My mind is full of mixed feelings while I write this article on the day of my graduation commencement ceremony, which is Stanford’s 118th commencement. A year has passed so quickly but I still vividly remember the first day at campus, arrived here as a curious visitor new to US system. Now I see my life and the world around with a whole perspective, this is what Stanford has given me. Past year has taught me more things and given unique experience which could not be even compared to previous 10 years of my life. It was a full action packed roller-coaster ride, once you are on board there is no turning back.

A typical day started with morning class at 8 am followed by further classes, seminars, assignments, papers, group meetings, project work etc. and lasts till 7 or 8 pm with a squeezed in lunch break somewhere in between. For stress reliving I usually went to the gym or surfed the net and again back to work. Getting an internship during tough markets like these is a big challenge and same is true for me (although most people said me that, you are from Stanford and need not worry). I applied to numerous places, got few interview calls but none turned out to be fruitful. I felt dejected and thought, what good is this Masters degree if, it cannot even fetch me a summer internship and thus almost made my mind to go back to India for this summer. But during the third quarter just one month before the beginning of the internship, I received an email from my one of my professor about an intern position at a company in Washington D.C.; I applied to the firm and got a telephonic interview call, which eventually turned into my favor. The story does not end here, the twist is that, I had already given the interview for another very big construction company in the Bay area a month ago and was waiting for their reply. The day I got to know about my acceptance as a VDC (virtual design and construction) engineer in the D.C. firm, an approval email for internship from Bay area construction company also came. This for me was one of the biggest dilemmas of my life- to choose between two very good choices. I ultimately chose to go to D.C. (due to multiple reasons) and explore the east coast.

With three quarters finished and only one more to go, I wish, I had some more time. Some of my close friends suggest maybe I should stay longer and do a PhD. I truly feel obliged and honored being a part of Stanford community. I would like to thank my parents, friends and relatives for being the supporting pillar in all the ups and downs during this wonderful journey.

Kushagra Mittal
M.S. program in Construction Engineering & Management
Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering
Stanford University

Editorial comments: Stanford University rules allow students to walk in the graduation ceremony even if they have a semester more to go. The views in this post are of the contributer, Kushagra Mittal, and do not necessarily reflect those of www.app2us.com

We recently interviewed Mr. Alberto Aleman-Zubieta, the Administrator and CEO of the Panama Canal Authority. With this exclusive interview we are trying to build a series of interviews aimed at inspiring our readers. First interview was done with Dr. Bjarne Stroustrup, the inventor of C++ programming language. In the future we will be interviewing professors, professionals, university administrators and successful students to bring you insights into the academic and professional like in the USA. We hope to inspire you to aim high and achieve your fullest potential.

During the interview we discussed the latest developments at the Panama Canal and about his experiences as a students in USA. In reply to a question, Mr. Aleman said, “I commend you for the free service you provide through app2us.com. I think that you bring the experience closer to home, making it easier for students in foreign countries to ask questions in a less formal environment.”

The full interview is published here at app2us.com. Please tell your friends about app2us.com, forward them this email.

This is a very frequently asked question at app2us.com. Why a post for Indian students? 2 reasons: A. Indian students form a sizable number of student population at the us universities. B. A high number of app2us.com users come from India. We will strive to write articles that benefit students from China, Korea, Japan, Germany - and any other country which accounts for high number of applicants to US universities. We understand that those looking the answer of this question are looking for any source of funding that can be used by them. It may include any open scholarship, or fellowship, or something explicitly for students from India. One blog post cannot do justice to this topic, so the contents here are by no means exhaustive.

US Government / USIEF Scholarships for Indians:


The United States-India Educational Foundation (USIEF), the Fulbright Commission in India, offers fellowships and scholarships open to Indian citizens for 2010-2011. In addition to providing opportunities for personal, academic and professional growth, Fulbright-Nehru and other exchanges promote mutual understanding between the people of the US and India. India and USA signed a historic new Fulbright agreement on July 4, 2008, increasing India’s contributions to the program and thus the fellowships are now known as Fulbright-Nehru Fellowships. Some of the scholarships and fellowships that support degree-seeking students from India are:


Fulbright-Nehru Master’s Fellowships for Leadership Development
International Fulbright Science and Technology Award
International Fellowships Program (Ford Foundation Graduate Fellowships)
East-West Center Graduate Degree Fellowship Program


If you live in or around Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai or New Delhi, we encourage you to visit USIEF. More information can be found here.

BPCL Scholarship:
BPCL is India’s leading oil company. Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited awards scholarships to students who have demonstrated all around brilliance and have a passion to achieve excellence in their chosen field. BPCL scholars are a group of Indian students who seek assistance from BPCL. There are age restrictions, and it is only for Masters degree (not for PhD). When contacted by app2us.com, Chidambareshwaran Raman, a 2004 BPCL scholar, said, “BPCL Scholarship helped me gain confidence to pursue my higher studies without worrying about financial support. I would encourage students to apply for all the
scholarships available for higher studies. A Scholarship is a recognition for your hard work through the years and an investment made in you for the good you are going to do for the society.”


More information about BPCL scholarships can be found at:
http://www.bharatpetroleum.com/scholarship/scholarship.asp

The Paul Foundation Scholarship:
The Paul foundation scholarships are suspended for 2009. When operational, these are given for Masters and PhD degrees. They do not seem to favorably consider supporting the study of management, medicine or engineering, so applicants from Science and Humanities background have a better chance.


More information can be found here.

Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship:


The scholarship pays upto US Dollars 25000 to study abroad. The best feature of this scholarship is that there is no restriction on what you have to study. A key requirement is that you fluently speak the language of your target country, Indian students need to prove they have good verbal skills including that of spoken English.


More information can be found here:


There are some loan scholarships, which are not as beneficial as above scholarships but may help some applicants:


Sahu Jain Trust educational scholarships:
More information can be found here


Narotam Sekhsaria Loan Scholarships:
More information can be found here

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Reference: USIEF website, Other scholarship websites

Sahu Jain trust of The Times of India group announced its 2009-2010 need-cum-merit based educational scholarships. There are two scholarship categories, inland scholarships and overseas loan scholarships. The overseas loan scholarships are strictly for technical subjects to be undertaken by graduates/ post graduates. If the number of zeroes in the announcement is correct, then the loan amount is Indian Rupees 100,000 or approximately US dollars 2,000. That will not cover the fees for one semester at most US universities and not even cover one course at Stanford. However if you are anyway considering a loan at the interest rate of 10% or more, then another interest free loan does not hurt. Moreover it will look somewhat good on your resume.

The Last date for obtaining the application forms is very close - May 20th, 2009. For more information, please check out the scholarship announcement at timesofindia.com. If you have questions about other scholarships you can always ask at www.app2us.com

Reference: Official website of the scholarship.

This question makes many applicants uncomfortable. Getting a LOR - letter of recommendation - from any professor or boss is a complicated process, and on top of that if you are unsure if that is the right person for recommendation, then it is even more pain.

The typical dilemma some applicants face that they were taught by ‘less famous’ or non-PhD professors but there are other stars in their college who never taught the applicant. The real answer is both the LORs in this case will be useless but you need to get from those who actually taught you. Many applicants have some work experience and want to know whether they should get the letters of recommendation from the professors or managers at job. The answer is that PhD or MS admission committees don’t give any weight to references from the job (with the exception if the job was a teaching or research job). On the other hand MBA adcoms like only job related letters of recommendation especially from current and recent jobs. All of us who have ever applied for a US university know how tough it is to even think of getting a letter of recommendation from our current boss!! If you have slightest doubt that disclosing your application plans will lead to direct or indirect disadvantage at job just ignore this wish of MBA adcoms and go ahead with the reco from old employers or professors.

Then there are various combinations of doubts involving the internship supervisor etc. You can get maximum one LOR from the summer internship job - if the company or the supervisor adds value to your profile.

Here is a quote from UC Santa Cruz CS website, “While good GRE scores and grades are important in deciding on graduate admissions, our group relies heavily on letters of recommendation and your statement of purpose. We’re interested in hearing what your professors and others have to say about you, and in what you have to say about yourself. We have found that letters from active researchers in computer systems tend to be most helpful; a letter from a person we know is more useful than from a person we don’t know. Letters from faculty who’ve observed you in computer systems classes, particularly those involving projects, are also good.” This is specific to a particular research group, however gives some idea on how the decision makers think.

If you have doubts you can always ask a question at www.app2us.com
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A set of transcripts is the most critical component of the application requirements at all US universities without any exception. It is also something which causes maximum tension and headache to obtain in some parts of the world - primarily because it is not known to many applicants and university officials that what exactly a transcript is.

Let us dissect a transcript. What does it look like and what does it contain. On the outside, it is a sealed envelope. The envelope could be an official envelope of the issuing university or even a simple white envelope. It may even be a printed envelope provided by your target US University. It does not matter what type of envelope as long as it is sealed and provides the name of the issuing university - printed, typewritten or handwritten. The flaps of the envelope should be signed by the issuing official. The envelope should essentially contain 3 items:
1. A covering letter explaining the grading system of the university. This letter must be on the official stationary of the issuing university and signed by the registrar or equivalent. This letter must contain the address and phone number of the university which is issuing the transcripts. This letter must be in original in each envelope, do not use photocopies.
2. All the mark sheets from each year or semester. These could be attested photocopies, obviously you do not want to send your originals.
3. Attested photocopy of the degree or provisional degree. If neither is available yet, this should be explained in the covering letter.

Universities worldwide issue some sort of official document that shows all the courses taken by the student and the marks or grades obtained. In many cases these documents are provided to the student each year and the university does not necessarily maintain a database. So the only way to get a transcript for the student is to supply an attested photocopy of his or her mark sheets back to the university to be sealed in an envelope.

A registered user of app2us.com informed us that he had a very difficult time obtaining official transcripts from his university and eventually his U.S. applications were rejected. This typically happens at newly started colleges or universities where the staff has no prior experience of issuing transcripts. As an applicant, it is your and only your responsibility to understand what is a transcript, and explain it to the university officials. If you have already graduated this could involve traveling to your university, stay for a few days and get the transcripts. But you cannot leave this to chance IF your university is not very efficient in issuing transcripts.

It is not very uncommon to receive admission offers that mention some academic conditions. The conditions either relate to proficiency in English or lack of academic preparation. A student may be asked to take TOEFL test again or clear some other English speaking test. If you have other admission offers then rather avoid this hassle because you cannot improve your English overnight.

The academic conditions or the requirement to take many prerequisite courses is rather complex and cause a lot of hassles and expenses. Let us consider some examples to understand the implications.

Case 1: Student is changing the field of study
In such cases students are admitted on the basis of academic promise, great GRE scores and not on the basis of knowledge of the new field. Obviously their preparation is lesser than those joining with a prior degree in the same field. 4 to 8 courses are normal to be on the list of prerequisites. The idea is after successful completion of these courses the student will be at par with other students and shall be able to perform well in the degree program. 4 courses will take a minimum of one semester and 8 courses will take minimum of two semesters. This can drag longer because not all courses are offered in all semesters or quarters.

Case 2: Student is admitted to same field
You should be highly concerned if you are asked to take more than 2 prerequisite courses. There could be many reasons why you are being asked to take the courses. Most common reason is lack of clarity in your transcripts. Your courses may be vaguely named, say Mathematics-1 and mathematics-2. This gives no idea of the content therein. The university may assume you do not know any calculus and ask you to take a calculus course. Another reason may be rather poor or no knowledge of your university so the US University may not be sure of your academic preparation.

We at app2us.com advice you to prefer those offers where you have unconditional admission. Do not forget that it is a huge financial burden to take prerequisite courses, not to mention the time involved. If you feel that you really need knowledge in those areas then it is good, otherwise you can try to get those waived. Prerequisite courses are not set in stone. You can meet the graduate advisor on your arrival and convince him that you know the area based on your past courses or experience. If needed carry details of the courses that you took at college. The advisor may ask you some questions so treat that meeting as an interview. If you answer questions to his or her satisfaction, you are likely to get the waiver. However if there is no misunderstanding of your transcripts then it is in your own interest to take the courses and build a sound academic foundation as you approach your higher education at US universities.

An economic recession, shrinking job markets and horror stories of financial mess. It is natural to ask, does it make financial sense to study for an MS in US? The answer depends on your reason to pursue higher education from USA. If you wish to pursue a research based degree from one of world’s top universities, nothing has changed. After a degree from the top university, you can expect to get a top job in your field – What is changing is that the best job may no longer be readily available in the USA at least in the near future.

For some prospective students the idea is to somehow get into USA -in whatever university one can easily get admitted to and somehow graduate - and then look for a high paying job. If that sounds like you then you are in for trouble.

In an increasing flat world you need to look at your educational plan and career goals from a fresh perspective. US Education or any good quality education from any country is a solid step towards a better career. There is a cost associated with any higher education and some expected benefits. For a better career and growth a good education is still needed, more so than in the past. Lot will change in next decades and those with highest adaptability along with best skills will survive and thrive.

Till the nineties, mostly bright students from various countries used to aspire and apply for a US education. There are enough openings for these bright students including funding opportunities at top universities. In the 21st century there has been an increasing trend for not so bright students coming to USA with an ambition to make it big. Many of them have succeeded due to expanding economy in the past. But when economy is down it becomes very tough for these types of students, there are simply not enough jobs and opportunities. Also spending thousands of dollars for an education does not make sense if you are unable to recover even a fraction of your investment.

Risk is part of any venture into the land of unknown. From Columbus who accidentally set foot in USA to modern day explorers (you) all are risk takers to some extent. If you are coming to USA on some sort of funding, then there is minimal risk – and the chances of the decision to study in USA turns out to be a bad one are very low. If you are taking a huge loan or are spending an awful lot of money and getting a degree from top 10 US University – that is still Ok. Worst case you will not find a job and return to your own country. A MIT or Stanford degree will make you one of the most employable candidates in any part of the world and you will eventually recover your investment. So it is obvious that the remaining people are taking a big risk – those who are planning to study at a mediocre university – without any funding. Again if you are a risk taker, and have done the homework and understand the consequences you may even be successful taking this route. The economic ups and downs are part of any country and most likely the current recession will be over before you graduate.

Planning for MS or other degree from a US university in worst economic times can still make a lot of sense if you plan carefully and set your expectations right.

If you are fortunate to get multiple admission offers, you need to make a decision. April 15th is the deadline by most universities for accepting funded admission offers. You should compare the offers in terms of academic reputation, fees and funding, research opportunities and other factors important to you. Our blog post Multiple Admission Offers covers this topic. Also we help select the best offer at our forums under the thread Multiple Admission Offers.

This post is about what you need to do after you have decided your final destination. Go ahead and accept ONE offer. You should do it as per the instructions - be it by post or fax or email. It does not hurt to send an additional email just in case they do not receive your letter or fax. Do not wait till the last day. In addition to the official acceptance, you should also indicate your acceptance to your advisor, if you are assigned one.

It is really important to accept one and only one offer. Some Universities share information and you do not want to be found to have accepted more than offer. Moreover, it is unethical and you should not waste the spot which could go to another well-qualified applicant on the waiting list. You should send a short email informing your decision to all other programs . You may indicate your reasons.

Let us assume a student has got 4 admission offers from U1, U2, U3, with funding and U4 without funding. Universities have mentioned the acceptance deadline is on 15th April. Here are some examples of Ethical behavior:

Case A: The student accepts offer from U1 on April 2nd, On April 3rd U4 informs her about a fellowship which was not known earlier. The student informs this to U1, withdraws the acceptance and accepts the offer of U4.
Case B: The student informs U3 that U2 is offering $15,000 per year, she really wants to join U3 but they are only offering $14,000 per year, if U3 increase the funding to $15,000 then she will accept the U3 offer. U3 denies and the student accepts the U2 offer.
Case C: The student accepts the U2 offer on April 5th. Changes her mind on April 7th for some reason and decides to join U4. She informs U2 on April 8th and same day accepts the U4 offer.



Some examples of unethical behavior:


Case D: Acceptance of two or more offers concurrently. (Without withdrawing the first acceptance)
Case E: Withdrawal of acceptance after the deadline
Case F: Acceptance of some offer if the student has no plans to pursue the program.

U.S. News and other rankings publish data on acceptance rates for US universities. This post is about the significance of such data. First let us look at the acceptance rates of some top graduate level engineering programs:

1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology 23.5%

2 Stanford University 28.0%

3 University of California Berkeley 20.4%

4 Georgia Institute of Technology 36.8%

5 University of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign 19.2%

6 California Institute of Technology 13.1%

7 Carnegie Mellon University 21.8%

8 University of Southern California Los Angeles 46.6%

9 Cornell University 19.8%

9 University of Michigan–Ann Arbor 36.4%

Cal Tech is the most selective among the top engineering universities and USC is the most generous in handing out admissions, particularly for M.S.

As an applicant when you look at this data, it still does not mean much to you. If you are not good for USC, you wont be in the top 46% and if you are too good, Cal Tech will still accept you.

Acceptance rate in itself does not make a program reputable, rather it is a by product of lots of factors. Let us compare UIUC and USC. UIUC application fee is $40 and $50 for international applicants. USC fee is flat $85. It is reasonable to infer that more qualified students apply to UIUC due to almost half application fee. That must be a factor in UIUC to turn down more than 80% of the applicants. Another factor is the graduate student enrolment, which is approximately 4000 for USC and 2500 for UIUC.

Now let us analyze Cornell and Michigan Ann Arbor, both ranked 9 at US News for Engineering. Even the application fee and tuition fee are comparable. Here the key is total intake - 1378 for Cornell and 2416 for Michigan. On head to head comparison, Michigan looks more attractive as chances of admission should be high for a typical applicant. However individual details like research interest do defy such generalizations.

What do we suggest? Be informed about the acceptance rate data and use it as a tie breaker between similarly ranked universities. Please understand that a better acceptance rate does not always make that university suitable for you. Refer http://www.app2us.com/univ-selection/acceptance.htm for more information.


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