I was so confused when I was a prospective student as there were very less amount of information available for application for various US universities, campus life out there, course and curriculum and much other useful information. Thus I decided to come up with this blog which will try to answer all the queries which I use to have when I was a prospective student, provide some very useful information which is required based on my personal experience. You can also ask your queries in the comment section of my 'Thank you' post. I will try to answer all your questions to the best of my ability.
Friday
Thank You!
If you want any more information, just let me know via the comment section. I will try to answer as many queries as I can based on my knowledge.
Nice, Thank you for creating this blog, will help tens of thousands of students curb their pre departure anxiety. I appreciate the completeness of your information as you seem to have covered and glancedd through all aspects. Thank You again
Very informative and very helpful for MS students.This article not only covers the academic information but also covers expenses for surviving in the US
Excellent work !!! Very Impressive !!! It has lot of information and also clears many ambiguity which students have before coming to USA. Its a complete package of information required before hand. Very well organized and even has links for further information if anybody wishes to read more. Good Work !!! Keep it up !!!
Awesome blog.. I am already in the US and have been through all of this. And it has been explained perfectly. I really wish this blog was put up before I landed here. :) Complete info and lots of good tips.
good info dude,i think u could start adding a bit more info of ur campus,like living places,other facilities provided by ur Univ etc .This will help ppl get an insight of ur campus may make there stay a bit easy.
thanks a lot sir... my only query is that can you please tell me .. how much money in total i should have if i want to do my MS in america..
i mean in terms of rupees,because some ppl tell me that the entire cost for the 2 years including living would be around 8lakhs..while other ppl tell me that it would be around 20 lakhs.. thank you..
Thank you all for dropping by and giving few suggestions, I really appreciate it. I will surely upload more useful information, so just look out for that!!!
The answer to Mingzhe question: Most of my seniors who graduated in 2007 are placed, and few of the seniors who will graduate in May 08, are looking for full time jobs. I guess all depends on your luck and your GPA. But UMCP have good reputation, lots of employers do come for career fairs. Hope this helps!!
Thank you very much for all your comments, I really appreciate it. Please do visit again, as I am planning to have one more blog related to this topic, lookout for the updates on my blog!!
hi pujan, It would be very helpful if you could tell which all companies recruit Full time MIM graduate. Also if you could give us a rough statistics about the no of students each company employ. What sort of profile do these companies provide to students.
Hi..... thanks for making such commendable efforts. I hope your project becomes a great success and you get the required credits for it. I want some help from you in deciding university . I have admit from USC and UPenn . No funding from them. I am interested in Computer Networks for specialization. All the finances will be arranged through loan. please help me to take a decision whether to come to US this year or not and which univ to choose. Thanks & Regards Saumya(jain.saumya@yahoo.co.in)
Hi Saumya, Thanks for dropping by. According to me, you should go for USC, I have a friend there, according to him, the courses are not so easy, you have to work a lot, but you will surely get a good result. Lots of company's go for the career fair in USC. Upenn is also good but as you said, you wanna go for Computer Networks, USC will be the best options for you. Comin to US this year or next year is upto you, but now there is a OPT of 29 months, so that will help too for students like us. Hope this helps! If you wanna know more about life at USC and apts etc, then let me know. My best friend is in USC in Electronic and communication, he can help u for apts n all..
Thanks A lot Pujan . I will definitely consider your advice. Can you please provide an exact detail of the finances involved in the course. How much to take as loan... how much can be managed through assistantship.. etc. ... how much time does it take to pay back the loan with an average placement...chances of internship etc....
You can read about assistantships on my blog under Money section. I will briefly explain you about the fee structure. You will have to pay fees for 4 semester. Each semester will cost you around $8000 to $10000 just as your tuition fees, living expenses not included. So roughly you will have to pay $34000 to $40000 as you tuition fee, depending on the college you choose.
Now if you get an assistantship, there will be a tuition waiver of 10 credits, in some university. so your whole fee will be waved. So you don't have to pay any fee. If you are lucky, you can get assistantship from the first sem. Some of my friends got it.
If you can't get assistantship, you will surely get an oncampus job, that will only cover your living expenses. So now you have to look out for loan. What I would suggest is to have a loan for atleast 2 sem, so that will land up around $16000. Then once you are here, try very hard for assistantship, you will get it. Again its upto which university you select. I would suggest to go for university which gives you good chances of assistantships if money is a concern. There are 60 to 70% of getting an assistantship in my univ. i.e. UMCP. Hope this helps.
Thanks Pujan ..... I appreciate that you are taking out time to help aspiring students like me. I have also applied in UMCP but still haven't got any reply. I really hope my application is not rejected. I will be waiting for your new posts that can provide more information regarding USC and UPenn.
hi.. your blog has been very informative... i would like your help though.. All EE dept
i have five admits in hand
SUNY Buffalo Syracuse(30% tuition waiver) University of Rochester (36% Tuition waiver) Washington State University University of Texas at Dallas
i am way highly confused as to which one to take... i would like to know about the job prospects (both on-campus and placements) and the study environment..
Excellent work !!! It has lot of information and also clears many ambiguity which students have before coming to USA. Its a complete package of information required before hand.
thanx for all the help.
I had a querry. I m into image processing related projects from the last 2 years. I want to pursue my masters in Computer Science with Image Processing as one of the subjects. Can u just help me in telling where can i get information about good universities having this course ( image processing).
First u have to buy a prepaid..it willcost ard 25 initially with a phone in it and 10 dollar talk time...then refill it for 15, 25, 50 or 100 dollars..as u wish..use that for 3 or 4 months...then apply for post paid one u have a good credit history...For laptops...look out for buy.com, deals2buy.com, compusa.com..buy it when u r in USA..it will cost ard 700 to 800...preferred brands Dell, Sony, Lenovo, HP..hope this helps!!!
God bless u pujan as u are doing a wonderful job.I want to know about masters in MIS.i have sent u a friend request in orkut also so please reply to me
perfect site for information seekers!!!! It has everything a prospective studedent needs organised in a very systematic manner. All the related links are quite handy as well......gr8 job!!!!
thanks a lot for the information.i have for two admits as of now.one from eller,UA and other maryland for MIS program.im bit confused between two..which one do u suggest and what for?
Hi Pujan, nice work here, I am prospective candidate of UMD. Can i have a your contact number or any senior who is at UMD so that i can talk about course and Univesity... Thank YOU
Hey nice work creating this blog..i find it from Edulix.com. Actually i Stay in US from last 2 years and now planning to apply for MSIS. I find university of Maryland very good. I like all topics of MSIS offered in maryland university. i have around 900 GRE score and will give TOEFL now after few weeks.How is the university and wht about jobs there?can you please help me out choosing universities
Thanks, it is very informative. I have just recently recieved an admit from University of Michigan for the Masters of Science in Inormation program (MSI). They havent yet spoken about the fundings and all. Do you think I should wait till I hear from them or should I start reaching out to professors and financial aid offices now itself. Thanks for the help
Hi..Ok first of all..Kudos to u for selflessly putting so much of useful info for the benifit of others.. ur's is one of the few Blogs, that I actually found to be doing what they claim to!! :) I read on edulix, about a useful comparison u made between MIM at UMD and MIS at other universities. I can't find it here...Pls help
Learn cooking: If you want to survive!! Get a haircut (Optional): Just before leaving. A haircut is anywhere around $13-$16 here. Immunization: Get all required tests and vaccinations done and bring a proof of the same (letter from your doctor giving details with dates will do). You might need to show the records at the University Health Center. Insurance: It’s a risky business to stay in USA without a medical insurance. I would recommend buying at least three months of insurance from India and then once you get your Social Security Number, you can apply for the insurances in USA. You can also buy insurance from your own university, but that will cost a lot most of the times. The non-university insurance will cost around $50 per month. Departmental Contact: Be in touch with your department well in advance, and try to know more about the books to buy and course descriptions.
Getting settled:
Registration: Get yourself registered in college; make your college email id by visiting the technology center of your college. Get yourself a college ID card. Banking: Look out for banks that are in your campus or nearby. Have an account created. You will just require your passport and I 20 for bank account. You won’t require your SSN initially. Housing: Look out for the apartments that are close to the university, you should not waste much time in travelling. Driving License: Once you are well settled in USA, apply for the license as it will act as your identification at many places, otherwise you will have to carry your passport around as your photo ID.
Things to Bring!
Things to bring!
Documents: *Passport, I-20, visa. *Driver’s license. *International Driving Permit, if possible. *Medical certificates and proofs of vaccination. *Transcripts. *Degree certificate or provisional certificate. *Letters from university. *Passport size photos.
Money: *You should have enough money to arrange for housing, etc. and to survive at least the first month (until the first paycheck, from your job arrives). *Bring $1500 - $2000 in travelers' checks. *Bring $100 - $150 in cash. $10 bills or the smaller. *$1 bills will be required to pull out trolleys in the airport. *If you cannot get cash, travelers' checks can be encashed at the airport for a fee.
Clothing: Depends on the place where you will stay. Few common advices, no matter where your university is: *Do NOT bring heavy winter clothes – as you won’t require that in fall and spring and it will occupy a lot of space in your luggage. You'll need to buy winter clothes in late September or early October. Winter clothing is pretty cheap here. You will get a good winter jacket in around $50. *A raincoat and/or casual jacket, umbrella, woolen gloves, cap would be very useful. *Get a few of pairs of shorts, towels (3-4), socks. *You could also get traditional Indian dresses for special occasions. *It is advisable to get around 15 pairs of undergarments as it helps in reducing your trips to the laundry (though most apartments have laundry machines right in the basement of the building). *About three pairs of formal wears for career fairs and interviews. Two blazers will do. *You can get a decent pair of jeans for around $20 to $30 here. T-shirts will cost around $10 to $20. Shirts will cost around $20 to $30.
Food Items: *Indian spices of your choice, though you can get most of them here. *Home-made items like pickles etc. *Bring a few noodle packets. Get a few Instant food packets; these become handy many a times in first few weeks. *You can bring few groceries – Rice, Dal, Salt, Sugar, Tea/Coffee in case you are going to move to new apartment right away just enough to survive few days so that you don’t have to run for grocery shopping the next day. *There are many Indian stores around most of the well know universities. Then too it depends on the location. If you are able to find one Indian store around, you will get all kinds of things there. You even get Indian cold drinks and Indian chocolates there, costly though.
Utensils: *Being with three or four roomies, you will have to cook for atleast 4 people. So try to get large vessels. *If your roomies are decided, collaborate and bring vessels according. *Try bringing all the vessels you need, vessels are costly here *Bring utensils which are preferably microwave safe.
Other Stuffs: *A few pens, pencils, ruler etc. just to get started. Stationary is pretty cheap here. Do not overload your baggage with notebooks and paper. *A scientific calculator that you might have used in your undergraduate course. *A small sewing kit. *A good book for cooking. *Don’t get many CD’s of movies and songs. You will get everything online, most of the times for free.
Things not to get: * DO NOT GET ANY ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES FROM INDIA. It is 110 volts AC/60Hz in the US, so Indian electrical appliances does not work. *Do not get a digital camera, it’s very cheap here. *Do not get a laptop; you will get a good deal here. *Don’t get too many clothes. It’s cheap here. *Do not get too many pairs of shoes.
Let me know what other information you guys want from the following options.
Heres a link to one more blog of my friend for prospective students!!
46 comments:
Nice, Thank you for creating this blog, will help tens of thousands of students curb their pre departure anxiety. I appreciate the completeness of your information as you seem to have covered and glancedd through all aspects.
Thank You again
Very informative and very helpful for MS students.This article not only covers the academic information but also covers expenses for surviving in the US
Its a very informative article.Its a must to visit link for any student who is planning to do MS.Good work buddy!
Excellent work !!! Very Impressive !!! It has lot of information and also clears many ambiguity which students have before coming to USA. Its a complete package of information required before hand. Very well organized and even has links for further information if anybody wishes to read more. Good Work !!! Keep it up !!!
A selfless act that deserves a pat on the shoulders... Kudos to you for having put in so much effort!
Stunning work. .hats off to you and great that u ve made a promo to Edulix tooo . .cheers bro..keep it going :)
Good work. I like to add your site to my blog roll. Do you want to exchange links?
http://www.happyschoolsblog.com/
send me an email. we will talk offline.
Great work! You make your family proud of you...
This is a very helpful blog for the prospective students. This will help them to prepare themselves in advance, before coming to USA. Keep it up!!!
Awesome blog.. I am already in the US and have been through all of this. And it has been explained perfectly. I really wish this blog was put up before I landed here. :) Complete info and lots of good tips.
good info dude,i think u could start adding a bit more info of ur campus,like living places,other facilities provided by ur Univ etc .This will help ppl get an insight of ur campus may make there stay a bit easy.
thanks a lot sir... my only query is that can you please tell me .. how much money in total i should have if i want to do my MS in america..
i mean in terms of rupees,because some ppl tell me that the entire cost for the 2 years including living would be around 8lakhs..while other ppl tell me that it would be around 20 lakhs.. thank you..
my email is cooladitya009@yahoo.co.in
Excellent Work buddy
The entire page holds very valuable information.
Will surely come in handy if and when I plan my MS :)
Can you please tell the job view of MIM ? Like the latest placement of 2007 new graduates?
Thank you all for dropping by and giving few suggestions, I really appreciate it. I will surely upload more useful information, so just look out for that!!!
The answer to Mingzhe question:
Most of my seniors who graduated in 2007 are placed, and few of the seniors who will graduate in May 08, are looking for full time jobs. I guess all depends on your luck and your GPA. But UMCP have good reputation, lots of employers do come for career fairs. Hope this helps!!
Good job friend.You have covered all details very nicely.All the best.I will surely suggest this site to my other friends who want to study in US.
hey u have done a gr8 job dude nd dis info is very helpful 4 me thnq nd all d best
Thank you very much for all your comments, I really appreciate it. Please do visit again, as I am planning to have one more blog related to this topic, lookout for the updates on my blog!!
hi pujan,
It would be very helpful if you could tell which all companies recruit Full time MIM graduate. Also if you could give us a rough statistics about the no of students each company employ. What sort of profile do these companies provide to students.
Hey, thanks for this gr8 information, it answers a lot of my questions.
I have bookmarked this page.
Hey Nimitt, thanks for dropping by..I will update the data soon..So keep looking..
Regards,
Pujan
Hi..... thanks for making such commendable efforts. I hope your project becomes a great success and you get the required credits for it.
I want some help from you in deciding university . I have admit from USC and UPenn . No funding from them. I am interested in Computer Networks for specialization. All the finances will be arranged through loan.
please help me to take a decision whether to come to US this year or not and which univ to choose.
Thanks & Regards
Saumya(jain.saumya@yahoo.co.in)
Hi Saumya, Thanks for dropping by.
According to me, you should go for USC, I have a friend there, according to him, the courses are not so easy, you have to work a lot, but you will surely get a good result. Lots of company's go for the career fair in USC. Upenn is also good but as you said, you wanna go for Computer Networks, USC will be the best options for you. Comin to US this year or next year is upto you, but now there is a OPT of 29 months, so that will help too for students like us. Hope this helps! If you wanna know more about life at USC and apts etc, then let me know. My best friend is in USC in Electronic and communication, he can help u for apts n all..
Regards,
Pujan S Mehta
Thanks A lot Pujan .
I will definitely consider your advice.
Can you please provide an exact detail of the finances involved in the course. How much to take as loan... how much can be managed through assistantship.. etc. ... how much time does it take to pay back the loan with an average placement...chances of internship etc....
Hey Saumya,
You can read about assistantships on my blog under Money section. I will briefly explain you about the fee structure. You will have to pay fees for 4 semester. Each semester will cost you around $8000 to $10000 just as your tuition fees, living expenses not included. So roughly you will have to pay $34000 to $40000 as you tuition fee, depending on the college you choose.
Now if you get an assistantship, there will be a tuition waiver of 10 credits, in some university. so your whole fee will be waved. So you don't have to pay any fee. If you are lucky, you can get assistantship from the first sem. Some of my friends got it.
If you can't get assistantship, you will surely get an oncampus job, that will only cover your living expenses. So now you have to look out for loan. What I would suggest is to have a loan for atleast 2 sem, so that will land up around $16000. Then once you are here, try very hard for assistantship, you will get it. Again its upto which university you select. I would suggest to go for university which gives you good chances of assistantships if money is a concern. There are 60 to 70% of getting an assistantship in my univ. i.e. UMCP. Hope this helps.
Regards,
Pujan
Thanks Pujan .....
I appreciate that you are taking out time to help aspiring students like me. I have also applied in UMCP but still haven't got any reply. I really hope my application is not rejected.
I will be waiting for your new posts that can provide more information regarding USC and UPenn.
Thanks Again
Best Wishes
Saumya
hi.. your blog has been very informative... i would like your help though.. All EE dept
i have five admits in hand
SUNY Buffalo
Syracuse(30% tuition waiver)
University of Rochester (36% Tuition waiver)
Washington State University
University of Texas at Dallas
i am way highly confused as to which one to take... i would like to know about the job prospects (both on-campus and placements) and the study environment..
Please do let me at the earliest
hey pujan,
Excellent work !!! It has lot of information and also clears many ambiguity which students have before coming to USA. Its a complete package of information required before hand.
thanx for all the help.
I had a querry. I m into image processing related projects from the last 2 years. I want to pursue my masters in Computer Science with Image Processing as one of the subjects.
Can u just help me in telling where can i get information about good universities having this course ( image processing).
my mail id is rohankpatil@gmail.com
rohan
hello ..many thanks for sharing the info.was very useful!!.
if possible ,pls give more info on mobile and laptops..
hey kishore,
First u have to buy a prepaid..it willcost ard 25 initially with a phone in it and 10 dollar talk time...then refill it for 15, 25, 50 or 100 dollars..as u wish..use that for 3 or 4 months...then apply for post paid one u have a good credit history...For laptops...look out for buy.com, deals2buy.com, compusa.com..buy it when u r in USA..it will cost ard 700 to 800...preferred brands Dell, Sony, Lenovo, HP..hope this helps!!!
thanks a gazillion!!!
you have put it all
Rishabh
God bless u pujan as u are doing a wonderful job.I want to know about masters in MIS.i have sent u a friend request in orkut also so please reply to me
hey gr8 blog, it has comprehensive info bout everything we freshers would need, thanks man!!!
perfect site for information seekers!!!!
It has everything a prospective studedent needs organised in a very systematic manner. All the related links are quite handy as well......gr8 job!!!!
hi pujan,
thanks a lot for the information.i have for two admits as of now.one from eller,UA and other maryland for MIS program.im bit confused between two..which one do u suggest and what for?
waiting for ur reply.
regards,
Anirudh N
Thanks guys for your comments!
Hi Pujan, nice work here, I am prospective candidate of UMD. Can i have a your contact number or any senior who is at UMD so that i can talk about course and Univesity...
Thank YOU
Hey nice work creating this blog..i find it from Edulix.com.
Actually i Stay in US from last 2 years and now planning to apply for MSIS. I find university of Maryland very good. I like all topics of MSIS offered in maryland university. i have around 900 GRE score and will give TOEFL now after few weeks.How is the university and wht about jobs there?can you please help me out choosing universities
Thanks, it is very informative. I have just recently recieved an admit from University of Michigan for the Masters of Science in Inormation program (MSI). They havent yet spoken about the fundings and all. Do you think I should wait till I hear from them or should I start reaching out to professors and financial aid offices now itself.
Thanks for the help
KUDOS man...that's a heck of information and presentation is awesome..!
Planning for MIS 2011..will get back 2u wid queries..!
hi Pujan,
Thanks for your info. it is very valuable n helpful.
Have u completed your MIM from UMCP? i am going there this fall(2011).
can u give me your email id? i'd like to contact u.
regards,
salil
Hi All,
Please email me your questions at thegame0612@gmail.com. I will try to answer them at my earliest convenience.
Regards,
Pujan S. Mehta
Hi..Ok first of all..Kudos to u for selflessly putting so much of useful info for the benifit of others.. ur's is one of the few Blogs, that I actually found to be doing what they claim to!! :)
I read on edulix, about a useful comparison u made between MIM at UMD and MIS at other universities. I can't find it here...Pls help
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