If you are fortunate to get multiple admission offers, you need to make a decision. April 15th is the deadline by most universities for accepting funded admission offers. You should compare the offers in terms of academic reputation, fees and funding, research opportunities and other factors important to you. Our blog post Multiple Admission Offers covers this topic. Also we help select the best offer at our forums under the thread Multiple Admission Offers.

This post is about what you need to do after you have decided your final destination. Go ahead and accept ONE offer. You should do it as per the instructions – be it by post or fax or email. It does not hurt to send an additional email just in case they do not receive your letter or fax. Do not wait till the last day. In addition to the official acceptance, you should also indicate your acceptance to your advisor, if you are assigned one.

It is really important to accept one and only one offer. Some Universities share information and you do not want to be found to have accepted more than offer. Moreover, it is unethical and you should not waste the spot which could go to another well-qualified applicant on the waiting list. You should send a short email informing your decision to all other programs . You may indicate your reasons.

Let us assume a student has got 4 admission offers from U1, U2, U3, with funding and U4 without funding. Universities have mentioned the acceptance deadline is on 15th April. Here are some examples of Ethical behavior:

Case A: The student accepts offer from U1 on April 2nd, On April 3rd U4 informs her about a fellowship which was not known earlier. The student informs this to U1, withdraws the acceptance and accepts the offer of U4.
Case B: The student informs U3 that U2 is offering $15,000 per year, she really wants to join U3 but they are only offering $14,000 per year, if U3 increase the funding to $15,000 then she will accept the U3 offer. U3 denies and the student accepts the U2 offer.
Case C: The student accepts the U2 offer on April 5th. Changes her mind on April 7th for some reason and decides to join U4. She informs U2 on April 8th and same day accepts the U4 offer.



Some examples of unethical behavior:


Case D: Acceptance of two or more offers concurrently. (Without withdrawing the first acceptance)
Case E: Withdrawal of acceptance after the deadline
Case F: Acceptance of some offer if the student has no plans to pursue the program.

U.S. News and other rankings publish data on acceptance rates for US universities. This post is about the significance of such data. First let us look at the acceptance rates of some top graduate level engineering programs:

1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology 23.5%

2 Stanford University 28.0%

3 University of California Berkeley 20.4%

4 Georgia Institute of Technology 36.8%

5 University of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign 19.2%

6 California Institute of Technology 13.1%

7 Carnegie Mellon University 21.8%

8 University of Southern California Los Angeles 46.6%

9 Cornell University 19.8%

9 University of Michigan–Ann Arbor 36.4%

Cal Tech is the most selective among the top engineering universities and USC is the most generous in handing out admissions, particularly for M.S.

As an applicant when you look at this data, it still does not mean much to you. If you are not good for USC, you wont be in the top 46% and if you are too good, Cal Tech will still accept you.

Acceptance rate in itself does not make a program reputable, rather it is a by product of lots of factors. Let us compare UIUC and USC. UIUC application fee is $40 and $50 for international applicants. USC fee is flat $85. It is reasonable to infer that more qualified students apply to UIUC due to almost half application fee. That must be a factor in UIUC to turn down more than 80% of the applicants. Another factor is the graduate student enrolment, which is approximately 4000 for USC and 2500 for UIUC.

Now let us analyze Cornell and Michigan Ann Arbor, both ranked 9 at US News for Engineering. Even the application fee and tuition fee are comparable. Here the key is total intake – 1378 for Cornell and 2416 for Michigan. On head to head comparison, Michigan looks more attractive as chances of admission should be high for a typical applicant. However individual details like research interest do defy such generalizations.

What do we suggest? Be informed about the acceptance rate data and use it as a tie breaker between similarly ranked universities. Please understand that a better acceptance rate does not always make that university suitable for you. Refer http://www.app2us.com/univ-selection/acceptance.htm for more information.


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Facebook is one of the fastest growing technology companies and is a highly sought-after employer for the students of computer science. These days facebook is visiting top universities for hiring interns and fresh graduates. We got the list of universities and dates of interviews from facebook website. Please visit facebook job page for details.

UNIVERSITY (RANK) (DATE OF INTERVIEW)
Berkeley (1) Jan 22

Brown (20) March 5

Caltech (11) Feb 3

Carnegie Mellon (4) Feb 2

Columbia (16) Feb 5

Harvard (16) Feb 13

MIT (1) Feb 12

Stanford (1) Feb 12

Texas (9) (UT Austin) Feb 6

UCLA (13) Jan 26

Washington (6) Feb 18

Waterloo Feb 15

Wisconsin (11) Feb 5

In addition, facebook will be hiring at the following B-Schools:

Berkeley Haas (7)

Harvard Business School (1)

MIT Sloan (4)

Northwestern Kellogg (4)

Stanford GSB (1)

Among the Engineering schools, we have indicated the US News CS rankings in paranthesis, and for B-Schools again the US News rankings. While most of our readers will not be working or interviewing with Facebook, this idea is to show the correlation between top universities and hiring trend of a top company. By the way, Facebook turned 5 yesterday (February 4th).

Reference:

Facebook, US News

SmartMoney recently published a ranking of colleges that used a new way to measure the best schools: Comparing the amount that graduates earned down the road against published tuition costs for their undergraduate educations.

The ranking methodology: Using an online salary database, SmartMoney took the salaries that graduates were earning 3 and 15 years after graduation, then divided those salaries by the cost of a degree obtained in 2005 and 1993, respectively.

According to Dr. Elsa Murano, President of Texas A&M University, “We are obviously pleased—but certainly not surprised — to have Texas A&M acknowledged as a national leader in the financial return on investment in a college education. We take special pride in providing our students a high-quality education at the most affordable cost within our means, in keeping with our high standards as one of the nation’s top research universities. We don’t necessarily strive to be the least expensive; our goal is to provide the best overall value for a university that offers a world-class educational experience.”

The overall ranking (with payback ratio):

1. Texas A&M University (315%)

2. University of Texas, Austin (306%)

3. Georgia Tech (263%)

4. University of Georgia (239%)

5. University of Washington (225%)



The winners in the Liberal Arts category:

1. Washington and Lee (165%)

2. University of Richmond (130%)

3. Lafayette College (115%)

4. College of the Holy Cross (114%)

5. Bucknell (114%)



The top five Ivies:

1. Princeton (132%)

2. Dartmouth (131%)

3. Yale (127%)

4. Harvard (124%)

5. University of Pennsylvania (124%)

app2us.com analysis: This ranking is very significant because it puts the worth of the degree in perspective. In simple language, it means that if you get a degree from Texas A&M University or The University of Texas at Austin, your return on investment is the best. Even if you forget the fee and costs, these are anyway one of the best Engineering Universities and well ranked for other fields like Management. It is interesting to note that these are both public Universities of Texas. At 3 and 4 are public Universities of Georgia. According to this ranking, public Universities have beaten private and Ivy League by some margin. As you can see, Ivy league schools do not have an attractive return on investment.Although the rankings are specific for undergraduate education but the trends for graduate degrees is likely to be on a similar pattern. If you are an international applicant (and not tied to a particular state for in-state benefits), we recommend you to consider these rankings before making your final list of universities to apply to.

Reference: SmartMoney.com, Colleges that pay off


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In the mid nineteenth century there was a lot of gold to be found in California. You are little late for that. But still there are many reasons to apply to Universities in California!

No U.S. state can match California in the quality and number of top Universities. Stanford, UC Berkeley, UCLA, USC, Cal Tech, Hastings College of Law are one of the top Universities. The number of Nobel Laureates in these Universities exceeds those in many countries of the world.

California has a robust and diverse economy with lots of activities in the Computers, Biotech, Healthcare and Engineering. Even when US economy is not doing too good, the California economy is strong due to the innovations that are pioneered in California. Silicon Valley, Hollywood, Disneyland are in California. California is home to some of the world’s biggest computer and software companies.

California is culturally and racially the most diverse state in the U.S. and perhaps in the world. It is amazing to note that banks and government departments offer services in Spanish, Mandarin, Tagalog and Vietnamese and more. Telugu speakers can be found everywhere. Diversity is good for everyone more so for international students and new immigrants. More diversity leads to high acceptability of people from outside and better chances of getting jobs. It also means that you have a vibrant workplace where you have co workers from different cultures. For food connoisseurs, there are a variety of eating joints where you can get food from all parts of the world. California is by far the leading state in the number of international students studying in any state – 77,987 in 2006-07.

Even geographically it is an amazing place. Within 2 hours of the Silicon Valley, you can reach plains, Bays, Ocean, Deserts, Forests, Snow-clad mountains and large lakes. The weather in the most urban areas is pleasant throughout the year.

So what is the down side? The living cost is higher. But that is compensated by the numerous advantages. While Applying to US Universities be sure to include a few from California. When you have multiple admission offers, read this blog before you take a decision!

Top 5 institutions in California in the number of international student enrolment:

• University of Southern California
• University of California, Los Angeles
• Stanford University
• University of California, Berkeley
• Santa Monica College

Ref: Open Doors Report, U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs

Having received multiple admission offers is a very happy yet confusing situation in the process of applying to US Universities. Ideally one should be able to decide easily on the basis of academic ranking and reputation. But along with academics, fees and funding become a crucial factor in decision making. There is always a dilemma to select a better ranked University or decide in favor of a lower ranked University from where you have got an assistantship. If you have not got any funding from any University, then also there could be a significant difference in the fee.

Every situation is unique and there cannot be a thumb rule or algorithm for decision making. Academic reputation should be the main criteria, because that translates into better job prospects and a better future. After you graduate with a degree, you will carry that degree and the privileges associated with it throughout your life. Nobody cares whether you got an assistantship or were self funded. If you can manage the financial situation with the help of loans, we encourage you to go for the better degree program. Sometimes the location factor becomes significant.

You should refer to as many sources as possible, because you will live with decision forever, and this may be the most important decision in your life so far. Try to talk to some current student, send a few emails. Do not overdo it, students are busy people. If you need help, come visit our forum at www.app2us.com and we will help you take an informed decision. All services at app2us.com are free.

The Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) degree is the degree you should seek if you are interested in becoming a practicing pharmacist in the USA. The Pharm.D. program takes four years of study. The Pharm.D. program prepares students for licensure as a pharmacist. This degree will allow you to practice pharmacy in a number of settings including in a hospital or community setting, home health care, and nursing home care. A prior bachelor’s degree is not necessary. Admission to most Pharm.D. programs is handled through a common admission process of Pharmacy College Application Service (PharmCAS) Application. Some Universities need a supplemental University specific application.

A Ph.D. in Pharmacy degree will help you pursue a research career in either an academic or pharmaceutical industry setting. Other degrees in Pharmacy include the professional Pharm.D. degree, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in the areas of Medicinal Chemistry , Pharmaceutics , Pharmacology & Toxicology, Pharmacotherapy, Pharmacy Administration and Pharmacy Practice. Very few Universities, for example the Ohio State University offer a B.S. program in Pharmaceutical Sciences.

At Oregon State University, students can start out as pre-pharmacy majors through the College of Science, or they can apply to the Early Admission Program, which admits high school seniors or college freshmen to both the pre-pharmacy and Pharm.D. programs. If you have a three year B.Sc. degree in Biology or Chemistry, check with your target Universities, you may be eligible for admission to a Pharm.D. program.

Links to some reputable Pharmacy programs:

• University of Texas at Austin
• The Ohio State University
• University of Utah
• University of Pittsburgh
• Oregon State University

” . . . what might be called the real estate industrial complex, the economic engine that has become one of the few reliable sources of growth in recent years. Encompassing everything from land surveyors to general contractors to loan officers, the sprawling sector has added 700,000 jobs to the nation’s payrolls over the last four years.” -New York Times

Real Estate is the leading driver of the US economy in the last few years. A Masters degree in Real Estate prepares individuals to buy, sell, develop and manage property. The program covers policy, law, real estate marketing procedures, brokerage, property inspection and appraisal. Some of the reputable real estate programs are:

• Cornell University
• Texas A&M University
• New York University
• UT Arlington
• University of Cincinnati

It is common and logical that students shortlist the Universities on the basis of ranking reputation and research areas. Obviously academics the main purpose of going to USA for higher education.

Students should come up with a good fit of 3 or 4 Universities where they have realistic chances of admission and aid. Then they should add 1 or 2 dream schools and 1 or 2 safety schools.Next to academics, three most important criteria in University selection are Expense, Climate, and Job scenario (in that state of USA).

For international applicants the cost of attendance is very important. Even if you are totally funded, you have to pay for your rent, food, etc which drastically varies if you are in New York or College Station.

Most of the northern states of USA experience cold winters with subzero temperatures. The picture of snow may look pretty but life becomes very difficult for those not used to that extreme weather. It adds to living cost too if you have to buy heavy winter clothing.

Looking for jobs is easier if your University is located in a state with strong economic activity related to your education. Some of the states of USA have good job opportunities and some are home to dying industries bearing the burnt of outsourcing. For example, the job scenario and acceptability of a foreign worker is high in California.

We offer free and frank advice on University selection at www.app2us.com

US News 2008 College rankings are now available here

US News is one of the reputable rankings. Full rankings can be seen on a payment basis. Rankings often help in benchmarking when you are trying to figure out where to apply. It may be a good investment in your long process of applying to US Universities. Our view on the imporatance of rankings was posted here.

Source: www.usnews.com