Application procedure

Application procedure for Graduate Studies in USA

Procedure:
* Start with your career goal.
* Select the right course.
* Start with the procedure at least one year ahead from the start date of your college.
* Be in contact with people to take their advice.
* Take GRE, GMAT and TOEFL dates in advance.
* Give at least three months to study GRE, fifteen days to study TOEFL.
* For GRE, word list is must. Try to cover as many words as possible. I would recommend use flash cards for GRE words as they have more information on words compared to words in Barron's book for GRE. Flash cards also have Antonyms for the words, that helps a lot. You should give at least 25 to 30 mock GRE test to prepare yourself. And please do not take the Mathematics of GRE lightly, do practice that too so you do not land up doing silly mistakes in that portion of GRE.
* For TOEFL, please refer to the TOEFL website for study materials: http://www.toeflgoanywhere.org/content/toefl%C2%AE-test-prep-official-tools-help-you-prepare. You will find some good training materials which is very helpful during TOEFL exam. Try to give at least 10 mock TOEFL tests.
* Another important factor is to select the right colleges for application.You should atleast apply to 9 colleges. 3 colleges can be in ambitious range, 3 in moderate range and 3 in Lower grade rankings.
*I would recommend a counselor as they have a good idea about the universities, and they know where to apply with the GRE and TOEFL scores which we got.
*They will guide you very well with the paper work. But it depends upon counselors, if you land up with a bad one, you will have a tough time.
*Once you have applied to universities, wait for the replies. Once you start getting replies, look out for scholarships in the universities where you got admit from. And finally select the University of your linking.
*Another important step is the visa procedure. Please take the visa date early and try to give your visa interview as early as possible, so if you are rejected for the first time, you will have some time in hand to re-apply for visa.
*As soon as you get your visa, please book your tickets, as you may not get the desired date if you are late.
* All done, one important thing left. Prepare yourself mentally for this adventure. Your whole life will change; I am talking from my personal experience.

Mental Preparation

Prepare yourself mentally for this adventure

Adventure, it is! Your whole life will change. You might have to stay for two years with total strangers. You will have to cook, clean, earn and ofcourse STUDY. You might find it difficult if you are a fresher like me, who never stayed in a hostel or likewise places. But with time, everybody gets used to the situations. But I bet, you will have an experience of life time and you will learn a lot, trust me. I learned a lot, became more responsible and more organized in my life. If your luck is bad, you might land up with wrong roomies, with whom you don’t gel well. So you have to make compromise there too. So this is one important advice, if you are not sure about the people with whom you will be staying, please have a lease for your apartment for minimum duration. Once you know the people well and you are comfortable, you can always extend the lease. But if you have a lease for one year and if you don’t gel well, you can get stuck and you will have a bad experience.

Real struggle/adventure starts

The Real struggle/adventure starts from the minute you land in USA!!!

Go through immigration. Answer few basic questions asked my immigration officer and you will get your I94 stamped. Welcome to USA baby!!! Now what to do, where to go, who will come for the pick up? These all questions might fly around. SO PLEASE be pro-active, contact few of the seniors and convince them to pick you up from airport. If you don’t have a senior in contact, research about the local transportations of the place. The options you will have are sub-ways, trains, buses, super-shuttles and the last one is TAXI. (This will cost you a lot, so avoid it if possible)

OK, now if you got a senior to pick you from airport, but where will he/she drop you? So you should have booked your temporary accommodation with some seniors or book your housing from INDIA itself. I would advice to stay as a temp acco for few days at any place you can find, and then look out for some good places and OFCOURSE some good roomies. Try to get apartment where many of your classmates are living, so you won’t feel lonely. Try to have your apartment as close to university as possible, as you will spend most of your time in your university. Please go to all the seminars that are arranged for the international students, it will provide you with lots of important information. Get ready for your first day in college!!!

Money!!!

The normal expenditure if you live your life normally and not lavishly will be as follows:
* Rents: (Varies according to places including gas, water and electricity) $300 to $350 if you have a roomy sharing room with you.
$400 to $500 if you want your own room.
* Phone: $50 per month
* Insurance: $50 per month
* Grocery: $75 per month
* Total: $500 to $600 per month. (Some places, the total amount per month can reach upto $700)

So, how will you pay that amount? You have two options: On campus jobs and Assistantships.

On Campus Jobs (20 Hrs/ Week): In library, in college mess, in college restaurants, in college recreation center, in college stores. These jobs are more laborious and you will earn around $600 to $700 per month after taxes. So you can manage your own expenses. Start the search for on campus from the very first day you visit the college. There will be lots of competition, so it will be on first come first serve basis.

Assistantships (20 Hrs/ Week): There are three kinds of assistantships in most of the universities; Graduate Assistantship (GA), Research Assistantship (RA) and Teaching Assistantship (TA). Benefits; it will cover around 10 credits of your tuition fees and will give you a stipend of around $1000 to $1400 per month after taxes. Start the search from India itself. But from where to start our search? Look out for university’s career center websites or Human Resources websites for Graduate Assistantships. But for Research and Teaching Assistantships, you should be scanning the profiles of your professors, and if your interest matches professor’s interests and researches, then you can directly email the professors tell that you are the prospective student and interested in working with him, explaining him the reason why you want to work with him. If you are lucky, you will get a positive reply from the professor and you might get RA or TA.

Internships: Most of the colleges have career fairs in all the three semesters, i.e. Fall, Spring, and Winter. You have to apply for internships and full time jobs during that career fairs.

Courses

I would recommend you to take the core courses in the first semester. Generally you have to take 10 to 12 courses i.e. 30 to 36 credits to complete your degree. The duration will vary between 1.5 yrs to 2 yrs. If you want to complete in 1.5 yrs, consider taking 4 courses in the first semester depending on how you can handle the course load.

Studies

Most of the classes for Masters courses are in the evening from 6pm to 9pm. The class strength may vary according to the course you select; the range is from 20 to 60 students per class. In the curriculum, you will have few assignments, project and case studies (again it depends on the course). Few courses have mid-term exams as well as finals, and few courses do not have exams at all; they only have projects, papers and presentations. The classes are very interesting and informative. You will have a good practical experience while doing the projects for your course. The best example is this blog project which I am currently doing. There are lots of discussions during the classes and class participation counts a lot towards your final grade for most of the courses. The studies here are very well organized and the professors are also very helpful. You will have a wonderful experience studying here, I am enjoying my studies and so will you!!!

Holidays!!!

Weekends: After coming to USA, I realized the importance of weekends. It’s the much deserved break from the hard working week. In weekends, you can go out for movies (costs around $10), go out for Indian dinner (costs around $7 to $10), go out to malls, go out for grocery shopping, clean your apartment, do your laundry every alternate weekends, do your studies, hang out with friends at their place and the most important thing that you do during your weekends is RELAXING.

Vacations: There will be three vacations throughout the year. Winter break of around one month (Dec – Jan), Spring break of around ten days (mid-March) and the biggest is the summer break which is of around three months (June- August). In the winter and spring break, students usually explore different places of USA. The domestic flight tickets are cheap if you book them early. So these two breaks are the right time to have fun with friends and roam around. In summer break, students usually look out for Internships or they do courses.

Important Websites

• www.edulix.com: A very informative forum, must be a member of it.
• www.accepted.com: Sample esseys, recommendation letters, writing tips
• http://gradschool.about.com: Samples for recommendation letters
• www.craigslist.org: A very important website as it covers many important things. From housing, jobs, sales of goods, information on various services all sorted according to state and cities.
• www.passport.nic.in: Official site for Indian Passport and Visa procedure and forms
• www.i20fever.com: Visa, university websites according to states, forums, information on insurances, application procedures
• www.ets.org: Official GRE and TOEFL site with study materials, sample questions, registrations, faqs, etc
• www.f1study.com: Have information on universities, visa, GRE, TOEFL, courses, rankings, insurances, etc
• www.immihelp.com: Help on topics related to visa procedure
• www.statementofpurpose.com: Site for sample statement of purpose
• www.campusdirt.com: This site will give you all the information on various universities, state wise. It also have comments from students, pictures of campus, and many more stuffs

Syracuse University, NY

Graduate Programs: http://www.syr.edu/academics.php

Application procedure: http://gradsch.syr.edu/

Preferred Apartments:
1) Lancaster ave
2) Ackerman ave
3) Redfield place
4) Ostrom ave

Oncampus Jobs/ Assistantships possibilities and earnings:
Good chances of getting oncampus jobs in the beginning of the semester. Very difficult to get an assistantships.

Oncampus Jobs: $ 600 to $ 700

Fees Structure (avg Credit Hour Fee): $ 1000 to $ 1100
Credit Hours: 30 to 42 for whole course. (Depends on the courses)
Total tuition fees: ($1000 to $1100) * (30 to 42)

Campus Recreation: Gyms, Olympic size swimming pool, Indoor Cricket ground, etc

Transportation: Free shuttle service to various location including the above mentioned apartments.

Libraries: Three major libraries in all.

Food: Plenty of dining halls and food courts, popular one is kimmel foocourt and goldstein foodcourt

(Thanks Ronak for your university's info)

Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH

Graduate Programs: http://www.case.edu/bulletin/96_98/WSOM/graduate_programs.html

Application procedure: https://www.applyweb.com/apply/cwrug/menu.html

Preferred Apartments:
1) Murray Hill
2) Overlook Apartments
3) Triangle

Oncampus Jobs/ Assistantships possibilities and earnings:
Not too hard to find an on-campus job. But have to keep looking regularly around for it because it takes time.

Oncampus Jobs: $ 700 to $ 800
Assistantships: $900 per semester.

Fees Structure (avg Credit Hour Fee): $ 1200 to $ 1400
Credit Hours:36 for whole course.
Total tuition fees: ($1200 to $1400) * (36)

Campus Recreation: Adelbert Gym, etc.
link: http://www.case.edu/dir/athletics.htm

Transportation: Free shuttle service to various locations.

Libraries: Kelvin Smith Library with access to OHIO link library and a database linked with all libraries within the US.
link: http://library.case.edu/ksl/

Food: McDonald's, Wackadoos, Taco Bell, Subway, Chipotle, Starbucks, etc.

(Thanks Khushang for your university's info)

Polytechnic University, Brooklyn, NY

Graduate Programs : http://www.poly.edu/academics/

Application Procedure : http://www.poly.edu/admissions/

Preferred Apts:
1) Ozone Park, Queens
2) Jackson Heights, Queens
3) New Jersey

Oncampus Jobs/ Assistantships possibilities and earnings:
Good chances of getting oncampus jobs in the beginning of the semester. Can get assistantships too in the second semester if your work hard for it!

Oncampus Jobs: $700 to $800

Fees : 32000 to 35000 (Credits : 30 to 36)

Recreation : Gymnasium

Transportation : MTA Subway

Libraries : One Library

Food: College Canteen

(Thanks Shileen for your university's info)

University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA

University website: www.usc.edu

Graduate Programs: http://www.usc.edu/academics/graduate/

Application procedure: http://www.usc.edu/admission/graduate/admission/

Preferred Apartments:

1) CalStudent housing http://www.calstudenthousing.com/

2) Nupac apartments http://nupac.com/

3) University owned housing Apartments http://housing.usc.edu/

Oncampus Jobs/ Assistantships: possibilities and earnings: Good chances of getting oncampus jobs in the beginning of the semester.It all works on first come first serve basis. If you apply early for oncampus jobs, more are your chances of getting one. The search procedure is simple, you keep going in every building , every office, every department on campus and ask if they have student worker openings. Assistantships are available for Ph.D candidates only meaning that even if you are a grad student pursuing your Master's, you can get an assistantship provided you COMMIT for a Ph.D and have really high grades in your first semester.

Oncampus Jobs: $ 600 on an average with min pay of 7.5$/hr and max pay of about 10-12$/hr

Assistantships: $1100 to $1300 + tuition remission

Fees Structure (avg Credit Hour Fee): $ 850 to $ 1000 Credit Hours: 27 for whole course.

Total tuition fees: ($1185) * (27) (increases by some amount every semester, but this is the most recent one ) http://www.usc.edu/academics/classes/term_20081/tuition_and_fees.html

Campus Recreation: Huge Gymnasium, swimming pool, huge recreational grounds( and they require it too as USC is a top notch football team), cricket clubs

http://www.usc.edu/dept/cricket/ cricket club site

http://www.usc.edu/student_life/campus_life/sports/ general student activities site

http://www.usc.edu/student-affairs/IMREC/ USC recreational sports site

Transportation: Tram(small buses) services in and around campus from 7.30 am to 12 noon with a frequency of 30 mins. After 5pm, you can also call for a "Campus Cruiser" which is a car shuttle service. They pick you from your current location and drop you to any where you want in and around 1 mile radius of the campus. This is usually used by students while going home or coming to campus late at nights and for avoiding to walk long distances from their housing to campus and vice versa.

http://transnet.usc.edu/transit/transit.aspx

Libraries: 29 libraries in all on and off campus. Link: http://www.usc.edu/libraries/

Illinois Institute OF Technology, Chicago, IL

Graduate Programs: http://www.grad.iit.edu/

Application procedure: http://www.grad.iit.edu/admission/apforms.html

Preferred Apartments: http://www.housing.iit.edu/choices.php
1) McCormick Student Village
2) State Street Village
3) Graduate Apartments

Oncampus Jobs/ Assistantships possibilities and earnings:
Less chances of getting an oncampus job in the beginning of the semester. Almost impossible to get a Graduate Assistantship but still better chances for Research and Teaching Assistantship

Oncampus Jobs: $ 600 to $ 700
Assistantships: $1100 to $1300 + tuition remission

Fees Structure (avg Credit Hour Fee): $ 750 to $ 800
Credit Hours: 30 to 33 for whole course.
Total tuition fees: ($750 to $800) * (30 to 33)

Campus Recreation: Gym, Olympic size swimming pool, bowling, pool, ping-pong , several Athletic Competitions

Transportation: Free shuttle service to various locations. Alternative Transportation like CTA buses and Trains.
link: http://www.iit.edu/~parking/shuttlebus.html

Libraries: Six libraries in all.
link: http://iit.edu/libraries/

Food: http://www.iit.edu/~sodexho/

University of Maryland College Park, MD

Graduate Programs: http://www.gradschool.umd.edu/catalog/programs.htm

Application procedure: http://www.gradschool.umd.edu/gss/admission.html

Preferred Apartments:
1) Graduate Gardens/Graduate Hills: http://www.smc-grad-housing.com/
2) Seven Springs Village Apartments: http://www.move.com/apartments/listing/C382796
3) University Square Apartments: http://www.universitysqapartments.com/

Oncampus Jobs/ Assistantships possibilities and earnings:
Good chances of getting oncampus jobs in the beginning of the semester. Can get assistantships too in the second semester if your work hard for it!

Oncampus Jobs: $ 600 to $ 700
Assistantships: $1100 to $1300 + tuition remission

Fees Structure (avg Credit Hour Fee): $ 850 to $ 1000
Credit Hours: 30 to 36 for whole course.
Total tuition fees: ($850 to $1000) * (30 to 36)

Campus Recreation: Four Gyms, Olympic size swimming pool, outdoor recreation like climbing wall, challenge courses etc.
link: http://www.crs.umd.edu/

Transportation: Free shuttle service to various location including the above mentioned apartments.

Libraries: Seven libraries in all.
link: http://www.lib.umd.edu/

Food: McDonald's, Panda Express, Sbarro, Taco Bell, Subway, Adele's Restaurant, The Coffee Bar, few Indian restaurants around.

Student Council of India: http://www.scimd.org/

University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati

Graduate Programs: http://www.uc.edu/academics/

Application procedure: http://www.isso.uc.edu/index.cfm?fuseaction=newProspective.home

Preferred Apartments:
1) on campus housing Scioto-Morgens
2) Off Campus housing: Riddle Road, Burnet View, Ludlow, West McMillan Street

Oncampus Jobs/ Assistantships possibilities and earnings:
Very good chances of getting oncampus jobs. Very difficult to get an assistantship as there are very few openings and given to top ranked students only.

Oncampus Jobs: $500 to $600

Fees Structure: $ 7500 to $ 8000 per quarter.
Credit Hours: 48 for some courses and 72 for MIS course.
Total tuition fees: ($7500 to $8000) * 4

Campus Recreation: Gyms, swimming pool, golf, soccer, volleyball, tennis etc
link: http://www.uc.edu/athletics/

Libraries: http://www.uc.edu/libraries/

Food: Plenty of dining halls and food courts

MIS student gets free laptops from SAP America.

(Thanks Aruj for your university’s info)

North Carolina State University

Graduate Programs: http://www.fis.ncsu.edu/grad_catalog/grad_programs.htm

Application procedure: http://www.fis.ncsu.edu/grad_catalog/app_and_admiss.htm

Preferred Apartments:
1) Avery Close
2) Champions Court
3) Colonial Arms
4) Kensington Park Apts
Average Rent: $700- 800 for 2 BHK i.e. 4 people

Oncampus Jobs/ Assistantships possibilities and earnings:
Very difficult to get oncampus jobs in the beginning of the 1st semester. But by the end of 1st semester almost everyone has a job.
Chances of assistantships are very poor at least for CS department.

Oncampus Jobs: $ 400- $ 600
Assistantships: Tuition waiver + About $1000 per month (This depends upon funding to Professor)

Fees Structure $8900 per semester
Credit Hours: 30
Total tuition fees: $26700 for 3 semesters

Campus Recreation:
Carmichael Gym has almost all game courts : Basketball,Volleyball,Lawn Tennis, Table Tennis, Badminton,50 m Olympic size pool Gyms, Soccer fields,etc.
link: http://ncsu.edu/campus_rec/

Transportation: Free bus service(Wolfline) in Raleigh. The Wolfline is the NC State community's own bus service. Wolfline buses run every day that classes are in session.Wolfline buses are open to the public. No university ID, pass, or fare is required to ride! Free online tracking is also available.
http://www2.acs.ncsu.edu/trans/transportation/wolfline/

Libraries: The D.H.Hill library has one of the largest collection of books in US. Other libraries are Design Library, Textiles Library, Natural Resources Library and Veterinary Medicine Library
link: http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/

Food:
In the campus: Taco Bell, Lil Dinos, Port City Java
Around the campus: NY Pizza, Sylvias, Papa Johns,Burger King,Subway,India Mahal

Indian Students Graduate Association in NCSU
http://clubs.ncsu.edu/maitri/index.php

(Thanks Arindam for your university's info)

University of Colorado at Boulder, Colorado

Graduate Programs: http://www.colorado.edu/academics/

Application procedure: http://www.colorado.edu/prospective/graduate/apply/index.html

Preferred Apartments:
1) Creekside (most of the Indians stay here)

Oncampus Jobs/ Assistantships possibilities and earnings:
Very good chances of getting oncampus jobs. If you work hard, you can get assistantships too.

Oncampus Jobs: $7.25/hr to $18/hr (depends on the job)
Assistantship: $1500 to $1700 + tuition remission.

Fees Structure (avg Credit Hour Fee): $ 900 to $ 1100
Credit Hours: 30 to 36 for whole course. (Depends on the courses)
Total tuition fees: ($900 to $1100) * (30 to 36)

Campus Recreation: Gyms, Olympic size swimming pool, skiing, golf, soccer, etc
link: http://www.colorado.edu/rec-center/

Libraries: http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/

Food: Plenty of dining halls and food courts.

(Thanks Varun of your university's info)

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.