fernandes

No problem! I don't think it would be a problem not to have previous professors on the list. I think that the most important thing is to choose someone who knows you both as a student and person, someone who will be able to evaluate you both academically and personally. It's great to have someone who will write about your scores, but it's more meaningful to have someone who will talk about your grades but also about how enthusiastic/determined/focused you are and how applying to grad school will help you achieve your goals. And yes, that's what I meant. I contacted potential advisers ahead of time to introduce myself, tell them my goals, show them that we had common interests in research and ask them if they would have free time to speak with me about their lab and research activities. I also asked if they would be accepting students for the Fall term.

Hey @100larrydavids, welcome to the forum. I am an international student who has applied to MS and PhD programs in the US for the Fall term of 2016. Long story short you just need to be aware of the required materials, examinations and documents you have to send and most importantly the deadlines. I had help from my girlfriend throughout this entire process, which was really helpful, but it is definitely doable without any help (especially since you're from the US and maybe would not need as much assistance with writing formally as I did). I don't know anything about the MTESOL program, but in general you'll need three letters of recommendation (really good ones, by the way), a statement of purpose (SOP), maybe taking the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), your CV, and your academic records. Although it sounds simple, you should plan ahead of time and start writing your SOP as soon as possible, as well as contacting your potential 'recommenders' to see if they'd be willing to write you a recommendation letter. While preparing your SOP, you could also send emails to potential advisers. I don't know how it works in the MTESOL program, but in my personal experience contacting professors ahead of time was utterly important to grant me an offer letter from my dream school. It all depends on the school you'll be applying to as well, so you should check on the school's website and just email professors regardless of what you find. I hope it helped. Good luck!

Just complementing the response above, you should make sure to have good GRE scores, a great and well-written Statement of Purpose and Letters of Recommendation. Those are really important factors in an application.

Hey @Laksh08, I have applied to a PhD program there and my application shows as complete ("My App is Complete"). Maybe you should contact them.

Not a problem, mate!

Although I have applied applied to Mechanical Engineering PhD programs, my experience during the application process might help you. It seems like you have a great academic background, so that's a positive thing. Unfortunately, having a high GPA won't guarantee you a spot in graduate programs. I would say that having a good GRE score and a great (not standard as you mentioned) letter of recommendation are the most important things considered by the applications committee. For the GRE scores you should have a good overall score and a great score on the quantitative section, i.e. 90th percentile. Having a great L.O.R. and Statement of Purpose will help the committee understand who you are and how people (especially professors) see you as a student/researcher. I don't want to tell you that you will be accepted to these schools even if you have met all the required criteria and have awesome L.O.R., S.o.P. and GRE scores, because the application and selection processes do not always turn out as we expect. Maybe someone else will be able to tell you what schools you might get into. Anyways, good luck and let us know if you have any other questions.

If you don't need better performance, you'll be fine with buying another monitor. It's definitely the cheapest option. It might be nice to get a keyboard as well, do you don't have to type at one place and look at another.

Hey @Randalf, welcome to the forum. I cannot recall exactly if all the universities asked me about my marital status during the application, but after I was admitted I had to fill this form where you needed to tell them your marital status and if you had any dependents. I'm not sure if this information is helpful though. Anyways, I'm sure there are people who will be able to help you more in this forum.

I'm glad it helped!

I guess I could help you, I'm going to the US in the fall for a PhD program and I'm an international student.

@ChocChoc did you read all the passages on the Reading Section? A very good tip is not to read the entire passage and skip to the questions. You'll be basically searching for answers on the text. Furthermore, the questions are usually in order of appearance in the text, so it makes it easier to find answers. It would have saved you a lot of time on that section. Anyways, it's still a good tip for students who will be taking the TOEFL soon. Good luck!

Hi @hippyscientist, If I understood the problem you're experiencing, I have experienced just the same. On the financial declaration form, I needed to cover about $60k for tuition, room and board, supplies, etc. and my tuition waiver, stipend and health insurance support were about $4k short. I asked the Graduate Administrator and she told me that the department would fill out the form for me, so maybe your department's administrator could do the same for you?

You could get a super comfy gaming chair if you don't really care about matching the chair with your desk

Thanks @sjoh197! I've been there as a visiting student for one year and am really excited to come back!

I just accepted my offer to go to Rice University as a PhD student! Exciting!

Hey @EvelynD, welcome to the forum! I also felt the same way when I was looking into schools and figuring out where I would be applying to. What I found out was that most private Universities in the US fund their PhD students throughout the entire program and require them to work for the department in a Teaching or Research Assistantship position. For international students like you and I, we are allowed to work on campus for 20 hours per week. The majority of private Universities I have looked into would support me as a PhD student with a tuition waiver, a stipend and a health insurance financial assistance (ranging from 50 to 100% of the health insurance fees). For example, I was admitted to a private University this month and they provided me with a tuition waiver, a stipend for 10 hours/week of departmental work/professor assistance and they will be paying for 70% of my health insurance. I was also accepted to two public universities without funding. At the first contact (via email) I did not ask about funding at all, I only presented myself and asked if the professors would be taking any PhD/MS students on that particular term. The majority of the professors still did not know if they would have a budget for a new student on the following term, so they told me to apply and contact them on the Spring semester (I applied to the Fall semester of 2016). At a second contact I also did not ask specifically about funding options, but about TA/RA opportunities, which is basically the same thing as funding but a little more subtle in my opinion. Again, most of the professors were not sure about the funding possibilities. I feel like you should not ask about the funding possibilities at a first contact, especially since there's usually a lot of information on the Universities' websites. Sometimes it's a little difficult to find all the information you want on the website, so you could also email/call the department. I would like to hear from other users about their point of view on this. Maybe there's a better way to ask about funding comparing to what I did. Anyways, I hope I could be somewhat helpful.

I miss my girlfriend so much! We've last seen each other in January when she came to visit me in my country and I'm going back to the US for a PhD in August... so much time away from each other!

It really depends on your professional goals. If you intend to further apply for a PhD program, I believe your M.Eng degree won't make much of a difference. If you plan to work in a company after getting your M.Eng degree, I would say that it's possible that an M.S. degree would be more valued by companies, since during a M.Eng degree you're basically doing the same you did as an undergrad. I suggest you research about the different outcomes you'd have with the different degree options. I would also ask more people about it, since opinions may vary.

What are your professional goals?

Come onnnnnnnn UIUC!! That's all.

Hey! I'm from Brazil and I've applied to PhD programs in Mechanical Engineering.

Hey @Johndg2, I am Brazilian and I have never heard of student loans for international students. We have something called FIES but it's mainly for Brazilian students. You could check Fulbright's website to see if there are any scholarships that may apply to your case. Also, you could take a look on CAPES' and CNPQ's websites, since they have a bunch of scholarship opportunities. Let me know if I can help you with anything else.

You should take a look at this list.

I think the most important things to consider right now is your financial situation. If you're planning on getting a loan to go to grad school, are you willing to go into debt for your degree? Also, if you're an international student like I am, you might not be allowed to take loans in the US. On the other hand, if money is not the problem, you already know what the answer would be: accept the offer from the large school. There are a ton of things to consider besides your financial situation, but it seems that it's your main concern right now. I might not be the best person to advise you on this topic, but I hope this is sort of helpful.

Hello, One important aspect to take into account is which one of these universities have a better relationship with the industry. Some universities receive "grants" from companies which are interested in a specific topic of research. I guess that kind of financial support is often called consortium, so if one of the universities work in a partnership with the industry, it will probably be easier to find a job after graduating (especially in one of the companies within the consortium). There are some universities/departments that are also "supported by" some companies, and they will have the sponsors' names on their website. That's all I know, I hope it helps.