Applying to US Universities

The GRE (Graduate Record Examination) General Test, often referred to as “GRE”, is a standardized test. There is a subject GRE also, but most students can manage their graduate admission process with the General Test score. This post is about the GRE General Test. The test has two formats – paper based and computer based. The paper based test is offered in a very few countries, on two specific dates every year. A Computer based test can be scheduled anytime during the year. The computer based GRE is adaptive. 

Adaptive means the test adapts according to the correct or wrong response to previous answers. If you are doing great and getting answers correct, the subsequent question would be of greater difficulty level. A difficult question carries more weight. GRE has 3 sections – verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning and analytical writing. The possible range of score in each of Verbal and Quant section is between 200 to 800. If you score 431 in verbal and 591 in quant, you did better than half of the of test takers in each section, but for admission to a good university you should do better than that. Interpreting your score.

Different Universities have different rules about more than one GRE scores of the same candidate. Some take an average; some consider the most recent and so on. It is in the best academic and financial interest of an applicant to prepare well so that a need of a second shot at GRE does not arise. 

One should know that it costs a significant amount of money to report your GRE score to each University that you are applying to. However on the test day, you can supply the names of 4 Universities and the score to those Universities is reported by ETS free of cost. GRE score is one of many aspects of an applicant’s academic profile.

A great GRE score does not guarantee admission to a top University and at the same time all is not lost if the GRE score is not so great. 

More information about GRE General Test, see the official GRE website

 Ivy League is a set of eight private US Universities: 

• Brown University
• Columbia University
• Cornell University
• Dartmouth College
• Harvard University
• University of Pennsylvania
• Princeton University
• Yale University

The name is derived from the ivy plants that cover many of these institutions’ old historic buildings and is symbolic of their age. Formally, Ivy League is the name of the Athletic Conference of these eight Universities http://www.ivyleaguesports.com All of Ivy League Universities are located in the

Northeastern USA. These are among the best Universities for Undergraduate education, but not all of them are at the top of the rankings for graduate school. In addition to a great academic and research facilities, the alumni networks of these Universities are among the strongest. Invariably the cost of tuition is high. If you are applying to 5 or 6 Universities, you may apply to a few of these if they offer your program of choice.  There are many top Universities like MIT, Stanford or Berkeley which are not part of Ivy League.

If you want to apply for Fall 2008, now (May 2007) is a good time to start. By June you should be short listing a set of Universities in your field.  Register for required standardized tests if you haven’t done so, and also start studying for the test. For citizens of some counties, a passport is required as the identification requirement for the GRE, GMAT and TOEFL. Apply for a passport before you do anything else. You should complete your GRE/GMAT test by September and TOEFL by October. Check out this blog and www.app2us.com regularly for helpful information and tips. 

Try to get your transcripts from your current or past universities by September. Depending on your GRE score and profile, you should finalize 4 to 8 Universities by October. If your academics and test scores are strong, applying to 6 Universities should do the trick.  

Contact potential recommenders by September. Hand them over the relevant papers and information by October and collect your letters of recommendation by November. Most of the applications are online. Start working on your applications in October. Complete the applications and write the required essays and SOP by November. Most of the deadlines are during December and January.  Complete the online application by November end. Even if the application is online, you still need to send a packet through courier, which would include your transcripts and letters of recommendation. Send the offline materials two or three weeks before the application deadline. DHL sometimes offers special rates in

India for University application packets. During January and February spend some time researching the department and professors website and contact a few of them. During February and March you will hear the result from most of the Universities. Make a decision by April and contact some Professors at your target University. Work on the visa documents during May. Take an appointment for your visa interview for June or July. Book your tickets and pack your bags. When we checked last, Lufthansa Airlines allowed extra baggage for students headed to USA.

Most of the world’s top ranked Universities are in the USA. At a US University you may attend a class taught by a Nobel Laureate , a leading researcher or author in a field. The research facilities and funding at US Universities are world class.If you got your first degree fromaanother country, studying abroad is one of the best investments you can make for your career. US remains the top destination for international students. Large US Universities have dedicated International Student offices which cater to the unique needs of international students. On the campus of US University, you may find a student from almost any country of the world.

There are many opportunities of funding at US Universities and many of these opportunities are open to international students. Universities award Scholarships, Fellowships and Assistantships to deserving applicants. In many cases the scholarships or assistantships are combined with full or partial tuition waiver.

If you are planning to permanently migrate to the USA, a University degree may be a first solid step towards that goal. With a degree from a US University, you are likely to do well in the job market. If you plan to work in any country in the world, the degrees awarded by US Universities are very well recognized.

In addition to all very good reasons mentioned above, the education experience at a US University can be a lot of fun. You can participate in many on campus activities and programs for students. There is more flexibility than you can think of. The students get to decide what courses they will take and which Professors class they would like to join, in some cases, even when they want to graduate!

There are many University ranking systems that may confuse an applicant. If you examine closely, no University or program holds a consistent position in any rankings. However, rankings are consistent to the extent that if you look at top 10 Universities in different rankings, you will come across the same 7 or 8 Universities.

Rankings are one of many parameters that should weigh in your decision-making. For undergraduate programs University ranking is more relevant, but for graduate programs department ranking, if available, is more relevant. However rankings are not available for many fields of study.

What does a top-10 or top-20 program has to offer, which a 100^th rank program may not offer? The answer is not straightforward but one should closely look at the factors taken into the ranking itself. A higher ranked graduate program is more likely to have better research credentials, more publications, higher number of professors and definitively a better branding. Better branding and a large pool of successful alumni can result in great career growth and better job opportunities both at campus and later in the career. In case of MBA programs, there is a much higher chances of higher salaries and better jobs from top ranked programs as compared to those not in Top 25 or 30.

We at app2us.com suggest you take an average of many different rankings. Ranking should be considered along with other factors like type of research, location, funding opportunities and your chances of being admitted to a particular University.

Does it make a difference if you get admitted to a 10^th or 12^th ranked University?  Probably not. How about the difference between 20^th and 80^th ranked University? You may decide that for yourself!

Some websites for US University rankings:

http://www.auap.com/classu.html www.usnews.com.

http://www.princetonreview.com

http://www.careerdynamo.com/mba/mba_ranking/mba_rankings.html

US Universities attract students from all parts of the world. With the vibrant academic environment, excellence in research and teaching and diversity of students, the education can be a life changing experience. A degree from a US University is universally recognized as a benchmark of excellence and more often than not many doors of opportunities, in US or in any other part of the world. The selection for top Universities is very competitive and the admission process can be somewhat intimidating and complicated.

The app2us website and blog were founded by a group of graduate students who have gone through the process and have enjoyed every bit of it. We want to share our thoughts and insights with the aim of benefiting students who are planning to apply for admissions to BS, MS, PhD or MBA programs at the US Universities.

We hope you find the blog and website www.app2us.com  interesting and useful. If you have any suggestions or want to know more about some aspect of the application process, please write to feedback AT app2us DOT com.