Application Process for MS in US Universities

For Indian/International Students [with specific inputs for students of Uttar Pradesh Technical University(UPTU)]

 

General Information

General Information

Phase-I
GRE and TOEFL

Phase-II
Various Documents required

Phase-III
The application process

Phase-IV
Post results decisions.

Phase-V
All about the Visa Preparations.

Phase-VI
Pre-departure formalities and shopping lists etc.


Topics on this page:

Tip
For each phase of the application process, you can take help of people called 'consultants'. Consultants will help you with your GRE preparation, Statement of Purpose and will do a Visa counseling.
I did not consult any consultant during any phase of the process. Believe me there are many resources/forums on internet to guide you all along the process (and I am adding one more) :-)
Hire a consultant only if you don't have enough time to research things on Internet. If you have a understanding of the application porocess and you apply a little common sense, you'll have better documents than what a consultant can fetch you.


 
General Timelines for Fall and Spring Semester :
 There are some strict timelines that need to be followed to be able to apply in time. Ideally the process begins about 15 months (1 and a quarter year) before the targeted semester.
 For example, for students targeting Fall-2009 semester should ideally begin the exercise by March-April '08. Starting early can spend enough time on each application and prepare the documents asked by each University. In case you are applying for a financial aid, it is very much advisable to send your applications early. Some Universities have a early deadline for students who are applying for financial aid.

 The following figure illustrate the general timeline that should be followed.
Fall Semester Timeline
Source: IMS Website (imsindia.com)
 
Information gathering via websites and discussion forums :


You will need to look for a lot of information on various Universities and the programs they offer.
Fortunately there are forums and websites that can help in this exercise. I'll name a few that helped me a lot in getting the information.

EDULIX: Edulix is a wonderful forum and a website that is a must for any MS aspirant. The URL of the forum is http://www.edulix.com/forum/
At edulix, you have different forums for different phases. Its like moving from one forum to other as you keep on progressing with your applications. You'll find many aspirants like you discussing various programs, Universities etc.
I would suggest you to join edulix and keep reading various threads on a regular basis. Just by reading various discussions, you'll get a good idea of various Universities and programs.
There are also various wonderful services like infobank and university search features that will help you to decide on your University list. Go and explore http://www.edulix.com

US NEWS Rankings: US News ranks all the Universities on many parameters and disciplines. For example, the computer science rankings for graduate studies in 2008 can be found here.
Access to latest rankings and other plethora of information requires a subscription. I took the subscription(some $15) and it was worth it. You have extensive search features and school information on many streams like CSE, ECE etc. It lists the average GRE cut-off for each school, average admit/reject ratio and website links of admission page of various Universities. It was a real help for me.

University website: University website is the best place to get information on the various programs, researches and admission details for a specific program. You may create a excel document that will have the application deadlines and other basic information of various Universities you are interested in. Later you can use this excel to trim your list of Universities.
Public and Private Universities :

Universities in USA are mainly classified into Public and Private Universities. There are some subtle differences between them. However, for prospective applicants, it hardly makes a difference whether a University is Private or Public.
Generally, Public Universities are (much) cheaper than Private ones. There is no distinction in the quality of education. There are some very good public as well as private Universities in USA.
In case you want to read more about the differences, refer to this page.

 
Estimate of per year cost and various funding options available :

The cost per year depends on two major factors:

  • The annual tuition fees
    The annual tuition fees depends on the University. It is generally low for public Universities and more for private Universities. In general, the tuition fees ranges between US$10,000 - US$45,000 (Rs.9 lacs – Rs.20 lacs INR).
    I got a SUNY-Buffalo MS-CS admit where the 1 year tuition cost (year 2008) was $10,920 and a Johns Hopkins MSE-CS admit with a tuition cost of $35,000 per year.
  • Living Expenses
    Living expenses include house rent, food, books, insurance, mobile/internet and other Leisure activities. These expenses vary a lot from place to place.
    If you are in a suburban area like SUNY-Buffalo, the total cost will be much lesser than what you'll spend in place like NYU in New York.
  • All in all the total cost per year varies from US$25,000 to US$60,000 depending on the University and location.
    To give you a real estimate, SUNY-B asked us to show $22,360 for one year and Johns Hopkins estimated the total cost to be $56,286 for one year of study [for year 2008-09].

There are various funding options that you can avail:

  • Bank Loans: Most banks offer educational loan schemes. Loan Processing takes ample of time. Make sure you plan your loan needs well in advance.
  • Teaching assistantship (TA), Research assistantship (RA), Graduate assistantship (GA)
    Various assistantships are available once you have arrived at the University. However, you need to find out what is the aid scenario in a particular University. In most Universities, the TA and RA are not immediately available and you may have to wait upto one year to get any of these assistantships.
  • Tuition Waivers: The University can waive off part of your tuition fees if it finds your academic record good enough. JHU waived off 10% of tuition fees for many prospective students for MSE-CS for Fall'08.
  • On-Campus Jobs: The international student visa permits work on campus on a part-time basis for upto 20 hours per week. The positions include student helpers at the university bookstore, campus post office, dining halls, supervisory roles at graduate housing office, etc. The students are paid on an hourly basis and the money earned is usually sufficient to cover one’s living expenses.
    On-Campus job scenario differs from place to place. You need to check with the existing students for the availability of jobs on campus.

 

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