What do most incoming students do after getting the visa? They celebrate, they book tickets, do shopping and packing. And they day dream about the bright future that lies ahead. As the readers of app2us.com you should definitely do all that. But you can do much more that will keep you way ahead of other folks when you land in the USA.

Activate University Email: On the basis of the student ID number provided with the admission offer, try to activate your university email ID. You may have to contact the University computer center/helpdesk for this.

Email some Professors: Now that you have the university email, the chances of getting a reply from a professor have increased manifold. However use caution and send meaningful emails only. Read this for details: “How to Email Professors”.

Compile medical records: Compile your immunization record as per the expectation and format of your university. Getting some of the preventive immunization in your own country will save you time and money. If you never got your blood group tested, now is a good time. Make sure you carry a record of all immunization you get.

Register for classes: Register for classes that you are most interested in. Some classes fill so fast that by the time you land, the interesting classes or those offered by coolest professors may be all taken. Some universities impose restrictions on registration by new students, particularly to enforce that students provide their immunization record. If that is the case, you can proactively fax your immunization records, and request the university health center to get the registration blocks removed.

Learn to type: Whether or not your major is related to computers, learning typing will help find a student worker job. Some student worker positions specifically ask for the typing speed, so it is important to be able to type at a good speed.

Learn Computer skills: Again, whether or not your major is related to computers, some basic computing skills are useful in all fields of studies. If you know programming or can develop web pages you will have a much better chance of getting a student worker job or out of department assistantship.

Learn to drive: Learning to drive can be very expensive in the US. If you learn and practice in your hometown, you will be prepared as and when you need to drive in the US.

Get a driver’s license: If you plan to drive in USA, get a driving license. If you have no plans to drive in USA, get a driving license. Here is why. “Get a Driving License Now – Save dollars later”.

Get a International driving permit: On the basis of your local driving license, you can get a IDP – International Driving Permit. This is generally valid for one year.

Buy Books: Books are very expensive in the US. Look up the department website for various courses and syllabi and try to carry required books with you. Carrying books with you is neither illegal nor unethical, as long as it is for your own use. So write your name on the books so that the customs does not consider those as new books. Do not sell your books once you are in USA, because that might be illegal.

Linkup with fellow incoming students: Look for various online groups and mailing lists of incoming students for your university. You can find many from your city. In many cases students meet and sync up for group booking of air tickets etc. Read: “How to book the air ticket to the USA”

Contact the student association(s): Contact the student association of your own country in your target University. For example, if you are an Indian, you may contact the Indian Student Association for a ride from airport to the university and initial help. If you are from a small country with very few students, you can still contact the international student association or the student association of another country for help.

For many admitted students, the letter of admission for MS includes a clause that the admission is contingent on successful completion of some courses. These courses are typically advanced courses of the undergraduate curriculum.

The concept: The US university may estimate the undergraduate preparation for some incoming MS students as weak based on their transcripts, or simply because they are from not very reputable universities. So the student needs to strengthen certain areas by taking courses during the first semester. The prerequisite courses cannot be counted towards the MS degree, so they are additional courses, that need additional time, energy to take and extra fee needs to be paid. If one has more than two prereqs, then it could prolong the MS study by at least one semester, thereby leading to additional cost in terms of living expenses. Prerequisites are more common when one is applying to a different field. If you get an A, it does not help much, but getting a C or worse will spoil your GPA and can even lead to academic probation.

Good prerequisites: In this case, the student really needs to take the specified courses to do justice to the graduate curriculum. It is in the best interest of the student to take these courses.


Unnecessary prerequisites: Sometimes prereqs are assigned due to lack of clarity in the transcripts. For example, if your undergraduate transcript includes a course Mathematics 1, the university can only guess what all was in the curriculum.

Admission offers are emailed early but the prerequisite information is informed much later. The key to success is being proactive. As soon as you get an admission offer, find out from the department office whether or not you are assigned any prerequisites. Then analyze if you really need to take those courses.


Different ways to deal with unnecessary prerequisites:
1. Go ahead and take the course(s). But if you do not really need, it is a pure waste of time and money.
2. Schedule and appointment with the graduate advisor of the department, soon after arrival. Carry with you the detailed syllabus of the similar course you took in college and explain to him/her that you do not need to take that course. Confidently state that you know the area, the graduate advisor may ask you some questions, be prepared to answer those correctly. Most likely (s)he will waive at least a few.
3. Ask the graduate advisor if you can audit the prerequisite courses. Auditing means you will go and attend the classes with the permission of the instructor, but need not enrol, pay the fees or face the exams!
4. If you have multiple admission offers that are comparable, do not accept the offer where there are prerequisites.

MS after Experience

This blog post is in response to many questions on app2us forums about possible advantages of applying for MS program after few years of work experience. Many students want to know whether they should wait for one or two years, gain experience, then apply. First of all, some facts:

Unlike MBA, work experience is neither required, nor preferred for MS admissions. Even in case of an applicant having work experience, the academic recommendation letters matter, universities do not care about recommendations from the workplace. Vast majority of students in the MS programs do not have any full time work experience.

Now we shall analyze some possible advantages of applying with, say, two years of experience:


1. Chance to improve academic record: Many applicants do not have good grades or marks in the first couple of years of their undergraduate degree program. If they apply during the fourth/senior year, their final year grades are not counted. If they apply after one or two years, they get an opportunity to focus on studies in the final year, and improve their overall record. In that case, when they apply, their entire result is available, and the improvement in the last year is something the admission committees like a lot.


2. More time for GRE, TOEFL and the applications: Even for the focused and sincere types, the pressure of handling GRE, TOEFL and application steps can be very stressful to manage alongwith college exams and projects. If you apply after getting your degree, then in the college you can focus on the coursework, and next year you can focus on GRE TOEFL and applications. Make no mistake, a full-time job where you will be during the application process can be much worse compared to your college life. But there is a profound difference. Your college grades stick with you for whole life and matter during the admission process. So overall it is easier to manage a full time job and the application process, rather than academic responsibilities and the application process.


3. Time for strengthening of profile: As mentioned work experience itself does not help much in admissions. However relevant experience, or experience in a research based job can help. Also experience at a world famous (read US based) company like Google or Microsoft can set your application apart from the crowd. As you work and gain experience, you can also invest some time in publishing a paper, and find more time to study for GRE.


4. Better job prospects: Although applicants with work experience do not get significant advantage in the admission process, at the end of the MS program, they stand much better chance of landing a coveted job. Also, the experience may help find a student worker job and internship during the study.


5. Gain More: This is a subjective statement, students with work experience can gain more out of the education and enjoy being students again after being away from academics for a while. The experience you gain at work in general can help adjust in a new country and culture.

There are no big disadvantages of applying with work experience. Unlike some people think, people with five or even ten years of experience are not discriminated against. In other words, it is ok to have ten years of experience – your application will not be rejected due to very high experience (or older age). There are minor hassles, like getting transcripts or letters of recommendation, but those can be managed.

We at app2us.com strongly recommend to apply after one year of work experience in the case where you need to and can improve your academic record by excelling in the final/fourth/senior year (case 1). In other cases, it depends on personal preferences. Hope this post helps you in making an informed decision.

1. Most of the top hundred universities are in USA
2. US Universities have star professors in most of the fields.
3. Highest number of Nobel Laureates work at US universities
4. US universities have a lot of funding opportunities
5. It is much convenient to adjust to a new country where English is spoken, rather than a country where courses are taught in other languages
6. For those who wish to work, there are laws to support that, example, OPT, CPT, Green card, etc etc
7. In no country you can expect to be treated at par with its citizens, but in USA there are hundreds of examples of immigrants and international students to have risen to top positions. The new Dean of Harvard Business School Nitin Nohria is the latest example.
8. A degree from a US university has worldwide recognition.
9. In USA you can find people from all parts of the world, including from your own country.
10. Some people can call it welcoming, some may call it tolerant, but despite growing intolerance, US laws and society is relatively more welcoming/tolerant of international students.


Having said that, there are great universities in many developed country you may consider. But the combination of quality and quantity that USA offers along-with funding, cultural and fringe benefits makes her the most preferred destination.

Money follows research

A key attraction of US universities is that in addition to quality education and research, plenty of funding opportunities exist. Most of the applicants including the users of app2us.com are very much interested in getting funded. While there is no magic wand for funding, it helps to understand the root cause and the reasons behind the existence of funding. Lets start with a trivia quiz:

Q. US Universities provide funding opportunities to local and international students because:

(a) America is a rich country and universities have a lot of money
(b) They want to help bright students from different countries
(c) The funding helps increase the research output and in turn helps enhance the reputation of the universities
(d) Funding helps attract the best and brightest students

d is a good answer, a and b are correct to a very limited extent, but c is the best answer.

It is important to understand the following facts about the funding:

1. Funding is available to further the cause of the university, student welfare is a good side-effect of that.
2. The keyword is research output. Funding exists where research is done (MS/PhD). Funding is very limited for non-research degree programs (MBA, M Engg, MCS).
3. The criteria of funding is the same as admissions – but more stringent.
4. All US Universities offer TA RA and Fellowships.
5. All US Universities offer admissions with and without funding.
6. Higher ranked universities do more research and more research is the primary cause of their high ranking.
7. At top universities professors are judged, evaluated and promoted based on their research output, with very little emphasis on the quality of their teaching.
8. The best and the brightest are offered fellowships – they typically get paid more than TA or RA salary. The idea is to let the best students focus on research and not be burdened by a 20 hour responsibility.
9. While GRE score does not play a crucial role, but there are minimum standards of English prescribed for TA positions. This can be enforced by a higher minimum requirement at the TOEFL and the TSE or a university specific test of spoken English.

Here is what you should understand:

1. Your statement of purpose should focus on one thing – your planned research and past activities to support the plan.
2. A career goal in research is more coherent for funding rather than a goal of teaching
3. Opt for research based degrees and the research/thesis option as against non-thesis(project option)
4. A degree exactly named MS (Master of Science) is most likely a research based degree. Other variations like MCS (Master of Computer Science) M Engg (Master of Engineering)
5. Some universities have policies that prevent MBA students take up assistantship positions in other departments, whereas a non funded MS student is free to do so.

Now the key question: Who gets funded?

1. Students with exceptional academic record AMONG those who get admitted.
2. Students who have prior research and publications.
3. Students who demonstrate a potential and desire for research that matches the goals of the program.
4. Students who are good enough to get admitted to, say, 10th ranked program are likely to get funded at the 25th ranked program.

app2us key to funding:

1. Study and improve your marks CGPA and class rank.
2. Participate in research as early as possible and try to publish your work at a reputable journal, else at an ordinary conference.
3. Have a genuine interest in research. If you have no interest in research, the funding is not for you.
4. Apply wisely with a good distribution of realistic universities as per and below your perceieved ability.

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