HOW TO SELECT A UNIVERSITY
All that is written below is meant for serious students only.
1.Does it make much difference if the university is public or private? I need financial aid for my studies.
Let me answer first whether you should choose a state or private univs.In your case this is important since you are living in USA. You should go for a public univ if in-state fee is applicable to you.I hope that you understand this. If you are a citizen or a green card holder ( there are other categories and norms as well) then in-state fee can be made applicable to you. Mind you in-state fee is almost 30-40% of the normal fee.
By all what I have said it implies that every American or a green card holder should go for a state univ. But it is not so.Why? The answer is that there are more private universities in top bracket than public ones.This does not mean that there are no public universities in the top range.
So you have to see at your end whether you can afford a private or a public univ will do.
If you are a student from India still a public university will be more affordable for you as most of them have lower fees.
2. Next point you should analyze is the program the Univ is offering . Does it's research areas interest you? Do you feel a professor will take you as an assistant or in his group? Try finding this.
3.Now match your credentials with the univs requirements of admission. See what they want also see what were credentials of admitted students. Apply to univs where you are reasonably certain of admissions. You may also try a few top ones as well one never knows when luck strikes.
4.Check with the univs about their past statistics of placements.
5.Lastly see that the univ has conducive environment to your growth.
Sunday, October 08, 2006
RECOS FAQ
RECOS FAQ
If you have graduated a few years ago
Though a few years may have passed since you graduated college, you should try contacting your professors.
Professors keep records on students for years, so you might be pleasantly surprised to find a professor or two who can write on your behalf.
Enroll in a class or two so that you have a chance to get to know faculty and they have a chance to get to know you. Excel in those classes and volunteer to help the faculty with their research and you'll be on your way to a great letter.
For those who are working
Ask a supervisor or employer to write on your behalf. A supervisor can write about your work ethic, enthusiasm, maturity, and life experience. The trick is ensuring that your referee understands what graduate admissions committees are looking for in applicants. Provide your referee with all the information he or she needs to write an excellent letter.
Help your Recommender by telling him that RECO should
Include a description of your work-related experiences
Why you wish to attend graduate school
Your skills and abilities
Examples of how your current work demonstrates those skills and abilities.
Ask faculty, administrators, and supervisors who know you well and are in a professional capacity in which they can evaluate your qualifications for graduate study.
Your letter writers should know your work and be able to provide examples to support their points.
They should hold a positive view of you and be able to describe your potential for academic and professional work.
Aim for a set of letters from several individuals who can describe your range of skills.
Letters should cover your academic and scholastic skills, research abilities and experiences, and applied experiences (e.g., co-operative education, internships, related work experience).
Universal Recommendation Form
Most schools will ask your recommenders for the same information. Most will also ask your recommenders to jump through a lot of hoops, filling in grid boxes and writing evaluations.
Because recommenders don't usually have time to do that much work for each of six schools (the minimum you should apply to), it's a good idea to have them write one very comprehensive letter of recommendation that you can use for all of your applications.
The "Universal Letter of Recommendation" form below . The summary of most commonly asked questions is a good starting point for those of you who need to help your recommenders craft a very comprehensive letter that you can use for all of your schools. The schools will accept such a letter in place of the complicated form because they know the form is time consuming.
Use this outline as a rough guide. You don't need to address every issue in it, but try to hit the topics that pertain to you or that show you in the best light. Also, look at the applications and try to determine whether some other questions might play to your strengths. If they do, be sure to include them in the list of questions you submit to your recommender.
Don't worry too much about the structure of the letter, just have your recommender answer the questions. Structure isn't as important as content, so have your recommender focus on providing some insight into your personality and values.
When your recommender has finished the letter, have him address separate copies of it to each school. (Just be sure not to write one school's name at the top and another school's name in the body of the letter.)
Universal Business School Recommendation Form
Name of Person Completing the Recommendation:
Position/Title:
Organization:
In what context and for how long have you known the applicant? Please comment on the frequency of interaction. Please give exact dates. Is this person still employed by your organization?
In your answers, please describe specific activities or accomplishments that demonstrate this candidate's strengths and weaknesses.
1. What are the applicant's principal strengths and special talents? / Provide a short list of adjectives that describe the applicant's strengths.
2. Discuss the applicant's competence in his area of responsibility or specialization (i.e. organizational skills, attention to detail, ability to complete assignments).
3. How does the applicant's performance compare with that of his or her peers? How does he accept constructive criticism? How has the applicant grown during his employment with you?
4. Comment on the applicant's ability to work with others, including superiors, peers and subordinates. Would you enjoy working for the applicant? / Please discuss observations you have made concerning the applicant's leadership abilities and group skills.
5. Comment on the applicant's maturity.
6. How would you describe the applicant's sense of humor?
7. In what ways could the applicant improve professionally? / What aspect of the applicant would you most like to change? / In which areas could the applicant exhibit growth or improvement? Has he worked on these areas?
8. How well has the applicant made use of available opportunities? Consider his initiative, curiosity and motivation.
9. What do you think motivates the candidate's application to the MBA program? Do you feel the applicant is realistic in his professional ambitions? / Has the applicant given careful consideration to his plans for entry into the MBA program? / Please comment on your impression of the applicant's capacity for graduate work.
10. Comment on the applicant's business ethics.
11. What is your overall assessment of the applicant's potential for success as an effective and inspiring upper-level manager?
12. Please provide detailed comments on the applicant's degree of self-confidence.
Feel free to make additional statements concerning the applicant's accomplishments, managerial potential and other personal qualities. / Comments regarding the applicant's aptitude for graduate work and a career in business and management will be especially appreciated.
Don't try to address every issue on the page; instead, pick those that show you in the best light. Start by writing a brief answer to each question. Only after you have good replies should you worry about fitting them together into a coherent letter
If you have graduated a few years ago
Though a few years may have passed since you graduated college, you should try contacting your professors.
Professors keep records on students for years, so you might be pleasantly surprised to find a professor or two who can write on your behalf.
Enroll in a class or two so that you have a chance to get to know faculty and they have a chance to get to know you. Excel in those classes and volunteer to help the faculty with their research and you'll be on your way to a great letter.
For those who are working
Ask a supervisor or employer to write on your behalf. A supervisor can write about your work ethic, enthusiasm, maturity, and life experience. The trick is ensuring that your referee understands what graduate admissions committees are looking for in applicants. Provide your referee with all the information he or she needs to write an excellent letter.
Help your Recommender by telling him that RECO should
Include a description of your work-related experiences
Why you wish to attend graduate school
Your skills and abilities
Examples of how your current work demonstrates those skills and abilities.
Ask faculty, administrators, and supervisors who know you well and are in a professional capacity in which they can evaluate your qualifications for graduate study.
Your letter writers should know your work and be able to provide examples to support their points.
They should hold a positive view of you and be able to describe your potential for academic and professional work.
Aim for a set of letters from several individuals who can describe your range of skills.
Letters should cover your academic and scholastic skills, research abilities and experiences, and applied experiences (e.g., co-operative education, internships, related work experience).
Universal Recommendation Form
Most schools will ask your recommenders for the same information. Most will also ask your recommenders to jump through a lot of hoops, filling in grid boxes and writing evaluations.
Because recommenders don't usually have time to do that much work for each of six schools (the minimum you should apply to), it's a good idea to have them write one very comprehensive letter of recommendation that you can use for all of your applications.
The "Universal Letter of Recommendation" form below . The summary of most commonly asked questions is a good starting point for those of you who need to help your recommenders craft a very comprehensive letter that you can use for all of your schools. The schools will accept such a letter in place of the complicated form because they know the form is time consuming.
Use this outline as a rough guide. You don't need to address every issue in it, but try to hit the topics that pertain to you or that show you in the best light. Also, look at the applications and try to determine whether some other questions might play to your strengths. If they do, be sure to include them in the list of questions you submit to your recommender.
Don't worry too much about the structure of the letter, just have your recommender answer the questions. Structure isn't as important as content, so have your recommender focus on providing some insight into your personality and values.
When your recommender has finished the letter, have him address separate copies of it to each school. (Just be sure not to write one school's name at the top and another school's name in the body of the letter.)
Universal Business School Recommendation Form
Name of Person Completing the Recommendation:
Position/Title:
Organization:
In what context and for how long have you known the applicant? Please comment on the frequency of interaction. Please give exact dates. Is this person still employed by your organization?
In your answers, please describe specific activities or accomplishments that demonstrate this candidate's strengths and weaknesses.
1. What are the applicant's principal strengths and special talents? / Provide a short list of adjectives that describe the applicant's strengths.
2. Discuss the applicant's competence in his area of responsibility or specialization (i.e. organizational skills, attention to detail, ability to complete assignments).
3. How does the applicant's performance compare with that of his or her peers? How does he accept constructive criticism? How has the applicant grown during his employment with you?
4. Comment on the applicant's ability to work with others, including superiors, peers and subordinates. Would you enjoy working for the applicant? / Please discuss observations you have made concerning the applicant's leadership abilities and group skills.
5. Comment on the applicant's maturity.
6. How would you describe the applicant's sense of humor?
7. In what ways could the applicant improve professionally? / What aspect of the applicant would you most like to change? / In which areas could the applicant exhibit growth or improvement? Has he worked on these areas?
8. How well has the applicant made use of available opportunities? Consider his initiative, curiosity and motivation.
9. What do you think motivates the candidate's application to the MBA program? Do you feel the applicant is realistic in his professional ambitions? / Has the applicant given careful consideration to his plans for entry into the MBA program? / Please comment on your impression of the applicant's capacity for graduate work.
10. Comment on the applicant's business ethics.
11. What is your overall assessment of the applicant's potential for success as an effective and inspiring upper-level manager?
12. Please provide detailed comments on the applicant's degree of self-confidence.
Feel free to make additional statements concerning the applicant's accomplishments, managerial potential and other personal qualities. / Comments regarding the applicant's aptitude for graduate work and a career in business and management will be especially appreciated.
Don't try to address every issue on the page; instead, pick those that show you in the best light. Start by writing a brief answer to each question. Only after you have good replies should you worry about fitting them together into a coherent letter
Graduate School Personal Statement Secrets
Graduate School Personal Statement Secrets
by Geoffrey Cook, Founder EssayEdge.com
The best way to approach your personal statement for graduate school is to imagine that you have five minutes with someone from the admissions committee. How would you go about making the best case for yourself while holding the listener's interest? What would you include and omit in your story? Figuring out the answer to these questions is critical to successfully preparing an effective statement.
To arrive at these answers, you should begin by asking yourself two specific questions:
* Why have I chosen to attend graduate school this specific field, and why did I choose to apply to this particular school's program?
* What are my qualifications for admission?
The answers will not necessarily come easily to you, but this exercise will have great practical benefit in readying you to write an outstanding personal statement. By answering each question thoroughly, you will have given much thought to yourself, your experiences, and your goals, thereby laying the groundwork for formulating an interesting and persuasive presentation of your own personal story.
As the founder of EssayEdge.com, the Net's largest admissions essay prep company, I have seen firsthand the difference a well-written application essay can make. Through its free online admissions essay help course and 300 Harvard-educated editors, EssayEdge.com helps tens of thousands of student each year improve their essays and gain admission to graduate schools ranging from Harvard to State U.
Having personally edited over 2,000 admissions essays myself for EssayEdge.com, I have written this article to help you avoid the most common essay flaws. If you remember nothing else about this article, remember this: Be Interesting. Be Concise
Read on
http://education.yahoo.com/college/essentials/articles/grad/gradessaysecrets.html;_ylt=AkyZXW0MHm.SOsIHJK.9Z9InmrQF
by Geoffrey Cook, Founder EssayEdge.com
The best way to approach your personal statement for graduate school is to imagine that you have five minutes with someone from the admissions committee. How would you go about making the best case for yourself while holding the listener's interest? What would you include and omit in your story? Figuring out the answer to these questions is critical to successfully preparing an effective statement.
To arrive at these answers, you should begin by asking yourself two specific questions:
* Why have I chosen to attend graduate school this specific field, and why did I choose to apply to this particular school's program?
* What are my qualifications for admission?
The answers will not necessarily come easily to you, but this exercise will have great practical benefit in readying you to write an outstanding personal statement. By answering each question thoroughly, you will have given much thought to yourself, your experiences, and your goals, thereby laying the groundwork for formulating an interesting and persuasive presentation of your own personal story.
As the founder of EssayEdge.com, the Net's largest admissions essay prep company, I have seen firsthand the difference a well-written application essay can make. Through its free online admissions essay help course and 300 Harvard-educated editors, EssayEdge.com helps tens of thousands of student each year improve their essays and gain admission to graduate schools ranging from Harvard to State U.
Having personally edited over 2,000 admissions essays myself for EssayEdge.com, I have written this article to help you avoid the most common essay flaws. If you remember nothing else about this article, remember this: Be Interesting. Be Concise
Read on
http://education.yahoo.com/college/essentials/articles/grad/gradessaysecrets.html;_ylt=AkyZXW0MHm.SOsIHJK.9Z9InmrQF
Graduate scholarship and a graduate assistantship - FAQ
Difference between a graduate scholarship and a graduate assistantship
Graduate Scholarships sometime also called graduate fellowships are "free money".
Small graduate scholarships ( usually $500 to $3000 per year) are available in many schools but will not help you very much financially.
Big graduate scholarships ($20,000 per year or more), while possible, are highly competitive and very limited.
Let's face it, if you are not a sport’s star or a very good academically or if you do not have some talented professional skills or gifted outstanding features, then you probably only have a slim chance to get any Big graduate scholarship, this is especially true for International Graduate Students for most (at least 90%) graduate fellowships are available only to US citizen.
Unlike graduate scholarships, graduate assistantships, open to students of all nationalities, are not "free money", assistantships actually are hard working opportunities.
Usually students work with the professors in the department or other research setting, and receive a stipend (monthly salary) plus partial or full-tuition waiver.
The Big financial supports offered by schools to the majority (95%) of the International Graduate Students are Not graduate scholarships but graduate assistantships.
Big financial support means that the total funding is Big enough to cover at least 80% of school tuition and living costs.
Amount of Money earned through Assistantship
It is hard to say, depends on the school and program. But generally speaking, the total amount of funding ranges from $25,000 to $35,000 per year. The funding will cover most of your school expenses (tuition & living), if not all.
Can one get both a graduate scholarship and a graduate assistantship?
Yes, it is possible. In fact, students often receive the financial aid package, which may be some kind of combination of scholarship, assistantship, free room, ...etc.
Must I have a TOEFL and GRE/GMAT to receive the assistantship?
Depends on the requirements of the program you are applying. In fact, many programs do not need GRE/GMAT at all, as for the TOEFL, it depends on your education background and the instruction language used in your university in your home country. In some schools, a phone interview may be needed to replace the TOEFL score.
Graduate Scholarships sometime also called graduate fellowships are "free money".
Small graduate scholarships ( usually $500 to $3000 per year) are available in many schools but will not help you very much financially.
Big graduate scholarships ($20,000 per year or more), while possible, are highly competitive and very limited.
Let's face it, if you are not a sport’s star or a very good academically or if you do not have some talented professional skills or gifted outstanding features, then you probably only have a slim chance to get any Big graduate scholarship, this is especially true for International Graduate Students for most (at least 90%) graduate fellowships are available only to US citizen.
Unlike graduate scholarships, graduate assistantships, open to students of all nationalities, are not "free money", assistantships actually are hard working opportunities.
Usually students work with the professors in the department or other research setting, and receive a stipend (monthly salary) plus partial or full-tuition waiver.
The Big financial supports offered by schools to the majority (95%) of the International Graduate Students are Not graduate scholarships but graduate assistantships.
Big financial support means that the total funding is Big enough to cover at least 80% of school tuition and living costs.
Amount of Money earned through Assistantship
It is hard to say, depends on the school and program. But generally speaking, the total amount of funding ranges from $25,000 to $35,000 per year. The funding will cover most of your school expenses (tuition & living), if not all.
Can one get both a graduate scholarship and a graduate assistantship?
Yes, it is possible. In fact, students often receive the financial aid package, which may be some kind of combination of scholarship, assistantship, free room, ...etc.
Must I have a TOEFL and GRE/GMAT to receive the assistantship?
Depends on the requirements of the program you are applying. In fact, many programs do not need GRE/GMAT at all, as for the TOEFL, it depends on your education background and the instruction language used in your university in your home country. In some schools, a phone interview may be needed to replace the TOEFL score.
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