All in One: Application procedure

Welcome

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.

Saturday

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.

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Checklist

Before arrival:

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.

All in One

******** Seperate blog for prospective UMCP students at: