Applying to US Universities

Emailing professors should be done for the purpose of benefiting form the process not for the heck of it. With the challenging application process, you are hard pressed for time. Time should be carefully invested in any aspect of application and sending emails is no exception.  Most of us do not like spam emails in our mailbox and so do the Professors. The time of Professors is precious. Sending repetitive and unfocussed emails is only going to irritate them.

Here are some ideas which will help you get a favorable response. Write a grammatically correct email and perform a spell check. Write a small mail that focuses on your research interest and you want to work with the Professor. Write a new email for every situation, never use a generic email like Dear Professor my interests are same as your interests!! Think of a good subject. Do not send any attachment in the first email. But it is a good idea to send a link to your resume. Make sure you have read the website and the research interest of the Professor. The content of your mail should reflect this. Your email should very briefly mention one or two of your strongest attributes, like 800 GRE quant score or a paper publication. 

There is a decreasing order of probability of a response if you are mailing after getting a admission offer, or after sending your application packet or even before sending your application. Some application formats ask for names of one or two professors with whom you want to work. In that case your mail should mention that. Never ask for Teaching Assistantships, because individual professors do not decide that. Never directly ask for funding in your first email. Do not mail all the Professors of a department. Do not email the same professor repeatedly if you do not get a response. If you get admitted to a program, you may resend an email to the some of the Professors in that department. For international applicants not familiar with American culture, we would like to add that be very polite in your tone. Address the Professor as Dear Dr. lastname, or Hello Dr. lastname. Never write “Dear Madam” to a female professor - it is culturally inappropriate.

The most important idea is to write something interesting and unique which will get noticed and differentiate you from hundreds of students who recently mailed that professor.

For more ideas on how to make your application stand out, please visit www.app2us.com.

If you have decided on what to study and considering where to study, please checkout www.app2us.com and other resources on internet. If you have decided to study in a top US University, but have not decided what to study, you are not the only one with the similar dilemma. For a quality

US education experience, often the academic and economic aspects need to be balanced.  To elaborate on this point, there are students who aspire an MBA degree, but the prohibitive cost leads them to consider MS. There are students who are actually interested in MS degree but end up applying for a PhD program because they have heard that probability of funding is more for PhD. The more confused ones start an MS program with an aim of applying for MBA later. The MBA programs are becoming a riskier venture for international students. The currency rate of most countries makes it very difficult for students to pay their fee. Funding opportunities are partial and limited. The job potential is uncertain. As it happened on April 1, 2007, the visa quota may get filled up and students may need to return to their countries if they could not get an H-1B visa. Working outside US may make it difficult to pay back huge MBA student loans. The funding for MS programs is shrinking but still a good number of Universities offer full funding. The flexible format of MS programs makes it possible to work part time as student workers to help pay the costs. It is possible to make good money during full-time summer internship. PhD programs are the safest bet for funding. However if you are offered admission to a PhD program without funding, it is a signal that the department does not really want you, but they will be happy if you want to contribute to their research output at your own cost. Five or six years is a long timeframe to commit without getting a commitment of assured funding. So to join a PhD admission without funding is a very risky proposition. We suggest you apply for MBA / MS / PhD whatever actually interests you and helps you achieve your goals in life. However it is good to be aware of the relative financial implications.

For MBA Fall 2008 aspirants, the first round for the Top 20 is going to open soon. Complete your GMAT if not done already. 

If your GMAT is round the corner it is the time to put in some efforts for preparation and take practice tests. You should be finalizing your target Universities soon, at least four Universities, so that you may be able to report your GMAT and TOEFL score free of cost on the test date. Most essay topics are available. Start to write the first cuts. For MBA programs employer reco matters a whole lot more. If you want to keep your MBA application venture a secret from your current employer, it is a good time to contact your past managers for the letters of recommendation.

For more information, check www.app2us.com

The essay writing is the most challenging part of the MBA application process. The applicant may end up writing anywhere between 10 to 25 essays on different topic. For a non native English speaker the task can be daunting and one may get tempted to ‘look at’ good essays from friends, books or the internet.

Business schools have a high focus on ethics and it is needless to say that the applicant should be honest in writing the essays in their own words. It is ok to look at a few good examples but the essay should be original and should reflect consistency with your GMAT verbal and TOEFL score. If you have a poor GMAT verbal score and have submitted essays which are too good for your proficiency of English, you are headed for trouble.

Here is a very good reason to write your own essays. The essays that you write for the Analytical Writing section of your GMAT Test are available to the admission committee. Although written under intense pressure of GMAT and strict time limits, those essays give a very good idea about your English grammar proficiency and your style of writing. So the essays that you write for the MBA admission should be in your own words.

Keep checking www.app2us.com for more information.

For Undergraduate and MBA programs, fall is the best time and in most Universities the only time to start your education.

For MS and PhD programs, the bulk of admissions are offered for fall semester. Most of the funding is also available in fall. However if your personal situation requires you to apply for spring, by all means go ahead. Fewer students apply in spring, so you will be competing with a small group of students and that may work in your favor.

The most important point to remember is that all Universities have there own rules and you must read the websites carefully about the spring intake.

It makes no difference to your chances of getting a visa if you are starting your education in spring.

It also makes no difference to your chances of eventually getting a good job after your education. For MS and PhD degrees, there is no fixed timetable. If you take more courses per semester, you may complete your degree program earlier than someone who joined earlier than you.

For MS and PhD Applicants targeting for fall 2008, this is a good time to decide on the Universities. Take the GRE and TOEFL appointment if you have not done so. If you are from India, Pakistan or Bangladesh, you will need a passport to appear in the GRE and TOEFL, so it is high time to apply for your passport.

If your GRE is round the corner it is the time to put in some efforts for preparation and take practice tests. You should be finalizing your target Universities soon, at least four Universities, so that you may be able to report your GRE and TOEFL score free of cost on the test date.

This is also a good time to do some interesting work during the summer either with a Professor or a company to improve your profile. A publication based on your work would go a long way in differentiating you from other good candidates.

Make a list of the potential recommenders. It is a good time to contact the people you are expecting the letters of recommendation from and let them know your plans for studying in USA. If they have forgotten you, remind them who you are!

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.