Graduate Admissions

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:

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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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Should I Do a PhD?

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PhD for Me?

That’s the big question facing some of you. There are also some other related ones: “Will I be able put in the intensive work that a PhD requires?” “Is it going to be worth it?” – and perhaps, most important of all: “What scope is there for me after I get my doctoral degree?”

In her article entitled ‘Applying to Ph.D. Programs in Computer Science’ Dr. Harchol-Balter (an associate professor of computer science at CMU who has been involved in the Ph.D. admissions process at CMU, U.C. Berkeley, and MIT) answers these questions in-depth and with a great deal of insight. What is more she does so in a clear, concise, straight forward manner that allows her to cover a lot of ground in one brief, easy-to-read document.

Though she writes with a focus on doctoral programs in Computer Science, students applying for almost any program can read it with profit. In fact all students whether they are applying to master’s or doctoral programs in an American university should read her comments on the ‘Application Process’. They give invaluable tips (especially for top-notch students) on the recommendation letter and the statement of purpose.

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Recommendation Letters – Part 2: Ingredients of a Good Recommendation Letter

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What Recommendation Letters should Cover

Recommendation letters should cover the following points (also see the links to great sample recos at the end of this post):

  • How long the recommender has known you and in what capacity (teacher, seminar or project guide, practical supervisor, project leader etc.)
  • His or her assessment of your academic performance (relative rank etc.), intellectual abilities, work habits and character
  • Your special achievements – especially in projects or in papers presented
  • Your communication skills – how well you were able to present your seminars
  • Your social skills – ability to work well with others, leadership qualities
  • Some background about the recommender – this is useful in the case of professors whose work in a field might be good but little known outside India; things to highlight include area of work, achievements in that area (papers published, awards etc.), prominent places worked in, length of experience and so on

Applying for Transcripts from Pune University

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In Pune University the process of applying for transcripts is as follows:

  1. Download the transcript form from the website of Pune University
  2. Fill up the form and submit the form in person at the transcripts department – this is located on university campus. Do not forget to carry original mark sheets if required for verification. In case you are asked to submit mark sheets, submit photocopies not originals.
  3. Pay the required fees immediately at Bank of Maharashtra counter located on the university campus. Continue reading →

Types of Transcripts – and Why you Need Them

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Some universities accept only university transcripts; others accept college transcripts or even an attested mark sheet. Some universities require you to submit 2 transcripts. It is very important that you read the American university requirements carefully before applying. Make sure you do not send them the wrong document type as it will delay the admission process.
These are issued by the university your college is affiliated to e.g. M.I.T. College in Pune is affiliated to Pune University. If you are a student of that college and the American university you are applying to requires university transcripts, you should get transcripts from Pune University.

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The University Transcript: What Exactly is It and Why is It Important?

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The transcript is an official summary of your academic performance and progress to date. It is one of the key documents you have to submit when you are applying for admission to a doctoral or master’s program of studies in an American college or university (the others are the statement of purpose, recommendation letters, a resume and of course your GRE and TOEFL scores). In order for the transcript to be acceptable to American universities as an official document, it must conform to the following specifications – it should be:

  • printed on the university or college letterhead
  • signed by the appropriate college or university authorities i.e. the college principal or registrar or the university registrar
  • in the format required by American universities (not in the ordinary mark sheet format usually provided by Indian colleges and universities)

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The University Transcript: A Comprehensive Description of the Details Included

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Your transcript should contain the following:

  • a ‘bona fide certificate’ containing:
    • your name
    • the name of the college where you studied
    • the name of the course you studied
    • the duration for which you were at the university/college and date of completion of the course
  • the examination scheme which, includes details such as:
    • whether all subjects are compulsory or whether there are elective subjects, a project etc.
    • the number of semesters in the course and the duration of each semester
    • the duration of each lecture
    • the minimum marks required to pass in a subject
    • the maximum number of grace marks that may be given so that a student may pass or obtain a higher class
    • the score scheme used: grade point average (GPA) or aggregate percentage/class system
  • the ‘mark sheet’ section which, states:
    • the breakup of subjects studied in each semester
    • the number of hours per week for lectures and practical work in each subject
    • the maximum marks per subject
    • the marks you obtained in each subject
    • your total marks, percentage (or relative grade), class and relative rank in the class, college or university in each year
  • the highlights and history of your college or university (in brief)

Related Links

September Alert for Students Applying for Admission in Fall 2014

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fall 2014September 2013

Here’s your checklist of tasks for this month – and note there’s a lot of heavy documentation work that you have to be doing, so be prepared to do a lot of running around to your college and your university

  1. Arrange for 10-13 sets of transcripts in sealed covers from your college or university – some universities insist on university transcripts
  2. Choose your recommenders (generally 3 recommendations are required, at least one of which should be from the educational institute last attended) and give them the necessary details – resume, copies of your mark sheets etc.
  3. Start working on your Statement of Purpose (target date for completion 31 October 2013) and resume

Note: for the full schedule see: timeline for fall 2014

Related Links:

Recommendation Letters – Part 1: Who the Best Letters Come From

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Recommendation Letters – What They are and Who You Should Get Them From

In the context of higher education in America, recommendation letters are statements by teachers, supervisors or employers which highlight your qualities, background and achievements and show that you are a good candidate for a doctoral or master’s program of studies.

To make sure that you are an applicant of good caliber every university will ask you to submit at least 3 recommendation letters along with your application form. If you are a student, these recommendation letters should come from teachers who have taught you important subjects or supervised relevant project work, research papers or seminars. If you are a working professional and your work experience is relevant to the field you plan to do your degree in, one letter can come from your immediate superior in the organization (if you have been working for a very long time then you can take letters from two people in organizations you have worked with, but at least one recommendation should be academic).

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