Graduate Admissions

What is the Best Time to Apply for the Spring Semester?

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The best time to apply for the spring semester is around June or July of the previous year, which is fast approaching. Of course, many universities accept applications in August and even in September, but if you want admission to a good university, it is better to apply before July of the previous year. Submitting your application early will also help you to get your I-20 early and thus you will be able to apply for a visa by October or November, or at least in early December.

We strongly recommend that you write the GRE and TOEFL before the 15th July so that it will be possible for you to submit all your online applications and courier the necessary documents before 25th July.

Therefore start preparing for GRE and TOEFL now and book your test date at the earliest. Simultaneously, start preparing documents like your Statement of Purpose (SOP), transcripts, and recommendation letters. Check the websites of different universities and list the names of universities where your specialization is available.

There are good opportunities in spring. Make sure that you don’t miss them! If you are not too sure of whether you should apply for the spring semester or not read our post titled “Should I Apply for the Spring Semester (January)?”

Also, look out for our post: “Applying for Spring (Jan) 2014 – A Step-By-Step Explanation”

The Importance of Data Sufficiency Questions in GMAT

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~ by our Maths Faculty

 

My opening GMAT blog post will focus on Data Sufficiency, an important and unique Quantitative Reasoning question type in GMAT. Later on we’ll take up some sample questions to illustrate how to tackle this strange and interesting question type but first we will look at a fundamental point: why is DS important? Well, look at Figure 1 below

Figure 1

What this pie chart tells us is that, out of 37 questions in the GMAT Quantitative Reasoning section, you can expect around 22 to 23 will be of the Problem Solving (PS) type and 14 to 15 of the Data Sufficiency (DS) type.

Now, maybe you’re thinking that what this highlights is the importance of Problem Solving questions. But that is only the most obvious thing that the data says. The other important thing that it tells you is that if you want a good score in GMAT, you cannot afford to neglect Data Sufficiency. On the contrary, DS questions play a crucial role in converting mediocre GMAT scores into first-rate ones, so, if you ignore DS questions, that great GMAT score you are looking for may never be yours. Here’s why.

When you are through with your initial preparation and have given 3-4 mock GMAT tests, like most other students, you will probably find your scores stagnating. There are various reasons for this, but, in Quant, if you find that your raw score is fluctuating between 43 and 46 out of 60, the reason will usually be low accuracy in DS.

The most important reason why many students don’t achieve high accuracy in DS is that they don’t think the way that DS demands. We never solve such questions either in school or in college so, we don’t really understand them and so, we end up ignoring or trying to avoid DS questions. But that, is a big mistake! Remember the stats: you can’t think of getting a good score in GMAT without mastering DS questions. So, how do you deal with the difficulties that this question type throws up? Watch for our next post and find out.

 

 

University Selection for MS in US!

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choosing right universities

We present you the definitive guide to University Selection for MS in US. One of the most difficult and important parts of the whole process of applying to American universities is deciding which ones to apply to. And considering the large number of good universities and the wide variety of courses available, selecting the right universities is a difficult exercise. So, here are a few pointers to help you on your way.

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Application Timeline for Fall 2014 – Make Sure You Are on Track | MS in US | Fall 2014

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If you are applying for fall 2014 the clock has begun to tick. So, don’t delay. Review this Application Timeline for Fall 2014 immediately and get to work. Here it is:

June-August 2013 – Review you goals for MS education and choose some specific areas in which you would like to specialize.

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MS in the US: What You Need to Know about Educational Loans

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A college loan covers cost of tuition, living costs and insurance, flight costs, and other incidentals. Given the wide variety of choices available today, by putting in some effort, it is possible to find the best deal for your needs. Taking an education loan is also a smart move as you don’t need to break your savings and you get hefty tax benefits.

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Top Paying Engineering Jobs

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A crucial question for engineers who are applying to an American university is: “What should I major in?” “Which stream is better, Computer Science, or Electrical?” This seemingly basic and straightforward question however, has no straightforward answer: there are a number of factors that you have to consider when choosing a major.

How to choose your Major?

  1. Identify your CORE strength – it should be something that you have both an aptitude and a passion for.
  2. Some careers have a higher entry-level qualification, such as a PhD, which is at least a four-year program. Find out if you want to study that long. If not consider what your other options are if you just have a Master’s degree.
  3. Where do you see yourself in five years, in ten, in fifteen? Do you have a long-term vision and do you feel that your current decisions will lead you to it.
  4. What are your fall-back options with this major? For example, a Computer Science major can usually switch from a role in System Development to Testing.
  5. Finally, what kind of life do you want for yourself? Is a high paying job the only thing you are interested in, or are there other things in life that you are interested in as well?

Our Three Top Tips for a Great Application

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Application TipsSo, you’re in the thick of things. You have written out your SOP, you have got the transcripts and letters of recommendation, and you have filled up the University application. But, you still have a question: “Is this enough? Or, is there something else I can do to make my application really stand out from the rest?”

Before you submit your application, consider this: what makes a “good” application a “great” one is the extra effort you put in. So, here are our three top tips for fine-tuning your application and making it one that is really great:

  1. Research the school website – There are a lot of subtle hints which you can pick up from college websites, so take a little time to browse through the sites carefully. One thing to look for is the graduate student handbook which you should download and read. It is important to go through details about the faculty research and labs. Doing this will help you to to get a clear idea about what you can focus on during your studies in the university you are considering, and it is therefore very important in deciding which universities to apply to. It will also help you to decide which research areas to highlight in writing your SOP.
  2. Connect with somebody – It’s a good idea to connect with either staff or seniors at a grad school beforehand (preferably do both). You can email the member of faculty that you find most impressive and would like to work with in the future. This will help if you want to establish contact – a bonus when you already have a proven and focused research interest. But remember, that it is dangerous to do this without having a clear idea of what you want to do, or why you want to do it. Also, don’t overdo it – you might end up boring the professor and make him or her completely unwilling to respond to you.
  3. Proofread your documents – Make sure that you don’t end up sending SOPs to a university which mention a different one as the one you are applying to – at best this will be seen as a sign of carelessness, at worst it may even be taken as an insult; and it’s surprising how many students make that mistake. But also, send copies of your draft SOP to to a teacher, or guide who knows your work and progress and to at least 3-4 trusted friends. They can tell you whether what you are saying makes sense or not.

And do take the time to draft a good SOP– it has a weight and importance of its own and can give you the opportunity to present your strengths in a way that no other document can. (Click this link to get an idea of how to do this.) But don’t get too worried if you can’t do this, the staff at DOA’s counseling center can help you put your SOP into top shape!

Related Links

The importance of the SOP (or application essay)

How to write a good SOP

How to Apply for an ‘MS in US’: Find the Key Steps Here

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Application Process ImageOnce your final list of universities is ready, you can start applying to universities for your much dreamed of ‘MS in US’. Here are the key steps:

  • Complete the online application forms
  • Request ETS to send your GRE and TOEFL scores to the university/department
  • Prepare document packets, consisting of:

It is really important that you carefully follow all instructions regarding the sending of documents. Please also adhere to prescribed deadlines since the application can be rejected if you are late.

Remember you can always call up the Academy if you feel you can’t carry out this demanding process all alone. We have services that are designed to take care of every difficulty you face – we are always there to help.

All the best as you move on to a great admit!

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GMAT Prep – Preliminary Reading and RC Practice

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Image for RC

Preliminary Reading and RC

One of the most important aspects of preparing for reading comprehension in the GMAT is preliminary reading – that is, reading to be done before you start tackling GMAT RC passages in order to prepare you for the challenges that those passages will throw up.

One challenge that you will face on Reading Comprehension passages is that they tend to be about unfamiliar topics and concepts; and talk about unfamiliar terms and fields. They use difficult phrasing and vocabulary, and complicated sentence structure. The only way to get used to the level of complexity you will find in GMAT passages is to read widely.

Another challenge is the fact that reading passages on screen means that you may not be able to see the whole passage at a time, and may have to scroll up and down to read the rest of the passage. This is very different from reading on paper, where you can usually see the whole passage on screen at a glance. The fact that you can’t see the whole of the passage at once when you read long passages onscreen, makes comprehending the passage much more difficult.

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University Application Deadlines for the Fall 2013 Semester – Revised and Updated

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(to be updated again in December)

Here is the revised list of US university application deadlines for Fall 2013 semester (with the revised deadlines in blue). It covers 118 universities with application deadlines from December to July for the Fall 2013 semester.

  • Note that these are the general (or graduate school) deadlines. Be sure to check the departmental deadlines for the specific department you are applying to since these may differ from the general deadlines.
  • Remember also that some universities have separate deadlines for sending documents by mail and for online submission.
  • Finally, keep in mind that if you are applying for financial aid the deadlines are earlier. Wherever information is available on these aspects we have included it.

 

Related: US University Application Deadlines – Spring 2013 Semester

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UC Irvine – and How I Got Admission There!

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This week we bring you Suhas Bhadgaonkar, a software professional, and one of our alumni. He’s here with his experiences in getting admission to UC Irivine.

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Profile:
Name: Sagar Suhas Bhadgaonkar
Degree: BE (Computer Engineering), Univ. of Pune
Work Experience: 2.5+ years in Accenture Technology Solutions, as a Software Engineer
GRE Score: 1400 (Old Scale)/ 322 (New Scale)
Break Up:
– Verbal: 640 (Old Scale)/162 (New Scale)
– Quant: 760 (Old Scale)/160 (New Scale)
TOEFL: 112/120

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My journey to a US university started when an acquaintance came to visit my home in Pune after spending a few years working for Oracle in San Jose. It was mid-May, and some of my other friends from Accenture had got admits from American universities and were planning to get visas and complete other application formalities. There was a ‘buzz’ in the air about going to America. My friend’s visit was like a little piece of sodium dropped into a bowl of water. The thought of the opportunities that lay in wait for me in the US began to bubble up in my mind. When the ‘reaction’ had subsided, higher studies and subsequent professional opportunities in America were the clear focus.

Like a lot of us who are now going to US, I was born and brought up in a middle class family with no immediate relatives in US). So, though the thought of studying further, or doing ‘something’, had been present in my mind for quite a while, I had never planned on going to US for higher education. The examples of my friends started me thinking about pursuing an MS in the USA.

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