Tag: fall-timeline

Many people are shocked to learn that applications to universities abroad can take anywhere between 6-9 months.

It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon. And, to do well, you need to have a proper plan in place.

The good news is your future does not depend on the outcome of a single exam. One bad day doesn’t ruin you. You can do many things to put up a winning application in the end.

First things first – you need to follow the timeline so that you do not lose track of multiple things that need to be completed. Applying late or very close to deadlines can be detrimental to success. You do not want to do that.

What is the best time to apply to maximize your chances of admit? When should you take GRE? How long should you work on your SOP and essays? If you have all these questions, you are in the right place.

MS in USA application process can be overwhelming and cumbersome. So, here we have tried to put up an easy to understand timeline so that you can keep a tab on what needs to be completed when.

Discipline and time management is key to cracking your dream schools. And it starts from TODAY.

GRE/TOEFL

Take by end of Aug so that you have enough time to retake if necessary
Retake GRE if required by end of Sep (need 21 days between reattempts)

Shortlist Schools

by end of Sep – mid Oct. Here’s full post on how to shortlist schools.

Email Professors

Drop emails to relevant Professors you are interested to work with (especially for people interested in research) by mid of Oct.

Apply for WES

If any of your shortlisted schools require a WES evaluation, apply for it by the end of Oct since it can take a month or more to get their results.

Check for scholarships

There are some third party scholarships available for MS applicants. Search these by end of Oct (so that you can apply by their stated deadlines)

Order transcripts

from your undergraduate college by end of Oct

Finalize SOP, essays and LORs

by mid Nov

Fill the application online and send application packets where required

by end of Nov – mid Dec

Follow up on the status of your applications

and if the required material has been received by the schools in Jan. Resend if anything is amiss

Receive results

by end of Mar-Apr

Submit financial docs for I-20

by end of Apr

Finalize your school and apply for education loan

by May

Appear for visa interview

by end of June

Arrive on the campus

by Aug (2 weeks earlier if you need to look for funding on campus)

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That’s it – it is not as cumbersome if you know what to expect. Save this infographic for a quick reminder.

For personalized assistance for your applications, check our counseling packages.

If you did not receive your dream admit in Fall or if you had missed your Fall deadlines, you are probably considering a critical question that many applicants are confused about – Fall vs Spring?

Although it remains inconclusive whether starting your graduate school in Spring adversely affects your admission chances, there are few things you should know about applying for Spring semester:

School shortlisting in Fall vs Spring

Primarily, not all schools have a Spring intake and hence, your choices of programs that you can apply to are fewer than what you have in Fall. Moreover, some schools have Spring applications only to fill out their left over seats from Fall admissions and admit students on a rolling basis. Some of the schools that have a Spring intake are:

• Cornell
• UIUC
• Purdue
• CMU
• University of Wisconsin Madison
• USC
• NYU
• Syracuse

Getting a summer Internship Fall vs Spring

You can get a CPT only after 9 months of your arrival into USA. For this reason, Spring students cannot get a CPT to intern off-campus during their first summer. However, they can still do a full-time summer internship their second summer but they need to attend one more semester at their school after finishing the internship. This means that they cannot do a summer internship in the second year if they are planning to graduate in 3 semesters only. If a summer internship is critical for you, then consider applying for a course beginning in Fall so that you do not face such restrictions.

Do enquire with your department if summer internship is possible after going in Spring. Our student Praneeth confirms that SUNY Stonybrook does NOT allow it.

Getting Financial Aid

While some people argue that chances of scholarships are low in Spring than Fall, there is no evidence to support this. It all depends on the availability of funding with the university and the Professors.

Availability of Courses in Fall vs Spring

There is another notion that not all the mainstream courses are offered in Spring. Again, I have seen this both ways i.e. some courses are offered in Fall typically and some in Spring, so there is no general rule across all the schools. More popular courses might be offered preferably in Fall since that is the most common intake period and number of students enrolling for the courses are higher in Fall. However, it is better to take a look at the curriculum before assuming that you will not find enough good courses in Spring. You might be interested in some courses which are offered in Fall only but the chances are that you can take it in your second semester anyway. Many courses are designed such that you can take first part in fall second part in spring, you wouldn’t be able to take these courses in spring.

Accommodation, Weather and Networking

It might also be very difficult to get accommodation when you join during spring as most leases start fall and end in summer. You also miss the big university wide orientations that happen during fall. January weather in east coast is pretty bad too.

This is part of the MS Book. To get more such relevant information, please check out MS Book: Smart Engineer’s Complete Guide to MS in USA.