How to Apply for Higher Studies (Especially to US Universities)

I have been thinking of writing this article for so long, but couldn't manage time to do so. I am not writing the article on how to apply for higher studies, as many people have already done so, this article is actually a compilation and direction to the articles I found useful. Before starting I will like to clear that this article is not showing you the short-cut way to get an admission with scholarship, but showing what you need to know and how to prepare yourself for an admission to a US university that will be of your category. I am a Computer Science student, so my suggestions/articles are most on Computer Science graduate studies, but students from other disciplines can also get the benefit, e.g. Engineering, Economics, Natural Science, etc.

My personal focus was PhD program, but a prospective MS student can take benefit from this article as well. Although I am writing for applying to US universities, similar preparation will enable you to apply with ease to any other universities in the world.


Applying to US Universities, an overview

The first thing you need is an overview of the whole process. There are many such great articles, forums that discuss about it in details. You should start with CMU's Mor Harchol-Balter's article "Applying to Ph.D. Programs in Computer Science" <http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~harchol/gradschooltalk.pdf > or <http://www.naushadzaman.com/gradschooltalk.pdf >. This is a big article but the best article written in this category.

There is another article that is very useful for Bangladeshi students. It was written by a Chinese for Chinese students. As US education system is different from ours, it is useful to understand their education system first before applying to USA. This will help you to understand what you should focus in applying to US universities. This is BeBeyond's 9 step guide <http://naushadzaman.blogspot.com/2007/07/bebeyond-9-step-guide-for-applying-at.html >.

Another very useful guide for applying to US is available by Natalia <http://alumnus.caltech.edu/~natalia/studyinus/guide.htm > from Caltech. Her guide on every step is very useful.

Yet another article that also did the same as what I am trying to do in this article; compiled all steps. You can check it here: <http://www.techenclave.com/forums/guide-applying-engineering-grad-schools-us-63834.html >
in case you cannot find the post in this link, check <http://naushadzaman.blogspot.com/2007/07/httpwww.html >

There are few popular and resourceful forums, e.g. <http://www.urch.com/forums/ > <http://www.edulix.com/forum/>. You should check these forums for each step of your preparation.


Timeline
Applying to US Universities is a long process. Conversely, for an admission to a university or any other educational institution in our country, we just need to appear at an admission test and at best face an interview, nothing more. For an admission to a US university, you need to prepare for GRE exams, prepare your SOP (Statement of Purpose), and collect LOR (Letter of Recommendation) from Professors as well as submit financial statements in some cases. And as we need visa for US, we need to prepare scores of things for visa, which is another big hassle. So to catch up Fall Semester (starts in September), you need to have more than a year in hand to prepare everything. Well, there are no hard and fast rules, rather mostly depends on you, but it is better if you start early.

Now the question is, exactly how many days one needs to prepare for applying to US. It depends from person to person, but I will try to give a guideline in general. Let's start with our deadline. For the best universities the deadline usually is between December 15 and January 15. After that other mediocre universities follow. I will give timeline based on earliest deadline, presuming that you can make your own timeline. Before proceeding to that I will let you know what you need to do to prepare for applying to a US University.

i. Prepare and appear at General GRE (Target scores should be Verbal: 560+, better if 600+; Maths: 750+, better if 800, for applying to most A grade universities. But there are exceptions, I only had 360 in Verbal section! But definitely it helps to have a higher score, so target for more.)
ii. Appear at TOEFL (Target scores should be 90+ on iBT)
iii. Research which universities are good match for you
iv. Write SOP (Statement of Purpose)
v. Collect LOR (Letter of Recommendation)
vi. Prepare and Appear at Subject GRE (Optional but highly recommended for top-tier universities)


You will need to get qualifying score in GRE for applying to most of the schools in US. Even if you don't need GRE for a particular university (very exceptional; MIT doesn't want it and few others sometime don't), it is better to take GRE exam for your visa! Not kidding, a visa officer told so in a seminar. Reason is, usual US students qualify GRE and apply to more than 1/2 universities. So they expect you to go through the same process and they take it as a proof that you are a bona-fide student and really serious about studying in US, so you did whatever it takes to get the admission. In this regard my suggestion is, at first complete the GRE and TOEFL whenever you manage time. Go through the GRE/TOEFL section for suggestions regarding preparing for those exams. If you study seriously and regularly for 2-3 months, you can get good scores in the General GRE. 3rd and 4th year of your undergraduate studies are good time for taking the GRE exams. So, try to complete these steps well before thinking of other things (Usually GRE remain valid for 5 years). But still, if you have already passed the 3rd and 4th year, then start now and spend 2/3 months.
For TOEFL you will just need to know the format, nothing else. I suggest you to complete the TOEFL exams after the General GRE, it helps.
Top ranked schools highly recommend/require for Subject GREs. It's better to complete the subject GRE as well. I didn't and I don't have regrets for that as I am happy with my admission. But if you don't want to risk then you should complete the subject GRE as well and its good to appear at the subject GRE just after completing the undergraduate studies, as everything is fresh in your mind at that time.

Deadline: 15 December [Earliest deadline]

Submit Everything: Before 15 November to 1 December [Deadline - (minus) 15 to 30 days: Submit as early as possible (especially if you need financial aid), so that if you miss anything you can update/modify it in the last minute. One thing you should understand that all of your documents must reach before the deadline. So it doesn't help if you had submitted before deadline, but it reached after deadline. You have to make sure and send everything using the fastest and safest mode of transfer such as prominent international courier services.]

Research universities, Write SOP, Collect LOR: October and November [2 months before submitting: You can do all these simultaneously. But you need to spend time for these as well, the way you spend time for GRE!]
Complete GRE, TOEFL: September [You can spend one month for taking the exams, e.g. early September for GRE then one/two weeks later for TOEFL exam, which is end of September. In case you need to take the GRE again, you still have time. So try to sit for the exam even earlier.]
Prepare for GRE, TOEFL: July, August [At least two months regularly and seriously practice GRE]

This is a very customizable thing and you can schedule in your own way. But many people asked me to give a template, that's why just sharing my own one. I hope you get the picture and can do your own.

In next sections, I will point out for articles that will describe how to prepare for each step.

How to GRE
General GRE: For general GRE I wrote an article after my exam. This article has my suggested pointers and my suggestions, so check if it interests you.
http://naushadzaman.blogspot.com/2006/09/how-to-gre-and-my-gre-experience.html

Subject GRE: I will not mention names, but I have seen students who were in probation (because of CGPA lower than 2.0) at my university, i.e. BRAC University, and went to other university and passed with CGPA 3.5+. So think how the admission committee of US and other university will be able to judge you and your CGPA, when they don't even know about your university! It's better to take the Subject GRE right after the completion of your undergraduate study. It is valid for 5 years, I guess. As I didn't take the subject GRE, I cannot give suggestions about that. Search for it, you will find many useful information. One thing I must tell you that, if your CGPA is low because of some problem during your undergraduate study then you can take Subject GRE and they will value your Subject GRE scores more than your CGPA.

For further suggestions, also take benefit from:
<http://www.urch.com/forums/ >
<http://www.edulix.com/forum/>.

How to TOEFL
I wrote an article on my TOEFL experiences after my TOEFL exam as well. This article has my suggested pointers and suggestions, so check if it interests you. http://naushadzaman.blogspot.com/2006/10/how-to-toefl-ibt.html

For further suggestions, also take benefit from:
<http://www.urch.com/forums/ >
<http://www.edulix.com/forum/>.

How to Research for Universities that are good match for you Every year thousands of Indian and Chinese students go to US for higher education and all of them are not the best caliber students. It's true that they have more people than we do, but we have many more prospective students with equal caliber, who should apply to US for higher education. The fact is, Indians and Chinese people have understood the applying process very well and there are people out there who can help and guide them, may be voluntarily or on payment. But they are getting the guidance. Now in the internet you can find every suggestion you need, and I tried to give links to articles that will be useful for you. But one of the most important parts of the application process is selecting where to apply. There are many universities with similar quality, but some are tougher than others to get in (may be some are more demanding because of geographical location, etc). Again, if you apply only to top 5 or 10 universities, you may end up not getting any admits. But if you apply to 5/10 universities wisely then you may get at least 30% acceptance. Bottom line is, you have to understand where you should apply and the Indians and Chinese people have mastered this technique, that's why they are getting more opportunities.

You should read two sub-sections from two articles for understanding the process of selecting universities.
- Check "5. Choose the Right Schools for You" section from <http://naushadzaman.blogspot.com/2007/07/bebeyond-9-step-guide-for-applying-at.html >
- Check the guideline from gradschooltalk.pdf's <http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~harchol/gradschooltalk.pdf > or <http://www.naushadzaman.com/gradschooltalk.pdf > "3.7 How many schools should you apply to?" and "5. Choosing the right PhD program for you" section.

As these articles have described it so nicely, I won't write much here. But I will like you to remember few things.

- Don't just apply to top ranked or your category universities. You should apply to 3 categories of universities, your level, above your level and below your level. Your level is where students of your category get admitted (You can ask other students in the forums, <http://www.urch.com/forums/ > <http://www.edulix.com/forum/>); above your level is the ambitious university list, which you should apply so that if you get lucky you could go to a better place!; below your level is the safe list, which is the alternative. This category is where you are confident that you should get an admission. From each category you should at least apply to 1/2 universities, but more at your own level, may be at least 2/3 universities. Another thing is, visa is a problem for USA, even though this year I didn't hear about anyone getting rejected with student visa from Bangladesh. But yet, I prefer to keep alternatives outside USA as well! So the ratio should be something like,
At least: your level (2/3 unis): ambitious (1/2 unis) : safe (1/2 unis) : safe outside USA (1/2 unis)
At most: your level (5/6 unis) : ambitious (4/5 unis) : safe (3/4 unis) : safe outside USA (2/3 unis)
I am giving you the maximum limit because you need to research on all universities, their professors, their students' qualifications (help you to judge if you have a good chance or not), their research projects, department, university and many more. But you may go up to 20 universities, but you should have time to spend for that. May be few extra days. And again, you should keep in mind that applying to universities is a big investment. You have to pay approx. $14 to send GRE scores to each university, $14 for TOEFL, application fees (which is as low as FREE to as much as $105), sending transcripts (mail cost) and other documents, etc. Managing everything is a bit tough, so you should limit the number of universities and select the universities wisely.

- If you have a particular research interest or experience before applying then it is a high plus point. You can sort out universities where people are working in the field of your interest actively. One thing you should understand is people working in your field will be more interested to take you. If there is a big research group in your field, then there are good funding opportunities, and they might hire students as well. So keep this in mind and these universities have more probability to hire and fund you than other universities with one or few professors in your field.
But if you don't have particular research interest or experience, no problem at all, may be Subject GRE can help you there, and good CGPA, and also general GREs are very useful for mediocre universities.

- If you have queries then write to students of professors, but not to the professors directly. Professors are usually very busy people and students are busy as well, but not as professors. And many students are very keen to help people. Email them if you have particular queries. Search the websites first. You can contact them for queries like, if his/her professors are taking students in the next Fall or not. Also give your credentials, like your results, research interest, etc, but keep it very short. If the student feels like you are a good prospective student then s/he will forward your email to the professor. You can actually write email to the professors of universities, ranked after 50, or something. In these cases, professors sometimes have the authority to take the students at their will, given they will support you and you fulfill the minimum requirement. So they are interested to get emails from good prospective students. But the problem with top ranked universities are, the admission committee decides whom to take, no matter who will fund you later. I guess that's the reason, they don't find any incentive to keep the correspondence with students. Bottom line is, if the university is ranked within 50, contact students only, after that you can consider writing to professors as well.


Which program to apply It's a good question to ask, if you want to go for MS/PhD. You can apply for a PhD program with undergraduate degree, or you can apply for a MS first. Fact is, if you can get a MS from US/Canadian Universities or from a renowned program abroad then you will have higher chance to get in to a high ranked PhD program at US. But it is hard to get the financial support during MS in USA; Canada is different. Canadian universities mostly give financial aid for MS in CS (and possibly in other disciplines as well), I got one. But don't know if it is very tough to get or not! If you have financial support from your family, then you should go for a MS first.
I am writing this article, assuming my reader a prospective PhD student. But if you are still confused whether you want a PhD or not, then I will recommend to go through the Chapter 2. Do I really want a PhD? What does a PhD entail, section of the article <http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~harchol/gradschooltalk.pdf > or <http://www.naushadzaman.com/gradschooltalk.pdf >.

How to write Statement of Purpose (SOP)
This is a very important part of the application package. This is the place, where you can defend your weak part of the application, e.g. low CGPA, low GRE scores, etc. Again, this is the part where you can show the committee your vision, what you want to do with this degree, how this particular university's education will help you in your career, how you have built yourself - why they should select you, etc. Go through the following articles for better understanding of the whole process. Remember, this is not a last minute thing, even if you are a good writer, you should spend time for your SOP. Revise it again and again, remove repetitive parts, and make it precise and short.
<http://naushadzaman.blogspot.com/2007/07/how-to-write-successful-statement-of.html >

<http://alumnus.caltech.edu/~natalia/studyinus/guide/statement/st1/outline.htm >
Samples: <http://alumnus.caltech.edu/~natalia/studyinus/guide/statement/samples.htm >

Start with <http://naushadzaman.blogspot.com/2007/07/how-to-write-successful-statement-of.html > for SOP. Try answering the questions, it will be a good start. I started that way.

For polishing the SOP, check the 3.3 Personal Statement section of the article <http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~harchol/gradschooltalk.pdf > or <http://www.naushadzaman.com/gradschooltalk.pdf >.


About Letter of Recommendation Check the guideline from 3.5 Recommendations section of the article <http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~harchol/gradschooltalk.pdf > or <http://www.naushadzaman.com/gradschooltalk.pdf >.

Check these articles as well.
<http://www.dickinson.edu/career/files/lettersofrecforfaculty.pdf>
in case you cannot find the document then try it in my server
<http://www.naushadzaman.com/lettersofrecforfaculty.pdf>

<http://www.dickinson.edu/career/files/lettersofrecforstudents.pdf >
in case you cannot find the document then try it in my server
<http://www.naushadzaman.com/lettersofrecforstudents.pdf >

<http://alumnus.caltech.edu/~natalia/studyinus/guide/recom.htm >
<http://alumnus.caltech.edu/~natalia/studyinus/guide/recom/dos.htm >


How to write CV I actually spent a lot of time in writing my CV, actually modifying and updating it. The information the US universities look for in a CV is not the way we write CV in Bangladesh and this is not something that can be done overnight. Your content might be ready, but you need to work with it. I actually forgot from where I got references when I built my own CV, but now found a good suggestion page, where it describe about it nicely. You can check this page.
<http://career.berkeley.edu/Phds/PhDCV.stm >


Few More Suggestions:
- Sending Application Package Now most of the application process is online, starting from application to submitting Letter of Recommendations. But you need to send at least transcripts to the universities. It is actually very expensive to send it through DHL or FedEx. One thing many people in Bangladesh do not know much, at least I didn't know - one of my colleagues told me about it, it is the EMS (Express Mail Service, I guess). It takes max 10 days (min 5 days) to reach and it costs around 300 Tk (as far as I remember) and the other regular mail service from the govt. will take at max 30 days (min 10 days) with the cost of 100-150 Tk, whereas DHL, FedEx will cost you at least 1500 Tk in a cheaper deal as a student, but it will reach within 3 to 5 days. It really counts when you are applying to 10-15 universities. So better to apply early and send the transcripts and other packages early, so that they can get things beforehand.

- Monetary Transactions You need to make payments to universities (application fees), ETS (GRE, TOEFL test taking organization) for these exams and also for sending scores to universities, etc. These could be really quick if you have a credit card. But international credit card, issued in Bangladesh, cannot make transactions abroad from Bangladesh, there are some govt. restrictions. So if you have someone abroad, who doesn't have problem giving you the credit card, then you should use that. It saves your time and money.

It is usual that not everyone will have relatives abroad willing to give the credit card. For people in Bangladesh, I will recommend to contact people at <http://www.varsityadmission.com/ >. They give the service of online transaction with a charge of 1000 Tk per transaction. I feel it's too much, but it's not my business man! Ask them! Yet there are questions of reliability. So don't just give money to some new organization if they offer you much lower price. Get information of that organization, or person, before giving him/her money for online transaction. I personally used their service for paying my GRE registration fees only and I know people who used their service for every transaction and they are reliable. I just hope that some other people will also come forward and start the business and make the business competitive. They shouldn't charge more than 200-300 Tk for each transaction, it's still too much. But if you pay it by bank drafts, then you also need to send it through courier service, then you will end up spending lot more than 1000 Tk. So, it's still a better option.

- How to USA Visa Interview
When you get the admission at US university then visa interview is another big hassle. Good thing is now they are giving student visa quite easily, but the visa process is another big story :) I wrote my experience about that as well. You can find it here:
<http://naushadzaman.blogspot.com/2007/06/usa-visa-howto-and-my-visa-experience.html >

- Getting Ticket

For buying ticket you should talk to more than one travel agent and ask for the quotations. See first who can give you the cheapest price, in which airlines. Check the baggage weight and size restrictions of that airline before buying the ticket.

- After Visa What
Now you are ready to go after visa, so you should pack up your things. You should talk to people at your university, that city, state, regarding what to take for that particular place's climate, and also some books and few other things, other than these all are general things, so nothing to worry much. I found one article in my hard disk about what to take. Shared it in my blog. Find it here:
<http://naushadzaman.blogspot.com/2007/07/after-visa-what-do-i-do-after-visa.html >

After that you are in USA and you build your own future :) and my article stops here. I hope the article was useful. Even if a single person is benefited from this, then I will feel myself successful. Feel free to send me your feedbacks and suggestions. And please feel free to forward this article to people, who you think could be benefited from it.
Good luck with your application process.
Take care. Naushad
--
Naushad UzZaman
http://www.naushadzaman.com/

Who Am I Well, I started writing this article for my friends and juniors at university and high school. In that case I really don't need to introduce myself. But as I continued compiling things, I felt that many Bangladeshi people could be benefited from this article, so I expect my readers to forward this to people who will be interested to get these suggestions. Regarding me, I received Computer Science PhD offers from University of Rochester (NY, USA), University of Pittsburgh (PA, USA), University of Texas at Dallas (TX, USA) and University of North Texas (TX, USA); Computer Science MS offers from Columbia University (NY, USA), University of Alberta (Canada) and offer for Masters program on Computer Science and Language Technology, funded by European Union with Erasmus Mundus scholarship. All with full funding except Columbia. I ended up going to University of Rochester for my PhD from Fall 2007.

Acknowledgment
I must acknowledge few people as they have contributed a lot in my admission process.
- My father, who is my best friend and my mentor as well, for discussing and suggesting what to do in every step of the admission process; even the first draft of this article with scores of grammatical mistakes was corrected by him.
- Dr. Mumit Khan, my mentor, for literally shaping my career and particularly helping me in selecting universities and writing SOP in this admission process.
- Recommenders: Dr. Mumit Khan, Associate Professor - CSE Department and Head - CRBLP, BRAC U; Dr. Sayeed Salam, Associate Professor and Chair - CSE Department, BRAC U; Mr. Matin Saad Abdullah, Lecturer, BRAC U; for recommending me.
- Saria Choudhury, my GRE partner.
- Sajib Das Gupta, Naira Khan, Zahurul Islam, Taniya Siddique and other colleagues at BRAC University, for helping me at different times during my application process.
- BRAC University Registrar's office for helping in sending transcripts. Sabeka apa, Irish apa and Shreyasee Di.
- My choto chacha, for helping in my online transactions.
- Last but not the least, my family - mother, father, brother and new bhabi, for being my inspiration, encouraging me in every step and also giving constant support.
- And many more people, whom I can't remember because of my poor memory.. :(

This is a good article by Indian students. Most of the things will match for Bangladeshi students as well. It was in my hard disk but didn't see it earlier. Almost everything is ready for me, but still found it useful. You can check it as well. Good luck.

AFTER VISA WHAT DO I DO??

AFTER VISA THE FIRST THINGS THAT YOU NEED TO DO IS?

First and Foremost

There are certain things that have to be done in advance, i.e., as soon as get you your visa - much before the flight.

 Learn typing

 Learn driving and get the driving license and an International Driving Permit. This usually takes 40 days. So its better that you start off early.

 Learn to cook.

 Apply for a bank loan (if necessary)

 Make your passport valid for 6 months more than your stay indicated in your I-20.

Immunization:

Find out the necessary immunization info and get everything done. Generally there are some vaccines like Hepatitis B, which require 3 doses once each month. So do it early. These vaccines are very costly in US and you certainly do not want to start spending money the moment you land in US. Get requisite immunization done (especially MMR)

Tickets:

Hey man go and block the ticket first. You need not pay anything while blocking, it’s free! You can pay later (generally 10 days before departure) after your ticket and schedule is confirmed. Block flights with many airlines.

 Try and book a direct flight to your place, even if you have to take a local airline it is better and safer than greyhound, which usually has its stops in the shadiest area of towns. Buy a single ticket all the way through – add on are very expensive. Avoid change of airline. A direct flight is the best.

 If change of airline can't be avoided' leave at least 4-6 hrs gap between the scheduled arrival of one flight and the scheduled departure of the connecting flight.

 Baggage is usually safe with a single airline - change of airline sometimes leads to misplaced luggage. Some airlines don't take care of baggage transfer - you may have to personally carry it (check this while booking) and cross check every thing you are promised by the Travel agent with the original air lines. Even if you have confirmed ticket in you hand.

 And remember to ask for student concessions...Generally all the airlines will come up with one or the other discount offer for students...so check all this out before you pay the money.

 Typical expenses: Rs.27, 000 - Rs.35, 000/-

Health Checkups

Get a medical check-up done

Dental check up
Fresh check-up, especially if you have a major ailment

Is Dental Care necessary?

After extensive survey and upon seeking the opinion of senior’s abroad a conclusion on the need for dental treatment while in India has been made.

 Mouth is the mirror of human health. Taking care of oral cavity is a prelude to keeping overall health fit.

 The rationale behind taking dental checkup and treatment while in India is:

 To avoid possible dental treatment abroad as it is a well-known fact that dentist in U.S charge exorbitantly high.

 Under inevitable circumstances if you are required to go for dental treatment

 You need prior appointment of two to three weeks in U.S

 Even Students are required to bear the huge expenditure, as dental care is not covered under health insurance in the U.S.

 It is ironic that the materials we use in India are the same used by dentists in U.S, but the payment made for the dental care is in dollars while the number being the same in India.

Eye Check Up:

Get your eyesight checked - get a new prescription. Buy at least one extra pair of glasses or a pair of contact lens. Get requisite immunization done (especially MMR) Get prescriptions & medicines for all common ailments (the technical name of the medicine along with Indian/US brand name) Important: Complete the health documentation that you may have to submit when you arrive in US.

Medicines:

LIST OF MEDICINES RECCOMMENDED BY A DOCTOR

Crocin tablets (paracetamol 500 mg)- 3 strips

For fever, body ache, and headache.

One tablet three times a day as necessary.

Above 60 kg please use 650 mg tablets (thermol/dolo).

For fevers, mild pain relief Actifed tablets – 2 strips (side effect drowsiness)

A costlier but much better alternative is Alerid (cetrizine) or Neoloridin(loridine)less sedation and next to no side effects

Azithromycin 500 mg tablets (aziwin) - 3 strips. One tablet once a day for atleast 3 days ...use if you have a bacterial cold or Respiratory infection ... (most common symptom being dark yellow colored mucus, fever, etc.).NOT NEEDED FOR ordinary cold (white mucus, watery secretions)

Sporidex 500mg capsules - 2 strips. One tablet twice a day when necessary as advised (please don’t use on your own. This stuff needs a prescription to be used properly ... meant only for persistent troublesome infections)

Avomine tablets - 1 strip for air/ motion sickness. One tablet as necessary.(causes drowsiness)

Lomotil/Andial tablets- 15 (for diarrhea) But remember the best treatment for diarrhea is plenty of fluids, some good rest and bland food.

Omeprazole 20 mg .For gastritis.Can be take once or twice a day

Digene tablets- 20 mg. For stomach discomfort .One each three times a day.

Spasmoproxyvon capsules - 3 strips for abdominal colic pain, backache, menstrual pain etc. One tablet every 6 hours or as necessary.

Domstal tablets - 10. For vomiting .Has to be taken atleast half an hr before food

Electral powder - 2 packets. One teaspoonful mixed with drinks to make up loss of

electrolytes after vomiting & diarrhoea

Novalgin - 2 strips for headache & bodyache. One tablet as necessary.

Brufen 600mg tablets - 2 strips. For arthirtic joint pain. One tablet three times a

day after food.

Avil Tablets - 1 strip for allergy (use cetrizine/loridin for less sedation), One tablet as

necessary.

Relaxyl ointment - 1 tube to be applied as pain balm.

Band Aid assorted - 12

Soframycin skin ointment - 1 tube

Nimesulide tabs. For the severest of headaches and pains. (But banned in the US).

100mg upto 3 times a day

Ciplox capsules 500 mg. 2 strips.1 capsule twice a day. For Infective diarrheas

Vitamin B-complex capsules .Just in case your starving yourself out there

SHOPPING TIME BUDDY!!

There are so many things one needs to carry, as this is the first time you are going abroad. If you have a friend who is going to the same university, for the same semester, it is better to share few things. This saves space as well as money. In this section, we have listed the most common things that your seniors have carried and suggest you to do. We not only tell you what to carry?, but also how much to carry vis-à-vis the quantity of each item. Many commodities like clothes, foot ware, leather items, and other miscellaneous things are expensive in US. Therefore it is a must that you go through the entire section and make a note of these things in the form of printout before you begin shopping to ensure that you don’t miss something. Get started with clothes....

Clothes:

 Jeans: 4 to 6 pairs

 Shorts: 6-8. Get those ones, which are, long and go a 2-3 inches beyond knees.

 T-shirts: 6-8

 Cotton shirts: 4-5(no multicolored patterns, they are not in vogue in US). Cotton clothes are good in warmer places.

 Night clothes: 2-3 pairs

 Formal suit & Ties - 1-2 pairs. You rarely need them...once in a year or so on occasions like Convocation ceremony and interviews.

 Undergarments...a lot of them...10-15 pairs we stress upon this because you may go to the laundry once in two weeks!!

 Socks...4-5 pairs you can bring even more because you would be wearing shoes most of the time. Do not take nylon socks. Cotton ones are better.

 Sweaters. a couple - full sleeved advisable

 Get a muffler and monkey cap and woolen gloves and windcheater.

 Leather jacket...1 they are rather poor protection in the north. But you may consider getting one woolen Jacket.

 Handkerchiefs-1 dozen

 2-3 belts one formal leather belt and others as you please. But you might want to know that one rarely tucks in the casual dresses.

 Kurta-payjamas-These would be good during Cultural meets etc. If you have fancy for one, don't forget extra naadi then.

 2 Turkish towels and two napkins.

 2 thin single bed sheets.

 One air pillow

Summarizing your clothes list:

1) Sunglasses 2 no.

2) Cap 2 no.

3) Umbrella 1 no.

4) Wind sheeter 1 no.

5) Under garments 18 no.

6) Shirts 4 formal + 4 half sleeves

7) T-shirts 12 no.

8) Bermudas 6 no.

9) Trousers 4 no. (formal)

10) Jeans 6 no.

11) Handkerchief 18 no.

12) Socks 15 no.

13) Belts 3 no.(one for jeans and 2 formal)

14) Sweater 2 full + 2 half sleeve

15) Leather jacket 1 no.

16) Wallet with more pockets for credit cards 1 no.

17) Thermal wears 2 no.

18) Ties 2 no.

19) Blazer / Suit - Blazer + matching trouser

20) Kurta Pyjama 1 white

21) Chudidar 1 no.

22) Chudidar jacket 1 no.

23) Night dress 2 no.

24) Gloves 2 pair

FOOTWARE:

Shoes:

 SPORTS SHOES: 2 pairs Sports shoes are real cheap in US. Moreover in sales of Christmas etc. So do not spend too much money for these. Get some moderately priced and good ones so that you need not buy them immediately after coming to US.

 LEATHER SHOES: Get good and strong leather shoes, shoes that have good grip are preferred. This is for snowy regions. It’s difficult to walk on snow with shoes of flat sole. Firm grip helps to keep fit, prevents breaking head, bones.

Chappals:

 You can buy leather footwear...But we advise Sandals. Get two pairs of them.

 Slippers -two pairs, you don't get the India type slippers in US.

 Kolhapuris, they serve good purpose in the summer.

Personal accessories:

 Hangers for clothes,

 Wallet - one that has space for cards - you normally don't carry much cash with you.

 Shaving kit & Blades (get a good stock, they are costly In US). Brush & toothpaste (these are also expensive in US).

 Soap (get a couple of bars of bathing soap till you go for the first groceries in US).

 Combs & hair oil (if you use hair-oil get a years supply of your favorites).

 Small mirror (just in case even if you are not a narcicist!).

 Nail cutter.

 Small scissors, Safety pin bunch. Mini-sewing kit with some buttons.

Summarizing your Personal accessories list:

1) Soap 6 no.

2) Shampoo 3 bottles

3) Towels 2 no.

4) Napkin 6 no.

5) Body spray 3 no.

6) Perfume 2 no.

7) After shave 1 no.

8) Tooth paste 6 no.

9) Tooth brush 6 no.

10) Shaving tube 2 no.

11) Mach 3 razor 2 no.

12) Blades 20 no. (mach3)

13) Blanket 1 no.

14) Duster 4 no. (for cleaning)

15) Scrub 2 no.

16) Sponge 2 no.

17) Bedsheets 2 thick + 2 thin

18) Pillow 1 no.

19) Comb 2 no.

20) Nail cutter 2 no.

21) Rubber band 1 packet

22) Scissors 1 pair

23) Calculator 1 no.

24) Pass port and stamp size snaps 36 each,

25) Photos of your family

26) CDs of songs

27) Medicines + first aid kit

28) Digital diary

29) Books

30) Back pack

31) Key Chains

32) Torch Alarm clock.

33) Camera & Camera roll 6 nos

34) Mirror

35) Soap box

Utensils:

Depends on whether you guys plan to cook alone or with your housemates, since most people don't get time to cook daily, stuff is generally prepared for two days at a go - so keep this in mind when you buy vessels, etc.

Typical stuff you may want is:

 2-3 plates,

 Glasses

 Cups and bowls

 Forks (2 each)

 Serving spoons

 Couple of cooking vessels

 Pressure cooker - 3 liters

 Cooker containers and spares (rings and valves)

 Non-stick frying pan with turner

 Tongs and knives

 Cutting board for vegetables

 2-3 patella’s that fit into each other and that preferably have handles

 1 pressure pan (Prestige), ask your prospective roommate to get one too

 Utensils holder

 Plates (2-3 steel plates, beaker size and 2-3 plastic plates of both beaker and normal size)

 2-3 plastic bowls (katories)

 6 spoons and a couple of steel glasses

 Serrated knife.

Summarizing your Utensils list:

1) Cooker 1 no. + spares

2) Cookers Containers 2 no.(with their lids)

3) Kadai 1 no.

4) Non stick tawa 1 no.

5) Spoons 6 no.

6) Grip 1 no.

7) Chapati fork/tong 1 no.

8) Laddle for poori 1 no.

9) Spatula types used while making roti) 1 no.

10) Knife 2 no.

11) Peeler 1 no.

12) Serving spoons (for dal, curry and rice) 3 no.

13) Knife& Fork 6 no.

14) Sauce pan 2 no.

15) Steel containers to heat food 2 no. (with lid)

16) Rolling Pin/ Belan (to make rotis) 1 no.

17) Plate 1 no.

18) Katori 3 no.

19) Glass 2 no.

20) Cutting board 1 no.

21) Eating knives 2 no.

22) Coffee spoon for salt etc 3 no.

23) Small size plastic spoons for masala 1 no

Food Items:

Some of the common food items that students carry are:

 Spices, Tealeaves, Masalas, Haldi, Dhania, red chilly, Instant masalas, etc.

 Mustard packet.

 Tamarind paste

 Different dals in small quantity for initial use.

 Asafoetida powder.

 Indian instant coffee + Indian tea (it takes time to get used to the American stuff)

 Elaichi, clove, cinnamon

 Masalas and tea/coffee powder, if you are a regular drinker (until somebody shifts to beer.)

 Get a couple of bags each of haldi, red chilly powder, Garam masala, Dhania, Pickle bottles (if you have enthu, but preferably get sealed ones), rice, Moong Dal. Bring approx. 1-month supply of masalas.

Most Indian foodstuffs are available even in small cities. Don't come loaded with foodstuffs as you may have problem with customs. Try to get "instant" stuff, as people don't have much time for cooking in the US.

Summarizing your Masala list:

1) Dhania& jirra ½ kg

2) Chilli powder ¼ kg

3) Haldi ¼ kg

4) Full jira 200 gm

5) Mustard Seed 200 gm

6) Garam Masala home made 200 gm

7) Pav bhaji masala 2 packets

8) Salt 500 gm

9) Sugar ½ kg.

10) Hing powder one bottle

Papad

Music:

Get all the cassettes recorded which you might like to take with you. Though you get most of them in US, why spend money for luxurious things. If you are leaving your beloved, don’t forget to take those kishore Kumar blues.

Stationary list:

1) White sheets 50 no.

2) Pencils 12 no.

3) Erasers 4 no.

4) Blade 2 no.

5) Stapler 1 no.

6) Stapler pins 1 packet

7) Pens 12 blue + 12 black (ball pens)

8) Scribbling Pad 2 no.

9) Glue stick 1 no.

10) Pencil Box 2 no.

11) Ruler - 12" 1 no.

12) Stick on pad 2 no.

13) Cello tape 1 no.

14) Ink pen 1 no.

15) Needle 1 packet

16) Thread Black 1,White 1 reel , Blue 1 reel

17) Safety pins 1 dozen

Luggage:

Luggage is the essential thing one has to buy. This has to be done after proper planning as luggage is an expensive item and is to be retained for years, now that you will be doing lot of traveling in flight.

Bags:

2 large size suitcases

Packing:

 Start your packing well in advance

 But two good boxes - they should be able to withstand a lot of mishandling. They should be as large as possible within the size limitations (however most airlines are not very strict about baggage size).

 Put identification marks and labels on both the inside & outside the boxes) apart from this, the airlines will also provide you with adhesive labels).

 Boxes with independent top & bottom are preferable.

 Box specification: As an example of Air India economy class baggage specifications to the USA are given below. Note the specs. may be different for other countries/airlines.

 2 pieces of baggage with total liner dimension (L+B+H) not exceeding 270cms (106"). Moreover the total linear dimension of each piece should not be over 158cms (62"). The weight of each bag should not be exceeding 32kg (70lb) [note: Sometimes they are not particular about this] Carry on baggage: In addition you can carry a bag with linear dimension not exceeding 115cms (45") on board fits beneath the seat.

Things to be kept in the boxes:

 Copy of all the certificates/documents (originals in hand baggage)

 Important application materials (SOP, Reco, etc.)(Soft copy)

 Necessary book/notebooks (some suggested books are - Clarks Tables, a good dictionary/thesaurus, a booklet for units conversion) [note: there should be no legal hassles taking Xerox copies of books - but don't flaunt them to Americans/profs]

 Copy of address book/telephone book/diary

 Some stationary and related items suggested (not absolutely necessary) - just for the first few weeks are: common items + rubber stamp with house address + air mail covers + few Indian razor blades for cutting work + screw driver

 Medical history files

 Gifts (suggested: roll able pictures, handicrafts, etc.)

 Non-technical books (fiction/religious). [Note: second-hand storybooks are cheap in the US]

 Don't take Indian files (empty) or punching machines - filing system is different in the US (3holes, A4)

 Don't take paper

 Don't take raincoats.

 Don't buy purse (wallet for carrying cards can be bought in the US) Carry an organizer

 Wear your shoes to save space in the box. If needed buy only leather shoes (other types of shoes are cheap in the US). For some weather conditions, Indian leather shoes may crack.

Don't worry yourself if you can't bring any of the stuff listed above - most of the items are available pretty cheap in the US (Made in China). Exceptions are leather goods, formal wear. In a month or two you will be able to get anything you want.

Things to be kept in hand baggage:

 Some medicines (including for air-sickness)

 Novel/mags/books for in flight reading

 Sweater

 Original important documents (I-20, visa, tickets.)

 Enough money (little cash, traveller's' checks)

 Address book/phone book (Indian & US)

 Copies of your photos (passport size)

 Enlisted steps to be followed in case of emergency (accident, theft, etc.)

Things to be kept in person:

 Shorter extract of contact addresses - especially of people coming to pick you up.

 Receipt got along with traveller's' checks - in case you lose the TC's.

 1 handbag to carry in flight stuff with you (buy a good quality, spacious one 'cause you might have to use it for carrying clothes to the laundry later).

 1 backpack (get a good one, you will use it almost all the time in US).

Books:

Most books used in US are vague. Heard one professor-using book in electronics by an Indian author to teach his students! Ha ha ha. These books are easy to follow.

 Contact students at your Univ.

 A good dictionary

 Your calculator

 Your entire fundamental course texts and notes (for reference of basics).

 Standard mathematical table and formulae handbook. Might also want to buy an alarm clock.

 Good story books if you have a penchant for reading, though you may not find time during the first semester.

Money to be taken with you:

Other than you fee requirements you may have to take $1000-$2000 depending upon where you are going (you can get this info from your seniors over there). This you can get from Thomas Cook/American Express and of course any Foreign Exchange bank like SBI, SBH IOB etc. Do this after you buy your ticket. And remember! Take major part of the money in DD or TC's. The typical combination is. DD for the entire fee you have to pay, $1000-$2000 in TCs, and $100 in cash...a combination of notes and coins....

Getting permit for us$750:

This can be got from any bank authorized to do so (need not go to RBI for this). You can get this within a month of the date of the flight. The following documents have to taken along to get the permit: Passport + copy, air ticket, I-20 Student Copy + copy, grade cards + copies, p.c. + copy, xii standard pass/mark sheet + copy, aid & admission letters + copies, bank advance/any other form of payment. You may take part of the $750/- in the currency notes up to $50 is okay (legally up to $100 allowed). Money you may need to pay after going there: Other than your fee, you may have to pay the security deposit for the house, rent for the first month, groceries for the first month...basic utilities like toaster, rice cooker etc.which may come around to $500 approx....

Documentation:

Carry all documentation safely, and have photocopies to back you up - letter from Univ., mark sheets, etc. (the visa stuff basically). Things to get photocopied: Make three sets of the following copies, keep one set at home and take the remaining two sets with you.

 Visa

 Xth, Inter (10+2), Degree marks sheets, Convocation Certificate of Under graduation.

 I-20 and acceptance letter from the university.

 Take all the I-20's with you if you have more than one.

Important things to do before you leave:

 Give power of attorney (authorization letters) to your father or brother or to someone on whom you rely

 Put your signature on a 10 plane papers, write you name below it, keep these at home, they may need it for any purpose like authorization to collect marks sheets, Provisional certificate, Transfer certificate, Bonafide certificate, Degree certificate, Migration certificate from the university, applying for the refund from the college etc.

 Make all bank accounts joint

Things to be left at home:

 List of addresses/phone numbers at which info about you can be obtained.

 One copy of all your important documents.

 A copy of all relevant parts of medical history files.

 Arrange to collect/redirect mail from your room/hostel.

 Arrange to apply/collect/mail your transcripts (about 20 in number preferable)

 Your tailoring measurements.

A Review & Miscellaneous:

 Get a driving license and a IDP (international Driving Permit)

 Get at least $750 if you get paid within one month of arriving and at least $1500 if you get paid after a month and a half of arrival. If you have a very good friend well settled at the place where you are going to, you may take some less cash with you as you can borrow from him and repay later. You'll have several deposits to pay for the first month of stay like gas, telephone, and electricity. You'll have to pay a months rent as deposit and a months rent advance (around $250 per person/month).

 Get your application material if you wish to reactivate your applications at a better place for the next quarter/year.

 Get a set of transcripts in case you apply all over again for a PhD.

 B.Tech. Degree certificate (laminate it in thin plastic is possible).

 Get 2-3 passport size photographs.

 Get an address/phone number diary.

 Have a set of copies of visa, passport, I-20 in each piece of luggage.

 Depending upon the weather in your area get a folding umbrella.

 Carry Rs.300 - Rs.500/- for airport tax and Rs.600/- for the $20 you'll get inside the airport.

 If you are having a camera then get it endorsed on your passport.

 Have a RBI permit ready for the dollars you are carrying with you.

 Take all your Hindi songs cassettes.

 Get a good leather purse that has several sections of "visiting cards" size, you'll need those for the bunch of credit cards/key cards/ID's, etc. you'll accumulate in no time in US.

 Carry medical prescription for all your medicines you bring.

 If you have glasses, get a through eye-check-up before and get 2 extra pairs of glasses.

 Keep passport, visa, I-20, and other admission documents in the handbag you'll carry on your shoulders all the time.

 Confirm your ticket a couple of days prior to the flight directly through the airlines you are flying no matter how reputed your travel agent is.

 Let me repeat this, get a driver's license and an IDP.

 Get lots of Indian stamps and inland letters and postcards. You'll need them to write letters, which you can send with anyone who is going to India.

 Hindi film songs cassettes.

IN THE LAST WEEK:

 Call up and find if there is any change of the schedule of the plane (inform the people coming to pick you up of any such change).

 Get ready to face the long journey.

 Bid adieu to all concerned.

 Find out the name of the person who is coming to pick you up at the airport. Remind those people of the flight timings, airline no, your name. inform all these to your people at home.

 Relax the day before journey, and check all the documents you are taking with you once again.

 Arrange for the conveyance if you don’t have a car. You can book with any private transport facility like City cabs.

ON THE DAY OF THE FLIGHT AND ON – BOARD:

 Since it is going to be a long flight wear something comfortable (cotton dress + full hand shirt). Wear your shoes - in flight you can remove them (some airlines give in flight shoes - else relax in socks).

 Check all the documents once again and keep them at appropriate places.

 Be at the airport 3-4 hours before the departure.

 Collect $20 at the airport (part of it in $1).

 Relax during flight, sleep as much as possible.

 For vegetarians - watch out before you eat - you may get non-veg even if you had asked for veg. Veg food is generally bland - fruits/juices are good choices. (Before ordering anything on board check if, you have to pay for it separately). Don't hesitate to ask questions.

 Once out of India be very careful (from sheer experience of seniors). Don't trust anyone. Don't hire a taxi (unless emergency) till you reach your destination. If required don't hesitate to spend money.

ONCE OFF THE PLANE:

You are now in the USA! Once you are out of the plane go straight to the immigration counter - rush for them to beat the queue. It might take 0.5 - 1 hour here. Keep your I-20, passport, admission & aid letters ready. They might ask a few questions like

 Is this your first time in the US? Student? F-1 Visa? Which Univ.? They will attach an I-64 card to your visa.

 Then go to the baggage counter to fetch your luggage. Pick up a cart (you get this at a machine for $1) to carry the bags. Then pick up your bags as they come out on the conveyor (suitable eye-catching labels help here) we suggest you tie your baggage with rope of a bright color that is visible from a distance. All this is to make your baggage appear distinct. If you don't get your baggage, inform the inquiry section - you may have to wait 0.5 - 1 hour here.

 Cart your baggage to the nearby customs. If asked tell them that you are a student, F-1 visa, school, dept., coming to US for the first time if asked to open your baggage do so slowly - do not mess up the place. If asked about the "masala powder (podi"'s) tell them that they are "dried Indian spices" to make traditional Indian food like curry. Rarely they might ask you to go the agris dept nearby - its a pain. If asked about "vibhuti" tell them that it is a holy Hindu powder.

Note: In most cases, you will not be asked to open your boxes at all & you will be simply waved through.

 Now go & wait at the nearest exit for the guys who are supposed to pick you up. If nobody turns up after some time (say 0.5 hour) make a collect call (at public phone dial a "0", get the operator & ask for a collect call) else call

 Your Prof

 Department

 International Students' Office

 Admissions Office

 Any Indian guy in the directory

Go and ask for an announcement to be made over the PA system. Get a card, write your name & hold it up.

 Never leave your baggage unattended. Don't go out of the airport until somebody comes & picks you up. If you have doubts about the guy who comes to pick you up, don't hesitate to ask for his ID. (All this is of course being a little extra cautious). Make sure you are pleasing while you identify his identity. Lest you offend the person who has come to help you.

 Once you reach your friend's house (or your intended destination) call home & inform them of your reaching safely. If you get your hand on Internet, do type few words of your experience and email it.

FIRST FEW THINGS THAT YOU NEED TO DO IN AMERICA:

There are certain primary things to be done on reaching US. They are discussed in this section

 Your first task is to meet the foreign students or the advisors in the International students' office (ISO) or Grad Advisor or administrative secretary. Keep a record of your details (passport, visa details etc). When you leave the US (temporarily or permanently), you have to go there again.

 Meet your prof if you have got an RA or a TA.

 Open a bank account immediately. Ask seniors for a good bank.

 Find an apartment and/or roommates.

 Complete all the official procedures at the school like

 Attending the orientation

 Getting your student ID

 Getting your Social Security Number.

 Paying the Fee

 Registering for the classes etc..

Generally your seniors or your dept through all these will guide you. So don't worry about that.

A new chapter of your life unfolds here! Work hard to make your dreams come true! I wish you success in all your future endeavors!

ALL THE BEST!!!

http://www.techenclave.com/forums/guide-applying-engineering-grad-schools-us-63834.html A Guide to Applying to Engineering Grad Schools in the US Published by Grease Monk 10 Dec 05

A Guide to Applying to Engineering Grad Schools in the US Since I finally finished all my application work (for now) and had some free time due to the postponement of the Anna university exams (you gotta love rain), I put together a guide to applying to US grad schools. This guide is also available as a pdf at http://greasemonkey.cogia.net/downloads/appguide.pdf or temporarily available at ftp://greasemonk.homeip.net/appguide/appguide.pdf If the direct link doesnt work, copy and paste it in a new browser window, or download it with a download manager. Needless to say that the pdf is much more readable than this post. An Anna University-Centric Guide to Applying to Engineering Graduate Schools in the U.S. version 0.80 Foreword: Although this guide is primarily intended for student of Anna University, about 80% of it is suitable for use by all international applicants to American universities. If you are not from Anna University and intend to use this guide, please ignore the sections regarding transcripts and the assumptions made on university policy (grading system, research scenario, etc.) All quoted work has been used with the permission of the authors and the publishing media involved (if any) unless permission has been explicitly granted, in the original publication, for public use. I also highly recommend you visit http://www.umiacs.umd.edu/~nmadnani/grefaq.pdf to compliment this guide. It covers some aspects I have not and its far more professionally done. This latest version of this guide, if updated, will be available at http://greasemonkey.cogia.net/downloads/appguide.pdf Table of Contents 1 Why Pursue an MS or a PhD? 2 Why in the US? 3 Laying the Foundation; Starting Early (D. Day – 1 year) 3.1 Projects, Research & Papers 3.2 Internships & Work Experience 3.3 Narrowing Down Your Interests 3.4 Keeping Up Your Grades & Rank 3.5 Forming a Rapport with Your Professors 4 Long Term Preparation (D. Day – 6 months) 4.1 GRE 4.1.1 Verbal – Your Nemesis 4.1.2 Books 4.1.3 Additional Resources 4.1.4 Booking Test Dates 4.2 Selecting Universities 4.2.1 Courses & Research offered 4.2.2 Location 4.2.3 Costs & Financial Support Offered 5 The GRE – Test Day (D. Day) 6 Short Term Preparation (D. Day + 24 hrs) 6.1 TOEFL 6.2 Shortlisting Universities 7 The TOEFL 8 Additional Score Reports 8.1 GRE 8.2 TOEFL 9 Applying for Transcripts 10 Preparing a Resume 11 Recommendation Letters 12 Statement of Purpose 13 Online Applications 14 Financial Documents 14.1 University Financial Certification Form/Visa Application Form 14.2 Bank Statement 14.3 Affidavit of Support 15 Dispatching Application Packets 15.1 Packing Methodology 15.2 Dispatching Options 15.2.1 Regular Postal Service 15.2.2 Registered Post 15.2.3 Speed Post 15.2.4 International Courier Service 16 Post-Application Communication 17 The Admission 18 The Visa 19 Conclusion 1. Why Pursue an MS or a PhD? • Deepen knowledge in specialized fields • Flexibility • Research • True engineering status-hood 2. Why in the US? • Not mark oriented • Excellence is rewarded. • True learning. • The working environment over there is extremely healthy. • Research facilities available • Funding 3. Laying the Foundation – Starting Early Many of you have already passed the stage by which you can do anything about the points I'm about to list out. If so, you can use these to guide your juniors. If not, good for you, and listen up! These need to be done at least a year in advance of your GRE (D. Day) or application work. These are one of the main criterion used in admitting students into the higher ranked universities which seem inaccessible to most. In fact, a weak GRE score can be made insignificant if you follow these guidelines. Many of these will seem banal, I know, but if it works, stop cribbing! 3.1. Projects, Research & Papers Taking up projects regardless of whether there is a competition or presentation of some sort will display to the selecting committee that you are proactive and engaging when it comes to practical engineering. Also, in the university system to which we belong, with sub-par research facilities and funding opportunities, it is the next best thing to research. Getting hands on experience in a field is not only fulfilling, but it will help you visualize concepts you may have learned earlier or will cover later in class. Papers over here are slightly different from papers in the US. Most of us who do paper presentations here just collect data from already completed research and present it to a panel of judges. While in the U.S. The paper is merely the publication of what research one does. As it is a full fledged publication, plagiarism is unacceptable and papers are made to undergo detailed scrutiny. Before labeling a presentation as a paper, make sure you actually did some work in the field it covers or use this knowledge as a guideline in any paper presentation you do from now on. Research opportunities, as mentioned above, is a scarce commodity in our university circles. It is, unfortunately, also the most valued of these three facets. If you have contacts in respected institutes such as IITs and get the opportunity to be an assistant to some ongoing research, please take it up as quickly as possible. Not only are such opportunities difficult to come by, but candidates for the research assistant position have to go through a lot of competition and hence a difficult screening process. 3.2. Internships & Work Experience This would refer to out industrial training which we undergo during our holidays. Try and rack up as many companies as possible to help you build an impressive resume. If you haven't decided your specialization as yet, try to branch out into as many facets of your department as possible. If you have chosen a field concentration, try as hard as possible to get an internship at a related company. Your resume, when listed chronologically, will then show how you eventually narrowed down your interests to a specific field. Call it maturing of interests, if you wish. With work experience under your belt, the selecting committee will know that you are pursuing your MS with at least a rough idea of what to expect in a professional environment and your work in the university will not be that of an idealistic student, but a realist. 3.3. Narrowing Down Your Interests The reason this is point number three is because the two points above aid in doing this. One of the main criterion for selecting a candidate is focus. In fact, you shouldn't even be applying for an MS or PhD if you don't have a specific field of interest in mind. The whole concept of further studies is to cover a specialized field in more detail to an extent that your undergraduate education couldn't fulfill. If you didn't have a specialization in mind before joining engineering, that is no problem. Your courses, projects, research, papers and industrial training would have exposed you to a plethora of fields. Which one was the most intriguing to you? Which ones did you despise? You can either narrow it down in one go or by the process of elimination. Even if you did have something in mind a long time ago, don't be surprised or apprehensive about your interests 'maturing' over the course of your BE. 3.4. Keeping Up Your Grades & Rank The reason for this is obvious. Since the grading system of American Universities is based on the 'Grade Point Average' system and ours is based on a percentage system, a method for the selecting committee to bridge the gap would be through rank. You can either keep your rank high, or if you happen to be in a very competitive class with similar abilities, try to keep your average close to that of the topper. Do not try to convert your average to the GPA system. The university to which you are applying will do it themselves in whatever method they see fit once they receive your transcripts. 3.5. Forming a Rapport With Your Professors If you wish to get a great recommendation, you're going to have to interact with your professors on a more personal level. If they are doing their own research (as rare as that may be) ask them about it, and if you are interested, offer to help. Involve them with your own projects or paper presentations. Get them to see the real you and your core driving values, not just your academic side. 4. Long Term Preparation This is where the actual preparation for the applying process begins. Depending on how well prepared you wish to be, this can start anywhere from 3-12 months before your GRE. As you are allowed to select up to 4 universities to which to send your test scores for free right after the exam, you should also have a rough idea of which universities are out there to cater to your educational needs. 4.1. G.R.E. - The Graduate Record Examination In case you have any doubts about the GRE, there is an excellent list of frequently asked questions and their answers created and maintained by Nitin Madnani. It is available at http://www.umiacs.umd.edu/~nmadnani/grefaq.pdf. 4.1.1. Verbal – Your Nemesis This is what everyone first thinks of when they consider applying to the US for their post graduate studies. And it is one of the biggest obstacles to overcome in your path to the United States. Those who aren't flustered at first, aren't exactly the same after looking at the mammoth 3500 word list in the GRE prep book by Baron's. The best way to overcome this is by being systematic and finding the best way you can learn words. Read more in the next sub-section. Another thing to keep in mind is that the GRE verbal section doesn't only test your knowledge or arcane vocabulary, but your ability to find the relationship between words and the common trick of using a secondary meaning of a seemingly ordinary word. There is nothing to worry about with regard to the math section. It only involves basic math skills which you learned in 8th standard and all you have to work on is speed. Thats what practice tests are for. The following books can give you a better study regimen. 4.1.2. Books This is what is going to pull you through the test, so pay attention. A great starting point to building your vocabulary is 'Word Power Made Easy' by Norman Lewis. It completely changes your mindset about the approach to learning new words. Plus it has a reasonably sized word list as an addendum. At 99 bucks, its the best investment you can make in the entire application process. Another good book to prepare for the GRE is Kaplan's GRE Exam 20051. It has got some excellent test-taking strategies and a reasonable verbal section. I, however, wouldn't rely solely upon it for the quantitative section. Not only does it not cover 'standard deviation' which is a part of the GRE question bank, but its tests are filled with ambiguities and mistakes in the quants section. It comes with a CD with a decent learning program which goes through the content of the book and give you access to tools such as a flash card utility and games to test your skills at the different sections of the test. For all this, you have to pay a hefty price. For quants, I would recommend the popular How to Prepare for the GRE Test by Barons. It has the infamous and comprehensive 3500 word list which is perfect for those of you out there who excel at learning things by heart. It has a large bank of questions from all sections and a decent number of practice tests. You can get it either with or without the CD. Compared to Kaplan, you get it at a very reasonable price. 4.1.3. Additional Resources ETS CD : If you register for the GRE well ahead of the actual test date, you should receive this complimentary CD with a very minimalistic guide to what to expect on the test day. Since this is from the same people who make the actual test, its practice tests are the closest to the real thing. WordWeb 4 by Antony Lewis : This is a nifty little dictionary/thesaurus tool for your computer. It is free for personal use and can be obtained at http://wordweb.info/free/. Its really handy to quickly get the definitions, synonyms and antonyms of a tricky word without having to go through the books mentioned above or referring to a dictionary with equally bizarre definitions. Especially useful when revising an answered practice test. 4.1.4. Booking Test Dates You should try to book your test date early as slots quickly get filled up during the peak 'testing season'. Also, as mentioned above, you will then get the ETS CD before the test. I would recommend you book both your GRE and TOEFL at the same time, spaced about a week apart. Soon the GRE (and maybe even TOEFL) will be changing the system of conducting tests. Tests will no longer be conducted on a daily basis, but only a few times a month on fixed days. This removes flexibility and is another reason to book early. At the time of writing this article, the registration fee for the GRE and TOEFL is $120 each and registration can be done at http://prometric.com. Also, if you don't have a passport, or if it has expired, now is the time to get/renew it. You need a valid passport to write the test so don't leave its application for the last minute with the current punctuality of the Indian government. 4.2. Selecting Universities Since the moment you finish the test and receive your tentative scores you get to chose four universities to send your score gratis, you should at least get a vague list of colleges to put down. A good way to start would be to sign up with a service like http://www.usnews.com. If you visit it early enough, you might be able to look at the department rankings of the top 50 graduate schools free of cost. Otherwise you will only be able to see the top 3. If you pay, however, you get access to the full list till around April of the succeeding year.. The fee is around $15 and can be easily split amongst the others you know who are applying to the US. From this list, you can start visiting the university websites. There are a couple of points you should note while skimming through colleges sites. 4.2.1. Courses & Research Offered This is obviously the most important criterion for selecting a university. If it doesn't have the course you're looking for, don't consider it, no matter how prestigious it is, or how highly ranked it is department-wise. Keep focused on what you are going to the US for. You can worry about prestige at a later stage. Go through the courses offered and see if they have classes related to your field of interest. Research being conducted in your interest is a great way to strengthen your argument of selecting that college both in your Statement of Purpose and during your visa interview. 4.2.2. Location This may not seem obvious at first, but location matters. Are you a party animal? Do you think you will cope well with a university that is situated in a town of its own with very few urban amenities. Do you think you might be distracted from your work if you studied in the middle of a thriving metropolis? Food for thought. Also what kind of weather can you not stand? Limit its geographical location accordingly. 4.2.3. Costs & Financial Support Offered Nowadays it is rare for an applicant to receive aid before touching down on American soil. Hence you should be prepared to shell out cash for at least a semester. Hence you should consider both the tuition and living expenses of your prospective university. Highly esteemed institutions will have hinger tuition rates. Universities in metropolitans and along the coasts and the border with Canada can have very high living expenses (some universities' living expenses are higher than their tuition fees). Consider the situation from both the point of aid and otherwise. How long can you cope without aid? When searching for colleges don't limit it to any specific number at this stage, but do remember to divide them into tiers according to the GRE and TOEFL scores which are sufficient to even consider applying to them. In each tier highlight the four universities you would most prefer to attend. This gives you pools of colleges to select from according to your performance on test day. 5. G.R.E. - Test Day Well, this is what you've been preparing for the past few months (hopefully!). Even if you managed to study in the last two weeks, don't worry too much about it. Go in with some confidence and you'll do surprisingly well if you follow the test taking tips in the Kaplan GRE book. Of course you will always walk away with the feeling 'what if'. So this is no excuse not to study! The details about what to bring, the address and the timing of the test are all clearly given in an email you receive after registering. From what I remember, all you are allowed to bring into the hall is your passport and a secondary ID (like a driver's license). You can optionally bring the printout of your email confirming registration, but they have never asked anyone I know for it. Some have complained of the test center being too cold, so dress in layers so that you can adjust accordingly. You can also bring a list of universities (the tiered ones). You can't take the list in during the exam, but once its over, they will let you bring it in to report your scores. The staff is very friendly and they explain everything very clearly so don't worry about screwing up. Oh, and try not to kick the power cord of the system you are working on. It's not as uncommon as one might think. After you have completed the test and have received your score, select the corresponding tier on your list and send them your scores. You can even chose one or two in the tier above. 6. Short Term Preparation 6.1. TOEFL To be honest, if you are comfortable speaking in English, you are sufficiently prepared for the TOEFL. With the new Internet based testing (IBT) which is coming up, you are required to actually talk with an interviewer which is recorded. So you should get used to talking to creepy strangers who are recording your conversation. It's goes totally against what your mother told you, I know, but its for your own good, and hers! As with the GRE you will receive a CD when you register for the TOEFL. Apart from this, the book by Barons to get used to the testing procedure should be sufficient4. The TOEFL requirements of most universities are easy to achieve and your margin above the minimum requirements is hardly noticed. Only if you get an exceptionally high score and are able to display your comfort level with the language in your Statement of Purpose or your first semester will you be considered for a teaching assistantship (TA). 6.2. Shortlisting Universities Now that you know your GRE score and your almost inconsequential TOEFL score (from practice tests on the ETS CD) you are ready to shortlist your rather long list of universities. First off, decide the number of universities you are applying to. Keep in mind that applications are a expensive affair to most and you can expect to spend around Rs. 5000/- per university (considering all charges5). Also, you should divide your selected universities into three groups. A group which has a list of ambitious colleges (for your profile) and have a low chance of getting into, a practical group which have a 50- 50 chance, and a safe group with chances of 75% or more. Once again go through the university websites of the most interesting colleges you have listed. Note down why they interest you and their quirky application details. I would highly recommend you visit the Edulix message boards at http://www.edulix.com/forum/. It consists of a huge database of discussions and information regarding the university selection and application process. If you decide to register and post, please, PLEASE read all the rules (announcements), sticky posts and use the search function to ensure that your doubt has not been asked before. Remember that the senior members are not there to serve your each and every request, nor are they obligated. Most of them take time out of their busy schedules to help out hundreds of newbies a day. So be polite, undemanding and understanding. If you are requesting university recommendations, then remember to post your complete profile (in a format stated in the rules section) in the thread you create. Also remember to state the universities you have selected along with your reasons. The senior members appreciate newbies who do their homework before asking doubts or for recommendations and you will receive serious replies. Also ask them to rank your selected universities within the 3 sections (safe, practical and ambitious). If you are recommended a university you haven't seen before, visit its website and repeat the steps stated in section 4.2. Update your list accordingly. Before you know it, you will have a finalized list universities. Remember to keep your selected universities well distributed among the three groups, with the maximum number of universities in the 'practical' section. Remember to keep noting down why you are selecting each college. 7. T.O.E.F.L. – Test Day This is pretty much the same as the GRE test day as detailed in section 5. Same requirements. The only difference would be indifference with your test result. I'm serious, don't worry about the TOEFL, you've got through the GRE for heaven's sake! 8. Additional Score Reports Assuming you have finalized your list of universities, and not all of them were covered by the four free score reports, you are going to have to send your official test scores to the remaining universities. This can be done either by you mailing, faxing or phoning the ETS center. By far the quickest and easiest method would be over the phone. A regular phone call will turn out to be rather expensive, but there are alternatives. Sify allows you to make phone calls over the internet from their browsing centers. Contact your nearest Sify browsing center for more details. Another more do-it-yourself alternative would be Skype, for those of you with a decent internet connection (I think it works decently even on 64kbps). Skype is a software which allows you to make calls to phones through your computer over the internet. This is a pay service (similar to prepaid mobile services), and the minimum amount you can get talk time for is €10 viz. about Rs.540/-. Seems steep at first, i know, but if you call countries like the US, UK, etc calls are at the 'global rate' of € 0.017 per minute which works out to less than Rs. 1 per minute. Like a local call. So the €10 can give you unto 10 hours of talk time assuming you call only countries to which the global rate apply. Get the list of countries at http://www.skype.com/products/skypeout/rates/. Apart from this, is like a regular phone call. Dial the number and talk through your computer headset. You can use the keypad to enter numbers while requesting additional scores. It is a very convenient alternative if you call the US a lot (or would like to!). Especially since you will be going there in a couple of months anyway it seems like a decent investment. So according to your future usage of international calls, select the method accordingly. Skype can be used for internet voice chat for free, only the phone calling service is requires payment. For more information and downloads, visit http://www.skype.com. 8.1. G.R.E. You need to keep the following items ready. • Registration or confirmation number • Test date • Date of birth as on your score sheet • Credit card details (number and expiry date) • Department codes (can be obtained from http://ftp.ets.org/pub/gre/01736_dcandmfclists.pdf)6 • Institution codes (can be obtained from http://ftp.ets.org/pub/gre/01736_iclist.pdf) The telephone number for international callers is +1-609-771-7290. Call and follow the instructions that follow. 8.2. T.O.E.F.L. You need to keep the following items ready. • 16-digit appointment confirmation number • Test date • Date of birth as on your score sheet • Credit card details (number and expiry date) • Department codes (can be obtained from http://ftp.ets.org/pub/toefl/0304dptcod.pdf) • Institution codes (same as GRE institution codes but can be obtained from http://ftp.ets.org/pub/toefl/TOEFL_supp_2005.pdf) The telephone number for international callers is +1-609-771-7267. Call and follow the instructions that follow. Note that the department codes for the TOEFL and GRE score reporting services are different, while the institution codes are the same. 9. Applying for Transcripts Applicable only to students under Anna University. For procedure regarding other institutes, contact your college or unversity. The earlier you get this done, the faster you will receive your transcripts. If you wait like everyone else for 'application fever' to take affect, you'll end up waiting for your transcripts longer than the estimated 5 days stated by Anna University. You should, however, wait at least till your 6th semester mark sheets are out. First off, take two photocopies of each mark sheet per university you are applying to. Supposing you are applying to 6 universities, that would be 2 copies * 6 semesters * 6 universities = 72 sheets Make sure that the photocopies are on FULLSCAPE sheets, NOT A4. Use paper clips to group together the originals and the photocopies semester-wise. That is, 1st semester original and copies clipped together, 2nd semester original and copies...etc. Also buy one full scape sized or larger envelope and write your name (as it is on the mark sheet), university roll number and contact number (so they can contact you when the transcripts are ready) on the front. Head to the Controller of Examinations' office in Anna University and ask for the transcript request form. Fill it out. You will want 2 transcripts per university, so fill 2 in the respective field. Show the person you collected the form from that you grouped the sheets semester wise, then put all of the documents into the envelope and return it. You will be assigned a number which you must refer to whenever you call them up to ask if the transcripts are ready or to collect them. Although they say they will call you, after a week you can call them up and ask if its ready. If you are early enough you can get it done in the same day right in front of you. Anyway, when it is ready, purchase 2 envelopes (full scape or larger) for every university you are applying to and write the department address on one and the graduate school address on the other (both will be available at the university website). If the university asks you to send both the scores to the same place, then put the same address on both envelopes (as counter intuitive as it seems). Head back to the university and collect your mark sheets and photocopies. Rearrange the copies so that each bundle has semesters 1to 6 in it and then place each bundle in an envelope. Seal the envelopes and return them to the office. Again, if you are before the rush, they will make the seal official in front of you, otherwise it might take 2 days. This time you will also be assigned a professor number which you should quote when picking up the envelopes. 10. Preparing a Resume If you have been going for campus placements, you should already have a resume ready. You may have to trim it a bit to make it grad-school-ready, but otherwise it should list out all your achievements, projects, posts held, etc. This will be the base for your recommendation letters in case your professors don't know you too well and will be a part of the additional materials required for some universities. It'll also give you points to write in your Statement of Purpose. Preferably, try to fit the graduate school version into one page. 11. Recommendation Letters The first step with recommendation letters is to find suitable professors to recommend you. As mentioned earlier, you should have a good working relationship with him/her. They should also be in a position to comment on a certain facet of your work, be it academics, a project you may have done or your role in extracurricular activities. It is a good idea to always include the head of your department. Most universities require three recommendation letters. An excellent post by Popeye of Edulix.com's message boards regarding letters of recommendation can be found at http://www.edulix.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=68547#68547 An application speaks to the admission committee on your behalf. While your grades/scores are supposed to represent your intellectual capabilities and your SOP allows you the opportunity of presenting your point of view, recommendations by those who know you give the university an independent assessment of your skills and qualities. We strongly recommend that students should not write their own recommendation letters. In case your recommender is not comfortable drafting the recommendations, you can give him your resume and points you would want him to include. Get a rough draft made from him, it can be polished later. Every school requires a set of 2-3 recommendation letters. Normally the schools have a recommendation format (grading sheet) in their application form, which needs standardized information like rank in class, analytical skills, attendance etc. One can additionally attach a letter (covering other aspects) to the grading sheet. Choosing the right people: -You need to make sure that the people who give you the recommendations have known you for a sufficiently long time and on a professional basis. - Fresh graduates would need recommendation letters from the faculty at undergraduate and/or graduate level. The faculty would be in a position to evaluate the student if they have taught them at least two courses. It would be helpful if the courses were relevant to the study program applied to. - At work the reporting head interacts with us on a day-to-day basis and hence would be the best person to comment on our performance. - Personal Contacts are not considered valid. Credentials of the referee: - A recommendation from a professor would sound far more impressive than one from a lecturer. - The remarks of your reporting head who plays an important role in the company and is an experienced person are more valued. - However a recommendation from the CEO of the company who knows you personally but has not interacted regularly at work would not add any value. - An alumni from the school one is applying to can give you an additional recommendation commenting on your suitability for the study program. Relationship you share with the person: Make sure that the person shares a positive relationship with you to ensure you get a good recommendation and within your time frame. Start approaching the people a month ahead of time to run through 2-3 drafts before finalizing on it. Prepare an initial draft and check with them if they are comfortable mentioning the same. Writing Tips: Following points should be kept in mind while drafting a Letter of Recommendation: 1. The letters should ideally be taken on the college/institution/organization letterhead. If not a letter head then the name, contact details and designation of the person should be clearly mentioned. Refer to the sample format. 2. Have focus on fewer qualities in each recommendation so that it stays in the mind of the reader at the end of it. Divide the points between the three letters. 3. Do not include too many adjectives or superlative degree remarks in the recommendation. The statements should sound positive but not flattery. 4. Avoid redundancy in the style of writing. For example starting every sentence with “She has been very active in class, She has above average analytical skills etc”. The letter should have a flow and not seem like a list of statements about you. 5. Get a third person opinion about the draft before finalizing it. There are cases when statements that might sound positive to us might be interpreted in a different manner by others. 6. Avoid structural mistakes and use simple language. Do not manipulate facts. For example: If your professor puts you in the top 5% in every category that he's been asked to rank you, and your transcripts show that you averaged in the bottom 25% of your class, it's bound to raise some eyebrows. 7. The letter should be crisp and to the point. Avoid repetitive stuff and irrelevant details. Personal Qualities that can be mentioned in the LOR: You don’t have to include all points mentioned below, choose the relevant ones.  Academic Performance  Attendance and class participation  Analytical skills and problem solving ability  Communication skills  Teamwork Ability  Leadership Qualities and Decision Making  Organized and particular about deadlines  Crisis Management and working under pressure  Achievements like being a class topper, winning the best project prize etc, playing a strategic role in a company project  Interpersonal skills, relationship with peers.  Suitability of the applicant to the study program Remember that recommendation letters have to be on the college letterhead. Very often, universities have their own recommendation forms to accompany the letter. It isn't always required, but it is preferred. Fill out as many fields you are able and allowed to fill out on your own (no filling of evaluation tables!). Sign the waiver found on the form stating that you waive your right to access the recommendation letter once you are admitted. Then take the forms to the professors and go over all the fields with them and make sure they understand what each field means. Before leaving the rest to them. Also provide them with a labeled envelope for them to seal the letter and recommendation form in. The envelope flap must then be signed over and stamped with the college seal. Most professors are more comfortable with sending the recommendations through you, but if they offer to mail it themselves, then let them as long as they use a reliable mail service. In that situation make sure the envelope has sufficient identification (like an application ID) on it to allow the receiving university to identify it as yours and place it in the file which is created when you submit your online application. 12. Statement of Purpose This is the crux of your application. Its even more important than your GRE score or your academics. This provides you a platform to present yourself to the selection committee. You can use to it to explain low grades or your motivating factor. Consider it your two pages of fame. Although some universities ask specific questions and expect very specific answers in a limited number of characters, most allow you to write whatever you want and merely recommend limiting your length between one and two pages. One common mistake people make when writing their SOP is just writing a long list of accomplishments and ones own attributes. As the name implies, what the professors expect from you are your intentions for graduate study and possibly even your professional goals. Of course, it is possible to state that the motivation for the future lies in the past and then connect the two. Another mistake is to make an SOP for each college one is applying to. A much more efficient method would be to lay down a common framework for all your SOPs and then fill in as many common details as possible before branching off into college-specific statements. A guideline to creating a framework is well explained by Edulix forum member Popeye once again in the same thread as mentioned above http://www.edulix.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=68554#68554 SOP BINDER For all graduate and undergraduate applicants to US schools, SOP is an important part of their application packet. The admission committee gives the applicant a chance to, project one’s best qualities, justify the inconsistencies in the academics or test scores and convince the committee that one has the spark, the thirst for knowledge that could add value to the existing student community. Writing a reasonably good Statement of Purpose is not an impossible task. It requires care, attention and patience. It is necessary to put in this hard work to come up with an essay that is uniquely yourself. 1. A mention of your career goal or future objective The schools seek to admit candidates who have an informed interest in the subject and will successfully apply their education in challenging jobs. The study program should add value to your current profile. 2. Description of your personality as a person and more importantly a student Some of the Qualities that one could speak about are:  Creativity and Curiosity  Pride in your work and an enthusiasm for learning  A capacity for teamwork  The ability to think independently  Show yourself as a well-balanced person 3. Reflection on your undergraduate education, learning, your research interests and research work  Academic performance  Courses that interested you beyond class  Class participation  Readings through journals 4. Description of projects and seminars done beyond the course curriculum  Internships and Summer projects  Workshops and Seminars attended  Learning from the above 5. Work experience details  Role in the Company  Important Projects in line with your research interests  Contribution to research 6. Reasons for choice of the university for further studies.  Faculty Profile  High intake of international students  Research areas the university is active in  Low cost of living  Cultural diversity  Resources for students  Low student faculty ratio 7. Concluding with a conviction of proving an asset to the university.  Sound confident about successful completing the course  Demonstrating your motivation and determination  Integrity, common sense, reliability, and personal capacity to excel in a challenging program TOP 10 RULES TO WRITE BY 1 DO strive for depth rather than breadth; narrow your focus to one or two themes, ideas, or experiences. 2 DO tell the reader what no other applicant could honestly be able to say. 3 DO provide the reader with insight into what drives you--what makes you "tick." 4 DO be yourself rather than pretending to be the ideal applicant. 5 DO get creative and imaginative, particularly in your opening remarks. 6 DO address the particular school's unique features that attract you. 7 DO focus on the affirmative in the personal statement itself; consider using an addendum to explain deficiencies or blemishes. 8 DO evaluate your experiences rather than merely recounting them. 9 DO enlist others to proofread your essay for grammar, syntax, punctuation, word usage, and style. 10 DO use a highly readable typeface with conventional spacing and margins (if you're submitting a paper-based application). TOP 10 PERSONAL-STATEMENT PITFALLS 1 DON'T submit an expository resume; avoid merely repeating information that you've provided elsewhere in your application. 2 DON'T complain or whine about "the system" or about your circumstances in life; however, constructive criticism is fine as long as it relates directly to your career goals. 3 DON'T get on a soapbox and preach to the reader; while expressing your values and opinions are fine, avoid coming across as fanatical or extreme. 4 DON'T talk about money as a motivating factor in your plans for the future. 5 DON'T discuss your minority status or disadvantaged background unless you have a compelling and unique story that relates directly to it. 6 DON'T remind the school of its ranking or prestige among the various programs of its type. 7 DON'T waste your personal statement opportunity with a hackneyed introduction or conclusion. 8 DON'T use a gimmicky style or format. 9 DON'T submit supplementary materials unless the admissions office requests them. 10 DON'T get the name of the school wrong! Wes Huang Assistant Professor Department of Computer Science Statement of Purpose Advice I've read many applications to our graduate program, and I've seen a lot of statements of purpose that, frankly, aren't very good. Here are some thoughts and comments that will hopefully help you write a better statement of purpose. These are merely my own thoughts and should not be construed as official guidelines of any sort. What the statement of purpose is not Many students (particularly foreign students) think that the statement of purpose is about character. While honesty, sincerity, conscientiousness, etc. are important attributes, I assume students with good academic records applying to graduate school have these traits. Many students think that the statement of purpose should be an autobiographical sketch. Believe me, the story of your first computer when you were 10 years old and how it inspired you to devote your life to Computer Science does not make particularly interesting reading, nor does it tell me the things I want to know. Questions that your statement of purpose should answer When I read a statement of purpose (which I think is one of the most important parts of a graduate application), I have the following questions in mind. Don't structure your statement with these questions! (I can just see the applications pouring in now with my questions used as section headings.) Your statement of purpose should be a cohesive piece of prose. (Some use of section headings is OK, but not with my questions.) It should present yourself to the reader. One way you can think of your statement is as an extended (and somewhat more formal) answer to the interview question, “Tell me about yourself...” While some of my questions below can (and should) be answered directly, the rest should be addressed by relating relevant experiences and accomplishments. Why do you want to get a PhD (or MS)? What are your research interests? Be as specific as possible, but keep in mind who will be reading your application. In the Rensselaer CS department, research groups read applications — the one(s) you specify on your application. At other schools, a department committee may read all applications and decide upon admissions on behalf of the whole department. For the Rensselaer CS department, unless you are an exceptional student with a broad range of experience/accomplishments, you should target your application to just one research group — a student who specifies interest in robotics and networking, for example, may not be taken seriously by either group. Multiple faculty within a research group will read your application. Why are you interested in these research topics? Don't write an autobiography! Do you have the motivation/perseverance to complete a PhD? If you have an undergraduate degree in something other than Computer Science or Computer Engineering, then another question is: do you have the background to pass the PhD qualifiers? The statement of purpose is also an opportunity to describe some of your accomplishments and their significance. The reader will not be familiar with the programs, competitions, examinations, etc. for all parts of the United States, not to mention other countries. Other things to keep in mind Format: Single spaced (or maybe even "one and a half" spacing, but definitely not double spaced) with at least a 10 point font and reasonable margins (at least 1 inch on all sides, preferably more on the left and right with a 10 point font). Length: Definitely not more than 2 pages! (Who has time to read more than that?) When I was applying to graduate schools, I was advised to keep my statement of purpose to a single page. I now think that this was not good advice — one page tends to be too short if you're covering everything you should. Don't try to "cram" more into your two pages using typographical tricks (line spacing, font size, margins, etc.) You're not fooling anyone. Inability to write a concise statement of purpose indicates a lack of critical thinking skills. I should duly note that most undergraduate Computer Science students confuse "concise" with "short". "Concise" means that you have given thought to the composition of your statement to make it a clear and cohesive piece of prose (with a natural/logical flow) that covers all the necessary points and doesn't cover unnecessary points. "Short" pieces of writing are usually too short because they omit important points, aren't cohesive, etc. Spell check it! Get someone else to proofread it! Special note to Chinese (and some Indian) faculty... Fer cryin' out loud, stop saying that every student is your favorite student! I never really believe it anyway... A special thanks to Popeye for the great work he did with the thread. As mentioned earlier, some universities ask you to write extremely short statements. If your regular SOP is sufficiently comprehensive, you should be able to create these mini SOPs by copying and pasting the required paragraphs or by paraphrasing paragraphs into long sentences. Remember to use your earlier notes top specify why you are selecting that university. You can optionally write your name,contact and application details on the top right corner of the page in the form of a header. 13. Online Applications Nowadays, all American universities have the option of filling in the initial application over there internet. Some request only basic information like contact details, courses completed, department and degree you are applying for, etc. Others go as far as to allow you to submit your Statement of Purpose and recommendation letters online as well. However detailed the online form may be, keep as many details as possible at hand. This could include • Aggregate score for the past 6 semesters • Aggregate score for each semester • Class rank or percentiles • Percentage of class/college/university topper • Courses taken in the past 6 semesters or detailed course description of upcoming courses • GRE General Test scores and percentiles • TOEFL test scores • The names and contact details of your recommending professors • Resume • Statement of Purpose/Intent/Professional Objectives This is by no means comprehensive, but should give you an idea of what to expect when filling out forms. Don't worry about not having all the answers in one go. You can start filling it out at one time, leave it aside and return to it later. All entered information will be stored in a database so nothing will be lost. This is especially useful for continuously updating an SOP submitted online. When you start an online application, you will usually be asked to create an account first. Different colleges have different requirements for your user name and password selecting schemes, so you are bound to end up will multiple login ids and passwords. Create a file containing all this data for future reference. Again, do not fill out any field requesting your GPA unless it allows you to specify what grading system you are using, which in our case is a percentage. The universities will calculate it from the transcripts. Remember to keep a valid credit card at hand. Once you submit your application (when everything has been filled out) you will be requested to enter your credit card details. The online application fee seems to predominantly range from $40 to $50 but occasionally goes higher or lower. Once the payment has been cleared, some colleges provide you with an electronic receipt which you can print out for future reference of the transaction. You should also receive an email stating that your application has been successfully submitted. You should also receive a student/application identification number at this time. If you have not, wait a couple of days for an email. If you still have not received it, you can email the grad school to sendassign you one. This student id will be the method by which you refer to your application in any future correspondence or application material you send to the university, so keep it safe. Some universities have a list of the additional material to be sent to them listed on the site. Some list it in the online application and some send it in the post-submission email. Where ever it may be, it is your responsibility to find out the requirements of each university and where what has to be sent. Most universities require you to send some material to the Graduate School Admissions Office and the remaining documents to the Department Admissions Office. This, however isn't always the case. Some grad schools just require you submit the online application and registration fee and any further correspondence is with the department. Other grad schools handle all the paperwork and nothing goes to the department. As I said, you have to find this out for yourself. Make sure you document the requirements of each university in a file. Where ever you find the list of additional requirements, there are usually links to the additional forms which accompany them. Download the ones that apply to you and print them out. I'd advise you to clip all related forms together to make it easier for the admissions office to handle. A common distribution of additional documents is something like this: Graduate School Print out of online application (optional, rare) 1 copy of your transcripts Your official GRE and TOEFL test scores (sent by ETS) Financial certification/Visa application form and respective supporting documents (bank statement and affidavit of support). Department Department application form (if not submitted online) 1 copy of your transcripts A photocopy of your GRE and TOEFL test scores 3 Letters of recommendation Statement of Purpose Resume I reiterate, this is not necessarily the actual list. It varies from college to college. 14. Financial Documents This is one of the last few step you can do in a short time frame before dispatching your application package. Basically, if you are an international student, American visa law states that any inbound student should show a satisfactory supply of funds to support him through his education. Only upon receiving this proof, will the university be allowed to issue you an I-20 form to allow you to book a visa appointment. Of course this is all assuming you have been admitted into the institute. For this reason it is optional to send the financial certification forms and its supporting documents at the time of your application. Your are also permitted to send it upon receiving confirmation of your admission into the university. Sending it along with your application, however, saves time for both you and the university where there is no waiting for the financial forms on their end and I-20 on your end. Additionally, you save on postal charges. 14.1. University Financial Certification/Visa Application Form Both these terms refer to the same form as financial certification is required for issuance of a visa application. Most universities have one of these forms on their website, while others request you to just send a bank statement and an affidavit of support. If they do have one, print it out and fill in the necessary details. For the form of funding, most often it is your parents, relatives or close family friends who will be either funding you, or showing funds ready to support you in case of need. Accordingly, fill in the corresponding row in the table. As for the amount of funding, write the annual costs for attending the university (includes tuition, residence, living expenses, books and medical insurance). Usually an estimate of this value will be printed on the form, or on the web page you downloaded it from. Get your sponsor (your earning family member, relative or family friend) to sign in the required places. 14.2. Bank Statement Obviously, stating that your sponsor is funding you isn't sufficient. You will have to prove that they have adequate funds to do this. This requires a bank statement with the account balance in Rupees and its equivalent amount in American Dollars at the current exchange rate. Sometimes the bank manager will add a line stating that the account has been in good standing and maintained by so-and-so since such-and-such a date. Needless to say, the account should belong to your sponsor. 14.3. Affidavit of Support This is a legal document stating that your sponsor is, in fact, willing to sponsor you through your education. It is attached with the bank statement and sent to the university. It is to be made on a Rs. 20 stamp paper, signed by your sponsor and notarized by a suitable official. An easy way to get this done is through an auditor. The general format of an affidavit of support is as follows, though some people may prefer to include more legal jargon in it. <<applicant's address>> <<Date>> Subject: Affidavit of support for <<applicant's name>> TO WHOMSOEVER IT MAY CONCERN : This is to certify that I, <<name of sponsor>>, will undertake the educational expenses for <<relationship with applicant>>, <<name of applicant>>, for pursuing his major in <<major name>> at <<university name>>, <<location of university>> until the completion of the course. I understand the liability to be incurred is approximately <<TOTAL cost per year>> per annum. I am submitting this affidavit of support and the attached bank statement to assure you of the credibility of our financial position. Sincerely, <<Name of sponsor>> Clip the above three documents together and keep them ready for the application package. 15. Dispatching Application Packets Finally, the run to home base. Before you seal everything it its envelopes, remember to double check that you have ALL the requirements for each university. Also make sure you have the correct addresses and applicant ids at hand. 15.1. Packing Methodology Despite the fact that universities request you to send the packages to their respective addresses (grad school and department), there is a more efficient method of doing this without making it much more inconvenient for the grad school. Place all the documents to be sent to the graduate school in one envelope and address it to the grad school. Place all the documents to be sent to the department in another envelope and address it to the department. You can also place a 'Please forward to:' above the department address. Then place both these envelopes into a larger envelope with a covering letter and a checklist (if provided by the university). This envelope is addressed to the graduate school. The covering letter basically states that this is the application material for so-and-so (remember to state your application id), the contents of each envelope, instructions to forward it to the respective offices and to inform you of any missing material. The format of the covering letter is on the next page. It varies according to whether or not you have to actually send material to two different addresses. <<applicant's address>> <<Date>> Subject: Covering letter for application package contents To Whom It May Concern: This is with regard to the application of <<applicant name>> (Applicant No: <<number>>). The application package has been separated into two envelopes. One contains forms for the graduate school, while the other is intended for the department (mechanical engineering). Kindly forward the envelopes to the respective offices. Please find enclosed the following documents for your perusal: I. Application Checklist for International Students II. Department Envelope: 1. Transcript x 1 – Transcript of semesters 1 to 6 of my undergraduate studies duly attested and sealed by my university. 2. Statement of Purpose 3. Letters of Recommendation x 3 – Sealed. My professors felt more comfortable sending these along with the main application. 4. Resume III. Graduate School Envelope: 1. Transcript x 1 - Transcript of semesters 1 to 6 of my undergraduate studies duly attested and sealed by my university. 2. Financial Documents a. Affidavit of Support b. Bank Statement c. Form on university website 3. Copies of GRE and TOEFL Scores – For reference only. Official score reports have been requested to be sent to the mechanical engineering department. The International Graduate College Application form has been submitted online. I would be grateful if I would be informed of any missing documents at <<email address>> Sincerely, <<applicant name>> This is for the multiple envelope format. It can be suitably edited to cater to a single envelope format. Make sure all the envelopes are sealed well and use tape to reinforce the flap. On the outside of the large envelope write the return address and that the envelope is an application package for so-and-so name (with application number), for whichever department and semester (eg. Fall 2006). 15.2. Dispatching Options There are a variety of ways to dispatch your package depending on your budget. Keep in mind that the package contains almost irreplaceable documents and how much time you spent on putting it together. A special thanks to Spadejack of the Edulix forums for the following details. 15.2.1. Regular Postal Service Rs. 35/- onwards based on weight. You would have to be either crazy or plain broke to go with this option. Not only are you not guaranteed a safe delivery or a time frame, but who knows what condition the documents will be in if they get there. 15.2.2. Registered Post Rs.400/- for the first 250 grams and about a rupee more for every gram of additional weight. 15.2.3. Speed Post Rs.425/- for the first 250 grams and about a rupee more for every gram of additional weight. Usually charge you an flat Rs.100/- extra if it exceeds 250 grams. Estimated 5 days delivery time, but not guaranteed. Time varies from 5 to 15 days. Very reliable and efficient for the price. Once it reaches American soil, it can be tracked at http://www.usps.com/shipping/trackan...ckandcon firm. 15.2.4. International Courier Service This includes the likes of FedEx and DHL. As far as DHL is concerned: DHL University Express - Rs. 850/ - for first 500 grams. However, as there are different deals available at different times, call up 1-600 111 345 ( Toll free ) for details. Guaranteed to be delivered on the 5th working day and the package is insured. Can be tracked at http://www.dhl.co.in/publish/in/en/e...track.low.html. 16. Post Application Communication This is popularly known as 'prof-lettering' or 'prof-letting'. It is a powerful tool when used correctly, but plain annoying in ordinary hands. Make sure you are up to it before pursuing it further. It involves communicating with a professor whose research interests match your own. A detailed explanation can be obtained from http://www.edulix.com/application/Prof-letting.html 17. The Admissions 18. The Visa 19. Conclusion Much of this document is incomplete and will remain so until I'm in a position to give advice in the respective topics. I would like to thank the members of the Edulix community for helping me through my application and for generously providing me with content for this guide. I hope it will make the application process easier for the readers than it was for me and save at least one or two sleepless nights ahead. Good luck with your applications and see you in the U.S.!

Apology to my blog reader

This is a short post with the apology to my blog readers. If you are using Google Reader or anything that fetches the posts when I posts then you might be getting some spams. Earlier I could directly post to my blog by sending emails from my email account. It become more problem than convenience because of spam attacks. Now I am stopping that posting to blog from email and hoping that it will stop spam attacks in my blog. Thanks for you patience and hope you will continue reading my blog.

Take care.
Naushad

P.S. My last post was a test post from google doc. That is a guideline on how to apply for higher studies. Hopefully you will receive that soon!

How to Write a Successful Statement of Purpose for Graduate Schools

Last updated: 1994
Copyright © 2001 The US-UK Fulbright Commission

Based on a presentation in Madras by:
Professor Hower, Cornell University, and Department of English.

The personal statement is a difficult piece of writing, maybe the most difficult piece of writing you will ever do, and therefore you have to do it very carefully. It is an opportunity for you to give a picture of yourself. It may take a great deal of time and energy but at least you will have written something you are proud of, which says something important about you. So I would suggest first of all: write it for yourself as much as for graduate schools in America; do a job that you like, something that has integrity, which says something important about you. If things don’t turn out the way you hope, at least you will have written something difficult but satisfying.

Importance

How important is the essay part of the application? This depends on your marks to a certain extent. If your marks are very high, then it may not be as important as it is for someone whose marks are not so good. Nevertheless it is important. A person with high marks can spoil his/her chances of admission with a bad essay. At highly competitive schools, where most applicants score at the 97th percentile level on standardized tests, a winning personal statement may be the deciding factor in admission.

What Are Universities Looking For?

First of all don’t second guess. Don’t try to figure out what you think they want and supply it because you won’t be able to do that. Nor can you understand the mind of a 50 year old American who is living 10,000 miles away from you and may have woken up that morning with a headache and then was bitten by a dog on his way to the office. There is no way you can second guess, you cannot read their minds. Having said that, I can tell you some things which all college admissions officers want to see in the application:

· A Picture of Your Overall Personality
How will you give a picture of your personality? I would suggest that you imply rather than state the facts. For instance, don’t say ‘I am a smart person.’ Demonstrate it, imply it. Don’t say ‘I am energetic.’ Give evidence by the fact that you worked after school for six hours every day and still had time to play on the volleyball team.

· Academic Background and Work Experience
It would be a mistake to talk about your high school. Start with your undergraduate career. School records may be worth mentioning if there is something extraordinary about them.

· Continuity
Admissions officers are looking for some continuity in what you have done, what you want to do in the near future and what you hope to do in the distant future. So, connect them.

· Commitment and Motivation
Rather than simply saying ‘I am committed’, find a way of inferring that you are indeed highly committed and motivated to your proposed field of study.

· Communication Skills
They will be looking at your writing skills - how well you can present yourself clearly and intelligently when writing, hence the importance of spending considerable time on the statement.

These five points are very general but almost every university wants to know about them. They may be too general but if you miss one of them you are probably missing something important.

General Do's and Don'ts

Do's

· Do take a lot of time.
Don’t do this at the last minute. Plan to spend a month or so preparing for the essay. Plan to let it rest for a week, so you have time to mull it over and get a perspective on it. Don’t be hasty and sloppy.

· Do read the question carefully.
If they ask you why you want to go to law school, answer that. If they ask what are your career goals, answer that. Don’t go off on a tangent or get too verbose.

· Do write the length of essay they ask for.
If they ask for 200 words give them that or 190 or 220. You don’t given them a 1000 and you don’t give them 50.

· Type your final draft unless they tell you not to.
Type it well with no mistakes. Buy some good paper. If you’re writing it, see that it is clear and legible.

· Do write a separate essay for each university.
There is no reason why you can’t take a paragraph from one essay and apply it to another. Your essays don’t have to be every word different but each university would like to think that you are especially interested in their program. Each university is different. Make something about your essay distinctive to that university and mention its name. Don’t write an all-purpose general essay. Admissions faculty don’t like that.

· Do as much research on the university as you can.
If you can get hold of a catalogue, read it. If you can find someone who went to the university, talk to them. Find out as much as you can about the university. You don’t want to say ‘I have always wanted to go to Harvard because I wanted to find out about the Great American West’. As most of you know, Harvard is not in the Great American West. It is in Massachusetts.

· Accentuate your positive qualities.
If you had the highest mark in class, make sure that they know it. Make sure that they know that you were able to hold a full-time job while going to school. Make sure that they know that you won any awards. Make sure that they know that you were captain of a team.

· Mention your positive achievements as they apply to your graduate admission.
The information you provide about your important achievements must be related to your field. If you are applying for medicine and you have won a poetry prize, don’t mention your poetry prize because you may not have space. It is a good thing, but you may need to fill your application with more relevant information. On the other hand, you could mention your work as organizer of blood donation camps or your internships as a psychiatric care worker.

· Do mention your work experience, or volunteer work that you may have done or extra-curricular activities if they relate to your field.
For example, if you are going to apply to business school and you were on the basketball team you may think that it is not relevant. However if you learnt leadership qualities, if you learnt how to endure defeat, if you learnt management skills by being captain of the basketball team, then it is relevant. You have to show the relevance. If you had a job after school, working in the college bookstore or you have done volunteer work at a hospital, this is relevant - you have learnt management skills at the shop. You have learnt to interact with people while you worked in the hospital.

· Be definite in your application.
Don’t say - ‘I hope to do this’, ‘I might like to do that’. Say ‘I want to do this’, ‘I am planning to do this’, ‘I intend to do that’. Your language is definite. It is not hesitant and indecisive.

Don'ts

· Don’t try to second-guess admissions faculty, as I have already said, and don’t flatter them.
Don’t say ‘I’ve always wanted to study at the University of Montana because I have heard that it is the best university in the world to study medicine.’ It may not be and even if it is, it sounds like flattery.

· Don’t be phony.
Be honest. Admissions faculty can spot a dishonest essay a mile away. It would not be to your advantage to be dishonest as you might get into a university and then find it was not the right place for you.

· Don’t glorify yourself.
Don’t say - ‘I was the best tennis player in the whole city of Madras’. That is boasting. However being modest and subtle are also not good qualities. There is a medium between being modest and boastful.

· Do not repeat materials that are already on the application.
Don’t say ‘My major is Physics’ because you have already said that somewhere else. Instead say ‘While I majored in Physics I also took ...’ or ‘My Physics major enabled me to take special courses in... and...’. Do mention your knowledge and experience in the field at the university level. It is usually a poor idea to mention your high school experience unless something exceptional happened at that time that changed your life or affected your career choice.

Tips on Writing Style

· Write simply, not in a flowery and complicated manner.

· Write in a straightforward way.
In other words don’t be subtle or cute. Write in a clear and logical manner. If you have to be creative, that is fine, but does so in a straightforward way. These people are really interested in your vocation. They don’t want to read something that is in the form of one act plays nor do they want to read three adjectives per noun. They want you to be direct and straightforward.

· Be clear in what you are saying.
Make sure you are logical. Explain yourself with great clarity. Finally, most important of all, be specific, not vague. Don’t say - ‘My grades were quite good’ but say ‘I belonged to the top 5% of my class’. Don’t say - ‘I am interested in sports’. Say ‘I was captain of my hockey team’. Don’t say ‘I like poetry’. Say ‘I did a study of Shakespeare’s sonnets and wrote a twelve-page bachelor’s degree dissertation on Imagery’. Don’t say - ‘I want to be a Supreme Court Judge that is why I want to go to law school’. Say things like ‘I was an apprentice in a court’ or ‘I often went with my father to the courts to listen to cases’ or ‘I wrote a legal column for a school newspaper’. That is being specific.

Writing the Essay

Stage 1: Preparation

Brainstorming is an important part of preparation. Take some time and write down in note form the important events and facts about your recent life - from the time you graduated from high school. List the things that you have done and the things that have been important to you. For example:

• Won a poetry contest
• Got A’s in Physics and Mathematics
• Member of volleyball team
• Worked after school in shop
• Won a contest
• Worked with a social welfare group on a slum project
• Went to Hyderabad for six months to stay with an aunt because she was sick

Write out the answers to some questions. Write them out in some detail, being as specific as you can.

· What have you learnt about your field that has stimulated you and given you the conviction that you are best suited to that field?

· How have you learned this? Classes, important reading, work experience, extra-curricular activities...

· How have your work experiences contributed to your personal growth?
If you have not had a job, don’t worry about it, but mention it if you have - even if you were not paid for it. Perhaps you took care of neighbors’ children for a number of years. If you are applying for graduate study in social work, psychology or education, you can make this relevant.

· What are your career goals?
Be as specific as you can be. Not all students are clear about what they want to do ten years from now. If you don’t know it, don’t fake it. Be as specific as you can be. Not everyone can be clear - some students are not old enough or experienced enough to know what their future goals are.

· Explain any discrepancies or gaps in your record.
If you dropped out of university for a year to take care of your father who was ill, that will show up in your student record or transcript. You will have to explain that. You don’t have to make a big deal about it. However admissions faculty will want to know why you were not at university for a certain period. Suppose you had poor marks in the first two years and then your grades picked up and the reason you had poor marks is because you were not sure what you were doing or you were sick a lot or you were moving from one city to another. Explain that. For example, ‘My marks in the first two years were not up to my expectations but once I got settled into a new home, they improved remarkably’ or ‘My father was ill at that time and I had to take care of him. After his death, I had to face university again.’ If such experiences have influenced your record you should mention them. Don’t make silly excuses. But if something really needs explaining, don’t skip over it.

· Have you overcome any special obstacles?
Some of you may have faced troubled times in your life - financially, medically or have had family problems. If they are really obstacles explain how you have overcome them. This makes you appear like a person of considerable character.

· What personal characteristics do you have that will enhance your prospects for success in your field?
Can you demonstrate that, give evidence? If you can’t give evidence that you are a hard- working person then don’t say you are hard-working. If you are a hard-working person and you have worked ten hours a day at a job and studied, that is worth noting. Again inference may be the best way of stating it.

· What special skills do you possess?
Ask your friends. You may have special skills in communication, articulation, or are you especially good at leadership, do you have sharp analytical skills, or are you creative. This is where your autobiography would be useful. You acted in a college play and people thought you were terrific. What does this mean in terms of applying to a graduate school of law? It means you are able to get people to pay attention to you. Being a good actor can make you a good lawyer. Actors have gone on to become lawyers and politicians as we all know, so look over your life. What special skills do you have? Perhaps you have a technical skill, a pilot’s licence or you know how to repair motors.

· What are the most compelling reasons the committee should be interested in you?
What is so great, so wonderful about you? If you have done a good job with your autobiography and you have done a good job answering these questions half of your work is done. It takes time to do this. Spend time on it.

· What is special and impressive and unique about you?
This is not an easy question to answer. You should ask someone ‘Hey what is so special about me’. Your mother may not always have the same ideas you have: ‘You eat well’. That’s not going to help you figure out an answer. Ask a friend.

· What details in your life have shaped you and influenced your growth?
What details in your life have made you the person you are and have influenced your choice of career goal?

Stage 2: Writing

Write several outlines and decide which you like best. Remember the essay has an introduction, a body and a conclusion. Outline the things you want to say and from all the material you have written, select the material which you think will go well in your essay. Select the most significant details. Put that into your outline. Make your outline useable, make it neat and leave lots of space. Now you are ready to write the essay. Write on lined paper, double spaced, using only one side of the page.

The first attempt at writing the essay is going to be terrible, but don’t worry; it is only the first draft. Do not edit as you write. Write it out. Make it too long.

Stage 3: Revision

Let the essay sit for a day or two. Then go over it with a red ink pen making little lines; cross out words or sentences. Revise it carefully and write your second draft. This may also be disappointing. Don’t expect too much from your first attempts. It takes a lot of work. I have often put in a lot of work, put it in an envelope, taken one last look and said ‘Oh hell, I have to do it again’ and I did it again. Do as many drafts as you feel is necessary.

Spend time on the first paragraph. Make sure that first paragraph is terrific and interesting. Don’t make it cute or flowery. Don’t say anything less than fascinating. You won’t get it on your first draft. You will probably get it on your sixth or seventh try. Also pay attention to your last paragraph which may be only one sentence - make it a snappy last sentence.

Be clear, specific and interesting.
You are likely to be exhausted, fed up and sick of the whole project. At that time don’t push yourself. Let it sit. Give the essay to somebody else to look at. Someone who is older, perhaps a former teacher; not a friend who is afraid to criticize you. Somebody who cares enough to be critical and tell you the truth. Then write it again.

Once you think you have got the final draft, what do you do? Proofread it as if you were the editor of India Today or Times of India. Not a single mistake must survive - spelling or grammatical. Look every word up in the dictionary that you are not absolutely sure of.

Remember that content and styles are both important (60%:40%). Make sure that the essay looks perfect.

BeBeyond 9-Step Guide for Applying at US Universities

This is a very big article, but it is worth it to spend the time reading this article. This article was written by Chinese people, so the examples were for Chinese students! Good thing is the points the author made for Chinese students is very similar for Bangladeshi students as well. So this article will be very helpful! Good luck.

source: <http://www.bebeyond.com/StudyAbroad/StudyAbroad.html>

BeBeyond 9-Step Guide

1. Think, Think, and
   Think Again
2. What to Think
3. Make Your Application Competitive
4. Plan Your Application
5. Choose the Right Schools
6. Get Financial Aid
7. Prepare the Right References
8. Write Powerful Application Essays
9. Communicate Well: Present Yourself

source: <http://www.bebeyond.com/StudyAbroad/AppGuide/AppGuide1a.html>

The 9-Step Guide to Successful Applications to US Schools
1. Think, Think, and Think Again

PART ONE:

For most of you who are planning on applying to American universities, if we could offer you only one recommendation, it would be a simple one-word suggestion: Think. In fact, we think it is so important to your success in getting into an American school and obtaining an America visa, we want to emphasize its importance by saying: Think, think, and think again!

"Wow! Really?" You are probably a little surprised at our suggestion, wondering why "thinking" is so important to applying to American universities and what is there for you to really think about.

Before we answer your question, let's examine the following situations and ask ourselves a few questions based on them.

Situation A: If you are a great test score taker, don't you wish that American universities would be just like the Chinese universities, which set clear standards for admissions and awarding scholarships? (For example, "600 in TOEFL and 2,000 in GRE will secure you an admission and 620 in TOEFL and 2,200 in GRE will get you a full scholarship.") Wouldn't life be much simpler if the Americans could simply adopt the Chinese approach? Think: Why don't they?

Situation B: If you always have had some problems with English or perhaps simply any kind of exams, don't you wish that you would only need a minimal TOEFL score -- say, 550 -- to get an admission and a visa? In fact, American schools do admit low score students! For example, Stanford University's Business School has taken students with GMAT scores below 500 and University of Chicago, possibly the most academically demanding school, takes many students with B or C averages. Think: Why not you? How can you do it?

Situation C: If you have ever been refused by the US visa officers, don't you feel annoyed every time they ask you why you want to go to America and why that specific university? Aren't the answers so obvious? ("We go to the States because it is the most advanced country and I choose that university because it is the one that admits me or the only one that gives me financial aid.") Believe it or not, they might actually have refused your visa based on your answers to those dumb questions! Think: Why do the visa officers keep asking similar questions? Why do they often refuse you, saying that you have immigration tendencies, even though you have partial or even full financial aid?

Believe it or not, all the above situations illustrate the key difference between the American and Chinese educational systems. You'd better know the difference, or you will have hard time with your applications. And the word "think" conveniently summarizes this key difference.

In China, you don't have to think when it comes to education because there is only one route to your higher education. The route is the test scores. How good a university you can get in depends on and only on how high scores you can get in exams. Your major in college is also determined by your test scores, especially when it comes to the "hot" majors. In China, it is generally the case that your scores determine your choices of college and college major and in turn, they determine your job and career. There is really nothing to "think" about except getting as good scores as you can.

Generally, the ways Americans decide their education choices are completely the opposite. For Americans, what determines your choice of school and major is (1) what you like to do, (2) what you want to do in the future, and/or (3) what kind of job you want after graduation. First you think about that. Then, and only then, you think about how you can get in your chosen schools.

In other words, you have a "dream" first. You have figured out (by thinking) why you want to pursue that dream, why you will be good at what you will be doing, why this specific university will help you realize your dream, and so on and so forth.

Because Americans have to do a lot of thinking in selecting their schools -- and because in general, how well students think about their future helps determine how successful they will be in their future endeavors -- American universities want to hear about your thinking process. Thus test scores are no longer the sole factor in determining one's admission and scholarship. It is within this kind of educational system that one student with low scores can convince the admissions officer to get into a university, sometimes even the best ones. Basically, American universities are looking for individuals with thinking abilities while the Chinese system looks for scoring machines.

(Author: Jinbo Xie, BeBeyond.com)

source: <http://www.bebeyond.com/StudyAbroad/AppGuide/AppGuide1b.html>

1. Think, Think, and Think Again

PART TWO:

This American way of thinking -- having a goal first and then having that goal determine your subsequent actions (school choices, etc.) -- permeates the American society and will have significant implication for your application and your success in the States.

For example, American visa officers like to ask the previously mentioned questions precisely because they want to see whether you have thought through your studying-abroad plan. (In a typical American phrase, "Do you know what you are doing?"

Like university admission officers, the visa officials believe that students with clear ideas of what they want to do will be more likely to be successful in the future.

Unfortunately, Chinese students are so used to not thinking and not making decisions for themselves that it takes a long time for many of them to adapt to the American way of thinking. And in many cases, there is a huge difference in terms of success between those who adapt quickly and those who change slowly.

The American system poses several major problems for Chinese applicants:

• First, Chinese students lack training in thinking and making decisions for themselves. For most students, decisions are made by their parents or teachers or their fellow students. For example, many students want to go study abroad because their parents expect them to; many others go because their classmates are going.
• Second, for one to think and make decisions, one needs information. In our case, that means information about US schools, America's or China's future job markets, economic and social trends, American culture and customs, and so on. Obviously, it is hard for Chinese students to obtain such information adequately and accurately.
• Finally, when applying to American schools, most Chinese students are limited by their English communication skills (note that this is very different from English testing skills!). It makes it difficult for the Chinese students to articulate their thinking even if they have thought through everything. This limits their ability to express themselves to US admission officers, much less be convincing to them.

So how can we overcome these three difficulties?

To address the first one, you should probably do what we suggest: Think, think, and think more! It might be difficult at very beginning to come up even one topic to think about and think about it thoroughly. In this case, BeBeyond's 9-step Guide is designed to systematically help you think about your school application and visa obtainment plan.

Also, you should share your thinking with your friends and classmates because most likely their ways of thinking will help you think and vice versa. (Note that you can also exchange your ideas at BeBeyond.com in the "Forum" section!)

To overcome the second difficulty, you probably should read more news, articles, books and magazines about America. It's better if they are in English and written by Americans because the Chinese media is too selective in reporting America. You also should know American education system and admission process as much as possible.

In both areas, BeBeyond.com offers information in a systematic fashion selected specifically with you, our members, in mind and provides research resources on schools. To make learning more interesting, you should probably also watch more American movies -- although we have to warn you that movies are movies and often are not very realistic.

Finally, your English communication skills (as opposed to your English testing skills that are only good for TOEFL, GRE, or GMAT but not for the real world) can only improve through actual communicating!

No matter how difficult it is at very beginning, and no matter how poor your initial English writing is, keep doing it in English. And start now! Your communication skills will not only help you get an admission and even a scholarship, but also will help you enormously after you arrive in the States.

BeBeyond.com encourages you to do so by providing the only forum in the world for Chinese to communicate only in English. Let's get started!

Today, it has become even more important for Chinese students to think, think, and think more because more and more Chinese are getting such high scores that scores don't differentiate Chinese students as much as before. For example, in choosing between a student with 710 in GMAT and another with 730 in GMAT, the scores are not the determining factor at all because there is really not much difference between those two scores. What is important to Americans is who can articulate better what he or she want to do with an MBA degree. To do that well, you need thinking, information, and communication skills.

Since your ambition is to go into the American system and succeed in the States, you'd be better off if you start thinking just like the Americans do.

Let's remember this: Think, think, and think again!

(Author: Jinbo Xie, BeBeyond.com)

source: <http://www.bebeyond.com/StudyAbroad/AppGuide/AppGuide2.html>

2. What to Think?

So, what should you think about? At minimal, you should categorically think the following questions and come up with some answers to them even though the answers might not be that convincing. But it will be a good start.

Why do you want to study in America? Don't just list the following reasons: (1) America has the best educational system. (2) I want an American degree. (3) Everybody I know is going, so should I. (4) Your parents expect you to go. These are not "true" reasons!

Instead, try to ask yourself the following questions: (1) How am I going to develop my career in the next 1-5 years? (2) What do I really want to do with my life? (3) How much do I really know about America? (4) How big is my chance go to American given my background and different strategies that I am going to use?

Believe it or not, if you know enough about America -- its educational system and work environment -- as well as your own strength and weakness, many of you will have a much clear idea as to how you are going to pursue your going-to-America dream. For example, many may decide that going to America through an American job offer is much easier than through an F-1 visa. (see related information at the Work Abroad section at BeBeyond.)

What is your plan in the States? Knowing your plan now or at least having thought out some possibilities will have significant impact on your study and career in the US. For example, if you want to teach in an American college after graduation, you'd better get your Ph.D. from a prestigious university. So if you can only go to the States with a scholarship from a middle-tier school, prepare for a transfer to a better university as soon as possible. Again, to develop your plan in the States while you are still in China, you need to obtain as much information about the US as possible.

How are you going to support your education financially? If the plan is to get financial aid, how are you going to get it? Just get as high as possible scores? This might not work! If the plan is to have a sponsor, how are you going to get a reasonable sponsorship that a visa officer will believe? If your plan is to use your own money, are there better ways than simply showing a bank letter to gain a visa officer's trust? If working part-time is part of your plan to support your study, which of the American cities should choose so you can find jobs easily?

What is your application strategy? If scores are no longer the key factor, how are you going to apply? How are you going to convince the admission officers that you are one of the students they should never miss? What kind of self-image do you want to present to the admission officers, based on your background and your aspiration? Who should be writing your reference letters that will support image instead of weakening it?

There are a lot of questions to think about and really, the more you think, the more likely that you will find your ways to a US university or a scholarship. Or you will realize that your way of going to America is not through schools but something else like a job offer. Just think how many Chinese students who had no relatives or friends in the States, who was penniless, and who were just "average” students have come to America in the past 20 years. If they can, you can!

The key, besides working and studying hard, is to keep thinking and to know well of both America and yourself. This way, you will find solutions to almost every difficulty that you will encounter. Once again, as mentioned in Step 1 of the guide, in order to think well for yourself, you need to do three things: keep thinking, obtain enough information, and communicate with others with similar experience and intentions. At BeBeyond.com, we intend to help you and all members to help each other in precisely these three areas.

(Author: Jinbo Xie, BeBeyond.com)

source: <http://www.bebeyond.com/StudyAbroad/AppGuide/AppGuide3.html>

3. Make Your Application Competitive

The first thing you need to do to make your application more competitive is, not surprisingly, to "think." Think about this question for a moment before you continue to read:

"How can I make my application more competitive?"

What are your answers? To be serious with your thinking, you can write your answers here to share with other BeBeyond members.

For most Chinese, the first thing comes to mind is, of course, the scores. All Chinese application "experts" tell you so: Get as high as possible scores and you will be accepted and will get financial aid. This is true in many cases. But as we point out in Step 1 of the BeBeyond 9-step Guide: (1) High scores DO NOT always guarantee you a place in or financial aid from an American university. Neither do they warrant you a visa. (2) An application with low scores CAN still be competitive.

You might have also read from some Chinese school application guidebooks that you should list all the awards that you have amassed from high school, college, and everywhere else. There are at least two potential problems with that advice.

(1) If every Chinese applicant lists a number of similar awards (almost every Chinese student seems to have some awards, right?), how can the very similar awards make you stand out among others others? It will be tough!

(2) Some awards might send a wrong message. For example, if you are applying to an engineering school and you list overwhelming number of awards in music, the admissions officer might question your academic interests: Do you want to become a musician or an engineer? In this case, list one or two awards in music might be perfect to show that you are a student with some interests in different areas.

So what should you do to make your application more competitive? The answer is simple: Think. Continuously think for yourself how you can make your application more competitive, given your background and situation. Don't just passively fill out your application forms.

What are the aspects of your application that will make you more competitive? The answer is that almost anything that impresses the admissions officers while is relevant to your study goals will do. For some people, it could be their passion for the field they are pursuing. For others, it could be a convincing, detailed reference letter. You may have low GPAs and average GRE scores, but your working experiences are impressive. So emphasize it! The great thing about applying to US universities is that you can always be creative about your application. You can even turn your weakness into your strength because unlike the Chinese educational system, the US system uses more flexible admission criteria.

One of my friends, Mark, an American who got his M.D. from University of Chicago, was a trouble student in high school because of his family situation. Before graduating from high school, he realized that he needed a quality higher education for his life. He wrote an essay that talked about how came to this realization from being a lost high school student. His maturity made him stand out among many other applicants and his writing showed that he had academic potential. He was admitted with a very low GPAs.

Finally, you can also improve your competitiveness by doing a lot of things. For example, take some additional courses, publish a paper, work for certain jobs, etc.

How do you intend to make your application more competitive? Let's discuss it at the BeBeyond Forum. Exchanging views help both yourself and others. Let's do it!

(Author: Jinbo Xie, BeBeyond.com USA)

source: <http://www.bebeyond.com/StudyAbroad/AppGuide/AppGuide4.html>

4. Planning Your Application

We all know that we need a plan for our application so we won't be late in meeting the application deadlines. "Experts" tell us to request school catalogs in August, take the GRE exam no later than December, and mail out applications by February 15. Is this the right way to plan our application process? Yes, but it's only partially right.

If you think that planning consists of simply allowing enough time to finish everything required by the applications, you have missed the critical point! Planning your application is about being very clear about what you want to achieve (and when), knowing how to achieve it, and having an alternative plan if your original one fails.

In other words, a good plan has three parts: (1) Goals and objectives, (2) strategies and action plans to achieve those goals and objectives, and (3) alternative (backup) plans in case things fail.

Goals and Objectives

The most important part in a plan is its goals and objectives. Without them, you are wasting your time.

Let's assume that you have thought through major issues about whether you should pursue an education in the US or not. Let's say that the conclusion is that yes, you should. And you have also assessed your qualifications and decided that you want to get into one of the best universities by August 2000. This is your goal.

Now in order to achieve your goal, you need to make your application competitive. After reading Step 3: Make Your Application Competitive and doing some long, hard thinking, you have come up with some answers to the competitive issues.

For example, you want to:

1. Publish 1-2 new research papers by the year end;
2. Have two strong reference letters ready in two months;
3. Score at least 1,900 on the October GRE test;
4. Rewrite your application essay to make it more convincing;
5. Take one more course to strengthen your existing academic background.

Little goals such as those five above are called objectives. Objectives are the necessary requirements for achieving your goal. According to your plan, you believe that once you fulfill all or most of the objectives, you should be able to achieve your goal and get into one of the top American universities.

Criteria for Goal Setting: There are two criteria as to whether you have done an adequate job in setting up your goal and objectives.

(1) Are the goal and objectives clear and specific? Ask yourself questions such as "What is my goal in preparing this application?" If you know nothing more than the names of the schools to which you are applying, you don't have a clear goal. If you are applying to all kinds of schools -- from the worst to the best -- with equal energy, you don't have a specific goal and you are only trying your luck like a stupid gambler.

You also need to be clear and specific about your objectives. Don't simply fill out an application form or get an application essay done on time. Think about what you want to achieve by finishing them! If you know that you want your references to show your research potential and you understand that you're taking an additional mathematics class to build a stronger quantitative background, you are clear and specific about what you are doing.

(2) Are your goal and objectives practical? Is your goal of applying to the best schools realistic, given your background and the time you have available for preparing your application? What is the probability that you will get financial aid if you change your major? It would be ideal that you can reach all the five objectives listed above. But if you realize that it is impossible to finish even half of them in a short period of time, your objectives are impractical. You need to modify your objectives or reduce the number of them for your plan.

Strategies and Action Plans

Once you have developed clear, specific, and practical goals and objectives, you have to come up with right strategies and specific action plans with time estimates for completing them.

To devise a winning action plan, keep asking yourself the following three questions:

(a) What is the best way to meet each one of my objectives? For some people, the best way to get a high GMAT score might be to study alone...while others might do better by going to a preparation school.

(b) How much time do I need to accomplish this specific objective? You shouldn't just have an objective of writing a strong essay and assume that you can accomplish it in three days. You may need three months to practice your writing before you can even write an adequately good essay. Without good estimates of the time required for actions, you will fail at the end.

(c) What is the probability that my action plans will work? If the chance is low, is it because the objective is impractical or the strategy/action is ineffective? You will only realize the impossibility of reaching some of your objectives or flaws in your action plans after you have started to pursue them. Therefore it is extremely important to keep evaluating your plans and redefining them accordingly.

Alternative Plans

Mostly, nothing will work as perfectly as planned. Therefore a good plan always has alternative plans to handle failures or unexpected situations.

If your primary plan is to get into one of the best schools in the US, what do you do if it fails? Your alternative plans can be many. For example, you can apply to some average universities in addition to the best ones. If your primary plan fails, you can still be able to go to a second-tier school. Or you can wait for next year to re-apply. In that case, your alternative plan is to try one more time.

You also need alternative plans for achieving your objectives. If you have difficulty in improving your writing skills, should you hire a private teacher to help you? Alternatively, you could give up on the idea of writing a great essay and, instead, try to get a quality recommendation letter to improve your competitiveness. To have an alternative plan also means that when you plan on taking the GRE test in October, you know you will have a second chance to retake it in December if your first try fails. (This is one of many alternatives.)

Sense of Planning, Matter of Practice

After reading this Step, many of you are probably overwhelmed by how complex planning seems to be. You might even lose confidence in or become confused by and frustrated with how you are going to plan your applications.

Don't worry! The main reason that you are feeling so is that we Chinese are very unfamiliar with making decisions for ourselves. Once you start following the guidelines we have discussed here, you will quickly improve your planning skills and decision-making capabilities. Spend time to think about and talk with others about planning issues and you will quickly develop your sense of planning. At the end, you will be handsomely rewarded by practicing your planning skills.

Remember this: if you reduce 10% of your time for preparing the TOEFL or GRE test and instead, use the saved time for planning, your probability of getting to America will increase 100% or even more. So, develop a sound plan for your application!

(Author: Jinbo Xie, BeBeyond.com)

source: <http://www.bebeyond.com/StudyAbroad/AppGuide/AppGuide5.html>

5. Choose the Right Schools for You

What are you currently doing to find the right schools for you? Do you simply look at some kind of school rankings and decide that you are only going to apply to several second-tier schools and then randomly contact them? Or do you single out all the schools with the lowest application fees and think you will at least save some money?

These are not the ways to find your perfect schools!

In order to decide which schools you should apply to, you need to do two things right: (1) Have a clear objective in selecting your schools; and (2) Know how to research US schools and spend a lot of time doing it.

Objectives in Selecting Your Schools

As we have pointed out in previous steps, you need goals and objectives for almost everything you do for your applications. And they have to be clear and specific. The same is true with your school selections.

In selecting your future schools, your objectives can be many. Examples: (a) Your objective is to go to the best schools. (b) You will settle for whichever schools offer you a scholarship. (c) You plan on paying the tuition on your own so you want a school that is affordable. (d) You know that you will have to work part-time at a restaurant; therefore, big cities with a lot of Chinese restaurants are the right ones for you. (e) You want to go to Boston because the person with whom you are secretly in love is there.

You can have any kinds of objectives for choosing your schools and you can even have multiple objectives. For instance, you might want a scholarship and at the same time you might only prefer big cities. That's fine. But no matter what objectives you have, the objectives must be clear and specific and then you must find the schools that meet your specifications.

Do you have clear objectives in selecting your schools?

How to Research the US Schools

There are so many schools in America. How should you go about researching your ideal schools?

Most Chinese students use the school rankings as their main tool. But, this is not the best approach. The best approach is (a) to acquire general knowledge about American university system and then (b) to do in-depth research on the individual schools that are on your list of potential targets.

General Knowledge about American Universities:

(1) Private vs. Public: Private universities are usually considered much more prestigious than public universities. Private universities have quality professors who are actually teaching while many public universities have their best professors mostly doing research. While top private schools are extremely competitive, average private schools are easy to get in because they want your money. Public universities normally have more RA and TA positions available than private ones because they don't have enough budget from the government to pay for real professors. So they'll pay you.

(2) Geographical Differences: Universities in the Southern US normally charge much lower tuition than their Northern counterparts. Universities in boring states such as Alabama or Iowa are much less competitive in terms of admissions standards even though some of them are top-ranked schools. (For most Americans, those places are seen as not much fun.) California is an extremely difficult state for Chinese students to apply to because the State has a lot of Chinese residents. (Being Chinese, they are normally good at school and many of them want to stay with California universities.)

(3) Big vs. Small: Generally, small schools are much more likely to pay close attention to your application and your situation than the big ones. They are likely to be more flexible too. For example, they might be more willing to write a letter to the US Embassy for you or to add some additional money to your scholarship when you have problems with your visa. Of course, they may have fewer scholarships; this, however, is not always the case. But at the same time, they may have fewer applicants as well.

Methods to Research Individual Universities:

(1) Knowing the Obvious: Get school catalogs, go to the schools' website, and read books on American schools to know as many official details of the schools as possible. Is the school that you are researching a private school or a public one? Is it big or small? Where is it located? Do they fit the general descriptions listed above? How are they going to help you meet your goals?

(2) Figuring out the Untold: Look beyond rankings, application fees, and deadlines. When you study a university, don't just write down what is required for an application. Instead, read between lines in a school catalog. What kind of students are studying in this university? Are they rich kids or average US citizens? Do they have a lot of international students? Is this a school with mostly White students? What kind of professors does the school have? Are they more specialized in research or teaching? If you have answers to all these questions, you should be able to imagine the real conditions of the school and therefore decide whether you will like the school or not and whether the school will like you as a student.

(3) Personifying Schools: Know the school like a human being. A school is like a person; it has its own personality. Some schools are always motivated and aggressive. They are eager to pick up a good student on the spot. Some schools are arrogant and they won't give you much special help. Other schools are very liberal; they like to have more minority students and international students. Different schools have different educational philosophies. For example, some top schools will let you in easily but have high standards for graduation. Some schools like Harvard care not only about academic performance but also about family connections.

(4) Confirming Findings: If you can, you should confirm your research results through some channels. For example, if you know somebody who has studied in that school, talk to him or her. You can also try to send an email to the school or one or two professors there to see how they respond to your inquiries. You should always review, confirm, and adjust the schools of your choosing.

Always with Objectives in Mind

Remember: Whatever you do to research the right US schools for you, you need to be aware of your own objectives in choosing a school. You need to constantly evaluate the schools against your objectives to see whether they meet your requirements.

With this approach, your application will have a better chance to be accepted by the schools that you have selected.

(Author: Jinbo Xie, BeBeyond.com)

source: <http://www.bebeyond.com/StudyAbroad/AppGuide/AppGuide6.html>

6. Money: Get Financial Aid!

The term "financial aid" has two different definitions.

Most US schools use "financial aid" to mean the US Federal Student Loan (low interest loan), Federal Work/Study Program, or Federal or State financial assistance (free money) to students from low-income families. This is need-based financial aid good only for US citizens and permanent residents. And it is widely available in US schools. That's why many schools sometimes boost a very high percentage of financial aid. But, it means nothing to you, as foreign students are not eligible for applying.

In other cases, "financial aid" is used to mean any kind of financial assistance, both need-based and merit-based, from both the school and outside sources. The merit-based financial aid includes TA (teaching assistantship), RA (research assistantship), GA (graduate assistantship), and Scholarship or Fellowship (both are free money for students).

It's almost always the case that foreign students can only apply for merit-based financial aid. But be aware that not all merit-financial aid is available for foreign students. For example, every year Cornell University offers 40 MBA students scholarships, but they are for citizens or permanent residents only.

For most schools, your application for admission also serves as your application for financial aid. Many schools may require additional one or two pieces of material for financial aid and may require you to submit your application before certain dates, which are usually earlier than the admission deadline.

Basis for Awarding Financial Aid

So, on what basis do schools award their financial aid to applicants? There are two categories: (1) Academic and other types of excellence, and (2) the skills that an applicant can offer to the school.

Star students: Every class needs to have a few "star students." With star students being around, other students might feel good about themselves because they have high-caliber classmates. The star students will probably also provide more intelligent classroom discussions and quality papers that teachers can show to other students. And in the future, successful star students may help the school develop a good reputation.

To attract potential star students, almost all US schools use Fellowships or Scholarships. As you can see from the above description of the purpose of having star students, your application for a Fellowship or Scholarship needs to show your excellent academic record, unique working or personal experiences, good writing and oral communication skills, and a certain level of leadership. All previous steps of the 9-Step Guide will help you to come up with a competitive package if you are applying for a Fellowship or Scholarship.

Assistants: When you are applying for admission, you only need to be a quality applicant. But when you are applying for an assistantship (a TA, RA, or GA), you need to show that you have the skills to do the job.

For example, if a school is looking for TAs to teach undergraduate Mathematics classes, you'd better have good scores in your math courses. In many of the RA cases, school professors are specifically looking for certain skill sets and working experiences, which could be computer skills, lab experiences, etc. You have to find out what they are looking for and show in your application that you have what they want. Some assistantships, such as some RAs and most GAs, need no specific skills or experiences. In those cases, schools tend to give the assistantships to the best qualified applicants.

Applying Strategies and Tips

Here are some useful strategies and tips that many Chinese students have successfully used in preparing their applications:

(1) Be an investigator! The above observations tell you general information of the kind of things US schools are looking for from applicants for financial aid. You need to find out details for your target schools so you can tailor application according to their needs. How to conduct the investigation? Please read the Step 5 of the 9-Step Guide.

(2) Probability helps. Apply to more schools and different kinds of schools! If all your targeted schools are top schools, you may find out later that none of them will offer you financial aid. You need to apply to some less competitive schools or to more schools to increase your probability of getting financial aid.

(3) Be flexible and know all the opportunities. Don't stick to a few schools or the only field that you want to get into. If your goal is to get financial aid, be flexible! Also, there are many opportunities that few people know about. For example, applying to MBA programs is so popular now that it's hard to get financial aid from an MBA program. But if you apply for an MS in Finance, you may easily get financial aid.

(4) Networking with insiders. For students who want to apply for an assistantship, the easiest way is probably to get some help from within the schools. If you know somebody who is studying in the school, he or she might be able to recommend you to certain professors or tell you what to do with your application. This is very effective! Also, when you have a chance to meet US professors who are visiting China, try to talk to them -- and then keep contact with them after they go back to America! If you can do this, you are almost guaranteed an assistantship. Finally, more and more Chinese now are teaching in US schools. Try to find out their background (for example, one might originally from Fudan University) and contact them.

(5) Nothing is final with financial aid. The most inaccurate information in a school catalog could be the information about assistantships. In many cases, schools won't really know how many assistantships they need until long after the application deadline passes. Also, professors have always applied for all kinds of research grants and some of them may suddenly come -- for example, in August. So, if you keep contact with the school even when they have refused you financial aid, you may get it later because of the unexpected money. Alternatively, after you have arrived in school, you can talk to the school and the school may give you one then.

More and Easier than You Think

Most Chinese applicants think that it is extremely difficult to get financial aid and are puzzled by the awarding process. So they put all their energy into scoring high on the standardized tests (GRE and TOEFL), hoping this will bring them good fortune. This is precisely the wrong approach!

There are a lot of opportunities for financial aid -- and you don't have to score even 2,000 on the GRE to get one. The keys are to (1) know where the opportunies exist and (2) what the schools or professors want and then to (3) prepare your application tailored specifically for them. To keep taking tests does not do any of the three important things for you.

Remember, there are always more financial aid opportunities than you think and getting finanicial aid is easier than you have imagined if you take the right approach. But you do need good communication skills and in-depth knowledge of the American system!

(Author: Jinbo Xie, BeBeyond.com)

source: <http://www.bebeyond.com/StudyAbroad/AppGuide/AppGuide7.html>

7. Get the Right References for You

What are the right reference letters for you? Think for a minute... Do you know the answers? If you are unsure about your answers, you probably should continue to think for a while.

Thinking is a good habit if you want to go to America. That is why BeBeyond 9-Step Guide devotes both Step 1 and Step 2 to "thinking." Don't ignore those steps if you really want to be successful!

Wrong Ideas about Reference Letters

Chinese students tend to have two kinds of wrong ideas about recommendation letters.

(1) Applicants with the first kind of wrong idea regard reference letters as something not that important. They think that as long as they can get two or three letters signed by their professors, make sure the grammar is correct, and send them out on time, they are fine. They believe that their scores will determine their fate regarding their admission and financial aid.

(2) Applicants with the second kind of wrong idea think that they need "powerful" recommendation letters. While it is true that reference letters should be "powerful," these applicants have wrong ideas as to what is considered "powerful" from an American's point of view. They often try to get a letter signed by a "famous" Chinese, Dean of their department, or Chief of their working unit.

Correct Ideas about Reference Letters

(1) Reference letters are extremely important. If you have high scores, admission officers want to also see evidence of your academic ability from your reference letters. They want to know you are not somebody who is only good at taking tests. If you apply for an Assistantship requiring certain skills or working experiences, admission officers hope that your reference letters will praise you for those skills or experiences. In short, good recommendation letters confirm your qualifications and, better yet, provide additional information about you that application forms and scores do not.

(2) In preparing reference letters, focus more on content. It is true that famous people may help to get attention from admissions officers. But how many Chinese are so famous that even Americans know about them? If the letters do not contain the kind of information needed, they are useless. Furthermore, if the contents are so badly written or the "famous" person really does not seem to have good reasons to write the letter, admissions officers may think that the letters are fake. So focus on the contents and make sure the letters confirm your qualification and provide additional, useful information about you.

(3) A good reference letter should be reasonable and specific. Reasonable means that the person writing the letter knows you well and has the qualifications to evaluate you. A famous professor has the qualification -- but if she has only met you once, she does not know you well. Her writing a letter for you is unreasonable; it won't help you.

Most Chinese reference letters are filled with vague praises. That is bad. A good reference letter cites examples, provides specific information, and tells little stories about the student. Without the specifics, an admissions officer's doubt comes back to the question: Does the author of the letter really knows the student well?

Only reasonable letters with specific information can convince admissions officers. Only these kinds of reference letters can be considered "powerful."

How to Prepare Good Reference Letters

Believe it or not, good reference letters may take 1-2 years to prepare! Here is why:

You need to get to know people who are qualified to write references for you. You need to impress them -- to let them know about you as much as possible, so that they eventually will be willing and able to write specific reference letters for you. All this takes time. You should start doing this as early as when you are a junior in college, in the case of applying to graduate schools.

Also, you need to know more than three persons who can write you references. That way, when one of them refuses to write a letter, you still have others to back up. This takes time as well.

Finally, when the time comes for you to ask for reference letters, be proactive and be direct! Not only ask for your references' permission to write a letter for you, but also tell them what you want in your letter. If they say that they cannot write the kind of things you want, go talk to another person. Your goal is to have the right kind of content in your letters!

You can rush to get reletively high GRE or TOEFL scores, but you won't be able to quickly obtain good reference letters and the writing ability and communication knowledge needed for preparing them. That is why you should start early!

(Jinbo Xie, BeBeyond.com)

source: <http://www.bebeyond.com/StudyAbroad/AppGuide/AppGuide8.html>

8. The Power of Application Essays

Application essays can do two things for you:

(1) They can kill your chance of getting an admission or financial aid, even though you have a "strong" application (such as high GRE scores, high GPA's, research papers, and/or solid working experience).

(2) Or, they can get you into a US school, with financial aid, despite an otherwise a "weak" application package!

This is how powerful application essays are. Pay attention to them!

Importance of Application Essays

No matter how much information schools or professors ask from their applicants, they are trying to picture a person based on the information provided. After all, they are taking in a real person, not a bunch of test scores or research papers.

So how do schools figure out what kind of person you are? They carefully exam your scores, your awards or lack of them, your working experiences, your references, and your extracurricular activities. After reading all this information, admissions officers will have a general idea of who you are and what you have gone through in your life. They will also have questions and worries about you.

For instance: Why are your GPAs so low but your GRE incredibly high? Why did you switch jobs after only a half-year with your first job? Can you do academic research after you have been in international trade business for three years? Why is there a seven-month period in your life that is unaccounted for?

For some of the questions and concerns, admissions officers can guess the answers on their own. For others, they turn their attention to your essays.

Good essays should answer all the important questions in an admissions officer's mind, eliminate his or her concerns about you, and reinforce your qualifications evident in other application materials.

Badly written essays, on the other hand, not only are unable to answer the critical questions, but even create more worries on the part of the school. If an admissions officer is already questioning your research ability after your three years in international trade, your enthusiastic description of your trade experiences will only magnify his or her worry. (One of the right things to do in such a case would be to write how you can transfer the skills learned in trading business into your academic research capability.)

Plans, Personalities, and Communication Skills

To be competitive, your essays should at least outline your general plans for what you want to do in school and afterwards. These plans should be specific and make sense given your background and abilities. Remember, every admissions officer want to know your future plans because your future will be part of the school's future if you are accepted. (If you don't have a plan, go back to Step 1 of BeBeyond 9-Step Guide!)

Good essays showcase the good side of your personality. You are driven but not overly aggressive, you are enthusiastic but not lightheaded, or you persevere but you are not extremely stubborn.

Poorly-conceived essays may give readers the impression that you are overly passive, negative, uninteresting, overly private, overly pessimistic, mean-spirited, arrogant, or egotistic. If you would have to spend the next 2-5 years with such a person, would you admit him or her? Some essays written by some Chinese students are depicting such a bad personal image that they fail in their application even with very high test scores.

One of the biggest worries that US schools have for their Chinese applicants is their communication skills. There are two kinds of communication skills: One is related to your language skills, especially writing and speaking. The other has nothing to do with language skills. Rather it is knowing how to communicate. Many Chinese essays show that the writer lacks both kinds of communication skills.

Typical Problems with Chinese Essays

Most Chinese essays have two typical problems:

(1) They are pointless. Due to poor writing skills, many Chinese applicants are simply happy that they finally can make several paragraphs for their essays. In many cases, what they have written is a collection of random sentences. The essay has no point and none of the paragraphs has a subpoint either.

"I have nothing to say!" is the typical complaint of many people when they have to write essays. If this is your case, you should go back to Step 1 and Step 2 of this Guide.

(2) They have writing style problems. When it comes to communication, Americans are very specific, factual (or at least they appear to be factual), and moderate, citing little stories or examples. The Chinese, on the hand, like to use slogans and vague statements -- which, from an American's point of view, are often exaggerating and/or meaningless.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with the Chinese communication style. But if you want to convince an American, don't you think using the American style will be more effective?

How to Write Powerful Essays

Compare the number of hours that you have spent on preparing for TOEFL or GRE to the number of hours you have spent reading articles about America, writing in English, and thinking about application essays. What is the ratio? 1,000:1? You now know why it is hard for you to write good essays.

So, how to write powerful essays? Here are our suggestions:

(1) Spend a lot of time writing in English -- and most importantly, share your writing with others to see whether they understand your meaning, or whether you yourself can still understand what you mean a few days later.

(2) Read as many articles written by Americans as possible to learn about America in general and American communication style in particular.

(3) Write your essays in accordance to the guidelines presented above and plan to use at least 50 to 100 hours to write them. Read a lot of sample essays -- good ones and bad ones.

(4) Discuss your essays with others -- ideally including experts.

(Author: Jinbo Xie, BeBeyond.com)

source: <http://www.bebeyond.com/StudyAbroad/AppGuide/AppGuide9.html>

9. Communicate: Presenting Yourself

In applying to US schools, think of yourself as a product that you want to sell to your customers: the US schools and professors.

Then, think: What kind of product are you? What kinds of products do your customers normally buy? And how are you going to convince your customers that you are the right product for them? These are the most important decisions that you have to make for your application and they fundamentally determine whether you will succeed or not.

This is why the BeBeyond 9-Step Guide to Successful Applications to US Schools devotes the first 6 steps to helping you make the right decisions in designing yourself, determining your customers' needs, and coming up with the correct selling strategies. (That is one of the reasons why we have created BeBeyond; by participating in BeBeyond community, you will understand better the "market" conditions -- America -- in which you are going to sell your product -- yourself.)

However, we all know that even great products cannot sell without a nicely designed package, powerful advertisements, and positive responses from previous customers. When it comes to these aspects of products, we Chinese are not nearly as good as we should be.

So, think of the information on your application forms, your TOEFL or GRE scores, your working experiences, and your research papers as the technical specifications of the product (yourself). Regard your reference letters as the feedback from previous users of the product. Treat your application essays as advertisements for your product. The question is: how to put these three parts together to create a powerful, irresistible presentation of the product that is you.

Steps 7-9 of the BeBeyond 9-Step Guide to Successful Applications to US Schools are designed to help you do just that. And BeBeyond.com is the place that you can come to improve your communication skills, which in turn assists you in making a strong presentation of yourself.

How to Make an Impressive Presentation

(1) The Main Image: Project to your audience one -- and only one -- primary, appealing and memorable image of yourself.

When you think about Sony, the first image comes to mind is an innovative audio/video electronic product like a Walkman or a TV set. This is Sony's primary image. The image is likable and appealing and easy to remember.

What is your main image that you want to leave to admissions officers after they read through your application? Are you the one who has a great potential to become a leading scientist in biology? Are you the one who will be able to build a world-class company based on your past business experiences and determination? Are you the computer expert who can provide the help that the Sociology Departments are desperately looking for for their research projects?

Images can be many different kinds. Which one to choose depends on how you want to present yourself based on your background and which images are easier to impress on your customers.

However, you can only have one, only one, primary image because that is the only way to get the admissions officers to vividly remember you. Don't try to be everything! Many Chinese applicants emphasize too many aspects of their qualifications: They are good at English, active in extra-curricular activities, hardworking, smart in computer usage, and nice in dealing with people.

After reading the application from such an all-mighty student, you will find it difficult to vividly picture his or her image. When you are trying to be everything, you may turn out to be nothing. Can you imagine if Sony also made women's underwear, cigarettes, and mooncakes? If it did, could you visualize Sony as easily as before? Would you buy soy sauce with a Sony logo on the bottle? Probably unlikely, right? So, don't make the same kind of mistake in your application.

(2) The Breadth of Your Image: While you should focus most of your energy on building a primary image of yourself, your image should have some breadth. In other words, you cannot say that you are only good at one thing.

Some of the Chinese applications tend to focus too narrowly. For example, all of their reference letters and Personal Statement are repeating the same thing: the applicant is an extremely good student with high test scores. This image in itself is not a bad image. But if this is the only thing that an applicant talks about himself or herself, this image becomes one of a nerd. No good!

An applicant is a real human being with flesh and blood. So while maintaining an impressive primary image, you should also add a few minor images and details to it. This way, your image will become fuller, more likable, more believable, and more interesting. For example, your essay may show slight humor to add some fun to your otherwise very serious application -- also good for those admissions officers who have read too many serious essays. You can also write about one or two very little stories of your life which shows your personality or other life interests to make yourself more colorful. It might be valuable to have a unique hobby.

(3) Consistency (and Reinforcement): Inconsistency in your presentation does the most harm to your application. And be warned: Inconsistency is also what the admissions officers are looking for in each application. -- confirm the message...

What is inconsistency? For example, if you are emphasizing on how good your English is and then your essay shows bad writing skills, the admissions officers will immediately question the credibility of everything you have said. Inconsistency shows when your reference letter ranks your analytical skills as the best of all your skills and then your analytical score from GRE is very low. Inconsistency can also come from the fact that you claim to be experienced in a certain area, but your working experiences seem to be unable to provide the confirmation.

Final Words: Learn Something Valuable

No matter how good a product is and no matter how well designed the presentation of the product is, there are always some people who don't like it. It happens in the business world all the time and it happens in the admissions process. Therefore, there will always be admissions officers or professors who don't like you or your style.

This, however, doesn't mean that you are not good. Different people have different judgment and different personal likes or dislikes. So do admissions officers! This is why Lili, who was refused by several second- or third-tier schools, was accepted by University of Michigan. In that sense, admission sometimes is a matter of luck (in other words, probability).

What is the most important thing you should keep in mind in preparing to go abroad? You should learn something that is valuable for the rest of your life from the process!

(Jinbo Xie, BeBeyond.com)

How to USA Visa and My Visa Experience

I have been thinking to write about my visa experience for so long, but it just didn't happen. Well this writing is my experience and also at the same time giving suggestions on how to prepare for the USA visa interview. Good thing is there are many well-written guideline on how to prepare for the visa interview, but the bad thing is there are too many!! So, I am just writing it for my friends, who could check this as some starting guideline, but please don't think this as the only guideline!! What I am writing here is based on Seminar on Visa Interview at American Center by Visa Officer (In fact, luckily that Visa Officer took my original interview!! Lucky me :P) and from resources on the web and also based on my personal experience and understanding..

What do they look for and WHY?
Let me start by writing what a Visa Officer look for in a candidate. Only three things! i. Are you a bona-fide student; ii. Do you have enough money to support your education; and iii. What ties do you have in your home country. For any interview you should try to understand what they are looking for and why. According to US Embassy, every person trying to get a visa to USA is a intended immigrant. So you should be able to prove that you are not! How? By showing that you have strong ties here in your home country. In general, they think that you might not continue your study after going there and might go for some odd jobs or some other jobs.. So you should be able to prove that you are a bona-fide student and you are going only for study, not using this student visa as a purpose of going to US. And finally you should be able to show that you have enough money to support your education (at least 1st year). This is to prove that you don't need to think for the earning money to support your education and they also count if you have to support your family, in that case it is a question to them - how will you continue the education by supporting your family or may be supporting yourself! So, they begin to think that you might not continue your course and you might switch to doing some other work there and might stay there! So, the visa get rejected.. This is basically the rough idea of visa interview. You need to prepare your documents in such a way, so that you can prove these three points and show the Visa Officer that you are going only for study (bona-fide student) and you will not doing anything else (as you have enough money to support your education) and after the education you will come back to your country (because you have ties with your country). Now let me elaborate each points and let you know what documents you should take with you to prove these and also for a successful visa interview.

How to START?

First of all, you need to fillup the visa forms, which is available in the Simon Center and soft copy is available in the web. Search for forms in the web. I am writing this in 2007, so if you reading it after so many years, then you should double check if the forms remains same or not! I strongly recommend you to fill up the forms in computer. First form, DS 156 is fillable in the web <https://evisaforms.state.gov/ds156.asp> and after fillup it will generate a pdf with barcode. From the web find DS 157 and DS 158 forms and another form required for Bangladesh.

In this paragraph I will write how to start preparing things. This is actually my suggested way and helped me to sort out things easily, nothing compulsory but you may try it! Two things: i. check list, ii. credentials of yourself (writing about your credentials). Checklist will help you to sort out everything and writing your credential will help you to prepare yourself for your own interview. Don't forget that it is not only about taking few documents, they will ask you some questions and it will be better for you if you can give specific answers. So in the credential, you put:
i. Credentials as a Student (to prove you are a bona-fide student): This will have all your academic records, your test scores (gre, toefl), admissions you got in different universities (better if you have multiple admissions, it will support the point that your admission was not random!), why you have selected particular university (very common question), general ranking of your university, your department ranking of that university, who are working in your research area, which groups are there, etc, etc.
ii. Financial support (to prove that you have enough support to continue your education): Show all the available supports. My PhD was full-funded, which is very usual for PhD students, so it isn't a problem for PhD students. But I also attached my parent's financial documents to show that I could get emergency supports, whenever I need it.
iii. Ties with home country:
a. Family Ties: Where do your other members of the family live. In fact you will write about it in the application form.
b. Professional Ties: Show you have professional ties in your home country. Job offer from your country really helps. In fact, if possible you must take job offer letters to your visa interview. I think my visa officer decided to give me the visa without hesitation when she saw my job offers at BRAC University. Also show how your education will help you to get a job here in home country and also how it will help people in your country. I mean, how your education will benefit your home country. I was lucky that my research lab (Center for Research on Bangla Language Processing, CRBLP, BRAC University, Bangladesh) is doing some good work on language processing and getting media attention in these days, so I also took papers and magazines that published news about us. If you have some papers and magazines that published your or your group's work, then you should bring those too. Just to support your claim that you are having a good professional career here.
c. Social Ties: If you are member of any sort of association, e.g. alumni association, or anything, you should write it down too.
d. Financial Ties: It is always better to bring your family's financial documents. You may be thinking that you got the full tuition scholarship with monthly stipend, then why should you bring those documents. Well, you could get the visa very easily with full funding and in my case, the visa officer didn't even checked my parent's financial documents, but I still suggest to bring these documents with you. Let me explain why. Two years back I wanted to go to Canada to present a paper in a conference. My trip was fully funded, my university gave my ticket and registration fees, I will stay in my relative's place, another company also gave me $500 for my other expenses. So, I thought why should I get my parent's financial documents! Well, my visa got rejected in the first time. I was quiet surprised then, but later I thought and got the reasoning behind it. Just completing my undergraduate study from BRAC University, two days before visa interview I joined a new job. My job is 2 days old, so it is natural that I don't have much professional ties, I completed my graduation - so easy to go to any place, I didn't show anything in my country to prove my ties to country, Why should they issue me the visa? It is natural for them to think that I will stay there. So the next time I showed my parent's financial documents, got a letter from university, and they issued me the visa then.. Since then I always suggest to bring these documents, no matter what and believe me, you should. And there's no harm in taking these documents, but it might help you to get the visa, so why not!
So, this is how you write your own credential for visa interview. Point is, you know everything about yourself and everything is written in a piece of paper (i mean the word document, in my case it was google doc :P). But definitely it is not compulsory, this is my suggested way of doing things..

Next comes the check list. It is better to categorize things and sort it accordingly. It will help you to find things when Visa Officer asks for anything. What I did was, I categorize into few categories and put each categories in separate files. I am pasting my check list file here, so that you can understand what I am saying. I have deleted few things that are too specific for me, but I kept all the points.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Primary documents

• Appointment notice along with receipt of fees paid
• I-901 form indicating SEVIS fee paid
• Passport in original
• I-20 SEVIS approved form
• DS 156, DS 157 and DS 158 visa forms
  
• Credentials (I also kept a printout of that credential)
  

Academic Documents

• Letter of admission from University of Rochester
• GRE and TOEFL scores
  
• Undergraduate Certificate, Transcript, Gold Medal Certificate, Degree Completion with Highest CGPA Certificate, Full Scholarship Certification
  
• HSC and SSC Mark Sheet and Certificates
• Other Acceptance letters

Financial Documents

• Affidavit of financial support, showing all the assets of my parents
  
• Bank Statement of Naushad UzZaman
  

Professional History and Job Offer documents

• Letter from your employer or prospective employer who want to offer you a job on your return
  

Other Documents

CV

SOP for University of Rochester

Summary of Research Projects

All Papers at International Conferences

Correspondence with University of Rochester

Correspondence with U of R students before applying, inquiring about the department (Subject: From a PhD Applicant)

Email from U or R CS for Telephone Interview (Subject: Telephone Interview)

U of R CS's Email Accepting my Application (Subject: URCS Application)

Email to U of R Accepting my Offer (Subject: Acceptance of PhD offer)

Housing documents from U of R

Documents from International Services Office (ISO) of U of R

All Other Certificates

About BRAC University

About University of Rochester

Papers and Magazines that published about my research lab and me

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So you know what to prepare and what documents to take, now comes the visa questions. I actually don't remember where I found common questions, but there are a lot in the web. So just google for "usa student visa interview" (without quote), and you will find good suggestions and sample interview questions as well. These will be very useful.
You should at least prepare for these question:
http://www.immihelp.com/visas/student/student-visa-interview-tips.html
By preparing your credential, you will have all your answers ready at this point!

Visa Interview

Now the original interview. /*Last interview I remember was my interview (viva) of my Cadet College admission. I actually wore a light blue shirt in the interview then (12 years before for Cadet College interview :P) and this time without noticing I wore a light blue shirt. And when I was going to the embassy and had some random thinking, I noticed that I wore a black pant and I also did the same 12 years before :D I was smiling myself thinking about these and then recalled one funny cadet college interview incident, "oi dekh boiddutik ghonta" haha :) I was just laughing thinking about that before my visa interview :) Whatever, lets go back to the point, if you are not my college friend, you are not supposed to understand this joke.. And you don't actually need to understand it to get the visa :P*/
To begin with, be well dressed and definitely be well prepared for an interview. What I always do just before visa interview is, talk to other people who came for visa in the embassy. It will make you more comfortable, you will be used to with the environment and your confidence will go up. One suggestion you will get to know from everywhere: SMILE. Keep smiling in your visa interview. I was actually lucky that I attended a visa seminar few days back, and the women who gave the seminar, took my interview. So, I got someone, whom I saw before. It really helped me to have a natural smile :) I was really very tension free, just seeing someone I know (I actually saw her once before, but still..)

My visa went very smoothly, but had a little problem. At first she asked me for my original I-20, then asked for my test scores and official transcripts. After checking these, she asked what I do on Bangla Language Processing, I gave her some example of my work. Then she asked me if my job is permanent or not. I told her that it is contractual, but I have job offers. Telling that I gave her the job offer letters. She read that and then she was searching something in the computer. After that she asked me what is my date of birth. I was actually surprised to hear this question, because everywhere I used the same date of birth, which is my original one. 6 years back, our full family tried for a visiting visa at US, where my parents got the visa but we two brothers didn't. That was not the problem, problem was there was a mistake in date of birth of that passport. I changed that passport because my permanent address changed, but I mentioned about this visa refusal in my application. I was like, I really don't know why there is a mistake. Then she asked if I have the passport with me or not. I got every single documents, but I missed that old passport. Fact is, there was a correction in my old passport and it was later corrected with the original date, so if I had it with me then it wouldn't be much problem. Then asked me then why I changed the passport, I told her that my permanent address changed. Then she was asking how old are you 6 years before, I was like 18! She asked, at 18 you didn't know about your passport? Then I told her that I really didn't need to know about it, my father handled everything. We visited places with full-family and my father always took care of our passports. First time I went abroad alone was in India at 2004, after that I went to many other places alone (told her which countries). Then she asked me why I went to Canada? I was like, aah, finally some favorable question :) I then told her that I went for a conference. She then asked what type of conference and few more details about my work as well. After that she was typing and typing, I was getting nervous (for the first time in the interview), not knowing if she is giving me the visa or not! After that she told me that she is issuing me the visa and told me to pick it up after two days! My normal smile became bigger happy smile :) Then I requested for one minute to take all documents in the file, then I told her that I attended her seminar on visa interview. I was rather surprised with her reply, "Yea, I recognized you!"

So, thats how my visa interview went and this is all I have to suggest you for a visa interview. From what I have understood that now it is no longer as tough as it was. But you should be well prepared but it is not so easy.. You have to work to get it! Best wishes to you, hopefully you will get yours too.

Good luck!
Naushad

Happy International Mother Language Day!

Dear All,

Happy International Mother Language day! It couldn't be any better day to let you know about the activities of our research lab CRBLP, Center for Research on Bangla Language Processing. You should be very happy and proud to know that under the leading of Dr. Mumit Khan, since 2004 this research group at BRAC U is working on computerization of our beloved language Bangla.

May be some examples will help you to understand what we do or want to do! If we can continue doing what we had done in last few years, hopefully after 5-10 years (or may be few more years:D ), our research lab will implement software that will help you to get an automated Bangla translation of webpages that are available in other languages; or a system that will get your request in Bangla speech and will search about that topic from internet (where document is in English). I am talking about very fancy applications, which we can dream now and it is possible! And most important thing is, unless we work in these areas you can't imagine the digital divide we will face after few years between 25 percent and 75 percent population of our country. Our goal is to implement software that will help these 75% people to communicate with computer in our native language Bangla, to make using computer possible for them and helping them to get most from it.

We are very happy and proud to let you know that under Dr. Khan's leading we have started our work in that path and our work have already been recognized in many international conferences, local newspapers, magazines, etc. Please check our website at: < http://www.bracuniversity.ac.bd/research/crblp/> to know about our activities.

This is the beginning and we dream for lot more!

Long live CRBLP and Long live our beloved language Bangla.

Thanks.

Best Regards,

Naushad

--
Naushad UzZaman
http://www.naushadzaman.com/
Research Programmer
Center for Research on Bangla Language Processing
http://www.bracuniversity.ac.bd/research/crblp/
BRAC University
Bangladesh

Profiles of martyred intellectuals

source: http://www.thedailystar.net/suppliments/2006/december/december14th/intellectuals.htm

Profiles of martyred intellectuals

Zahir Raihan
Famous filmmaker and writer, born on 19 August 1935 in a village in Feni district. Zahir Raihan passed his Matriculation in 1950 from Amirabad High School and was the admitted to Dhaka College, from where he passed ISc examination. He obtained BA (Hons) in Bangla from the University of Dhaka.

In his early years, he was attracted by the communist movement. When the Communist Party was banned and the leaders of the party went underground, he worked as a messenger to carry letters and messages. He got the name Raihan from underground leaders and thus his original name Zahirullah was changed to Zahir Raihan.

In his student life, Zahir devoted himself to literature. His first book Surya Grahan, a collection of stories, was published in 1362 BS 1995. Other books written by him are Shesh Bikeler Meye, Hajar Bachhar Dhare, Arek Falgun, Baraf Gala Nadi and Ar Kata Din. He was one of the initiators in publishing the English weekly Express in 1970.

In 1952, Zahir went to Calcutta to learn photography and was admitted to Pramatesh Burua Memorial Photography School. He entered the film world in 1956. Kakhono Asheni, the first film directed by him, was released in 1961. Then came, one after another, Kajal, Kancher Deyal, Behula, Jiban Theke Neya, Anwara, Sangam and Bahana. Jiban Theke Neya depicted the autocratic rule of Pakistan and inspired the people to protest against the Pakistani rulers. He started making an English film Let There Be Light, which he could not finish. After 25 March 1971, he went to Calcutta and produced a documentary film Stop Genocide highlighting the massacre done by the Pakistani Army.

In December 1971, some members of the notorious Al-Badr took away Zahir's elder brother Shahidullah Kaiser, an eminent writer, from his residence at the University of Dhaka. Within days, on 30 December 1971, someone informed Zahir about an address, somewhere at Mirpur, where he might find his brother. Accordingly, Zahir left home to get his brother back. Alas, he never returned.

Shahidullah Kaiser
Journalist and novelist, born on 16 February 1927 in Mazupur village of Feni. His original name was Abu Nayeem Mohammad Shahidullah.

After completing Honours in economics from Presidency College in 1946, Shahidullah Kaiser enrolled for the Master of Arts in economics at Calcutta University, but could not sit for the final examination. As a student, he participated in various social, cultural and political movements. He was a member of the provincial Communist Party of East Pakistan and also played an important role in the Language Movement in 1952. As a consequence, he suffered imprisonment several times.

Shahidullah Kaiser started his career in journalism in 1949 with the weekly Ittefaq in Dhaka. In 1958, he was appointed associate editor of the Sangbad, and continued to work there until his death.

Shahidullah Kaiser was also a novelist of note. He came into the limelight with Sareng Bau (The Captain's Wife, 1962). Later, a film was made based on this book. His other novels include Sangshaptak (The Indomitable Soldiers, 1965), which was later made into a highly acclaimed television serial, Krishnachura Megh (Krishnachura Clouds), Timir Balay (The Circle of Darkness), Digante Phuler Agun (The Flaming Horizon), Samudra O Trisna (Sea and Thirst), Chandrabhaner Kanya (Chandrabhan's Daughter), Sangsaptak and the unfinished novel, Kabe Pohabe Bibhabari (When Will It Dawn). Shahidullah was the recipient of the Adamjee Literary Award (1962) and the Bangla Academy Award (1962). He was picked up by the Al-Badr on 14 December 1971 and never returned.

Santosh Chandra Bhattacharyya
A teacher and a scholar. Born on 30 August, 1915 in Nawabganj upazila of Dhaka district, Santosh Chandra Bhattacharyya graduated from Dhaka University in 1937 with Honours in History and obtained MA degree in 1938 from the same institution occupying first position in the first class in both the examinations.

He started his academic career as a lecturer in Jagannath College in 1939 and worked there until 1949, when he joined the History Department of Dhaka University as a Senior Lecturer. A scholar in Sanskrit literature and ancient history of Bengal and India, Bhattacharyya served Dhaka University as a devoted teacher and a scholar until his tragic death (14 December, 1971) in the hands of the cohorts of the Pakistan army.

Prof. Munier Choudhury
Born in 1925 at Manikganj, Dhaka. Hailed from Noakhali. Joined the department of Bangla as a lecturer in 1955, before that he was a part time teacher in the English department. He was an M.A. in English, but while he was interned at Dhaka Central Jail (1953-54) during the Language Movement he did his M. A. (first in first class) in Bangla.

He became Reader in 1962 and Professor in 1970 and the Dean of the faculty of arts in 1971.

After the army crackdown in the university area from which he luckily escaped like many, he moved to his parents' house, near Hatirpool. He became a totally dejected and broken man. Many of his student-like well-wishers requested him to come to the liberated areas. But unfortunately Munier Choudhury couldn't mentally adjust to the idea of fleeing from his beloved motherland. He preferred to stay back and surrendered to his 'fate'.

His notable literary works include Raktakta Prantar, Kabar, Dandakaranya, Mir Manash, Palashi Barrack o Annanya, Bangla Gadyariti.

He denounced the title 'Sitar- I- Imtiaz' awarded to him by the Pakistan government (1966) during the non-cooperation movement (1971).

The members of the Al-Badr picked him from his residence at Hatirpul and subsequently killed him at the dawn of our liberation. His dead body could not be identified.

Mofazzal Haidar Chaudhury
Mofazzal Haidar Chaudhury, born in Noakhali in 1926, joined the department of Bangla of Dhaka University in 1955. He studied at London University for a couple of years in linguistics. He was awarded 'Sahitya Bharati' by the Viswa Bharati University, Santiniketan. He became Reader in Bengali in 1970. His famous writings include Bangla Banan o Lipi Sanskar, Rabi Parikrama, Colloquial Bengali, Bhasa o Sanskriti, Sahityer Nava Rupayan etc.

He was picked up and killed by the Al-Badr on December 14, 1971.

Rashidul Hasan
Rashidul Hasan, born in 1932 in Bhirbhum district of West Bengal, migrated to this part of the subcontinent then under Pakistani rule in 1949. He obtained BA(Hons.) and MA in English from DU in 1957 and 1958 respectively. He taught at various colleges including Narsingdi, Pabna Edward College and Krishna Chandra College of Bhirbhum in West Bengal. Finally, he joined the English Department, DU, as a lecturer in 1967.

He was a liberal democrat and a life long fighter against fundamentalism and communalism.

A close friend of Anwar Pasha, Rashidul Hasan was picked up together with his friend Anwar from the same flat within the DU campus. The two families were then living together in a flat in Isa Khan Road area.

Anwar Pasha
Born on 15 April 1928 at Dabkai village in Murshidabad, India. After passing the High Madrassah examination in 1946, Anwar Pasha went on to do his BA and then his MA in Bangla from Calcutta University in 1953. He started his teaching career as superintendent of Manikchak High Madrasah and later on taught at Bhabta Azizia High Madrasah (1954) and Sadikhan Diar Bohumukhi Higher Secondary School (1957). In 1958 he joined Pabna Edward College and then, in 1966, the Department of Bangla, Dhaka University.

Anwar Pasha made his debut as a writer with Hasnahena, a collection of literary essays. During the next two decades, he published novels, essays, poems, and short stories. He also edited four ancient and medieval Bangla poems. His writings were published in many journals, including the quarterly Kabita, published from Kolkata and edited by Buddhadev Bose. His notable writings include Nadi Nihshesita Hale (1963), Nid Sandhani (1968), Nishuti Rater Gatha (1968), Nirupay Harini (1970), Rabindra Chhotagalpa Samiksa (Vol. I 1963, Vol. II 1973), Sahityashilpi Abul Fazal (1968).

Anwar Pasha was picked up from his university flat and brutally killed with other intellectuals. He was posthumously honoured with the Bangla Academy Award for his literary achievements.

Jyotirmoy Guhathakurta
DU teacher, killed by the Pakistani Army on the night of 25 March 1971. He was born in Mymensingh town on 10 July 1920. His father, Kumudchandra Guhathakurta, of Banaripara, Barisal, and his mother, Srimati Sumati, were school teachers. Guhathakurta matriculated from Mymensingh Zila School In 1936. He then studied at Presidency College in Kolkata for a year, but an attack of typhoid prevented him from taking the final examination. Later he took admission in Ananda Mohan College Mymensingh, and in 1939 passed IA. He took admission in Dhaka University and graduated with honours in English in 1942, standing first in the first class. His academic success earned him the Pope Memorial Gold Medal. The following year he completed his MA.

Guhathakurta taught in a number of colleges from 1944 to 1949, such as, AM College, Mymensingh, Gurudayal College, Kishoreganj, and Jagannath College, Dhaka. In 1949 he joined Dhaka University as lecturer in English. In 1963 he went to King's College, London University, on a British Council scholarship to do doctoral work on 'Classical Myths in the Plays of Swinburne, Bridges, Sturges, Moore and Eliot'. In 1967, Guhathakurta returned to Dhaka University and was promoted to Reader, a position he held till his death. A highly successful teacher, Guhathakurta instilled in his students a love for good literature and the humanist ideals that he cherished all his life. The Pakistan Army raided the Dhaka University campus on 25 March 1971, Guhathakurta's flat was broken into and he was shot. He succumbed to his wounds at the DMCH on March 30.

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
Dr. MAM Faizul Mahi
Born in 1939 at Feni, Dr. Faizul Mahi was known to his friends as a progressive personality. He was not vocal compared to many of his colleagues in the university but very much dedicated to the cause of war of liberation that was going on from March to December, helping the freedom fighters from within keeping a low profile, a very difficult job indeed. But he could not keep secret his real identity from the watchful eyes of the collaborators some of whom happend to be his colleagues within IER.

Mahi joined the Institute of Education and Research in 1968 after obtaining Ed. D (doctorate in education) and then soon became Senior Lecturer. He was a dedicated teacher.

The beastly Al Badr group picked him up on 14 December from his home.

Sirajul Haque Khan
Dr. Sirajul Haque Khan was born in 1924 in the district of Noakhali. He graduated in Education in 1949 and then he obtained M. Ed degree from IER, DU, in 1965. Later on he obtained Ed. D from the State College of Colorado, USA in 1967 after which he joined IER, DU as a senior lecturer.

A group of Al -Badr members took him forcibly in a bus in the morning of 14 December, 1971 to an unknown destination from where he never returned to his beloved family. The brutal collaborators killed him.

Ghyasuddin Ahmed
Ghyasuddin Ahmed was born in Narsingdi in 1935. He passed matriculation from St. Gregory High School, Dhaka in 1950 and I.A. from Notre Dame College in 1952. He passed B.A. (Hons) and M.A. in History from Dhaka University in 1957. He joined Jagannath College in the History department as lecturer and later joined Dhaka University in 1958. He went to the UK with Commonwealth Scholarship in 1964 and obtained Honours degree in World History from London School of Economics.

Accused of helping in the liberation war of Bangladesh he was taken to Dhaka Cantonment for questioning. He was released after a few days. Then again on 14 December 1971 he was picked up from Mohsin Hall by the Al Badar forces. On 4 January 1972 his clothes and mutilated body were identified in Mirpur area.

Mohammad Fazle Rabbi
Dr. Mohammad Fazle Rabbi was born in Pabna in 1932. He was a brilliant student from childhood. He passed matriculation from Pabna Zilla School in 1948 and I.Sc from Dhaka College in 1950. He was an activist during the Language Movement in 1952. He passed MBBS from Dhaka Medical College in 1955. He received gold medal for securing top position in MBBS examination. He joined Dhaka Medical College and Hospital as assistant surgeon in 1956. In 1959-60 he was promoted to the post of registrar in medicine. He obtained MRCP in cardiology from Edinborough in England and worked at various hospitals in that country to acquire experience. In 1962 he obtained MRCP in general medicine from England. He came back to the country in 1963 and joined Dhaka Medical College and Hospital as associate professor of medicine. In 1968 he worked as professor of medicine and professor of cardiology at the same time.

He was known as a progressive political personality and social worker. He was first to talk about the concept of people-oriented health care system in 1969. Besides teaching he used to do research also. His research-based articles have been published in British Medical Journal and Lancet. He had started to write a book on medicine but could not finish it.

Dr. Fazle Rabbi married in 1957. He became a proud father of a son and a daughter. Regarding his death his wife Dr. Jahanara Rabbi has to say the following:

On 15 December the curfew was relaxed for two hours. Despite his wife's objection he had gone to see a non-Bengali patient in the old part of Dhaka. He had bought plenty of vegetables on his way back. Though his wife requested him repeatedly to move out from the house at 75, Shiddeshwari, he did not agree. On that fateful day he took some rest after lunch. In the afternoon, members of Pakistan army, Al Badar and Rajakars circled his house. They came in a microbus and a jeep. About six soldiers took him towards the jeep. As his wife came out running they pointed a gun at her and stopped her from advancing any farther. Dr. Rabbi walked towards the jeep with his head held high. It was known that on 15 December midnight Dr. Rabbi along with some other intellectuals were taken in a truck from the Lalmatia Physical Training Institute to the Rayerbazar brickfield and murdered in a brutal manner. His dead body was identified on 18 December.

Selina Parvin
Selina Parvin was born in Noakhali in 1931. She was a poet and a journalist. She had her primary education in Feni. She became an avid reader of Bengali literature. She took a job at weekly 'Lalana.' Then she started her own literary magazine 'Shilalipi.' She also began to write poems, short stories and essays. On 14 December 1971, she was murdered by Al Badar.

Gobinda Chandra Dev
Gobinda Chandra Dev was born in Sylhet in 1907. He was a philosopher and an educationist. He passed entrance examination in first division from Biani Bazar High English School in 1925 and I.A from Ripon College, Calcutta in 1927. He passed B.A honours and M.A in philosophy from Calcutta University in 1939. He was placed in the first class first position in both the examinations. He received Ph.D degree from the same university for his thesis on 'Reason, intuition and reality.' Later he got involved in research and worked as teacher in Calcutta and Dinajpur.

He joined Dhaka University as a professor of philosophy in 1953 and was later promoted as chairman of the department of philosophy in 1970. He taught in a college in Pensyvania, USA as a visiting professor. It was at this time that his admirers founded "The Gobinda Dev Foundation for World Brotherhood." On return to Dhaka he founded the Philosophy Bhaban in 1971.

Among his publications are: A new defence and a new application; Aspiration of the common man; The philosophy of Bibekananda and the future of man; Amar Jibon Darshan; Tattabidyashar; Buddha, the humanist.

A life-long bachelor, Dr. G.C. Dev was brutally murdered by the Pakistani forces on the night of 25 March 1971 in his campus quarters.

Nizamuddin Ahmed
Nizamuddin Ahmed was born in Munshiganj in 1929. He was a journalist. He passed B.A (Hons) and M.A in Economics from Dhaka University in 1959. Later he joined Pakistan Press International. He became the editor of PPI in 1969 and was promoted to the rank of general manager.

Nizamuddin Ahmed was an ardent supporter of the liberation war of Bangladesh. He used to send news items on the atrocities of the Pakistani forces to various foreign news media. He had taken New York Times journalist McBrown to a guerrilla camp to collect authentic news. He provided BBC with authentic news under strict censorship. For this reason he was taken to General Rao Forman Ali's office on two occasions.

On 12 December 1971, Nizamuddin was taking his lunch when members of Al Badar picked him up from his residence. His body was never found.

Kaminikumar Ghosh
Kaminikumar Ghosh was born in Chittagong in 1888. In Chittagong he was known as Rai Shaheb Kaminikumar Ghosh. He passed all examinations under the Calcutta University with scholarship. He served Chittagong District Board as member for 28 years and as its vice chairman for seven years. He was also actively involved with the local schools and colleges. He served as chairman of Kanchana Union Board for 25 years. He set up many cooperatives in Satkania. He also set up Satkania College and served as its first principal. He worked as a lawyer for 50 years.

On 25 April 1971, Pakistani soldiers brutally killed him.

Meherunnesa
Meherunnesa was born in 1946 in West Bengal, India. She migrated to the then East Pakistan with her family as refugee and settled in Mirpur, Dhaka. She worked in various newspapers as proofreader and wrote short stories and poems. Her first poem 'Chashi' was printed on Khelaghor page of the Daily Sangbad in 1952.

On 25 March 1971, she was killed by some non-Bengali people in Mirpur.

Syed Nazmul Haque
Syed Nazmul Haque was born in Khulna in 1941. He was a journalist. He passed B.A. (Hons) and M.A. in Political Science from Dhaka university in 1963 and 1964 respectively. He took active part in the anti-martial law movement in 1962. He was arrested for disrupting the convocation programme on the DU campus in 1964 where the then governor of East Pakistan Abdul Monem Khan was present. He passed the superior service examination in 1967 and was selected for the information service. But because of the police case against him for disrupting the convocation he was not allowed to join the service.

He later took up journalism as a fulltime profession. He became the chief reporter of Pakistan Press International and Dhaka correspondent of Columbia Broadcasting Service. He prepared a full report on the proceedings of Agartala Conspiracy Case. He sent news items on the atrocities carried out by the Pakistani forces during the liberation war of Bangladesh. On 6 August 1971 he was arrested in Dhaka and sent to a prison in West Pakistan. He was given pressure to testify against Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in a secret trial. On getting release in November 1971 he came back to Dhaka. On 11 December 1971, he was picked up from his Purana Paltan house by the members of Al Badar. His dead body was never found.

'We can put poverty into museums'

source: http://www.thedailystar.net/2006/12/11/d61211090192.htm

'We can put poverty into museums'
Nobel lecture presented by Prof Muhammad Yunus at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony on Dec 10, 2006 in Oslo

Your Majesties, Your Royal Highnesses, Honorable Members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen:

Grameen Bank and I are deeply honoured to receive this most prestigious of awards. We are thrilled and overwhelmed by this honour. Since the Nobel Peace Prize was announced, I have received endless messages from around the world, but what moves me most are the calls I get almost daily, from the borrowers of Grameen Bank in remote Bangladeshi villages, who just want to say how proud they are to have received this recognition.
Nine elected representatives of the 7 million borrowers-cum-borrowers of Grameen Bank have accompanied me all the way to Oslo to receive the prize. I express thanks on their behalf to the Norwegian Nobel Committee for choosing Grameen Bank for this year's Nobel Peace Prize. By giving their institution the most prestigious prize in the world, you give them unparalleled honour. Thanks to your prize, nine proud women from the villages of Bangladesh are at the ceremony today as Nobel laureates, giving an altogether new meaning to the Nobel Peace Prize.

All borrowers of Grameen Bank are celebrating this day as the greatest day of their lives. They are gathering around the nearest television set in their villages all over Bangladesh, along with other villagers, to watch the proceedings of this ceremony.


This years' prize gives highest honour and dignity to the hundreds of millions of women all around the world who struggle every day to make a living and bring hope for a better life for their children. This is a historic moment for them.

Poverty is a Threat to Peace
Ladies and Gentlemen:
By giving us this prize, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has given important support to the proposition that peace is inextricably linked to poverty. Poverty is a threat to peace.

World's income distribution gives a very telling story. Ninety four percent of the world income goes to 40 percent of the population while sixty percent of people live on only 6 per cent of world income. Half of the world population lives on two dollars a day. Over one billion people live on less than a dollar a day. This is no formula for peace.

The new millennium began with a great global dream. World leaders gathered at the United Nations in 2000 and adopted, among others, a historic goal to reduce poverty by half by 2015. Never in human history had such a bold goal been adopted by the entire world in one voice, one that specified time and size. But then came September 11 and the Iraq war, and suddenly the world became derailed from the pursuit of this dream, with the attention of world leaders shifting from the war on poverty to the war on terrorism. Till now over $ 530 billion has been spent on the war in Iraq by the USA alone.

I believe terrorism cannot be won over by military action. Terrorism must be condemned in the strongest language. We must stand solidly against it, and find all the means to end it. We must address the root causes of terrorism to end it for all time to come. I believe that putting resources into improving the lives of the poor people is a better strategy than spending it on guns.

Poverty is Denial of All Human Rights
Peace should be understood in a human way in a broad social, political and economic way. Peace is threatened by unjust economic, social and political order, absence of democracy, environmental degradation and absence of human rights.

Poverty is the absence of all human rights. The frustrations, hostility and anger generated by abject poverty cannot sustain peace in any society. For building stable peace we must find ways to provide opportunities for people to live decent lives.

The creation of opportunities for the majority of people - the poor - is at the heart of the work that we have dedicated ourselves to during the past 30 years.

Grameen Bank
I became involved in the poverty issue not as a policymaker or a researcher. I became involved because poverty was all around me, and I could not turn away from it. In 1974, I found it difficult to teach elegant theories of economics in the university classroom, in the backdrop of a terrible famine in Bangladesh. Suddenly, I felt the emptiness of those theories in the face of crushing hunger and poverty. I wanted to do something immediate to help people around me, even if it was just one human being, to get through another day with a little more ease. That brought me face to face with poor people's struggle to find the tiniest amounts of money to support their efforts to eke out a living. I was shocked to discover a woman in the village, borrowing less than a dollar from the money-lender, on the condition that he would have the exclusive right to buy all she produces at the price he decides. This, to me, was a way of recruiting slave labor.

I decided to make a list of the victims of this money-lending "business" in the village next door to our campus.

When my list was done, it had the names of 42 victims who borrowed a total amount of US $ 27. I offered US $ 27 from my own pocket to get these victims out of the clutches of those money-lenders. The excitement that was created among the people by this small action got me further involved in it. If I could make so many people so happy with such a tiny amount of money, why not do more of it?

That is what I have been trying to do ever since. The first thing I did was to try to persuade the bank located in the campus to lend money to the poor. But that did not work. The bank said that the poor were not creditworthy. After all my efforts, over several months, failed I offered to become a guarantor for the loans to the poor. I was stunned by the result. The poor paid back their loans, on time, every time! But still I kept confronting difficulties in expanding the program through the existing banks. That was when I decided to create a separate bank for the poor, and in 1983, I finally succeeded in doing that. I named it Grameen Bank or Village bank.

Today, Grameen Bank gives loans to nearly 7.0 million poor people, 97 per cent of whom are women, in 73,000 villages in Bangladesh. Grameen Bank gives collateral-free income generating, housing, student and micro-enterprise loans to the poor families and offers a host of attractive savings, pension funds and insurance products for its members. Since it introduced them in 1984, housing loans have been used to construct 640,000 houses. The legal ownership of these houses belongs to the women themselves.

We focused on women because we found giving loans to women always brought more benefits to the family.

In a cumulative way the bank has given out loans totaling about US $ 6.0 billion. The repayment rate is 99%. Grameen Bank routinely makes profit. Financially, it is self-reliant and has not taken donor money since 1995. Deposits and own resources of Grameen Bank today amount to 143 per cent of all outstanding loans. According to Grameen Bank's internal survey, 58 per cent of our borrowers have crossed the poverty line.

Grameen Bank was born as a tiny homegrown project run with the help of several of my students, all local girls and boys. Three of these students are still with me in Grameen Bank, after all these years, as its topmost executives. They are here today to receive this honour you give us.

This idea, which began in Jobra, a small village in Bangladesh, has spread around the world and there are now Grameen type programs in almost every country.

Second Generation
It is 30 years now since we began. We keep looking at the children of our borrowers to see what has been the impact of our work on their lives. The women who are our borrowers always gave topmost priority to the children. One of the Sixteen Decisions developed and followed by them was to send children to school. Grameen Bank encouraged them, and before long all the children were going to school. Many of these children made it to the top of their class. We wanted to celebrate that, so we introduced scholarships for talented students. Grameen Bank now gives 30,000 scholarships every year.

Many of the children went on to higher education to become doctors, engineers, college teachers and other professionals. We introduced student loans to make it easy for Grameen students to complete higher education. Now some of them have PhD's. There are 13,000 students on student loans. Over 7,000 students are now added to this number annually.

We are creating a completely new generation that will be well equipped to take their families way out of the reach of poverty. We want to make a break in the historical continuation of poverty.

Beggars Can Turn to Business
In Bangladesh 80 percent of the poor families have already been reached with microcredit. We are hoping that by 2010, 100 per cent of the poor families will be reached.

Three years ago we started an exclusive programme focusing on the beggars. None of Grameen Bank's rules apply to them. Loans are interest-free; they can pay whatever amount they wish, whenever they wish. We gave them the idea to carry small merchandise such as snacks, toys or household items, when they went from house to house for begging. The idea worked. There are now 85,000 beggars in the program. About 5,000 of them have already stopped begging completely. Typical loan to a beggar is $ 12.

We encourage and support every conceivable intervention to help the poor fight out of poverty. We always advocate microcredit in addition to all other interventions, arguing that microcredit makes those interventions work better.

Information Technology for the Poor
Information and communication technology (ICT) is quickly changing the world, creating distanceless, borderless world of instantaneous communications. Increasingly, it is becoming less and less costly. I saw an opportunity for the poor people to change their lives if this technology could be brought to them to meet their needs.

As a first step to bring ICT to the poor we created a mobile phone company, Grameen Phone. We gave loans from Grameen Bank to the poor women to buy mobile phones to sell phone services in the villages. We saw the synergy between microcredit and ICT.

The phonebusiness was a success and became a coveted enterprise for Grameen borrowers. Telephone-ladies quickly learned and innovated the ropes of the telephone business, and it has become the quickest way to get out of poverty and to earn social respectability. Today there are nearly 300,000 telephone ladies providing telephone service in all the villages of Bangladesh. Grameen Phone has more than 10 million subscribers, and is the largest mobile phone company in the country. Although the number of telephone-ladies is only a small fraction of the total number of subscribers, they generate 19 per cent of the revenue of the company. Out of the nine board members who are attending this grand ceremony today 4 are telephone-ladies.

Grameen Phone is a joint-venture company owned by Telenor of Norway and Grameen Telecom of Bangladesh. Telenor owns 62 per cent share of the company, Grameen Telecom owns 38 per cent. Our vision was to ultimately convert this company into a social business by giving majority ownership to the poor women of Grameen Bank. We are working towards that goal. Someday Grameen Phone will become another example of a big enterprise owned by the poor.

Free Market Economy
Capitalism centers on the free market. It is claimed that the freer the market, the better is the result of capitalism in solving the questions of what, how, and for whom. It is also claimed that the individual search for personal gains brings collective optimal result.

I am in favor of strengthening the freedom of the market. At the same time, I am very unhappy about the conceptual restrictions imposed on the players in the market. This originates from the assumption that entrepreneurs are one-dimensional human beings, who are dedicated to one mission in their business lives to maximize profit. This interpretation of capitalism insulates the entrepreneurs from all political, emotional, social, spiritual, environmental dimensions of their lives. This was done perhaps as a reasonable simplification, but it stripped away the very essentials of human life.

Human beings are a wonderful creation embodied with limitless human qualities and capabilities. Our theoretical constructs should make room for the blossoming of those qualities, not assume them away.

Many of the world's problems exist because of this restriction on the players of free-market. The world has not resolved the problem of crushing poverty that half of its population suffers. Healthcare remains out of the reach of the majority of the world population. The country with the richest and freest market fails to provide healthcare for one-fifth of its population.

We have remained so impressed by the success of the free-market that we never dared to express any doubt about our basic assumption. To make it worse, we worked extra hard to transform ourselves, as closely as possible, into the one-dimensional human beings as conceptualized in the theory, to allow smooth functioning of free market mechanism.

By defining "entrepreneur" in a broader way we can change the character of capitalism radically, and solve many of the unresolved social and economic problems within the scope of the free market. Let us suppose an entrepreneur, instead of having a single source of motivation (such as, maximizing profit), now has two sources of motivation, which are mutually exclusive, but equally compelling a) maximization of profit and b) doing good to people and the world.

Each type of motivation will lead to a separate kind of business. Let us call the first type of business a profit-maximizing business, and the second type of business as social business.

Social business will be a new kind of business introduced in the market place with the objective of making a difference in the world. Investors in the social business could get back their investment, but will not take any dividend from the company. Profit would be ploughed back into the company to expand its outreach and improve the quality of its product or service. A social business will be a non-loss, non-dividend company.

Once social business is recognized in law, many existing companies will come forward to create social businesses in addition to their foundation activities. Many activists from the non-profit sector will also find this an attractive option. Unlike the non-profit sector where one needs to collect donations to keep activities going, a social business will be self-sustaining and create surplus for expansion since it is a non-loss enterprise. Social business will go into a new type of capital market of its own, to raise capital.

Young people all around the world, particularly in rich countries, will find the concept of social business very appealing since it will give them a challenge to make a difference by using their creative talent. Many young people today feel frustrated because they cannot see any worthy challenge, which excites them, within the present capitalist world. Socialism gave them a dream to fight for. Young people dream about creating a perfect world of their own.

Almost all social and economic problems of the world will be addressed through social businesses. The challenge is to innovate business models and apply them to produce desired social results cost-effectively and efficiently. Healthcare for the poor, financial services for the poor, information technology for the poor, education and training for the poor, marketing for the poor, renewable energy - these are all exciting areas for social businesses.

Social business is important because it addresses very vital concerns of mankind. It can change the lives of the bottom 60 per cent of world population and help them to get out of poverty.

Grameen's Social Business
Even profit maximizing companies can be designed as social businesses by giving full or majority ownership to the poor. This constitutes a second type of social business. Grameen Bank falls under this category of social business.

The poor could get the shares of these companies as gifts by donors, or they could buy the shares with their own money. The borrowers with their own money buy Grameen Bank shares, which cannot be transferred to non-borrowers. A committed professional team does the day-to-day running of the bank.

Bilateral and multi-lateral donors could easily create this type of social business. When a donor gives a loan or a grant to build a bridge in the recipient country, it could create a "bridge company" owned by the local poor. A committed management company could be given the responsibility of running the company. Profit of the company will go to the local poor as dividend, and towards building more bridges. Many infrastructure projects, like roads, highways, airports, seaports, utility companies could all be built in this manner.

Grameen has created two social businesses of the first type. One is a yogurt factory, to produce fortified yogurt to bring nutrition to malnourished children, in a joint venture with Danone. It will continue to expand until all malnourished children of Bangladesh are reached with this yogurt. Another is a chain of eye-care hospitals. Each hospital will undertake 10,000 cataract surgeries per year at differentiated prices to the rich and the poor.

Social Stock Market
To connect investors with social businesses, we need to create social stock market where only the shares of social businesses will be traded. An investor will come to this stock-exchange with a clear intention of finding a social business, which has a mission of his liking. Anyone who wants to make money will go to the existing stock-market.

To enable a social stock-exchange to perform properly, we will need to create rating agencies, standardization of terminology, definitions, impact measurement tools, reporting formats, and new financial publications, such as, The Social Wall Street Journal. Business schools will offer courses and business management degrees on social businesses to train young managers how to manage social business enterprises in the most efficient manner, and, most of all, to inspire them to become social business entrepreneurs themselves.

Role of Social Businesses in Globalization
I support globalization and believe it can bring more benefits to the poor than its alternative. But it must be the right kind of globalization. To me, globalization is like a hundred-lane highway criss-crossing the world. If it is a free-for-all highway, its lanes will be taken over by the giant trucks from powerful economies. Bangladeshi rickshaw will be thrown off the highway. In order to have a win-win globalization we must have traffic rules, traffic police, and traffic authority for this global highway. Rule of "strongest takes it all" must be replaced by rules that ensure that the poorest have a place and piece of the action, without being elbowed out by the strong. Globalization must not become financial imperialism.

Powerful multi-national social businesses can be created to retain the benefit of globalization for the poor people and poor countries. Social businesses will either bring ownership to the poor people, or keep the profit within the poor countries, since taking dividends will not be their objective. Direct foreign investment by foreign social businesses will be exciting news for recipient countries. Building strong economies in the poor countries by protecting their national interest from plundering companies will be a major area of interest for the social businesses.

We Create What We Want
We get what we want, or what we don't refuse. We accept the fact that we will always have poor people around us, and that poverty is part of human destiny. This is precisely why we continue to have poor people around us. If we firmly believe that poverty is unacceptable to us, and that it should not belong to a civilized society, we would have built appropriate institutions and policies to create a poverty-free world.

We wanted to go to the moon, so we went there. We achieve what we want to achieve. If we are not achieving something, it is because we have not put our minds to it. We create what we want.

What we want and how we get to it depends on our mindsets. It is extremely difficult to change mindsets once they are formed. We create the world in accordance with our mindset. We need to invent ways to change our perspective continually and reconfigure our mindset quickly as new knowledge emerges. We can reconfigure our world if we can reconfigure our mindset.

We Can Put Poverty in the Museums
I believe that we can create a poverty-free world because poverty is not created by poor people. It has been created and sustained by the economic and social system that we have designed for ourselves; the institutions and concepts that make up that system; the policies that we pursue.

Poverty is created because we built our theoretical framework on assumptions which under-estimates human capacity, by designing concepts, which are too narrow (such as concept of business, credit- worthiness, entrepreneurship, employment) or developing institutions, which remain half-done (such as financial institutions, where poor are left out). Poverty is caused by the failure at the conceptual level, rather than any lack of capability on the part of people.

I firmly believe that we can create a poverty-free world if we collectively believe in it. In a poverty-free world, the only place you would be able to see poverty is in the poverty museums. When school children take a tour of the poverty museums, they would be horrified to see the misery and indignity that some human beings had to go through. They would blame their forefathers for tolerating this inhuman condition, which existed for so long, for so many people.

A human being is born into this world fully equipped not only to take care of him or herself, but also to contribute to enlarging the well being of the world as a whole. Some get the chance to explore their potential to some degree, but many others never get any opportunity, during their lifetime, to unwrap the wonderful gift they were born with. They die unexplored and the world remains deprived of their creativity, and their contribution.

Grameen has given me an unshakeable faith in the creativity of human beings. This has led me to believe that human beings are not born to suffer the misery of hunger and poverty.

To me poor people are like bonsai trees. When you plant the best seed of the tallest tree in a flower-pot, you get a replica of the tallest tree, only inches tall. There is nothing wrong with the seed you planted, only the soil-base that is too inadequate. Poor people are bonsai people. There is nothing wrong in their seeds. Simply, society never gave them the base to grow on. All it needs to get the poor people out of poverty for us to create an enabling environment for them. Once the poor can unleash their energy and creativity, poverty will disappear very quickly.

Let us join hands to give every human being a fair chance to unleash their energy and creativity.

Ladies and Gentlemen:
Let me conclude by expressing my deep gratitude to the Norwegian Nobel Committee for recognizing that poor people, and especially poor women, have both the potential and the right to live a decent life, and that microcredit helps to unleash that potential.

I believe this honor that you give us will inspire many more bold initiatives around the world to make a historical breakthrough in ending global poverty.

Thank you very much.