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Postgrad study in the USA - both fun and funded?
Most universities in the US will require that an applicant takes at least one standardised test. Depending on the selected field of study, the following standardised tests are generally required: The Graduate Record Exam (GRE), the most commonly required, is for applicants to humanities and arts & sciences courses. The Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) is for admission to a business school programme. TheTest of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) is only for nonnative speakers of English. These tests generally comprise several multiple-choice sections and an essay. Each takes three to four hours to complete with strict time limits on each section. The scores are sent directly to the universities applied to. No matter how many applications are submitted, a student need only take the applicable standardized test once. To find out more information on each of these tests please refer to www.ets.org.
Each university has its own admission requirements. Contact the US university’s director of graduate admissions for prospectuses, application forms and financial aid information. This information is also available on the university's website. Letters of recommendation are an essential part of the application. Care should be taken in choosing referees. It is important that they are familiar with the student's academic work and it is a bonus if the referee is known to the department to which the application is being made.
Universities require a statement of purpose from candidates as part of the application process. This is an opportunity to distinguish oneself from other applicants. The goal is to write a clear, concise and persuasive statement that sincerely reflects the applicant’s views and aspirations. The university and graduate department will be looking for: academic or research interests; reason for wanting to pursue graduate study; strong and specific reasons for choosing that institution; future career goals; how graduate study will help to achieve those goals; and relevant extracurricular experiences or personal qualities not discussed elsewhere in the application.
It is important to check all university admissions deadlines carefully. US university deadlines are firm and applicants must ensure that the full application pack has reached the university before the required date. This includes the non-refundable application fee which ranges between $30 to $100 per school. Some universities offer rolling admissions which means that applications will be accepted until spaces are full and therefore there are no specific deadlines.
While fees may be higher than in many countries, averaging $19,000 per academic year in 2004, a plethora of funding sources exists. The admissions office of the institution in which an international student wishes to enrol is the best place to start a search for financial assistance. This can be in the form of a grant, loan, scholarship, teaching/research assistantship, tuition waiver, or work-study. As Aisling found, “I funded my studies by working as a graduate assistant at the university and did not have to take out further loans, my tuition and living costs were covered. For my assistantship I worked up to twenty hours a week, teaching, grading students’ work and also holding office hours where students could meet with me on a one to one basis.”
