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Preparing for GMAT: Important Links for You

Gathered together here are some useful links that will help you get prepared for that all-important exam!

Reading Comprehension

Data Sufficiency

Read these blogs and never get confused about Data Sufficiency questions on the GMAT again:

Integrated Reassoning

Wondering what Integrated Reasoning is and why it was introduced? Find out with these simple explanations.

Analytical Writing Helps

Problems with writing good essays in English affect almost everyone. Here are some important links on cutting out the mistakes that pull you down.

Find out about:
– how to how to move smoothly from one paragraph to another by using transition words and phrases effectively
– tips on how to improve sentence clarity through using parallel constructions, transition phrases, clear pronoun references and other grammatical devices
– when to use capital letters and when to go with small case:
– making sure you don’t confuse your a’s, an’s and the’s:
– advice on proper subject-verb agreement

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MS in US: Fundas on Funding

 

Do You Have Any Idea of How You Are Going to Pay for Your American Degree?

Funding for your education in the United States is an important issue. Costs can range from Rs. 20 to 40 lakhs. Where is all that money going to come from?

If you’ve been wondering about that crucial question, here are two links that will help you. You don’t have to be super rich to get your master’s or a PhD from the States, nor do you have to have an uncle with a Swiss Bank account! The universities themselves will help you and so will others. Find out how with these two really important links:

 

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The Student or F-1 Visa All the Basics Simply Explained

 

Visas explained

The US government issues more than 30 different types of visa. For example, tourists and business-men are issued B-1 or B-2 visas and those authorized to work in US are given an H-1B visa. Students going for vocational courses, such as, in flying schools or English language courses get an M-1 visa. However, most students require an F-1 visa stamp.
This is the most commonly issued type of visa for students going to an accredited university for a full-time academic program lasting for one or more years.

Students are allowed to apply for the F-1 visa 120 days before the date of reporting mentioned on their I-20 form. The I-20 form is an official document issued by the University on behalf of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The following important details are mentioned in the document:

  • the name and passport number of the student
  • the name of the university which the student is joining
  • the program to which the student has been admitted
  • the date of commencement of the program
  • the date by which the program has to be completed
  • the total cost of education for one year.

The fall 2012 semester will begin sometime in the third week of August. So, if you plan to join an American university this fall, you can start applying for your visa from the third week of April.

Keep in mind that you should have adequate liquid funds to cover the total cost of one year of education – this is mentioned in the I-20 form. Many students are under the wrong impression that their sponsor needs to deposit this entire amount in the bank and that otherwise their visa can be rejected. This is not true. Funds can be shown in the form of bank deposits, shares, mutual funds, provident fund etc. Even education loans of up to Rs. 20 lakhs are also permitted. Of course, having adequate funds alone does not guarantee a visa approval. The consulate officer also considers the following points:

  • whether you have admission to an accredited and reputed university
  • whether your academic background is good
  • whether your GRE score is satisfactory
  • whether your sponsor’s income is adequate

But the more important factor is you should have good communication skills and should be able to give convincing and honest answers to the consulate officer’s questions.

Most students show their parents as their sponsors. If this is not possible, they can show support from any other family member e.g. their brothers or sisters, their grandparents, either individually or as co-sponsors with their parents.

Sponsorship can also be taken from other immediate relatives, like uncles and aunts, provided their financial position is very sound and their income level is high.

Start preparing your financial documents now and apply for an F-1 visa as soon as you get your I-20 form from the university you desire to attend.

All the best as you prepare for this crucial part of the application process – and if you need help, don’t hesitate to contact us!

Related Links

Basics of the Student (F-1 visa) Simply Explained

Other Application Documents:

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Tackle Options in GMAT DS Questions the Oak’s Academy Way

~ by our Quantitative Reasoning Faculty

 

Step 2 of the Approach to DS Questions: Tackle the Options the Oak’s Way

Step 1 of the approach dealt with carefully reading the question statement (see previous blog). Once that is done you have to deal with the options, which are standard in DS questions:

(A) Statement (1) alone is sufficient but statement (2) alone is not sufficient to answer the question asked

(B) Statement (2) alone is sufficient but statement (1) alone is not sufficient to answer the question asked

(C) Both statements (1) and (2) together are sufficient to answer the question asked, but neither statement alone is sufficient

(D) Each statement alone is sufficient to answer the question asked

(E) Statements (1) and (2) together are not sufficient to answer the question asked and additional data are needed.

To deal with them in the most systematic way possible just follow the sufficiency/insufficiency table below. It offers the best way of thinking through the options

What’s so great about the Oak’s Way?

What it makes the sufficiency/insufficiency table so cool is that once you’ve found the crux of the question, it will help you to zero in on the answer quickly and efficiently. The essence of the approach is to go step-by-step i.e. first, check STATEMENT (1) for sufficiency/insufficiency and then, do the same for STATEMENT (2). The table below gives you the answer you should choose (last column) depending on whether Statements (!) and (2) are sufficient or insufficient (first and second columns)

 

Statement (1)

Statement (2)

Answer

Sufficient

Sufficient

(D) ‘Each statement alone is sufficient to answer the question asked’

Insufficient

(A) ‘Statement (1) alone is sufficient but statement (2) alone is not sufficient to answer the question asked’

Insufficient

Sufficient

(B) ‘Statement (2) alone is sufficient but statement (1) alone is not sufficient to answer the question asked

Insufficient

If both together are SUFFICIENT

(C) ‘Both statements (1) and (2) together are sufficient to answer the question asked, but neither statement alone is sufficient’

If both together are INSUFFICIENT

(E) ‘Statements (1) and (2) together are not sufficient to answer the question asked and additional data are needed’

 

So, how does it work in an actual question? Let’s have a look at the previous question again.

If x and y are distinct positive integers then:

 

 

 

 

 

 

(1) x = 2 (y + 3)

(2) x2 = y2 + 4

 

Working with Statement (1)

Now, we already know that the only information required to reach the final answer is whether x – y > 0.

According to the GMAT approach we first consider statement (1) that is, x = 2(y + 3) alone.

If we simplify it, we get:

x = 2y + 6

x – 2y = 6.

This tells us that x – y has to be positive (given that x and y are positive integers, in x – y, we are subtracting a smaller value from x than in x – 2y).

Thus, statement (1) alone leads us to conclusion that x – y is must be positive, that is, x – y > 0 and hence, it is sufficient to reach the final answer. This means that our answer has to be either (A) ‘Statement (1) alone is sufficient but statement (2) alone is not sufficient to answer the question asked’ or, (D) ‘Each statement alone is sufficient to answer the question asked’.

 

Working with Statement (2)

To choose between them, we consider statement (2) i.e. x2 = y2 + 4 alone.

If we simplify this, we get:

x2 – y2 = 4

(x + y) (x – y) = 4

Of the two factors we’ve on the left hand side of this equation, (x + y) is always going to be positive as it is an addition of two positive integers and if the product (x + y) (x – y) is 4 (i.e. positive) we can easily conclude that

(x – y) has to be positive! And that again serves our purposes! If x – y is positive, the entire expression in the question definitely has to be positive.

Thus, statement (2) alone is also sufficient and hence, the answer is option (D)!

In this way by using the GMAT approach to the options and making some simple observations, an apparently super complex DS question becomes easy to solve.

 

 

Practice Question

Now, try this question.

Given that a, b, c, d, e are positive integers and that ‘b’ is an odd integer, is the product (a+b)(a+c)(a+d)(a+e) an odd integer?

(1) a is an odd integer

(2) c is an even integer

(For solution click here.)

There is one more thing that you need to know in order to make sure that you get DS questions right. So, my next post will give you one final tip that will help you avoid a mistake that many students commonly make since they are still thinking about DS questions the way that they do about other questions. What’s the tip? Watch for my next post and find out.

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University Application Deadlines For Spring 2014 Semester

Deadlines for the Spring SemesterThe application season is on, June is just round the corner …and university deadlines are coming up soon. So, here is our much awaited blog for university application deadlines for spring 2014 covering 107 universities with application deadlines from June to December for the Spring 2014 semester. At the end is a section on universities with rolling deadlines (click here to find out what is meant by rolling deadlines).

Remember that American universities update deadlines on their websites at different times during the academic year so, we will update this blog to keep up with changes on their official websites.

Presenting the first of our deadline alerts.

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)

2. To find out which universities or colleges offer the specialization you want, go to online.dilipoakacademy.com and look up your college or university in the University Information feature. All you have to do is select a university from the list of the top 220 provided (these have been selected by Mr. Dilip Oak) and you will get a list of departments and courses available. Click here to see. Registration is free and is open to all! (For more details on how to select a university see our ‘Selecting the Right American University for Your MS in the US‘ blog)

3. To plan your application process, check the general deadlines given in this blog. This will give you an idea of how much time you have and how to go about applying.

4. For the exact departmental deadline click the URL at the bottom of the University Information page for that university in online.dilipoakacademy.com. This will give you a more precise idea of how to plan your application process (see our Application Timeline for Spring 2014 blog – to be released in December – to see more specifically how you should go about applying)

Good luck and if your university is not in the list provided, keep looking for it. We will be updating this blog.

Related blogs:

Also see:

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

Deadlines in October

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

Deadlines in November

  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

Deadlines in December

  1. Lehigh University – 1 Dec
  2. Louisiana Tech University, Ruston – 1 Dec
  3. New York Institute of Technology – 1 Dec
  4. Polytechnic Institute of New York University, Brooklyn – 1 Dec
  5. University of Houston, Clear Lake – 1 Dec
  6. University of South Alabama, Mobile – 1 Dec
  7. 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 and Technology – 2 Jan
  4. Santa Clara University – 10 Jan
  5. New Mexico State University, Las Cruces – 27 Jan

 

 

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