MS IN US: Selection of Universities

Hello friends

Today I will discuss about how to select universities after giving GRE and TOEFL/IELTS exam.

There are some specific points which must be in your mind while you consider your universities as application fees for them are quite high.

Coming to them one by one                                                                  

1.       Each and every university (95 % of all universities) has application fee ranging from 30$ - 75$ (1800 – 5000 INR)

2.       Depending on your scores of GRE there are numerous universities which belong to your score range. Each candidate can check their respective universities on www.stupidsid.com or just type stupidsid in Google. Create an account there and you can search for your universities according to your profile.

3.       If any student gets 320+ then don’t blindly apply to top universities (Ivy League). For that you need some things which need to be very clear. They will be good academics (8 cgpa + / 80 % +), excellent SOP, strong LOR, many internships in top companies and good papers & publications. BUT still if any candidate crosses the above GRE mark then they must apply to minimum of 3 universities from Ivy League.

4.       Apply for a minimum of 5 Universities and a maximum of 10 universities as applying and sending the required documents to all via courier will cost roundabout to 1 lakh in total.

5.       Rankings for U.S. universities can be found at www.usnews.com. Another source is the annual NRC (National Research Council) rankings.

6.       After taking your GRE and TOEFL/IELTS, you should decide to which universities you want send the test scores (other than the four you might have sent scores to during the test). You may report the scores by post or by phone. In case you wish to report by post, you can download the ASR (Additional Score Report) form from the GRE/TOEFL/IELTS website. Alternatively you can make use of the form provided with the official score report packet. Each university costs you $25 for a GRE and TOEFL report.

For IELTS the charge is 1250 INR for Air mail reporting via DHL or 250 INR for normal mail. The difference is nothing but that in Air mail the candidate can track the IELTS score card to university via DHL service. (This does not relate the topic of today but I think it imp in terms of sending score to universities).

       

Note:

·         Do not choose universities primarily based on the costs involved. Remember that even the cheapest U.S. universities charge fees in excess of $15,000 (7, 50,000 INR) PER year and so there is no logic in omitting universities on the basis of fees.

·         Another fact that you should understand is that the cheapest is no necessarily the best!

THANK YOU

MS IN US: TOEFL And IELTS

Hello friends

Welcome back to the blog.

Sorry, due to some problems I had left out on my topic of another exams i.e. TOEFL and IELTS.

TOEFL and IELTS are both same type of exams, having fairly a minute amount of difference among them. So, in this blog I will discuss in brief about these two exams.

TOEFL
This is an English proficiency exam which every university of USA demands from each candidate so as to know how proficient the student is for communicating abroad.

The exam is divided into four sections

1.       READING
2.       WRITING
3.       LISTENING
4.       SPEAKING

Reading sections consist of 3 paragraphs each different level of difficulty.

Writing section consist of two topics in which the first one will be a small issue (100-150 words) and second one will be a long one (250-300 words).

Listening section will be the most important section of all and you have to listen to the audio very very carefully, because there is a single audio tape, which is played only once. If the candidate fails to miss out on anything then don’t waste time on it and move on to another part because here thinking never helps anyone but being alert does.

Speaking section is a very simple section in which you have to speak to very simple and basics questions for a roundabout of 20 minutes. Here, there is small part of speaking of 2 minutes in which majority of students fail to speak. It’s mainly because people think it’s very easy and become overconfident about them. So my advice to everyone is that “Have a practice of speaking regularly with fellow people at least from one week prior to examination”.

The whole exam consists of 120 marks and each section consists of 30 marks each. The duration of the exam is around 4 hours and its completely a computerized exam.

Minimum marks each candidate must target – 80 +

IELTS
This exam is same as TOEFL, having little or almost no difference. The only difference being that this exam is paper based, contrary to TOEFL which is computed based.

The whole exam divided into bands of (0-9) and the individual section also being divided in (0-9) band. The average of individual bands is taken into account to calculate your total band out of 9. The band of 9 is equivalent to 120 marks of TOEFL. Minimum marks each candidate must target
6.5 (as most university demand this score) and individual band score above 6.

WHICH ONE TO GIVE AND WHY?

Candidates who are willing to pursue their career in USA can go for either of the exam, as universities there accept both of them.

BUT

Candidates, who are willing to pursue their carrier in GERMANY, must (compulsorily) / should give IELTS exam because they do not accept or recognize TOEFL exam. So IELTS has an upper hand for those candidates who want to pursue their dreams to multiple countries and not restricting them to USA.

Note – Getting (110 +/ 115 +) in TOEFL or getting (7/8) band in IELTS does not give you any upper hand in getting top universities (keep this always in your mind). This exam is just a simple proficiency test nothing else but don’t take it too lightly as it may create visa problems if your score is too low.

Hope I have sorted out most of d things here.

THANK YOU

MS IN US: Finance Related Issues

Hello friends

Today I will discuss one of the most important aspect of MS…..its FINANCE.

Well, most of us strive to go abroad but can’t go because of only one major problem, which is finance. As an aspiring student myself, I have faced the same problems as each and every other individual and its my responsibility to make my fellow aspirants aware about how to gather or arrange for monetary issues.

Starting from datum line

Fees of registration of GRE exam – 185 $ (11500 INR)

Fees of registration of IELTS exam – 9900 INR

Fess of registration of TOEFL exam – 165 $ (10067 INR)

After these exams are over, one must have a minimum of 1 lakh to spend for selecting university and sending couriers to respective ones.

Couriers costing –   1. Around 9000 (10 applications from DHL)

                                 2. Around 5000 (5 applications from DHL)

After getting selected in a particular university there are some scholarships, TA/RA ,part time jobs which every student tries to get their hand on, to reduce their cost of living and other expenses. Let me clear them one by one.

·         SCHOLARSHIP

This is one thing which majority of the students get access once they get their admission is confirmed. But every university does not give it to everyone so easily. There are some norms and regulations which students have to pass through before the department advises the university to fund the candidate. First of all it is “First come First serve” basis. Secondly, scholarship depends on some specific criteria which are

1. GRE

2. Academic record (most important)

3. Research papers or any publications

And most important among all these is “scholarship are given during a specific period of year so before applying just check the dates of scholarship application form of each university which you are willing to apply”.

·         TA/RA

TA (teaching assistant ship) and RA (research assistant ship) these are most rare type of scholarships which any candidate gets because this ones are only accessible if the student has some work experience of teaching or research experience in labs. They do not have particular form which you have to fill for every university but you have to mention this in your resume.

  

·         Part time jobs

These are easily accessible for everyone in USA and most of the students do some or the other kind of part time jobs so as to suffice their living costs. For this, you don't need any experience and stuff, you just to go to their office, give a simple interview and job is yours.

Apart from aid, the total cost of studying for masters in USA is around 40 lakhs (minimum) to 60-70 lakhs (maximum) depending upon cost of living, tuition fees and reputation of top universities. Mostly if u get scholarship then your fees reduces by 8-10 lakhs per year approx. During the second year of MS the university fees is always on a lower side because only thing you work on is your thesis.

         First year fees – around 15-20 lakhs (minimum)  
       Second year fees – around 10 lakhs (maximum)

         Remaining 10 lakhs are your living cost which you can cover it by part time job
.

A student can even take a loan from bank of around 15 lakhs, with very low interest rates as provision have been made for studying abroad.

So my advice to all my fellow aspirants is only one i.e. concentrate on your academics, publications and your final year project so as you can achieve those prestigious scholarships which will make your path easy.

Hope this post may have helped you in a certain way….

THANK YOU

MS in US: Preparing for GRE

Welcome back friends

In this post, I will give a brief review about the books and tips for GRE, for those who are eager to start their preparation as early as possible.

GRE is a computer adaptive test, which means as you keep on giving the right answers in one section the next or the subsequent section becomes tougher to test caliber of the students. The more you are correct in one section the more resilient the next section will be.

In the two sections involved i.e. Quant and Verbal, Quant appears to be easier for most of the Indian students because of obvious reasons, but Verbal is the one which always proves to be a headache of each and every student.

Coming to the books and stuff required for better preparation

Quant

1.    BARRON

2.    MANHATTEN 5 LB

3.    ETS Official Guide

4.    NOVA

Verbal

1.    Princeton review

2.    Mnemonicdictionary.com (use this website for memorizing tougher words)

3.    ETS official guide

The books mentioned above are sequentially arranged in order of toughness (easy to hard).Try to cover as much books as possible from above and avoid others in between so as you don’t confuse yourself.

According to my point of view, for Quants, I would prefer MANHATTEN 5 LB and for Verbal I would prefer Princeton review. But it’s my individual choice and many people have their own freedom to choose any of them and again I had completed all the books before my GRE exam. Stress yourself particularly on the verbal side as this will help you in your TOEFL/IELTS exam to attain top scores.

Tips for verbal (because this where most students can’t keep up)

1.    Always carry a small OXFORD dictionary in your bag or pockets

2.    Make note of any tough word you come across even if you know meaning of the sentence and not the word

3.    Concentrate on the structure of sentence rather than mugging up words

4.    Make a habit of writing on random topics everyday on issues you come across and consult a teacher/guide to correct you (for better ones search “AWA topics in GRE” on Google)

5.    Learn new words from “high frequency word list/hit parade GRE (found on Google)” and instead of mugging those up, try to make your own sentences.

6.    Follow Princeton review thoroughly and don’t neglect anything written in it.

Tips for Quant

1.    Keep on practicing even if you are strong

2.    Don’t waste more than 5 minutes on any question

3.    GRE quant is more of using head rather than calculation. So avoid calculations. If you are having more calculation in solving method then you are surely wrong.

4.    Stress on probability, permutation and combination and bar charts (most imp and easily marks fetched)

I have seen many of friends having knowledge of more than 1000 new words in verbal but when it comes to exam time they hardly score above 155+. What I have got to know by my experience that both things are imp i.e. understanding the structure of sentence and the word which suits there properly. I am not criticizing anyone because they are as par with me but I am mainly concerned here for one reason which is to show them what is really beneficial for them in longer run. A poor verbal score can lead to visa rejection, if your luck is bad on that particular day. So folks don’t worry or stress out on verbal now, just keep it steady and regular so as each and every day you learn something new about it. Quant is in our blood so just a regular day to day practice will easily fetch you 160+.

Keep reading….

MS in US: GRE

Welcome back fellow aspirants

In the upcoming posts, I will mention about the GRE and TOEFL/IELTS exam in detail so as everyone gets benefitted. In this post, I will solely concentrate on GRE preparation, tips and structure of exam along with some useful tips for everyone.

GRE (GRADUATE RECORD EXAMINATION)

For many years, GRE has been a core ingredient for masters in USA. It is an exam which gives an overview of your technical, verbal as well as analytical skills in a span of almost 4 hours. The exam pattern is however interesting and confusing too. The minimum marks a student gets is 260 and the maximum he can get is 340. So the range is (260-340) with internal distribution as:

VERBAL – minimum (130) and maximum (170) 

QUANT – minimum (130) and maximum (170) 

Awa – minimum (1) and maximum (6) – this is separately evaluated by the examiners but it is a part of the exam.

Each question carries 1 mark and there is no negative marking.  If any student gets nothing correct then his marks will be lowest i.e. 260.As u keep on writing the correct answers, your marks will tend towards 340.

SECTIONS IN DETAIL

Every candidate will come across 5 sections each carrying equal marks which is 20, within these 5 sections one is a non-evaluating section. But no candidate has ever got to know which it is. So don’t ever try to skip any section. There are two patterns of exam being carried, which are:

1. VQVQV

2. QVQVQ

V- VERBAL, Q - QUANT

 

As you can see from above there are five sections involved each carrying equal marks and equal time (30 minutes for each section). So students better increase their speed of thinking as once the time ends for a particular section, exam will automatically shift to the next section without asking, but your answers will be saved without your review (if you had wanted to).

·         AWA (Analytical writing Analysis)

Now as the exam starts each candidate will come across a section of AWA before entering those 5 sections. This is the most important part of the exam and glad it comes at starting when everyone’s mood is fresh and ready to go. Its my personal request for each and every student, especially for those who are opting for PhD, don’t even think to take this section lightly. This section is a writing section and you have two write on two topics each having a time limit of 30 minutes. The topics will be very easy but for god sake don’t write in Basic English which everyone did in 10 and 12. The level needs to be higher here and when you will write such topics better concentrate on the structure of sentence rather than putting explosive words like mundane, camouflage and all.

It’s a very critical section for all and the minimum marks for MS and PHD will be 

MS – 3 or above (for good universities)

PhD – 4 or above (for best universities because not all of them provide this degree)

·         Finally summing up

The main pattern of exam is

AWA then 5 sections (VQVQV or QVQVQ)

AWA (consist of 6 marks)

V and Q consist of 100 marks out of 20 marks are of one non evaluating section which no one knows but everyone has to attend all of them. So finally only 80 questions will be evaluated and 20 (from any one section will be left as non-evaluating)

Each section has a time limit of 30 minutes with no break within any section.

For MS ASPIRANTS

Good GRE score and AWA – (300 + and AWA – 3+)

Dream score and AWA – (320 + and AWA – 4 or above)

For PhD ASPRIANTS

Good GRE score and AWA – (315 + and AWA – 3.5 or above)

Dream score and AWA – (320 + and AWA – 4.5 +)

Its not so hard to score such marks because everyone has that capability from within to reach higher levels. Preparation tips and other stuff will be given in the next blog as everything in one go may lead to overloading. Till then cya friends….