virtua

Why it matters? I didn`t complete my degree, but I completed some courses. What is the point of taking the same course(s) again?

PhD to PhD

Hey guys, how can I know how many credits I can transfer from the previous US uni I attended? can I transfer seminar credits?

I emailed, but unfortunately, no one answered so far My friend says it might look unethical to ask this

Hey guys, in my funding offer I have that "[some amount in dollars] per year" part, does that mean per academic year implying 9 months or it means year in general (12 months)?

Hey, guys, I have finally received some good news today, so I`ve been admitted to PhD program that I wanted, but(!) there is no offer of funding. So, what should I do here? Should I just wait? Or should I contact faculty/staff? Do you think I can somehow get some final decision(yes/no) on my funding?

Hello everyone, I have applied well before funding priority deadlines and so far, no news. How you, guys, are doing? Has anyone received any update on their application?

Thanks a lot for your answer! What if I applied for Spring semester? Can they change it to Winter term (if there is one) or what do they do?

Hi guys, I have some problem with money and I doubt that I could buy enough US dollars with my country`s poor currency, since it has been devaluated quite a lot. So, let`s say I got admitted and get an assistantship, I will get my first salary probably after 1 month, right? So, I will need some money for the 1st month; so, I was thinking if I could take some loan for the 1st month till I get my first salary, but keep in mind that I`m an international student. Is that possible? I actually, have US bank account.

Hello forum, I am in a really difficult situation, at the moment I`m unemployed and I`m waiting for admission decision for Spring 2017. Now, the thing there is a company (in my homecountry) which would hire me if I stay with them for 2 years, but the problem is what if I get admitted? I will have to leave which is breach of the contract. Now, also, the manager asked me about the time when I can make up my mind about this and I said I probably will be able to know in Sep/Oct. Now my questions are: 1. When are offers with assistantship usually sent for Spring 2017? 2. Let`s say I`ve got admitted and I`ve been awarded an assistantship, let`s say I finished all my paperwork by Oct, is it possible to start my position before the classes start? I mean can I start working right after paperwork is finished? In Oct, for example. Would I get payed?

How does the system work? So, graduate school receives my application and then they pass it to the department-so that`s it? Do all the professors review my application? Are available funding and decision on admission absolutely separate things? I mean, does the decision on admission depend on the fact that if there is a professor willing to sponsor me? I`m talking about PhD program application.

Hello forum, I`m not really good in understanding US academic positions, so I was wondering, can "Research Professor" be an adviser? Can he/she hire graduate student?

To make them notice your application?

Hello forum, Probably, there have been topics like this before, I was just lazy to go through all of them So, I have been emailing to professors introducing myself and expressing my interest in their research and asking if they are taking new students. From what I read on internet I was expecting that some professors might reply and be interested in interviewing me via Skype even if I haven`t applied officially yet, but that never happened. So some professors replied saying that they do not have funding, some professors didn`t reply at all, only 2-3 replied saying that I have to apply officially and indicate that I want to work with them and then they will be able to view my application at that stage, but that doesn`t mean that they are interested in hiring me. So my question is: does it really make sense to contact POIs before applying? or maybe even after applying? I mean, it`s good to know if they have funding, but it seems to me that most of professors are not really good in replying to emails from prospective students. Do you guys email to professors before submitting your application?

Hello forum, I left the US and now I`m a bit concerned about my US mail address. I wonder if it can cause me any problems. I mean I moved out so I do not have an access to that address anymore. What do you think I could or should do? My US bank card has that address as a billing address but can it anyhow be a problem in a future? I plan to close my bank account in 2-3 weeks after I get my apartment deposit back. Also, I was wondering if I have to close my AT&T number, can I do that outside the US? Is that free?

Hello forum, have you guys ever used any online service for checking/proofreading your SOP? My writing is not bad, but I think I sometimes have some problems in style of my writing, I need some help in paraphrasing my sentences so they can look more English:)

Is that possible that it is 3 credits or less at some university in the US?

Is it very important to state your research interests in SOP? Should I even mention professor`s (POI) name? My previous PhD position was terminated after 1 year, should I talk about that in m SOP?

Hello forum, I always thought that minimum number of credit hours required per semester to maintain F-1 visa is 9. Is that correct? Or does it vary by university?

No, my co-worker is and old man with a big experience in lab projects. I mean, he probably doesn`t hold a PhD, but he participated in all projects in our research team, and everybody was always asking him for help. And he has an experience in doing research in the area that I was doing. To be honest, I never knew what his official title was, but on the uni website it was put as "Researcher". I really consider him as a person who is competent in, generally, doing research. Well, I actually asked in my email to her that if she can write LOR "without affecting in a bad way my chances to get accepted" and she briefly answered "Yes". I really don`t know if I should trust, I wish she and all other professors would be honest with me on this.

There are 2 people from this uni who are willing to write LOR for me: one of them is the researcher who was my co-worker at my PhD project. I believe he will write quite a strong letter explaining the situation about the project and why my position was terminated. the second person is the professor. I took the course he was instructor in and I got A from his course. Again, I believe he also will write a normal recommendation letter that I need. Again I trust those people, since I think if they are not going to write a strong LOR why they are accepting my request to write LOR, they could just ignore my email or just politely reject me, which they didn`t do. For my first application after getting kicked out of the program, my adviser also wrote LOR for me, I still don`t know whether her letter was strong or not, but when I asked her if she somehow could help me to find a project, she said that the only way she could help is writing LOR for me. Again, that is the way I think: if she agrees to write LOR for me, she is going to write at least not a bad LOR, right? I mean, what is the point accepting someone`s request to write LOR, if you are going to write a letter condemning that person? It is a letter of recommendation, not of discouraging, right?

No, I`m not eligible for OPT, since I haven`t finished the program. I`m trying to find a graduate program: either MS or PhD. I just don`t want to leave it all. I mean, I always wanted to get a graduate degree, I have put so much effort in it, I have spent so much time and money, I want to complete it! But I`m really tired of emailing to professors, talking to people at my current university, some professors just wasted my time giving me false hopes. I`m tired of missing deadlines for various opportunities which were never announced. Once I found out after talking to international office that there internal scholarship opportunity for international students and the deadline already passed, but I have never received any email about this opportunity and never any announcement anywhere on campus...

Hello forum, As you may remember I got fired from my RA position and now I`m trying to find something. And since I`m not registered neither for Summer nor for Fall terms I will have to leave the US very soon. Some people recommend me to register for Summer and to stay in the US over the summer, like it could somehow help me to find something in neighboring states. What do you think, guys? Does it really make difference applying while being in the US vs applying from my homecountry? I`ve already emailed to nearby universities, saying I could visit for a possible interview or anything, but haven`t received any positive response. So I personally feel like it does not matter.

Well, last time when I talked to my adviser, she said she will write a recom. letter and will explain that I was not interested in the project, that I need a different project, but as you see she wrote different thing in the letter and the letter was addressed not specifically to apartments management since it starts with "To whom it may concern...". And I do not want to ask her about this again in an email since I feel she would not want to talk about it or she is not going to be honest about it.

But I do not want to ask her to write a recommendation letter, since I`m not sure what she will write, what if she blames me in that letter? From what you say, I feel like it is a closed circle for me. Like whichever option I choose, I will have poor chances, so what should I do then? Not to apply anywhere at all? Since there is no professor in the world which would hire a person, who himself is not sure about his performance