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

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”

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Quantitative Comparison Questions: Doubtful D!

~ by our Maths Faculty

Now, here’s a tip about the weird GRE question type called Quantitative Comparison or simply QC. As we know, in QC questions there are two columns, ‘A’ and ‘B’, containing some quantities. Our job is to evaluate the quantities and compare their magnitudes. In QC questions, the options are always as follows:

 

 

(A) Quantity under Column A is GREATER THAN quantity under Column B

(B) Quantity under Column A is LESS THAN quantity under Column B

(C) Quantity under Column A is EQUAL TO quantity under Column B

(D) RELATIONSHIP CANNOT BE ESTABLISHED using the given information.

Now look at this example:

 

x2 – 2x – 24 = 0

y2 – 3y + 2 = 0

 

Column A Column B

x y

 

The question asks us to compare ‘x’ and ‘y’. In order to get the answer, we need to solve both the quadratic equations. When we do this, we get the following values: x (4, -6) and y (2, 1)

Thus, if we pick 4 as the value of ‘x’, it is greater than both values of ‘y’. Hence, option (B) and option (C) can be rejected outright.

Now, we are left with only two options, (A) and (D). But if we pick -6 as the value of ‘x’, it is less than both the values of ‘y’ so, we have to eliminate option (A) and thus, we have option (D) as the final answer!

Why was this example given? To show you that is that the only time we need to be extra cautious when solving QC questions is when we think that the answer is probably option D!

Now, try this one:

 

X < (1/X)

 

Column A Column B

X X2

 

 

see answer here

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Important Alert: the F-1 Visa Process has Changed

The new visa process announced by the US Consulate in September 2012 is completely new. Everything has changed right from payment of the visa fees to scheduling a date at the consulate. The following steps are involved.

  1. filling in the DS 160 form
  2. paying the visa fees
  3. scheduling appointments for:
    1. submitting biometric data and documents at the Offsite Facilitation Centre and
    2. the Visa Interview

1. Online Filling of the DS 160 Form

The first step is to fill the DS 160 form online. Filling the form generates a CONFIRMATION NUMBER. You will require this number to print the ‘Receipt of Payment’ (which, in this case, is printed out before you make any payment!) since it contains the CGI reference number that is required if you are going to pay the visa fees in cash.

2. Payment of Visa Fees

You can now pay the visa fees by:

  1. Electronic Fund Transfer
  2. Mobile Phone
  3. Cash payment at any Axis bank branch (there are over 1800 branches across the country)

If you make a cash payment of the fees (recommended), be sure to take along the ‘Receipt of Payment’ that you printed out earlier. The bank will need to see the ‘CGI Reference Number’ on it when you go to pay the visa fees. If you fail to produce the ‘Receipt of Payment’ the bank will not accept your visa fees.

3. Scheduling the Appointments

You can schedule appointments only after the receipt is ‘activated.’ Usually, this takes an hour. Once the receipt has been activated, you will have to schedule two appointments:

  1. Offsite Facilitation Center (OFC) – this appointment is for you to submit fingerprints of all ten fingers, photographs (digital and physical) and required documents. This appointment has to be scheduled at least one day prior to the visa interview date.
  2. Visa Interview – this is the actual visa interview appointment.

Note:

  1. You cannot appear for both appointments on the same date; and appointments for consecutive dates may not always be available. There have been instances where there is one whole week between the OFC appointment and the appointment for the interview. If that happens to you, you will have to make two trips to the consulate.
  2. After the visa has been granted the passport is couriered to the home address (this facility is available for select cities only) or can be collected from the VFS center nearest to the home city.

What are the pros and cons of this new process?

PROS:

  1. More ways of paying the visa fees
  2. Over 1800 Axis bank branches across the country for payment of visa fees in cash
  3. no additional documents other than the ‘Receipt of Payment’ to be carried to the bank
  4. Elimination of spelling mistakes in the applicant’s name due to manual input at the bank.
  5. No need to go to the VFS center prior to the visa interview.
  6. Time required for activation of visa fee receipt reduced from 2 working days to an hour enabling quicker scheduling of the visa interview.

CONS:

  1. DS 160 (which is a very long form) has to be completely filled before you can print the ‘Payment of Receipt’ and without the ‘Payment of Receipt’ the visa fees will not be accepted by the bank.
  2. Two appointments (OFC and visa interview) have to be scheduled on two separate dates, which may not be consecutive. Hence you may have to travel twice to the city where the consulate is located.
  3. You may have to collect your passport from the VFS centre.

If you have any queries related to:

  • filling the DS-160 form
  • payment of visa fees or
  • scheduling/changing visa appointments

these can be made at:

  • Email: support-india@ustraveldocs.com
  • Telephone: 91-120-6602222 or +91-22-67209400
  • Skype: user name: ustraveldocs-india
  • Online Chat: www.ustraveldocs.com

TIMINGS:

  • Monday-Friday: 8:00 am to 8:00 pm
  • Sunday: 9:00 am to 6:00 pm

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The Importance of Data Sufficiency Questions in GMAT

~ 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.

 

 

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Did You Know these Facts about GRE Math?

 

~ By our Quantitative Reasoning Faculty

 

April is almost over and the countdown to the exam has already begun. You want a good overall score and if you’re an engineer, you are most probably thinking that getting 165 on Quant shouldn’t be too much of a problem (the typical engineer approaches maths questions with a raw “Just bring ‘em on” kind of arrogance and usually gets most questions right). But here’s the problem: sometimes even those with a strong background in maths may not cross the 160 mark – and when that happens, dreams of a score in the 325+ range come crashing down. To prevent that unhappy outcome, here are some basic insights about the way the math works on GRE.

One fundamental reason why some students don’t get the scores they should, is that they simply don’t understand the way the exam ‘TALKS’ maths. What this means is that the GRE test has its own way of defining mathematical terms. If you don’t understand the definitions used in the GRE exam, then time and time again you are going to end up making errors on questions you should have got right – and you are likely to end up feeling frustrated and demoralized. So, let’s have a look at a few basic differences between Indian maths and American math.

 

1. The First Surprise – GRE Numbers are neither Natural nor Whole!

In school (for us in India), the basic classification of numbers is this:

  • Natural Numbers – {1, 2, 3, 4… ∞}
  • Whole Numbers – {0, 1, 2, 3…∞}
  • Integers – {-∞…,-1, 0, 1…∞}
  • Fractions – p/q, q≠0, p, q e integers

But ETS never uses the term ‘Natural Numbers.’ They refer to these numbers as ‘Positive Integers’. Also, you won’t find the term ‘Whole Numbers,’ instead, ETS uses the term ‘Non-Negative Integers’. What you need to catch here is that in Quant, the negation of a negative is not always positive. It is either positive or ZERO!

 

2. Some More Surprises – Oddly Enough with Even Numbers, and Even with Odd Ones

Let’s have a look at a few other definitions that we learnt in school (and went by for years):

  • Even Numbers – {2, 4, 6, 8…} in short, numbers which are divisible by 2
  • Odd Numbers – {1, 3, 5, 7…} in short, numbers which are not divisible by 2

But when it comes to GRE, the definitions have a twist! According to ETS:

  • Even Numbers – {…-8,-6, -4, -2, 0, 2, 4, 6, 8…}
  • Odd Numbers – {…-7,-5, -3, -1, 1, 3, 5, 7…}

That means in the GRE exam, if the question says “x is an even number”, then you cannot really assume that ‘x’ has a positive value. In fact, you should remember that ‘x’ can be either positive or ZERO or NEGATIVE! The same rule applies to odd numbers as well.

 

3. One More Thing to Factor in – Along with Multiple Problems

Similarly, if you were asked to list the factors of 10, your answer would be {1, 2, 5 and 10}, which would be fine in an Indian exam. In the GRE, however, this would be regarded as an incomplete (and therefore wrong) answer. The reason is that the ETS expects you to consider the negative factors as well! Hence, in the GRE the correct statement of the factors of 10 would be:{1, 2, 5, 10,-1,-2,-5 and -10}.

The same is true when listing multiples as well, i.e., if you are asked to enumerate the multiples of 5, your answer set should contain {…-15,-10,-5,0,5,10,15…} and not {5,10,15,20…} only!

 

So, now are you ready for this?

Now that you have the necessary ‘inside information,’ you should be! So, try solving this question:

How many positive integers, less than 20, are either an even multiple of 2 or, a multiple of 9 or, the sum of a positive multiple of 2 and a positive multiple of 9?

Let’s see how many integers you can come up with! (see answer here)

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