APPLICATION TIPS FROM FALL 2014 SENIORS

(6 months of drama compressed into one post! )

PART 1
Feel free to inbox me if you have doubts , suggestions, criticism!
Hi guys! Hope you all found my previous post useful! I will be leaving for the U
S in 2 weeks times, hence wanted to post my experience before leaving. Some of t
his stuff wont be of use now3, so please copy+paste and save in a Word Document.
I may not be available to post once my US studies begin.
BASIC TIPS!
1). You do not need coaching classes for GRE and TOEFL. There is no advantage of
joining coaching classes. Most of the learning can be learn from GRE prep book
and the rubbish prep material the classes give you are wordlists and questions lif
ted from GRE textbooks. If you do join up for coaching classes, make sure you jo
in a place which has a gooooood number of GRE prep books and material, so you do
not need to spend anything on prep stuff.
2). You DO NOT need to join a consultancy for the admission process. Many consul
tancy sweet-talk you and scare by saying How difficult the application process is
and How they will edit your SOP and help you with documentation and shit like tha
t. Advice: if you cannot learn to deal with the stress of applying smartly and o
n your own, you are not prepared for the real world. MY STORY: no consultancies,
applied to 11 places, got 7 admits. If I can do it, anyone can.
APPLICATION PROCESS
1). Give GRE-TOEFL (June 2014- October 2014)
2). Select Unis (start early, so that you do not miss deadlines, have your final
list of Unis done by October end), get transcripts prepared, make SOP,LOR, CV.
3). APPLY, APPLY, APPLY!!! (as per application opening dates, most deadlines ran
ge from November end to mid-March)
4). Finish all applications, NOW WAIT!! (December 2014-mid Feb 2015)
5). Receive admits (Feb 2015- April 2015)
6). Finalize Uni
LETS BEGIN!
1). Spend 2-3 weeks making a master-list of Universities to apply to. This list
can include 20-30 Unis. Check out each Uni and catagorize the Unis into
AMBITIOUS: 2-3 Unis (chance of getting here are slim, These include places where
the super-genuis nerds get into. IVY League and Unis from which some super-frea
k-relative of yours got his PhD. Too high-ranked for your profile But YOLO! So a
pply)
MODERATE 4-5 Unis (I think I can get here. If xyz can get here, so can I!)
LOW-RANK 1-3 Unis(these are generally places which are below your awesome profil
e. But you can get a scholarship here)
2). WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN APPLYING
- COURSES OFFERED.
-Degree requirements (24months, 26months, no of credits required to graduate)
- Degree options (thesis/non-thesis, co-op education option)
- RESEARCH AND FUNDING (imp!!!!!!!!!)
- Tuition (v. V .important! Some places are freakishly expensive!!)
-Scholarships
- Location of University. (Masschts, New Jersey, New York and Cali have a higher
cost of living, as compared to other states)
WHAT MOST UNIS DO NOT TELL YOU:- How many students are accepted per year.
- Which profs will NOT be accepting students for MS thesis or PhD (dangerous, if
you explicitly state stuff like I want to work under Prof XYZ for my thesis). It
is better to email the Uni prof, if you are interested in working with him/her.
Chances are, if he is on the admission committee and remembers your email, he m
ay view you application positively.
3). HOW TO CALCULATE TUTION FEES
Each program requires you to complete a number of credits to graduate and you ar
e billed as per these credits
Eg No of credits: 30

Tuition: $900/credit
TUTITION FEES= 900* 30 = $27,000 ( this is for the entire duration of the progra
m, and not per year) You are billed as per the number of credits you register fo
r, each semester.
This means that fees for courses is $27,000, EXCLUDING examination fees, living
expenses, transport, mobile bills, shopping, etc. Annual living expenses ranges
from $10,000 to $20,000 per year depending on where you live, whether you have r
oommates and lifestyle. Hence, COST OF STUDY is important while selecting a Uni
4). Do not take University ranking so seriously. Instead of University ranking,
select rankings based on your program. Eg Best University in US for Artificial In
telligence , Best Universities for Biotechnology INSTEAD OF Best Universities in USA.
HOWEVER, rather than RANKING, you should see WHAT THE UNIVERSITY OFFERS. A lowe
r ranked Uni may have a program and coursework and research more to your liking
that a high-ranked one. These rankings are based on a NUMBER of factors, so plea
se do not be biased in favour or against any Uni based on rankings. You do not nee
d to go to a Top 20 University to be successful in life.
5). COST OF APPLIVCATION
This is the amount you may spend for EACH uni
GRE SCORES: $25 (using $1= Rs60, this comes to Rs. 1,500)
TOEFL scores: $ 18 (Rs. 1,080)
Couriering of transcripts: Rs 1,000 (if you take FedEx, DHL)
University application fees: $50 to $100 (Some Unis do not have application fees
)
APPROXIMATE COST FOR EACH APPLICATION: Rs 3,580 (if no application fee) and Rs 6
,000-Rs9,000 if application fee is there.
5). Most application stuff is sent ONLINE. Each Uni will require you to make an
online account where you will submit SOP, CV and register you profs/recommenders
for sending LORs, answer some . Transcripts will need to be prepared and courie
red. Some Unis do not follow the online process thoroughly and all the applicati
on material be mailed- including LORs, SOPs, etc. Please write down your account
username and password, and DO NOT LOSE THEM!!. Also, some applications will nee
d your SOP to be uploaded (as .doc or .pdf, pdf is better though) or to be typed
(that is, copy+paste from your Word Document).
5) Preparation of transcripts. To get your transcripts prepared, this is the GEN
ERAL procedure followed.
- Get attested copies on your semester marksheets and submit at office
- Office will prepare 1 copy of original transcripts and submit it to you. (each
college has a fees for preparing transcripts ranging from Rs 100 to Rs 1000)
- Take photocopies of the prepared transcripts as per the no. Of Unis you are ap
plying to.
- Get each set of photocopied transcripts attested and signed with Institute sea
l and Registrars (or whoever is in charge) sign.
- Place each signed and attested transcript set into separate envelops.
- Get envelops signed and sealed by your college
-Courier or mail to your Uni.
Please, please do not open these envelops after they have been sealed!!!! US Uni
versity protocol demands that your transcripts be untampered with and be submitt
ed in their original form.
6). UNIVERSITY DEADLINES!!!
There are 3 types of Unis. Please NOTE THAT THIS IS A GENERALIZED IDEA AND EACH
UNI HAS THEIR OWN ADMISSION STYLE. This generalization is made after observation
and taking with about 20 friends and seniors. Alsop, one of my relatives on the
graduate admission committee at Cornell University. I have compiled this list b
y inputs from all.
- Unis with ROLLING ADMISSIONS..... WTH is rolling admissions??? It means that U
nis review application as they are submitted and make their decisions as they re
view application. They DO NOT wait for the deadline to pass before beginning the
review process. BY the deadline, the admission committee can have decided on 80
% of their admits. Chances of late application means higher rejection rate.
- Unis which wait till deadline PART 1- These Unis wait until deadline to start

reviewing. HOWEVER, they start reviewing in the order of submission. Eg. Ram sub
mits his application on November 25 and George submits on 3rd Feb. Deadline for
applications is 15th Feb. Both applications are viewed after the deadline has pa
ssed. However, Rams application will be received before Georges and hence will be
viewed before Georges. DO UNDERSTAND that there may be hundreds of application b
etween Ram and Geroge. IF the Unis follow the first-come first-serve attitude, t
hey are probably going to make decision early as well. RULE OF THUMB: Some Unis
have the idea that students who take the trouble and interest to apply early are
students who REALLY REALLY want to join. I have also experienced this. At UMD,
I submitted my application 1 month before the deadline and UMiss, I submitted 1
day before the deadline. I noticed a stark contrast in the time I got my admissi
on decision (Note : both had the exact same deadline, 15th March)
- Unis which wait till deadline PART 2 (Unis with a meh attitude to deadlines). So
me Unis just organized the applications in alphabetical order and do not use the
FCFS attitude. Decisions are generally made when all applications are reviewed
In short
- Some Unis give decisions as they are reviewed. (higher majority)
- Some Unis give decisions after they have seen each and every application.
- Most Unis do not mention which method they adopt. However, Unis which have ear
ly-review procedure generally state as much in ambigious terms like we receive hu
ndreds of applications per year and early application is encouraged. Some Unis DO m
ention that they have rolling admissions. Each Uni admission procedure is differ
ent from the next. My suggestion: apply as early as possible.
7) . LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION
- Most LORs are done online. While filling in your online application, you are a
sked to enter the names, affiliations and email addresses of 2/3 people who are i
n a position to recommend your candidacy for their graduate program. Once you ent
er the details, the concerned individuals are sent an email with a link to write
an LOR on your behalf. Once they submit the LOR, it is stored on your applicati
on. NOTE : LORs should also be completed by your recommenders before the applica
tion deadline.
- You generally need 2-3 people to recommend your application as a promising gra
d student.
- Selecting 3 recommenders = 1 undegrad prof + project/internship prof + employe
r (if you are working). If you no not have internship/projects or jobs, selct 3
undergrad professors.
- It is NOT NECESSARY to have some HOD or CEO draft your LOR. Admission committe
es look at letters from HOD and Letters from simple undergrad prof with the same lev
el of unbias, as long as the recommender is in a position to judge your [potenti
al as a grad student.
- DO NOT ASK visiting faculty/ relatives, seniors to be your recommnders.
- You often have to draft your own LOR. Your employer/prof will proofread it, ad
d/delete stuff and inform you that they will send your LOR. The will save the LO
R as a pdf file to be uploaded or a Word Document (for copy+paste).
- It is better (though not compulsory) that your recommender use their affiliate
University/organization email address rather than a gmail/yahoo one. This is ne
cessary to authenticate your LOR, since most profs in USA HAVE their affiliate U
niversity/Organization email id which their use for professional work. If your r
ecommender does not have a professional id, dont loose sleep over it. Many Indian
s do not have professional addresses and use their gmail/yahoo.
- If your Uni needs LORs to be mailed, then draft LOR, send to prof, get in prin
ted on college letterhead, place in envelop, stamp, seal, sign from prof, and ma
il ALONG WITH TRANSCRIPTS (saves money, plus makes Unis life easier)
PART 2: SOP tips, ONLINE APPLICATION TIPS, more aping tips, I20, VISA:)
Hope it was helpful
Regards
Shradha
(320 GRE, 117 TOEFL, 8.22GPA, MS in Chemical Biology, Rutgers)
=============================================

APPLICATION TIPS PART 2 FROM FALL 2014 SENIOR

ABOUT ACADEMIC EVAL- %, GPA and WES EVALUATION (and all the stress in between)
You all must have heard (or asked) one of the following question
How to convert % to GPA???????????
My GPA is on a scale of 10. Should I divide by 2.5 to get it to a scale of 4??
How much % coverts to 3.0 GPA??
Is WES evaluation worth applying for??
I will tackle each question individually
HOW TO CONVERT % TO GPA
Comparing % and GPA is like comparing apples and oranges. Both these methods are
graded differently and are hence, evaluated separately. Most Unis do not convert
a two digit % to a single digit GPA, simple because it is illogical. Most Univer
sities view % the same way we Indians see %- above 70% distinction, then First C
lass, Second Class, etc.
Unis are more likely to say ___ % is good enough for us from an international stu
dent. Universities are also familiar with Indian University education system and
which University is harder than the other. So Unis have a approximate idea how m
uch to expect from Mumbai University, Pune University and so on. Some Unis DO have t
heir OWN method of conversion (on based on weird stuff you see on the internet. B
ut these methods are not publically displayed for your perusal. There are also s
ome Unis which ask for your transcripts to be evaluated by a foreign agency like
WES but I will deal with that question separately.
MY GPA IS ON A SCALE OF 10. SHOULD I DIVIDE BY 2.5 TO GET IT TO A SCALE OF 4
Studying at a college which follows the GPA system of evaluation might give you
a fair and painful idea about the woes of GPA and the grading system (at least i
n India). It may also make you feel that your on-10-gpa can be converted to matc
h the US ones.
Again. NO. Unis do NOT convert these GPA to their GPA. Many, many Indian college
s base their GPA grading on percentile (which is calculated based on the toppers
grade, class average, the passing marks) and some base the GPA on percentage of
marks secured. Most US Unis and colleges give GPA based on marks secured too (eg
90 marks = A grade, 85-89= A minus grade). Unis have a general idea about how I
ndian Unis differ on grading and they also take into account that the no. of stu
dent at Indian Institutes is more (making percentile-based GPA a painful experie
nce for some students). US coursework is also graded differently and offers oppo
rtunities to students such as withdrawing from a difficult course you are failin
g in, taking up extra credit, retaking courses to secure a better grade, etc. Th
ese opportunities are lacking in Indian education- so yes, Unis are aware of all
this. Like the % drama, each Uni sets a minimum standard international GPA they
expect from international students (which they do not state on their website).
Remember, that students from countries apart from India also apply for grad stud
ies.
HOW MUCH % COVERTS TO 3.0 GPA
You may come across the 3.0 GPA being the required perquisite for applying. Again,
this is the condition mostly stated for US students or students who are pursuin
g a 4-yr degree program in the US. Uis do not state international requirements e
xplicitly simply because people from many countries will be visiting these sites
. And again, Unis are aware of discrepancies in marking systems and understand t
hem. So chill. Treat ur % as it is and stop inspecting it under a microscope.
WES EVALUATION- THE HIGHS AND LOWS
WES evaluation is the third-party answer to all of the above question. Many Unis
do not set separate academic norms for different systems of education. They wan
t ALL applicants, irrespective of nationality, and evaluation system, to be grad
ed at the SAME LELVEL- ie the 4.0 GPA scale. (US evaluation system)
You will come across stuff on websites such as
International applicants must have their transcripts evaluated by WES
Unfortunately, transcripts need to be converted to a scale of 4.0 before being se
nt to us. Please have your transcripts evaluated by a third party agency like
You will need WES if
Uni wants all non-4-scale-GPAs to be brought to 4-scale GPA (even if your Uni fo

llows 10-point GPA)

Your college has a 4.0GPA but Uni wants ALL international transcripts to be eval
auated by WES, or other evaluation agencies.
WES is basically a multi-million dollar enterprise living off the agony of stude
nts and high demands of Unis. Your % marks and you on-10 GPA are converted to the
ever-charming on-4 GPA (US-happy standards). The how does WES do this evaluation i
s beyond my mental horizon and the scope of this post. (and no, WES does not div
ide 10point GPA by 2.5)
PART 1
APPLY TO WES- set up your online account. You will need this account to track th
e status of your application, see you online evaluation, and send your scores. D
O NOT LOOSE YOUR ACCOUNT DETAILS.
One you register with WES, there are several evaluation option for STUDENTS
1). WES ICAP- International Credential Evaluation Package: This option allows yo
u to store your evaluation for future use
2). WES Basic : not for you
You should select WES ICAP. After this there are other options, namely
A). Course-by-course evaluation $250. You need to SELECT THIS
B). Document by Document evaluation (more suitable for employment, does not eval
uate GPA) DO NOT selct this
After selecting your type of evaluation, you will be given a general set of inst
ructions, regarding how you want your copy to be sent to you (standard mail or c
ourier)
There are other options regarding evaluation speed
1. Standard evaluation (7business days) No applicable charge
2. 3-day evaluation: additional $ 100
3. Same-day Evaluation: : additional $ 200
PLEASE for the love of god, DO NOT use the 3-day or sameday evaluation packages.
They incur additional costs. If you are running short of time, calculate the ti
me reaining. REMEMBER, the working is done according to BUSINESS DAYS (which mea
ns Saturdays and Sundays cannot be counted) and the counting begins from the day
your transcripts are RECEIVED by WES and not when you couriered them.
Eg. 15th July (Tuesday): Couriered from India
17th July (Thursday) : transcripts RECEIVED BY WES: COUNTING BEGINS FROM HERE
Business Days: 18th (Friday), 21st, 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 25th (Friday), 28th (Monda
y)
YOUR EVALUATION IS MOST LIKELY TO BE DONE BY MONDAY 28TH JULY. This is how busin
ess days work. Do not delays are possible.
There are fees for this as well. Trackable courier costs $60 dollars. There are
other fields like couriering your evaluated report yo your individual Uni. Each
Uni needs one report and each report costs $30. There are $7 and $12-20 dollar c
ourier rates as well. You can even send the reports to the Unis nad additional U
nis AFTER you see your evaluated report. However, entering early means your repo
rts will be sent earlier.
PART 2
Get attested copies on your semester marksheets and submit at office
- Office will prepare 1 copy of original transcripts and submit it to you. (each
college has a fees for preparing transcripts ranging from Rs 100 to Rs 1000)
- Take 1 set of photocopies of the prepared transcripts
- Get the set attested and signed with Institute seal and Registrars (or whoever
is in charge) sign.
- Place into envelops.
- Get envelop signed and sealed by your college
-Courier or mail to WES address.
PART 3
You receive your report. Send reports to additional Uni (sent by WES to your Uni
. Ask your Uni to provide the mailing address for transcript sending).
WHAT IF YOUR UNI WANTS YOUR TRANSCRIPTS AND WES REPORT
Some Unis want only your college transcripts and NO WES
Some Unis want only WES (no not mail your transcripts to the Uni)

Some Unis want both (You can courier your college transcripts to Uni and use WES
account for WES to directly send your report to the Unis. Alternately, WES also
sends SEAL REPORTS to you at an ADDITIONAL RATE. Do not open the sealed reports
once you receive them. Put your college-sealed-transcript-envelop and WES-seale
d-report-envelop both into one huge envelop and send to your University address.
) Unis will specify how they want the WES report to reach them
IMPORTANTS
If you have already completed your 4yrs of study, WES evaluation is a bit advant
ageous. After your acads are evaluated they are stored permanently in your recor
d. Meaning, you can use your evaluated marks for future use- like jobs, PhD appl
ications.
On the otherhand- lets say you are in your 4th year of studies (eg. Sem 7) and yo
u need to get your transcripts evaluated. You will submit Sem-Sem6 marksheets an
d your evaluated GPA will be based on your Sem1-Sem6 marks only. What if you wan
t you get your evaluated GPA after Sem 8? Can you upgrade your transcripts to yo
ur existing ones? NOPE , sorry. If you want Sem 1-Sem8 evaluation, you will need
to apply all over again (from the same account) and pay the fee (again) and etc
. Want to apply for PhD studies after MS to a Uni with WES application?? You gue
ssed it? Apply and pay and send again. Basically, these sem1-sem6 WES GPAs are p
ointless after the application process is over. Want a WES GPA after you graduat
e for jobs? Too bad- reapply and pay again.
POINTS TO NOTE
Do not use WES unless your Uni asks for it. There is no advantage of using WES e
valuation for a Uni which does not want it, since each Uni evaluates transcripts
differently.
WES is expensive. Please find out whether you really, really want to apply to th
is Uni.
OK, WES is important for your application to xxxxx University. But going through
t the WES nonsense for only 1 Uni is weird. Then atleast try to find 1-2 others
Unis which need WES evaluation and apply to them (even if you have to pay the $3
0 fee to send the scores). Imagine you are a Sem 7 student- you want to apply to
1 Uni which needs WES. You pay the $ 250 fee and send the score to one Uni. The
se scores have no use after Sem 8. Might as well make the best of this opportuni
ty and apply to more WES-greedy places.
Send your transcripts to WES well-before your uni deadlines. Even though they pr
omise, 7-business day evaluation, delays are possible and stress is unavoidable.
Be smart and apply early.
Make sure your transcripts are SIGNED, ATTESTED and envelops are SEALED, SIGNED,
and attested properly. If WES is dissatisfied, they will ask for documents to b
e SENT AGAIN!
WES ALSO HAS A 5 DOLLAR option for users to manually calculate their 4-point-GPA
. Note : this DOES NOT SUBSTITUTE FOR THE ACTUAL REPORT. If your Uni wants a WES
report, you need to use the expensive route. No option.
IMPORTANT TIPS
* Do not worry about converting to UG %. Unis knows what they are doing.
* Some Unis are bored and want WES to do the job for them.
Cheers!