Graduate Admissions

University Deadlines For Spring 2015 Semester

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The month of June is now approaching which means the spring 2015 application process should now begin. As per our tradition we are publishing the spring 2015 university deadlines on this blog. Keep in mind some universities update deadlines on their websites at different times during the academic year.
The deadlines mentioned below are for the graduate school only. The department deadlines differ from the graduate school deadlines and hence you should cross check with your respective department for confirmation.

 

Deadlines in June
1. University of Maryland, Baltimore County 1-Jun
2. Texas Tech University 15-Jun
3. University of Tennessee, Knoxville 15-Jun

Deadlines in July
1. Florida Institute of Technology 1-Jul
2. University of Pittsburgh 1-Jul
3. Washington State University, Pullman 1-Jul
4. North Carolina State University 15-Jul
5. University of Illinois, Chicago 15-Jul
6. University of Rhode Island, Kingston 15-Jul

Deadlines in August
1. Kansas State University 1-Aug
2. North Dakota State University, Fargo 1-Aug
3. University of Michigan, Dearborn 1-Aug
4. Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo 1-Aug
5. Wichita State University 1-Aug
6. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 15-Aug
7. South Dakota School of Mines & Tech 15-Aug
8. South Dakota State University, Brookings 15-Aug
9. University of Kentucky, Lexington 15-Aug
10. San Francisco State University 31-Aug

Deadlines in September
1. East Carolina University 1-Sep
2. George Washington University 1-Sep
3. Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago 1-Sep
4. Indiana University, Bloomington 1-Sep
5. Lamar University 1-Sep
6. Mississippi State University 1-Sep
7. Oakland University, Rochester 1-Sep
8. University of Alaska, Fairbanks 1-Sep
9. University of Nebraska, Lincoln 1-Sep
10. University of Oklahoma, Norman 1-Sep
11. University of South Carolina, Columbia 1-Sep
12. University of Texas, Dallas 1-Sep
13. University of Texas, San Antonio 1-Sep
14. Virginia Polytechnic Inst. & State Univ. 1-Sep
15. California State University, Chico 15-Sep
16. Northeastern University, Boston 15-Sep
17. Texas A & M University, Kingsville 15-Sep
18. Tufts University 15-Sep
19. University of North Carolina, Greensboro 15-Sep
20. University of North Texas, Denton 15-Sep
21. California State University, Fresno 30-Sep
22. California State University, Northridge 30-Sept Online Application, 31-Oct Documents Submission

Deadlines in October
1. California State University, Long Beach 1-Oct Online Application, 15-Oct Documents Submission
2. California State University, Sacramento 1-Oct
3. Case Western Reserve University 1-Oct
4. Eastern Michigan University 1-Oct
5. Florida International University 1-Oct
6. Illinois State University, Normal 1-Oct
7. Indiana University Purdue University 1-Oct
8. Minnesota State University, Mankato 1-Oct
9. Northern Illinois University, Dekalb 1-Oct
10. Oklahoma State University, Still Water 1-Oct
11. Old Dominion University, Norfolk 1-Oct
12. Oregon State University, Corvallis 1-Oct
13. Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park 1-Oct
14. Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville 1-Oct
15. State University of New York, Stony Brook 1-Oct
16. Stevens Institute of Technology 1-Oct
17. Tennessee Technological University 1-Oct
18. University of Arkansas, Little Rock 1-Oct
19. University of Colorado, Denver 1-Oct
20. University of Detroit, Mercy 1-Oct
21. University of Houston, University Park 1-Oct
22. University of Idaho, Moscow 1-Oct
23. University of Iowa, Iowa City 1-Oct
24. University of Louisiana, Lafayette 1-Oct
25. University of Massachusetts, Amherst 1-Oct
26. University of Nevada, Las Vegas 1-Oct
27. University of New Mexico, Albuquerque 1-Oct
28. University of North Carolina, Charlotte 1-Oct
29. University of Texas, Arlington 1-Oct
30. University of Virginia, Charlottesville 1-Oct
31. West Virginia University, Morgan Town 1-Oct
32. Worcester Polytechnic Institute 1-Oct
33. California State University, Los Angeles 15-Oct
34. Cleveland State University 15-Oct
35. Duke University 15-Oct
36. Marquette University 15-Oct
37. Texas State University 15-Oct
38. University of Georgia 15-Oct
39. University of South Florida, Tampa 15-Oct
40. Villanova University 15-Oct
41. California State University, Fullerton 17-Oct

Deadlines in November
1. University of San Francisco Nov
2. Florida State University 1-Nov
3. Idaho State University 1-Nov
4. Monmouth University 1-Nov
5. University of Louisville, Louisville 1-Nov
6. University of Miami, Coral Gables 1-Nov
7. University of Utah, Salt Lake City 1-Nov
8. University of Wyoming, Laramie 1-Nov
9. Vanderbilt University 1-Nov
10. Arkansas State University 14-Nov
11. City University of New York, City College 15-Nov
12. Missouri Univ. of Science & Tech., Rolla 15-Nov
13. Montana State University, Bozeman 15-Nov
14. New Jersey Institute of Technology 15-Nov
15. University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth 15-Nov
16. Marist College, Poughkeepsie 30-Nov
17. Southern Methodist University 30-Nov

Deadlines in December
1. University of Alabama, Birmingham Dec
2. University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa Dec
3. Lehigh University 1-Dec
4. Louisiana Tech University, Ruston 1-Dec
5. New York Institute of Technology 1-Dec
6. Polytechnic Inst. of New York Univ, Brooklyn 1-Dec
7. University of Houston, Clear Lake 1-Dec
8. University of South Alabama, Mobile 1-Dec
9. University of Southern California 1-Dec

Deadlines in January
1. Louisiana State University, Baton Rogue 1-Jan
2. Wayne State University 1-Jan
3. New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology 2-Jan
4. Santa Clara University 10-Jan
5. New Mexico State University, Las Cruces 27-Jan

Deadlines in February
1. University of Maryland, College Park 7-Feb

Rolling Deadlines
1. University of Toledo Rolling
2. Wright State University, Dayton Rolling

Under rolling deadlines there is no fixed application deadline declared by the university. Applications are accepted anytime till the seats for that particular semester are full.

We wish you all the best!

Show Stoppers at the Time of Application

Dilip Oak's Academy

In this blog we wanted to go over a few hurdles that may lead to a rejection or delay in your admission application process.

INCORRECT NAME
Although a lot of students are unaware of this, it is a very common problem faced by around six out of ten students at the time of application. The name on passport, college/university mark sheets, degree certificate and GRE & TOEFL scorecards should be the same. It is crucial there aren’t any spelling mistakes in your name, middle name name and surname.
At times the surname is different, especially in cases of students with South-Indian names. Make sure the name matches on all-important documents. In case it doesn’t, make sure to get it changed before you begin the application process.

YEAR DOWN & BACKLOGS
You may have backlogs and year down during your Bachelor’s/Master’s degree. It is important that you not only mention this but also justify the reasons behind your backlogs and year-downs in your statement of purpose.

ACADEMIC GAP DUE TO OTHER FACTORS
In some cases an academic gap may occur due to reasons such as an accident or health conditions. This should be mentioned very clearly in the SOP or else it may work against you.

ISSUANCE OF TRANSCRIPTS
You are supposed to send college/university transcripts at the time of application. Apply to the college/university well in advance because some institutions take up to two months to issue transcripts, which in turn may delay your application process.

GRE & TOEFL SCORE REPORTING
ETS takes time to report official scores to the universities. Hence once you have a final list of universities that you are applying to, have your official scores sent immediately to these universities. In case the US University doesn’t receive the official scores in time, your application shall be placed on hold.

ONLINE SUBMISSION OF RECOMMENDATION LETTERS
Most US universities require online recommendation letters. Your recommender will have to upload the letter online or send it from his official e-mail. You should inform your recommenders about this so that they are prepared for it.

BANK SOLVENCY/STATEMENT
The bank solvency/statement is a crucial document at the time of application. This document has to be submitted either at the time of or before issue of I20 form, depending on the university requirement.

The Credit System for Master’s Courses in American Universities Part 1

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Generally, in order to complete an MS or an MBA course you have to complete 33 credits, usually in a 2 year-period. The total number of credits is broken up in different ways. For example, if you opt to do a thesis, then the break up is:

  • Thesis – 6 credits
  • Course – 27 credits

If the course does not have the thesis option then you will have to do a project and the break up will be:

  • Project – 3 credits
  • Course – 30 credits

The credit system will differ from university to university, but by and large this is the system that is followed.

Students are awarded 3 credits per theory course (or subject) that they study in a semester. But in order to earn the credits for the course they have to undergo actual classroom instruction for 3 hours a week for the whole semester. You will be expected to take a minimum of 3 such theory courses per semester and thus will be awarded a total of 9 credits, 3 for each of the subjects.

Thus, given that there are 2 semesters per year, in the normal course, students take 18 credits per year. However, many Indian students take extra credits (e.g. 12 per semester instead of 9) and thus are able to complete their Master’s degrees 16 months time.

Deadlines for Fall 2014 Coming Up in this Month (Dec 13)

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As you know, the deadlines for admission to the fall 2014 semester begin in December 2013 and stretch all the way up to August 2014. So, if you are applying for fall 2014 the deadlines have begun. Keep watching this blog, we’ll keep updating you on the deadlines for the month every month from now.

This month there are just a few coming up – only 6 in all – but they are the first deadlines for fall. Here they are:

Universities with Deadlines in December

  1. Indiana University, Bloomington – 1 December
  2. University of Miami, Coral Gables – 1 December
  3. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill – 1 December
  4. Harvard University – 14 December
  5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology – 15 December
  6. Michigan State University, East Lansing – December

Related Blogs:

 

Free GMAT Score Reports

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You may select up to five business school programs to which your Official GMAT Score Report will be sent free of cost. You have to make your choice of programs to which your free GMAT score reports will be sent at the test center on the day you take the GMAT® exam. This has to be done before you begin the test and once you have made your selections, you will not be able to change or delete them. (Click this link: ‘GMAT program database‘ to see a list of programs to which your GMAT scores can be sent.)

The Official GMAT Score Report will be sent to the five programs you have chosen within 20 calendar days of your test. This free GMAT test score reporting service is covered by your registration fee. If you wish to send more than 5 score reports, however, a fee of US $28 will be charged.(For more information click here)

Deadlines for Spring 2014 in This Month (Nov 13)

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You Can Still Make It for Spring

This might come as a surprise, but there are still 16 universities that have deadlines for spring 2014 that fall in this month i.e. November 13. Want to have a look?
By the way, there are also some deadlines for spring ’14 that are coming up in December. You can either wait for next month to see or look at the post on deadlines for spring 2014 below
Related blogs:
Here are the deadlines for this month:
Universities with deadlines falling in November 13
  1. Florida State University – 1 Nov
  2. Idaho State University – 1 Nov
  3. Monmouth University – 1 Nov
  4. University of Louisville, Louisville – 1 Nov
  5. University of Miami, Coral Gables – 1 Nov
  6. University of Utah, Salt Lake City –1 Nov
  7. University of Wyoming, Laramie –1 Nov
  8. Vanderbilt University – 1 Nov
  9. Arkansas State University – 14 Nov
  10. City University of New York, City College –15 Nov
  11. Missouri University of Science & Technology, Rolla –15 Nov
  12. Montana State University, Bozeman –15 Nov
  13. New Jersey Institute of Technology – 15-Nov
  14. University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth – 15 Nov
  15. Marist College, Poughkeepsie – 30 Nov
  16. Southern Methodist University – 30 Nov

October-December Alert for Students Applying for Fall 2014

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October-December 2013

For many of you who are applying for admission in fall 2014, the months from October to December will be when several important phases of the application process will draw to a close for you. Here’s what you have to do in that critical phase:

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Dr. Harchol-Balter on the Recommendation Letter

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Ideally you would like to make all your letters of recommendation count. Consider the following two letters:

(i) Letter 1: “I highly recommend student X for your graduate program. Student X received an A+ in my undergraduate algorithms class. He was ranked Number 2 out of 100 students. He got the highest score on the final. He worked very hard all semester, never missed a class, and was always able to answer the questions that I asked in class. This conscientious attitude makes him an excellent candidate for any graduate program. ”

(ii) Letter 2: “I highly recommend student Y for your graduate program. Student Y received a B in my undergraduate algorithms class. He was ranked Number 29 out of 100 students. Halfway through the semester we started working on network flows. Student Y seemed extremely excited by this topic. He disappeared for 4 weeks and even missed an exam. However when he came back, he showed me some work he had been doing on a new network flow algorithm for high-degree graphs. He had done some simulations and had some proofs. I’ve been working with student Y for the past couple months since then and he is full of ideas for new algorithms. I think student Y’s initiative makes him an excellent candidate for any graduate program.”

Which letter do you think is stronger? It turns out that Letter 2 is very strong. Letter 1 actually counts as 0. At CMU we mark all letters like letter 1 with the acronym D.W.I.C.. This stands for “Did Well In Class” which counts for 0, since we already know from the student’s transcript that he did well in class. By contrast, student Y’s letter gives us a lot of information. It explains that the reason student Y didn’t do better in class was that he was busy doing research. It also tells us that student Y started doing research on his own initiative, and that he is quite good at doing research. The professor was impressed enough with student Y’s ideas that he took him on as a student researcher despite student Y not having high grades.

You want your letters to all be of type 2 (this doesn’t mean that you should skip class!). Remember that letters of type 1 will not count. You want words like self-motivated, strong research potential , own initiative, independent, and driven to appear in your letters. These are the words that we circle when reading recommendation letters. You therefore want to ask letters from people who have seen you do research. These may be professors or employers.

Related Blogs on Application Documents

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MS-in-US: Vital Information, Key Decisions, Crucial Steps!

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This post brings together a list of must-see links to our most important posts on ‘Admissions to American Universities’. The links are arranged under different headings:

  • university deadlines (spring 2014, fall 2014)
  • selecting which semester to join
  • step-by-step explanations of the application process
  • tips on the F1 visa and on preparing your Statement of Purpose
  • and several others.

This is important information. Don’t miss out on it!

Deadlines for Application

Did you know that there is no standard deadline for application for American universities? Deadlines for fall range from November of the previous year all the way up to August of the year in which you will join your university. Deadlines for spring range from June of the previous year to Jan of the year of joining. Your planning of the application process depends on the deadline for the most important university you are applying for. Check out the deadlines for your university through the links below.

  • Spring – 107 universities accepting students in spring (2014). Remember to check out the timeline for applying for spring (available December onward).
  • Fall – 125 universities accepting students in fall (2014). Remember to check out the timeline for applying for fall (available April onward).
Note: to find out what universities to apply to check out a list of the top 220 American universities at online.dilipoakacademy.com – look for ‘university information’ under the ‘applications’ button. You will find the following information:
  • departments and courses
  • university rank
  • documents required for application
  • the university website URL
For more information on these useful online services see:

Continue reading →

Dr. Harchol-Balter on the Statement of Purpose

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The statement of purpose is an extremely important part of your application packet (click here for an explanation). A well-written SOP that brings out the most important facts about you as a candidate for higher studies, can open the doors of opportunity for you. On the other hand an SOP that tries to impress but focuses on facts that the admissions committees consider irrelevant can lose you the opportunity that you have dreamed of.

In the extract below Dr. Harchol-Balter, an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Carnegie-Mellon University points out two common mistakes that many applicants make:

• The grade regurgitator – “In my high school, I was ranked Number 1. Then I got a perfect score on my college entrance exams. Then I competed in a statewide math competition and I was the best. Then I competed in a national programming competition and I was 5th. In college, my GPA was 3.95 out of 4.0. For these reasons, I believe I will do well in your graduate department.”
What’s wrong with this? This portion of the essay is a waste of space. Awards are certainly relevant, however any award you won should be listed on a separate piece of paper which is titled “Awards and Honors” and which you can include with your application. There is no reason to tell us all this in your essay. It will only piss-off the people reviewing your application because they already read all this information earlier in your application and they now want to hear about research.
• The boy genius – “When I was born, my mother gave me a glass ball to play with. I would lay and look at the prisms of light shining through my ball. At age 3, my father brought home our first computer and I disassembled it and then put it back together. It was then that I knew I wanted to become a computer scientist. By age 5, I had taken apart every appliance in our house. At age 6, I became a chess whiz ….”
What’s wrong with this? We simply don’t care what you did as a child, and we don’t believe you either. You’d be surprised how many applications from Einstein-wanna-be’s we get. If you really think this is relevant, put the important facts on a separate sheet of paper, and include it in your application. It’s best if your essay can stick with stuff you did in college and later.

 

Related Blogs on Application Documents

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Deadlines for Spring 2014 in this Month (Oct 13)

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The application season is on, December is just round the corner …and the deadlines for spring 2014 are drawing to a close. So here are the deadlines for spring that are falling due in this month.

Important Question: “Do you know which university you should apply to?”

A deadline is of use only if you know what university you should apply to. For those of you who are not too clear, here is how to decide:

1. Talk to seniors and decide which specialization you should apply for (examples: Networking, Data Bases etc. for Computer Engineers; Digital Signal Processing, VLSI etc. for Electronics and Telecommunications Engineers; MEMS, Robotics etc. for Mechanical Engineers)

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What to Do When You Get Admission

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Congrats! Now you have the admission message or letter you were waiting for. After all the celebrations though, it is the beginning of yet another round of many things to be done before you reach your ultimate aim: enrolling for the program you desire. So, what things come next? Well, you have to get the I-20 form and the visa. The approximate sequence of what you have to do to get these two crucial documents is as follows:

Admission in US for MS1. Read the letter or email carefully. If you have to send an acceptance of the offer do it promptly. Even if you have multiple offers it makes sense to accept more than one when there is no offer of funding.

2. If you have received the I-20 form along with the offer of admission you can straightaway start the preparations for visa.

3. More likely, however, the university will ask you to send affidavits of support from your sponsors as well as the bank statements of your sponsors showing that you have sufficient funds for meeting the I-20 form amount (that is, the total cost of the first year which, includes tuition, other fees and living expenses.)

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