Ask a question at www.app2us.com.   

Most prospective students have a vague idea that many students at US universities are funded as Teaching or Research assistants or via scholarships or fellowships. This post analyzes why US university system funds its students. If you understand the inner workings of funding, you have a better chance of securing it.


Fellowships
Some Universities award fellowships that are combined with tuition waiver and no work is expected in return. Needless to say, these fellowships are awarded to the best of incoming students and are very competitive. Some fellowship criteria could be decided by the donor and all students may not qualify.
Key information: Best Universities want their best students to give best research output without any burden to worry about working for their livelihood. So they simply give free money to the best.

Teaching Assistantships
A teaching assistantship involves helping a Professor with Labs and grading. It may involve actual teaching. TA gets a salary which may include tuition waiver and health insurance benefits.
Key information: Universities need reasonably cheap and qualified people to help with the teaching work. TA work is managed by department as a whole, not by individual professors. PhD students, and those who have excelled in concerned course earlier, are preferred. Never contact any Professor for TAship.

Research Assistantships
A research assistantship involves helping a Professor with research work. An RA is expected to complete research related tasks as assigned. RA gets a salary which may include tuition waiver and health insurance benefits. If you work as an RA with your own advisor, the RA work could be combined with your own MS and PhD thesis, so it saves some precious time.
Key information: Most of the innovative work at universities is actually done by RAs. It won’t be wrong to say that to some extent RAs make USA a superpower. And they cost very less. So the US Govt generously funds such jobs via NSF and other govt agencies who fund research work at the universities. Individual professors can apply for various grants that can support many RAs at any given time. This is the best hope for most of you. So it is important to write the SOP very carefully clearly mentioning the research interests.

Graduate Assistantships
Students may be employed by other departments or offices in the University on similar salary and tuition waiver as TA or RA, but they do not teach or conduct research. These positions are called GA or GANT (Graduate Assistant Non-Teaching). It is like a part time job. The schedules could be worked out every semester to avoid conflict with studies and exams.
Key information: In order to effectively function Universities need a lot of semi-educated cheap labor. If they hire staff they have to pay a lot more and will have complications like pension etc. Students are motivated and cheap – so universities hire a lot of them in various roles like Library assistants, Computer operators, receptionists, drivers and so on. For this type of funding one needs to keep trying. Making a lot of friends helps, because typically when a GA quits, his or her supervisor just hire someone they refer as a good worker, not really the best available candidate.

Tweet This Post

Ask a question at www.app2us.com.   

April 17 2012 is the deadline for filing of income tax returns for 2011. Most US residents including international srudents on F-1 and J-1 visas are required to file their tax returns, including those who arrived in the US in 2011.

Foreign students and foreign scholars have special filing requirements for U.S. federal income tax returns. Most nonresident aliens with simple situations will file a form 1040NR-EZ instead of a 1040NR. To qualify for a 1040NR-EZ you must meet the following qualifications:


Your only U.S. source income was from wages, salaries, tips, taxable refunds of state and local income taxes, and scholarship or fellowship grants.

• You do not claim any dependents.
• You cannot be claimed as a dependent on another person’s U.S. tax return (such as your parent’s return).
• You do not claim any itemized deductions other than for state or local income tax.
• Your Taxable income is less than $100,000.00.
• If you are married and do not claim an exemption for your spouse.
• You are not claiming any tax credits.

The only exclusion you can take is the exclusion for scholarship and fellowship grants, and the only adjustment to income you can take is the student loan interest deduction.

There is no minimum dollar amount of income, which triggers a filing requirement for a nonresident alien, including foreign students or foreign scholars. The dollar limit thresholds which trigger a filing requirement for a U.S. citizen or a resident alien do not apply to nonresident aliens. However, Notice 2005-77 provides that a nonresident alien whose only U.S. source income is wages is not required to file a U.S. federal income tax return unless his U.S. source wages exceed the personal exemption amount ($ $9,500 for singles, under 65 years of age)

Filing IS required by nonresident alien students and scholars who have a taxable scholarship or fellowship, any wages or assistantship, or any other income, which is taxable under the Internal Revenue Code. Filing IS NOT required by nonresident alien students and scholars who have income ONLY from foreign sources, interest income from banks or any other income, which is nontaxable under the Internal Revenue Code. However, income, which is not taxable because of an income tax treaty must be reported on a U.S. income tax return even though no income tax is due on the U.S. income tax return.

Note: We are not tax attorneys, and information above is an overview, not a formal tax advice. Consult IRS website, your country’s tax treaties with the US and/or a qualified tax attorney for tax advice.


Ref: IRS Publication 501, IRS page for Foreign Students and Scholars. http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/international/article/0,,id=96431,00.html

Tweet This Post

Ask a question at www.app2us.com.   

Dharun Ravi, 20, a former Rutgers University undergraduate student accused of spying on and intimidating his gay roommate by use of a hidden webcam was found guilty Friday of all counts — including invasion of privacy and the more severe charges of bias intimidation — in a case that thrust cyberbullying into the national spotlight. According to CNN, his roommate, Tyler Clementi, an 18-year-old freshman at Rutgers, killed himself in September 2010 by jumping off the George Washington Bridge and into the Hudson River after learning that Ravi had secretly spied on his sexual encounter with another man.

Some thoughts and words of advice based on the conviction:

Bullying: Bullying is a serious crime – Cyber Bullying is a serious crime most states are toughening their laws and enforcement. So after this example we strongly recommend againt indulging in activities with invade on others privacies – it is not a joke or prank, someone can die and the perpetrator can end up facing serious charges and jail time.

Invasion of privacy: Watchinng private lives of other people and making videos is a crime in most states.

Bias intimidation: Thre are laws in the US to protect against hate crimes (also known as bias crimes) motivated by enmity or hatred against a protected class. Although state laws vary, current statutes permit federal prosecution of hate crimes committed on the basis of a person’s protected characteristics of race, religion, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability.

Deportation: Most criminal convictions for non US nationals carry a possibility of deportation.

Expulsion: Such activities can invite expulsion. Dharun Ravi is now a ‘former student’.

Partners in crime won’t help: Ravi’s ellow hallmate, Molly Wei testified against him to avoid charges. So think twice before collaborating for any type of crime. In the end you will be on your own.

Laws: There are laws to protect against bullying and this incidence has brought the problem of bullying to national attention. In November, 2010, an anti-bullying bill was passed on a 71-1 vote in the New Jersey Assembly and a 30-0 vote in the New Jersey Senate. No matter what may be your personal likes or dislikes, one must abide by laws of a country where one studies or lives.

Parent’s Response: Nothing can bring a dead person back. Tyler Clementi’s parents, Jane and Joseph Clementi, announced plans to start the Tyler Clementi Foundation. The foundation will focus on promoting awareness of bullying, particularly cyber-bullying. Clementi’s father Joe sent a message to young people, saying, “You’re going to meet a lot of people in your life. Some of these people you may not like. Just because you don’t like them doesn’t mean you have to work against them.”

Dharun Ravi shall be sentenced on May 21. app2us.com strongly condemns bullying in all forms and expresses its solidarity witht he victims of bullying. We encourage our readers to report suspected incidents of bullying and help promote tolerance on campus.

Sources: CNN, wikipedia

Tweet This Post

Ask a question at www.app2us.com.   

This is the shortest ever blog post. On 14th February former Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who is also a former Director of Central Intelligence (CIA Director) interviewed with app2us.com. The honorable Gates has also served as the President of Texas A&M University, and is currently the Chancellor of the College of William and Mary.

In reply to a question, Dr. Gates said, ” Surrounding yourself with people who look, think and believe just as you do not only is a lost opportunity to grow intellectually and culturally, it is very poor preparation for living and working in the real world.” Read the full interview here. Here are all our interviews.

Official White House Photo by Peter Souza, Copyright 2011, The White House

Tweet This Post

Ask a question at www.app2us.com.   

About original Ivy League Universities, read this first. Public Ivies are a set of 8 universities known for academic excellence. In 1985 author Richard Moll coined the term “Public Ivies” in his book The Public Ivies: America’s Flagship Undergraduate Colleges. At that time, Moll identified eight universities as public institutions that “provide an Ivy League collegiate experience at a public school price”. In addition to academic excellence, other factors considered by Moll include visual appearance, age, and school traditions as well as certain other Ivy League characteristics. The eight universities Moll identified:

• The College of William and Mary


• Miami University of Ohio


• The University of California at Berkeley, **


• University of Michigan, Ann Arbor


• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill


• The University of Texas at Austin


• University of Vermont


• University of Virginia.
  

** some scholars include the other campuses of the UC system also.

Several schools considered as “Public Ivies” are consistently ranked among the top schools in the multitude of surveys on American colleges and universities undertaken by U.S. News & World Report. For instance, half of the top 12 ranked national universities for undergraduate teaching in U.S. News and World Report are of the original Public Ivies listed by Moll. Public Ivies can be found in the top ten ranked graduate schools in business, education, engineering, law, and medicine. Howevr, just in the case of main or private Ivy Leagues, it must be understood that this is a classification based on certain academic and non academic criteria. This does not suggest that these are absolutely the best 8 public universities in the US.

The College of William and Mary is the second oldest college in the US, now a cutting-edge research university. According to W&M website, “We’re highly selective, but also public, offering a world-class education without the sticker shock….We believe in original, hands-on research, something that’s missing from most liberal arts educations. That’s why our undergrads-from their very first class-are given unprecedented opportunities to work with peers and experienced faculty mentors on projects that inspire them.

To highlight The College of William Mary, we shall publish an interview with former student (class of 1965) and incoming Chancellor, The Honorable Robert Gates, former secretary of defense. Dr. Gates is the first defense secretary in the nation’s history to serve under presidents from different political parties. He is also the first and only entry level CIA employee to rise to the position of Director Central Intelligence. He also served as the president of Texas A&M university from 2002 to 2006.

Ref: Wikipedia, W&M website.

Tweet This Post

Ask a question at www.app2us.com.   

Dr. Mithas worked in the most admired business group of India – the Tata group for about a decade and then decided to pursue his PhD from Ross School of Business, University of Michigan. At the end of his PhD, largely due to quality research work and publications, he was a much sought after candidate for the Assistant Professor position. He is now an Associate Professor at the Smit School of Business, University of Maryland, College Park. He was identified as a 2011 MSI Young Scholar by the Marketing Science Institute. His book titled “Digital Intelligence: What Every Smart Manager Must Have for Success in an Information Age” is creating a buzz these days and we decided to interview him earlier this week for the app2us inspirational interview series. 

Dr. Mithas said, “It is likely that those graduating from say top 50 programs may have higher earnings (but they also cost more) than those graduating from say lower ranked programs, but I am yet to see any definitive study documenting higher returns for those graduating from the most expensive programs. In general, rankings are very noisy measures of a school’s quality.” About the book, he says, “The 4D framework for governance of digital resources focuses attention on four salient dimensions: decision rights, dollars, department role and configuration and delivery of IT services. It is important for firms to get the configuration of these four aspects of governance right vis-a-vis a firm’s strategy. From a top management perspective, I will first start with determining dollars or overall investment levels in IT consistent with a firm’s strategy as I discuss in the book.” The complete interview is published here 

According to him, the book is intended for general managers and students who want to improve their digital intelligence or digital IQ. The book espouses the belief that ITracy is an important competence that global leaders need to have in today’s economy to become more productive and informed members of the society and to enhance the performance of their organizations. The book lays out the most basic competencies and skill sets for thinking about IT and IT-enabled changes that all managers should have. The book can be purchased at Amazon.com
or Createspeace 

app2us.com recommends the book for any MBA or MIS student who wants to understand the importance of IT to the success of business. It is also recommended as a casual reading for CS and CE students to better understand the real life applications of all their research. If you are a twitter user, you can follow app2us at twitter.com/app2us and Dr. Sunil Mithas at twitter.com/ITisIMP 

Tweet This Post

Ask a question at www.app2us.com.   

Most MIS prograns accept either the GRE General Test or the GMAT score. The MS in MIS degree is significantly different as compared to MS in Computer Science. While a degree in CS prepares you for a job in Software development, an MIS degree equips you with both technical and business skills. Students in the area of MIS can expect to work in the consulting companies like Deloitte – in the area of technology consulting. 

Here are some of the leading Universities that offer MS programs in the area of MIS/IS:
Carnegie Mellon University (Heinz school): Master of Information Systems Management (MISM)
University of Maryland, College Park (Smith): MS in Business: Information Systems
Purdue University (Krannert): MS in MIS
University of Arizona (Eller): MS in MIS
Texas A & M University (Mays): MS in MIS
Cornell University
University of Illinois – Urbana Champaign
The George Washington University
The University of Texas at Dallas
University at Buffalo – SUNY
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
University of Florida
University of Michigan
Rochester Institute of Technology
The University of North Carolina at Charlotte
The University of Texas at Arlington
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
University of Denver 

For those who wish to understand more about the importance of technology to businesses, this is a good suggested reading. Digital Intelligence: What Every Smart Manager Must Have for Success in an Information Age

For deeper understanding of related issues and some common questions that the applicants to MIS have, app2us.com shall publish an interview next week with the author of this book, Dr. Sunil Mithas, associate professor at Smith Shool of Business, University of Maryland, College Park. You can email your questions to feedback AT app2us.com, we shall include some of the interesting questions by our readers. 

Tweet This Post

Ask a question at www.app2us.com.   

21 (2008): Based on a true story, MIT senior math major Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess) is accepted into Harvard Medical School but cannot afford the $300,000 cost. Despite a 44 MCAT score and top grades, Ben faces a fierce competition for the prestigious Robinson Scholarship that would pay entirely for the medical school. He and five other MIT students get trained to become experts in card counting and subsequently take Vegas casinos for millions in winnings, under the guidance of a MIT professor! 

3. Princeton University 

**A Beautiful Mind (2001): Based on a true story of the life of John Nash, a Nobel Laureate in Economics. He graduated from MIT and started to teach there. But his career gets derailed due to . Much later, the head of the Princeton mathematics department, who grants him permission to work out of the library and audit classes. Years pass and as Nash grows older he learns to ignore his hallucinations. Eventually he earns the privilege of teaching again. In 1994, he won the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his pioneering analysis of equilibria in the theory of non-cooperative games, based on the work mostly done four decades ago.  

4. Carnegie Mellon University 

Wonder Boys (2000): It stars Michael Douglas as professor Grady Tripp, a novelist who teaches creative writing at an unnamed Pittsburgh university (not CMU). He has been unable to finish his second novel, his young wife has left him, and he is sleeping with the Chancellor of the university (Frances McDormand), who is the wife of the chairman of his department.Wonder Boys was filmed in Pittsburgh, including locations at Carnegie Mellon University, Chatham University, and Shady Side Academy. 

Smart People (2008 ): An unexpected romance with a charming former student (Sarah Jessica Parker) and a surprise visit from his wild adopted brother (Thomas Haden Church) conspire to turn the life of widowed professor Lawrence Wetherhold (Dennis Quaid) upside down. Smart People was filmed on location in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, including several scenes at Carnegie Mellon University. 

5. University of Texas at Austin 

Man of the house (2005): The movie is a crime comedy starring Tommy Lee Jones. A group of cheerleaders from the University of Texas at Austin witness a murder. Lt. Roland Sharp (Jones), a lonesome Texas Ranger goes undercover as an assistant cheerleading coach of UT Austin to protect the cheerleaders 

6. UCLA 

Old School (2003): A comedy film starring Luke Wilson, Vince Vaughn, and Will Ferrell as three thirty-somethings who seek to re-live their college days by starting a fraternity, and the tribulations they encounter in doing so. The film is set in La Crescenta, California. Filming locations included UCLA and USC. 

7. UC Irvine 

Creator (1985): Harry Wolper (Peter O’Toole) is a Nobel laureate in biology, obsessed by the possibility to clone his beloved late wife, Lucy. Helped by a student and a egg-donor girl, Meli, Dr. Wolper finally succeeds in the cloning process, but the events leading to this achievement create strong bonds between hims and Meli. The Neuroscience labs and exteriors of UCI were featured in this science fiction-comedy film. 

Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972): A science fiction film directed by J. Lee Thompson. It is the fourth of five films in the original Planet of the Apes series. Several of the (then) futurist buildings at UCI were involved in the filming. The School of Social Science was transformed into a violent training center for simian slaves, and its courtyard became an ape auction block. 

Ocean’s Eleven (2001): UCI continues to attract movie makers even in the 21st century. In the movie, the building where the crew steals the EMP device is actually the Gillespie Neuroscience Research Facility located in the College of Medicine. 

8. Marshall University 

** We are Marshall (2006): Based on a true story of the aftermath of the 1970 plane crash that killed 37 football players on the Marshall University Thundering Herd football team. The team’s new coach and his surviving players try to keep the football program alive.It addresses the rebuilding of the program and the healing that the community undergoes. It stars Matthew McConaughey as head coach Jack Lengyel. Truly inspirational movie, a must watch. 

9. Naval Academy 

Annapolis (2006): The film revolves around Jake Huard, a young man who dreams of one day attending the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. This picture was made without the support of the Department of the Navy and the Department of Defense, thus not allowed to be shot at the Naval Academy. 

10. USC 

Do to close proximity with Hollywood, the USC campus has been the location for many famous films. The Graduate, A League of their Own, Mighty Ducks II, Being John Malkovich, Forrest Gump, For Love of the Game, Legally Blonde, Krippendorf’s Tribe, Thirteen Days, What Women Want…the list goes on. 

Source: Lots of movie watching, Wikipedia and IMDB. 

Tweet This Post

Ask a question at www.app2us.com.   

By now, most MS/PhD/MBA applicants are done with GRE/GMAT and TOEFL tests and submitted the applications. After months of being very busy with the application process, now there is not much to do for the next two months, except for to wait for the decisions. This period can be very stressful for some. Here are some tips to avoid stress:

1. Take a break from the applications and universities related activities.

2. Meet your friends and family in real world (not facebook). From March to June you will get busy with visa and travel plans and then shall be gone to USA.

3. Check your application status online, but do not overdo it.

4. It is very common for the application status to get reflected late, as the universities are very busy with the applications – status update is always low on their priority list. Do not call the universities about your status.

5. Do not bombard professors with emails. After getting admitted, you may contact one or two in the universities where you got admitted.

Our next blog post (comimg up tomorrow) will have some additional ideas to have fun.

Tweet This Post

Ask a question at www.app2us.com.   

1. Getting a job in the US after the degree
For most of you this is the reason for thinking of USA as a place to study. So what is wrong with this goal, don’t we all study to benefit from it somehow? While most international students do end up getting jobs and some of them really well paid jobs but this should not be the main reason. One cannot count on getting a decent job – it is not at all guaranteed. And we are not talking about recession of economic downturn here – getting jobs has always been very tough for international students. It is like looking for a needle in a haystack. The job search process can be too prolonged and grueling and it is not for everyone to mentally survive that kind of ordeal. So if you are getting a fully funded admission, go for it, it does not matter if you do not find a good job. Just return with your degree – you lost nothing. On the other hand if you took loans (or your parents sold their home and land) for the degree, then not getting a job in US is no more an option.


2. Getting a job before completing the degree
Some ‘consultants’ and ‘agents’ in Hyderabad, India and elsewhere may try to convince you that they will help you get admitted to such a dream university that you will attend classes in the evening and make dollars during the day from the day one. More technically, they will offer CPT from the first semester. Sorry, your dream is over, such ideas could lead you to humiliation, deportation or jail-time or all of these. Not to mention a GPS enabled tracking device, meant for people accused of having committed a crime. This did happen actually. Read more.


3. To be with someone
Getting reunited with your boyfriend, girlfriend, husband or wife is an honorable idea indeed. However getting admission in some random university, just to get an I-20 and a F-1 visa so that you can enter the US is a bad idea. With little effort and determination this could be converted to a good idea. Stretch yourself, study hard for GRE, and with same motive, apply to reputable universities in the area, that will enable you to be in the US, and gain a quality education.


4. Green card
Many people plan on the lines of “I want to get a permanent residency (green card), so I want to pursue a degree in USA/Canada/Australia…” In USA, unless you have a PhD, it is very difficult to get a green card for people from India, China, Mexico and Philippines. It takes from 2 to 8 years after the degree to get a green card. For more unlucky people who get laid off or change jobs early during the process, it can take much longer.


5. US Citizenship
With all the recession and losing its economic might, US remains a very interesting and welcoming country for talented people worldwide. So there is no harm in dreaming to be a US citizen someday. However that is not a good reason to try to study in USA. Faster paths exist, for example, the diversity lottery program etc. Moreover the day you acquire US citizenship, not much will change career-wise. It is not as if people with green card or citizenship get paid more or get a promotion. If citizenship itself was so helpful, then millions of educated Americans won’t be jobless today or at any given time. Having said that, the citizenship does help in job search and one becomes eligible for more jobs, particularly those related to government and national security.


6. Having a good time
Some people apply to US universities for having some fun in USA. Get a tourist visa instead and go visit Las Vegas. Why waste the time and energy and other valuable resources, when someone better focused can do better if admitted.


7. Your current situation sucks big-time
Well, it could be worse in the US. If you are unable to handle the pressure of studies or job in your own country, where the environment is familiar, chances are high that life could be more miserable in the US.


8. For doing an MBA in the future
As ridiculous as it sounds, there is a good number of applicants (including app2us users) who apply to MS programs for the sole purpose of applying to MBA programs ‘few’ years later. Please apply to MBA programs directly.


9. To return to home country with very high prospects
This could be a good reason, if you are headed to good universities. It is listed under bad reasons for a reason – to warn you against studying in non-reputable universities. If you study at MIT, Caltech, Harvard, Stanford etc., no doubt you will command professional respect worldwide. However world is a well-connected place, and a degree from an unknown university in US does not impress people anymore, in any country, not even in the third world. Why pursue a degree that will make you a laughing stock worldwide. “Hmm… this guy was not good enough for anything here, so he went to this XYZ US University…”


10. Desire to be super rich
Again, not a bad idea, but the expectations management is the key here. As long as you understand that millions of Americans who study at US Universities are not millionaires, (despite having the advantage of language and culture), so getting a degree from even a top university, does not necessarily equip you for this. However, you can try. Statistically, some of you reading this will indeed have a great future in the US which includes the possibility of becoming multi-millionaires or even billionaires. Just don’t count on it. Good luck!

Tweet This Post