Grad Hopeful

I wouldn't worry about bothering the admissions office close to the deadline, it is their job to answer admissions questions. If there is a separate international admissions office they are most likely in charge of your application status, so it would be best to contact them. If you want to be sure of a fast reply you should call them directly and ask, it can take some time for a school to notify you if you are missing a document (calling usually generates a faster response than email). Just don't contact the school too often, for instance when I worked in the international admissions office for a university it would take 2 weeks for documents to be processed once we received them so students should allow a reasonable time for documents to arrive. Trust me the admissions office is only annoyed if an applicant decides to call every single day or even multiple times a day even though there is no possible way we could have received the required documents (although this can be understandable in some cases if there is some emergency).

3 year degrees can be an issue, depending on the school. Depending on the basis of the 3 year bachelor program, some schools may require a 3 year Bachelor degree to be supplemented by a masters degree or for you to take the equivalent of one year of undergraduate credits in order to obtain a masters. This is dependent upon the department and the school so you should check with the school and the department you are interested in.

I had two recommendations from two professors I worked under in the lab (one a tenure track, the other an adjunct (both PhD's)) and one from an employer and I got accepted and am attending UM this fall. Of course the employer I got the letter from worked at a university (not as a professor, although she did teach classes from time to time, and only had a master's degree) and I worked at the job for over two years. This job was not related to my field either (it was an office job, I applied for biomedical/biological orientated programs) and I never received a negative word about it. Looking back only one of the three letters were what most consider appropriate letter writers (tenure track professor), so I think it is most important to get a letter from someone that knows you well enough to vouch for you. I don't think a letter necessarily precludes you from admission, however it is best to have a letter from someone who has enough experience with graduate programs and with your level of work to say with confidence that you would be successful in a graduate program.

For most schools I would agree that you would have to have a definite idea of what you want to do, however U of M is different if you apply under PIBS which contains 13 (soon to be 14) programs (both of the mentioned majors fall under this umbrella). Their application specifically asks the applicant to list their 3 top choices and they have up to a year after admission, and starting, to choose their desired track. If you look on the PIBS website you can see quite a range for GPA and GRE scores of admitted students. Sorry I can't be more helpful with the other programs mentioned, UM PIBS is the program I am familiar with. From what I have been told at recruitment events by recruiters is that research experience shows that an applicant is more likely to understand what they are getting into, that graduate school is not the same as undergraduate. Of course I have do not know how a research area that is that different from your intended field will effect your chances. Most schools I encountered did not review applications until after the deadline, however submitting early is a good idea in case of missing documents and to avoid the stress of submitting on the deadline. The best advice is to contact the programs about their admissions process since it can vary. Good luck.

From my experience in working in an international admissions office a lender will sometimes require an official admissions letter before they will submit the financial letter. I had never heard of a lender requiring the I-20 before agreeing to the loan. Of course our office did not handle many private loans from international students so I am not as familiar with those procedures. Is it possible for Chase to submit a letter to the University of Chicago stating that they will support you as long as you receive an I-20? It may be helpful to speak directly to the International Admissions, Financial Aid, or similar office about your situation, they are probably more familiar with the proper procedure.

I know this a rather late reply, however it will depend on what your school requires. At my undergraduate university they accepted several forms: -the signature on a specific portion of the financial form -a notarized affidavit of support with the account holder's live signature -a letter with the sponsor's live signature, along with a statement specifying that the sponsor was willing to sponsor the student for XXX amount. All of these required a live signature and could not be faxed or photocopied. You should either contact the international office or office of international admissions at your university. Hopefully this was helpful.

This is my experience from working in admissions office at a university, this does not mean this is true for all admissions offices: If you want direct information regarding your application it would be best to contact the department directly. For undergraduate decisions our office had direct access to the people who made the decision to accept the students and we could even transfer students directly to those staff members if they had questions about the decision. Graduate Admissions worked entirely differently. Most times we would have no idea where in the process the application was once it left our office, we could only see that it was sent to the department and the decision (which would come weeks after it was sent to the department). Sometimes we were able to contact the department directly if it was an urgent matter but we often had as much trouble as potential students in reaching the person in charge of the decisions and they sometimes never answered the admissions office inquiries. It is much better to contact the department directly, they will have more information about the specifics regarding your file. However if you only want a general response you can contact the admissions office first since they often know the general timelines and also the approximate time you can expect a decision. A general piece of advice: whenever contacting an admissions office you will generally get a faster response if you call, however if you want to email the admissions office please include the semester and program you are applying for in the email subject. Often times our email would get overloaded near deadlines and other significant dates and we would decide which emails to answer first based on what semester the student was applying for. If you follow this logic you will be more likely to illicit a faster response than just including the word Urgent. Emails were also answered more quickly if you included your student number in an obvious location every time you have an exchange.

How you receive your I-20 and other admissions documents will be highly dependent on the school so you should contact the office that deals with sending out the I-20 documents. Below is my personal experience and may not apply to your situation: At the International Admissions Office I worked at they sent the admission letter and I-20 (along with any scholarship information) in the same package by UPS, where it would reach most places within 3-7 business days. Our office would tell students this and even email the tracking number and SEVIS number if requested. This was all sent without cost to the student, however if the school you are contacting does not send it by a courier service you may be able to request such a service if you are willing to pay the costs. Documents not included in the I-20 package were sent by regular post/mail.

I am originally from Ohio and have been completing my undergrad in Michigan, so I am used to this weather. My undergrad is EMU, which is located in Ypsilanti, literally 7 miles outside of Ann Arbor so I plan to stay in Ypsi and commute by bus to Ann Arbor. The reason that I am staying Ypsi is that it is cheaper than the housing in Ann Arbor, if that does not go well I can always move into Ann Arbor the next year. Since I have already been in the area I have found my roommates pretty easily by finding friends that live in the area. Unfortunately I do not have any advice on how to find roommates. Engineering should be on North Campus, which is where I have heard the cheapest off campus apartments are.

From my experience working in an international admissions office where we issued I-20s (this is personal experience and may not pertain to you, you should contact the office that handles I-20s at your university): You will need to prove that you can cover the full amount, including the amount that is past the stipend. The school has to indicate on the I-20 how much funding the student has and where from and can not issue the form until the estimated cost is covered. Often times student's would get scholarships and still have to cover the remaining portion. I would contact your university's office and submit the proper paperwork as quickly as possible since I-20 preparation can get backlogged as student's panic and submit late paperwork. The sooner you have everything submitted the better, or else you could run into delays. This especially true if you have to submit the paperwork multiple times due to submitting it in the wrong format. The school may be able to refer you to additional options if you need help coming up with the money. These options may include 3rd party loans.

I will be going to UMich also, but I already have my housing situation figured out so I can't really help you in that regard... If you don't mind me asking, what will you be studying? I will be attending the PIBS (Program in Biomedical Science) Program in the biochemistry track. Are you used to Michigan-like weather?

You could just leave the date blank, that would let others know where you are going and what you are studying without saying a date.

I am heading to the U of M PIBS program also! I will be going for the Biological Chemistry track. Do you already have an agreement with a professor to do your first rotation?

My program is Professional Biochemistry, not really related to Education, which is what the school is known for. Ann Arbor is only a bus ride away and really close. It does have a small town feel I personally feel that it is definitely a college town. It does have some things to do, however most people probably go to Ann Arbor for their entertainment, which as I said is very close to Ypsi. The town itself has some safety issues, however that is dependent on the neighborhood and depends on where you are. The campus itself has really ramped up its safety ever since the 2006 incident. The campus itself is small and compact, you could walk from one side to the other in 15-30 minutes. The staff and faculty are typically friendly and go out of their way to help you. Since it is a smaller school the faculty have more time for students. If I had to do it again I would still go to EMU for my undergrad degree.

This may not be true for all schools, but when I worked in the admissions office at my current university the admissions office, financial aid, and most administrators had access to the same central database that contained all the information for all students and applicants. This means that if someone in admissions input your resume email onto that system that the financial aid office could have seen and used that email address.

I am not an international student, however I worked in a university's international admissions office for several years. The following information is based on my experience at one school and is not meant to reflect what happens in other universities. The GPA was calculated by the international admissions department before the file was delivered to the graduate department. We did not accept WES or other evaluation services, the university calculated GPA was often different from the GPA WES provides. In fact WES would sometimes produce a deflated GPA in comparison to what was university calculated. The staff that calculated the international GPA were very knowledgeable on the grading systems of other countries, they had many books and algorithms for the different systems and often attended workshops and meetings on the matter. It was a good decision to include a grade explanation since that will help them in deciding course weights and what is fulfilled by your degree. Any supplemental information (like your diploma supplement) you sent will be helpful and read, especially if they are not familiar with that particular school. If you have a question about how your GPA was calculated you should contact the school and they should help you. If a student had earned a 3 year Bachelors degree they were often required to complete 30 undergraduate credit hours (equivalent to one year of undergraduate classes) before they could start graduate level courses. If a student had a 3 year Bachelors and a 2 year Masters degree the student was considered to have the equivalent of a 4 year bachelor and would not be required to take any undergraduate courses. I am sorry for the long and rambling post. I hope it was somewhat helpful.

At my interview I was completely honest about my acceptance, of course adding that I preferred the school (I did prefer it as it was my top choice). This did not harm me at all as I did get an acceptance, my current adviser said that this may have helped me in receiving my offer more quickly. I was on the receiving end of some jokes since the two schools are huge rivals though.

At one school the interview weekend was over on Saturday and on the following Monday they called me with my acceptance. It would depend on the school and department though.

What do you want to know about Ypsilanti? The city itself is not as nice as Ann Arbor, but it is significantly cheaper. Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti sort of merge together at some points. I have lived in Ypsilanti for a few years, so if you still have questions feel free to contact me. I see that you were accepted to EMU, if you have any questions about the school I could also help you.

It is different for every school, you should contact the international admissions office. I have worked at an international admissions office for a university and we required the financial forms only after admission so that we could complete the I-20. The school would not count the financial document requirement fulfilled until we had documentation of full funding (it could be through a combination scholarships, GA, TA, or personal funding). If we received a form that was all zeros it could not be considered fulfilled unless the department sent us evidence of a GA or TA, or if the student earned a scholarship that covered the full cost. If your university works the same way ours did you should send in the form, even if blank, since they will most likely need the form even if you receive some form of assistantship that covers the full costs. Sorry for the long post that may or may not be helpful.

To me the campus has a big town/small city feel. All of the faculty, grad students, and interviewees were very nice, I feel that I will enjoy going to UMich (it was my top choice). The facilities are pretty nice, with the majority of labs located on the main campus. There is a possibility that some labs will be moved to the North campus, which is not that far from central/medical campus. The streets can be very narrow in some spots and there are quite a few one-way streets. Even though they mentioned in the interviews that students could be notified of acceptances as early as the Monday after I was still surprised when I got the call today. This was the last acceptance I was waiting for since I only applied to two schools.

I currently live in Michigan and it has been in the 30's and will most likely stay that way. Regarding the issue of snow, they will most likely have the surrounding area well plowed and well salted. Due to the salt you may want to avoid wearing any shoes that are strongly attached to due to possible salt damage. If you have a scarf, hat, and gloves you might want to bring them. What kind of coat you should wear would depend on how well-adjusted you are to the cold. I am not sure how prepared you are for Michigan weather and since I have always lived in this climate I can not give you any advice on the transition between California and Michigan.

As far as I can understand they sent out the official interview invitation email on 12/21. It would be best to contact the office to be sure though.

I used to work at an admissions office at a university (not Purdue). We never wanted the students to send in the original documents, technically once we received and checked in documents the documents became university property and could not be returned. The hardest part of the application to get fulfilled for international applicants was submitting the official transcripts in the proper format. The school I worked at would only accept the documents in the following way (with few, special exceptions): -Live Signatures and Stamps from appropriate school officials (Registrar, Controller of Exams, etc. We could not accept faculty or departmental signatures or stamps) -Original Language (You only had to submit an English translation if the transcripts issued by the school was not in English. The translation had to be done by a third party.) -The school required Individual Marksheets, we could not accept Consolidated Marksheets or Transcripts from Indian schools. The transcript could be a photocopy as long as it followed the above rules. It would be best to contact the school (the graduate admissions or school admissions office, most likely the department may not know how to answer the question correctly, it is even better if the school has an international admissions office) to see how they specifically require the transcript to be submitted. I do not know how other schools handle it but we could not accept transcripts without the proper school stamps and signatures on the sealed envelope lip. If it was unsealed, even with the stamps and signatures on the document and envelope lip. If you have issues getting your transcripts in the correct format from your international school the US school you are applying to might have a transcript request form that details how the school wants the transcript submitted. (that is a long post, with way too much information, but I hope it helps in some way)

I was also invited to the PIBs interview weekends, and hope to attend the January weekend (28th-30th) as well. I definitely would not compare Ann Arbor to Detroit. I currently live near Ann Arbor and it is actually a rather safe area.