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STUDY ABROAD
- 6-30-2008
- Categorized in: GMAT, GRE, Higher Education, Study Abroad, TOEFL
STUDY ABROAD?
Are you interested in studying abroad? If so, do you want to know the life out there? I hope this article lands you in a place where you can analyze the situations in a better way.
Coming to studies in US, it is not tough job to land in a decent college and earn a decent degree if you have a decent GRE/GMAT/TOFEL scores. You might now have thought about the quality of education. First thing is proper college. There are all types of colleges in US. Not all colleges meet the standards well. So you need to do a better research about the colleges, ranking and the courses offered there. These show you a better way of selecting the college. The following is one of many websites which can provide you decent information about US colleges www.usnews.com. Once you are in the college next question that arises in mind is funding. How to get funded for the education in US? Many have prefixed ideas that education in US is out of range for middle class and which is completely wrong. I belong to a middle class and I was able to afford for the education out there. Many banks are coming forward to provide educational loans for the students at lower interest rates. This makes very easy for Indians to meet the expenses. Secondly, educational institutions also provide scholarships for those students who meet the university requirements. Some students manage their funding by doing part time jobs. A non-American student is eligible to work for 20 hrs per week (either part times or for scholarship). Students manage a lot with this income and also by the use of credit cards. Once they land up with jobs it is easy to clear up the debts. Believe me it is one beautiful experience to pursue a degree by facing such tough situations. So guys, common get ready for the battle who dreams of studying abroad.
Further, I will explain you the various degrees offered there and the best way of selecting those based on your interest.
Education in USA :
As i discussed earlier, I would like to share the degrees offered in US universities. Various kinds of degrees which ranges from Science, engineering are offered and it is you who has to opt. You can change your specialization any time you want, provided you have the confidence. It is not mandatory to continue in the same specialization. Prerequisite to get admission into Undergrad is to finish Inter and to get into Graduation or PHD is to finish 16 years of education.
DEGREES
The following are the few specializations offered out of vast number of degrees offered for Undergrad/Graduate/PHD education- Agricultural Science, Arts, Sciences, Health Sciences, Veterinary Science, Engineering, Architecture, Business.
One can go either for Undergraduation/Graduation/PHD. One needs to complete 60 credit hours to finish their Undergraduation, 33 credit hours to finish MS (Graduation), 52 credit hours to finish MBA (Graduation), minimum of 69 credit hours to finish PHD for those who did Master's, 99 credit hours to finish for those who did Undergrad. For each program, one has to finish the core courses which is mandatory and has to finish the electives to complete the credit hours. Students can chose electives based on their interest and these reflect one's specialization.
GPA
I will explain the concept of Credit hours for those who don’t have an idea. One course counts to 3 credit hours. It might also vary depending upon the importance of the course. A, B, C, D, F grades are offered to the courses. Mostly, students who scored above 90% will be given A, 80% -90% will be given B, below 80% is C. Instead of percentage, US institutions go according to GPA. GPA is nothing but an aggregate of all the grades earned by a student in each semester ( A- 4.0, B- 3.0, C- 2.0, F-Fail, D- Not allowed to write the exam) To have a decent GPA, one has to score either A Grade or B Grade. Based on these grades students can retain their scholarships.
Further i will discuss the scholarships offered and how to manage your money while studying.
Scholarships :
Various type of scholarships are offered to students while studying.. A non-American student is eligible to work for 20 hours per week. They can either work at food centers and earn money on hourly basis. The hourly pay depends on the cost of living in the city. Cost of living varies from city to city. For eg, NY is a very expensive state and in Texas cost of living is very cheap. So it varies state by state.
Two types of assistanships are offered. One is Research assistanship and the other is Graduate assistanship. Some departments offer assistanships to students based on the scores or on the GPA from the earlier semesters. It can be either quarterly, half or full. Mostly students get quarter or half assistanship. Mostly colleges pay 3/4th of the tution fees if a student secures scholarship. Some universities waive the whole tution fee. It varies from one university to other. On the top of it student gets salary per month which also varies from department to department.
Generally students earn research assistanship if they have to undertake thesis which is primarily based on research. They are paid well when compared to Graduate students without thesis. One of my friend used to earn $1000 since she was pursuing MS in food science instead i used to earn around $300 since i was not into research.
ECONOMY
JOBS AFTER EDUCATION
Till today America is termed as Land of Opportunities. Presently, the trend is changing a little bit so dont know what America will be in the future. Still students find lot of opportunities to get a job once they finish their education. There is a special 20000 H1B quota other than 65000 H1B quota for those who finished education in US. Some universities provide lot of campus selections and some get through consultancies. It depends on each ability to get the job.I hope this clears lot of queries about education in US. If any doubts feel free to leave a comment below, I will answer your questions.
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can i apply for a MBA a course in US they usually prefer four years graduation
i m currently a B.E student n i m looking forward to do M.S from U.S . so can u tl me in detail about only M.S n what score is required to get scholarship.... and also some tips to get start with GRE/TOEFL preparation
I am presently in US pursuing MS. If anybody has any questions let me know at rudra_devendra@rediffmail.com. I too belong to a middle class family.And believe me its easy to get here....