to find your kind of institutions where you would be happy to spend
four year of your life.
Accreditation:
There are various US Govt. approved accrediting agencies mandated to grant and maintain
accrediting status of US Universities and colleges. Such colleges and universities also
require authorization by the US Immigration and Naturalization Services to issue I-20 in
order to enroll an International student. I-20 is a legal document necessary to obtain
student visa. Council for Higher Education Accreditation, DC—CHEA and US Department of
Education periodically review and evaluate these accrediting agencies. There are over
7,000 degree-granting and non-degree-granting institutions and over 17,000 programs in
America that are accredited either by Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA)
or by organizations recognized by the United States Department of Education (USDE) or
both. Recognition essentially means that accreditors meet the quality standards and
follow the expected norms when accrediting various programs. Accreditation in America
is carried out by private, nonprofit organizations designed for specific program and
purpose. There are a total of 4,242 degree granting Institutions recognized by Specialized
and Professional Accrediting Organizations. Some such Accrediting Organizations are listed
below:
|
Majors & Academics:
There are more than 450 specializations to choose from! Contact us for details on Universities
offering you preferred specializations in PhD.
|
Test Score Range:
Often Test score range is just one of many factors in the admission process and its importance
need not be overemphasized. Perhaps your grades/ percentage of marks in your academics are more
important than a three-and-a-half-hour test outcome! GRE score is not mandatory and may vary
from Department to Department Contact us for details.
|
|
TUITION FEE & SCHOLARSHIPS:
Affordability:
A Graduate education is a serious commitment and unlike undergraduate studies, an applicant is not
expected to have gone for Graduate School in a routine matter. People often take a two to three year
break after their undergraduate studies before they decide on a Graduate School. In US, both Masters
and PhD programs are commonly referred to as Graduate Program and usually one need NOT be a Masters
Degree holder to join a Ph D program. As a general rule, even after Bachelors, one can directly join
a PhD program.
To financially afford a Graduate education, one needs careful planning and selection. Remember,
you have to do a two year costing, not just first year alone. Living expenses alone would cost
you no less than 6,000 USD per annum and with holiday expenses when University is not in session,
it would be another 2000 USD at the least. Tuition cost is a major factor. It may cost anywhere between
8,000 and 25,000 USD annual Tuition for the two-year Masters Program and proportionately much higher
for a four year PhD program. So it is very important that you explore all Fellowships & Assistantship
avenues and Research-Project based funding availability options before deciding on where to apply.
Sometime Assistantship award is a centralized process wherein the Departmental admissions committee
decides whom to admit and offer funding. In such universities, asking Professors for a favorable response
for admission or funding is considered inappropriate and might hurt your acceptance chances. However, at
some Graduate programs, you are expected to arrange funding on your own by interacting with the Professors
to seek acceptance in their Labs or projects for which the grants are often available. Often this is referred
to as “mentor” requirement and once the prospective “mentor” in your subject department agrees to support
your case, admission becomes relatively easy. Please check with the Graduate school of your choice about
School’s assistantship policy.
-
Merit-based Scholarships: Merit-based Scholarships are awarded by the
very University which accepts you for admission. Most Universities through their Graduate School offer
merit-based scholarships (or Assistantships and Fellowships) to all students—domestic or International
though usually there is a keen and fierce competition for relatively fewer number of such vacant positions.
Usually there are four types of financial assistance available at the Graduate level:
- Fellowship—This most prestigious award is awarded by the university Fellowship
committee to applicants chosen amongst the department nominated pool of applicants. It covers
Full Tuition, and usually a handsome stipend without any working duties in return.
-
Teaching Assistantship-Teaching Assistants or TAs are hired directly by the Department
to assist Professors in their teaching assignments. As a general rule, TAs are not supposed to
teach or grade papers. However, sometime a TA is given teaching assignments of Undergraduate level /beginning
level students. Usually a Full time TA is assigned a 20 hour-a-week schedule for which he/she receives a
Full Tuition waiver (or out-of-state Tuition waiver as the case may be) and a reasonable amount of stipend
to cover his/her living and other expenses. The Fee (roughly around 600 USD annually) is never waived,
though. The range of stipend varies among Universities and can be anywhere between 5,000 USD and 24,000
USD per annum. For a half time TA assignment, students are expected to commit a 10 hour-a-week work schedule
(and receive a half Tuition Waiver plus 10 hour weekly work stipend).
-
Research Assistantship :Research Assistantship is also like
Teaching Assistantship except for the fact that as a RA, one is mostly assigned working
on research project of their Professors instead of being given teaching related assignments.
Duties and compensations remain more or less the same as that of a TA.
-
Graduate Assistantship: Unlike TA and RA, a GA is mostly
assigned the non-academic duties like working in the library, cafeteria, admission office,
residence halls, etc. Duties and compensations are comparable to a TA and a RA.
-
On-Campus job possibility: Many Universities in USA have provision
for on-campus employment opportunities to help you partially defray the cost of your education.
By law, you are not authorized to work for more than 20 hour-a-week during week days and a
maximum of 40 hour-a-week during holidays. Your payment must come directly from University or
college where you are enrolled. Unless otherwise authorized, any employment engagement for
which the University is not responsible is simply illegal and can have very serious consequences.
-
Need-based financial assistance: Unless you are a US tax-payer, you
do not qualify for the Federal aid and as such as an International student applying from overseas,
you cannot qualify for any need-based assistance at Graduate level
Safety and security: Safety and security is a prime concern among parents and students nowadays.
Detailed information in this regard can be asked for and schools would be glad to provide you with
the details of their security arrangements of their students on-campus.
|
|
Back to Top
When to apply
There are two types of academic terms practiced in US--Semester System and Quarter System.
|
Semester System:
Majority of American Universities especially those that are on the East coast operate on Semester
system and follow 4-1-4 pattern. Fall Term starts in late August to early September and ends in Mid
December. Schools reopen after a one month winter vacation in the middle of January for another four
month term that ends in the first week of May for summer breaks. Studying in Summers is usually
optional since very few classes are actually open during Summer Break.
Quarter System:
Some US Universities especially those on the West Coast and in the Midwest follow Quarter System
wherein the entire academic year of nine month is divided into three quarters of three month
each—3-3-3 pattern. Fall Term starts in late August to early September and ends in later October.
Spring Term Starts in early November and ends in early February. Winter Term starts in late February and
ends in the first week of May. Studying in Summers is again optional since very few classes are actually
open during Summer Break.
Deadline:
There is nothing called common application deadline in US. Different Universities follow a variety
of different application deadlines that starts from as early as November 1 for next Fall session
or can stretch up until one month before the classes start. So it makes sense to check with each
individual university about the application process, requirements and the published deadlines.
Majority of American Universities follow only one deadline. However, it is not unusual to find
three different deadlines in the same university for the same program. Some of the common Terms
used by American Universities are as described below:
International Students Deadline:
Often the deadline for International students is set at least one month to three month in advance of
the regular domestic Students deadline. Prospective students are expected to submit all the required
application materials including supporting documents by the deadline in order to be considered for
admission. Applicants must pay very close attention to the deadlines applicable to prospective
International applicants.
Departmental Deadline :
Many Departments in the same University have their own set of deadlines. So it is important to check
with the departments what deadlines to follow especially if you are an International student.
Fellowship and Assistantship Deadline:
Fellowship deadline is the university wide deadline to be observed by all the departments submitting
their nominations from prospective pool of applicants. However, Assistantship deadlines are set by
individual departments and need be followed accordingly. Usually Assistantship deadlines are set one
month in advance of the application deadline.
Rolling Admission:
Many US Universities also follow rolling admissions policy. It means that they would continue to
accept applications on a first come first served basis until the classes are filled. It is
advisable to apply as soon as possible for a more favorable outcome at such schools.
|
|
Back to Top
How to apply
|
Application Requirements:
A complete international application file usually consists of the following items:
Application for Admission:
You can apply online, download a paper application,
or request US Colleges and Universities to send you a paper application.
Application Fee:
Prospective applicants are often asked to submit
with their Application a nonrefundable application fee to cover application processing. The application fee
could be as low as only 10 USD or as high as 100 USD. Applicants who apply online can pay the application
fee by international credit card. Applicants submitting paper application can pay by a US Bank check,
through international money order, or by a US Dollar Draft drawn on a U.S. bank payable to the
“Title of the Beneficiary”. Sending cash or currency is not expected. For those who find it difficult
to pay for the application fee can seek a waiver or deferral of their application fee payment or
alternately can seek help of friends or relatives overseas. Be sure to write you full legal name on the
back of the Check or Dollar Draft.
Academic Records:
US Academic institutions require
College/University certified true copy of the official academic records for each year of Bachelors
and/or Masters Course done. It should be submitted in a sealed and signed envelop of the issuing
institution. Whenever possible, academic records must contain the dates of attendance, level of
study, subjects studied, grades (marks) received, grading scale followed, and a percentile rank in
class, if an absolute rank is not available. Ask your University officials to include all grade
reports in a sealed envelop signed across the flap. All records must be in the original language
accompanied by an official English translation, if necessary.
Statement of Purpose:
The Statement of Purpose known as SOP
is a crucial part of your application. SOP gives you an opportunity to convey to admission officers
your goal and preparedness in undertaking a graduate level coursework at the current juncture
Letters of Recommendations:
Confidential and candid Letters
of Recommendation written on your behalf serve as an additional piece of crucial information in making
a realistic assessment of you as an individual. Often three letters of recommendation are asked for.
All Recommendation letters must come from faculty who taught you and supervised your Bachelors/Masters
level coursework and who can attest to your academic ability (i.e., classroom skills, knowledge, and work
ethic, projects done, etc).
Financial Verification Form and Bank Letter: U.S. immigration
law requires that all international students document their ability to cover educational expenses as
mentioned on their I-20. All tuition and living expenses not covered by the financial assistance is
the responsibility of the applicants and their sponsors. It can be done by submitting the relevant
Financial Verification Form with an original bank letter verifying the availability of the required
funds in USD for at least first year of educational expenses in US.
Copy of Passport:
Sending a copy of the passport will serve to rectify
any spelling mistakes in the application. It is imperative that the date of birth and family name and first
name of the applicant as pelt on the I-20 match with those mentioned on the Passport. Discrepancy, if any
need be rectified before filing US Visa application. Applicants currently studying in the United States
must also submit a copy of their I-94 card.
Application Procedure: There are three possible ways to apply:
Apply Online
Online application is the most preferred option nowadays.
It is secure and easy to use, and can be finished in multiple sessions. Applying online also provides applicants
with immediate notification that their application has been received, and will likely speed up the processing
of their application. Application fee can also be paid online by using international credit card.
Download a Paper ApplicationApplicants who lack internet facility or prefer
to submit a paper application can download and print a copy of it by using the appropriate web link on the website of the university.
Request a Paper Application. Most American Universities no longer offer Paper applications.
However, some universities may be open to accept paper application request from prospective applicants. It usually takes
up to six weeks to receive a Paper Application from American Universities by postal mail.
Submitting your application: To ensure proper and efficient
processing of your application, keep these tips in mind:
Provision of Full Legal Name on All Documents In all your application process, it is always advisable
to write your full legal name as it is spelt on your Passport. If your Passport does not have any family
name and your full name is spelt under “given name” leave the family name section on your application for
admission simply blank
Do NOT Use Post Office Box as Your Permanent Foreign Address It is safer to use only street
address in all your correspondence with the American Universities.
Submitting All Materials Together It is best to submit all application materials
together in the same envelop. This includes Application (If Applying on Paper), Application Fee if
not being paid electronically, sealed and signed Academic Records, Statement of Purpose, confidential
Recommendation Letters, completed Financial Verification Form along with the Financial Documentations.
Official GRE and TOEFL scores must be sent directly from the testing agencies. However, you may wish to
include a copy of examinee test score reports with one’s application materials for interim usage.
Avoiding Submitting Unnecessary Materials
Unless asked for, it is better to avoid sending unnecessary supporting documents or items such as
photographs, recordings, writing samples, awards or commendations, etc. Instead, all relevant
activity, talent, or award can be mentioned on a sheet of paper and be submitted it with other
application materials.
Using the Correct Mailing Address
Make sure to send all materials to the appropriate street address if using express mail.
Awaiting application acknowledgement letter or e-mail to arrive
Usually it takes six weeks to receive an acknowledgement letter in postal mail from US academic institutions.
Acknowledgement via e-mail could be a little sooner. It all depends on the application filing time.
The acknowledgement often includes applicant’s ID number and many other key information
Back to Top
|
|
|