1. Higher Education in USA
Prof. Anish Goel Prof. Megha Nagpal

2. Contents
 M.S. Degree
 University and Education System
 M.S. Options
 Costs and Expenses
 GRE General Test
 TOEFL Exam
 Application Procedure
 VISA Procedure
 Earning in $
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3. M.S. Degree Information
 M.S. (Master’s of Science) is a graduate level
degree that is awarded by the respective college in a
USA university.
 A student holding a bachelor’s degree equivalent of
a USA B.S. (Bachelor’s of Science) degree is eligible
to apply for M.S.
 M.S. is a master’s level course that is related to
advanced field of study in the chosen area.
 Candidate can pursue PhD directly after the M.S.
degree has been awarded.
 Interested student may apply for an integrated
program in M.S. PhD right from the beginning.
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4. M.S. Degree
 Master’s of Science can be pursued in the
following areas of engineering:
 Electrical and Computer Engineering
 Civil Engineering
 Computer Science and Engineering
 Mechanical Engineering
 Industrial Engineering
 The degree requires 30 credits to be completed.
 Each course/subject is for 3 credits and hence the degree
requires 10 courses/subjects to be completed.
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5. Why to go for M.S.?
 Quality Institutes offering Technical Master’s
education in India are limited with very few seats.
 M.S. seems to be a good option for those who are
interested in technical master’s education but are not
able to crack GATE and admitted to IIT’s or top
NIT’s.
 Education system in USA is very flexible.
 All USA universities are world ranked well above
IIT’s.
 It opens door to fetch a job abroad.
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6. USA Universities
 All the universities are excellent as far as the
teaching, research and infrastructure is concerned.
 Rank is decided on basis of Ph.D level research.
(Generally)
 Out of top 20 universities in world 13 are US
universities.
 Harvard, Yale, MIT, Cornell, Caltech, UPenn, Stanford,
Princeton, Johns Hopkins, Duke etc…
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7. University and Education System
 One university is a single geographical area and will consist of
a single engineering college.
 Very few universities have multiple campuses.
 Like
 Arizona State University (Tempe, West, Ploytechnic, Downtown
Phoenix)
 Rutgers (New Brunswick, Newark, Hoboken)
 For application you have to apply to the respective
department/college in the respective university.
 Most of the university follow same set of rules and procedures.
 Universities are classified as private universities and
public/government universities.
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8. Education System (Engineering) Cont…
 Some universities follow semester pattern while others follow
quarter pattern.
 Normal duration of Semester will be around 14 weeks (3 and
half months)
 Normal duration of Quarter will be around 10 weeks (2 and
half months)
 An year would consists of 2 semesters Fall and Spring with
period as Aug-Dec and Jan-May respective
 For quarter, an year will have three sessions as Fall, Winter
and Spring with respective periods as Sept-Nov, Dec-Feb,
Mar-May.
 All universities follow a credit based system to award degree.
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9. Education System (Engineering) Cont…
 Credits define the number of hours spent on a
course per week.
 Each course/subject has been allocated a specified
number of credits.
 Generally a semester pattern course has 3 credits
while a quarter pattern course has 4 credits.
 M.S. Degree requirements:
 In semester system 30 credits for graduation.
 In quarter system 40-45 credits for graduation.
 So for getting an M.S. degree approximate of 10
courses are required.
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10. M.S. Degree Options
 Course Based: In this case one takes all 10 courses and
completes M.S.
 Project Based: Here 9 courses and a Masters Project is
required.
 Thesis Based: Here 8 courses are required and an M.S.
Thesis is required.
 Choosing one of the options determines the time required
to complete M.S. degree.
 The duration can vary from minimum time as 1 year
(Exceptional) to as long as 4 year.
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11. Flexible Education System in USA
 The education system is quite flexible in two senses:
It is time flexible and Course flexible.
 Time Flexibility: All you are required to do is
complete required number of credits/courses
spanning over multiple semesters/quarters.
 Like courses taken in sem pattern can have combinations
like: 3-3-4, 3-3-3-1.
 As an international student you are required to take
minimum of 3 courses per semester to maintain your F-1
visa status.
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12. Flexible Education System in USA Cont…
 Course Flexibility: You are required to take maximum
4 courses as mandatory courses in the respective
field of study, all the others are elective.
 Out of these others you are allowed to take maximum 2
courses outside your department provided the outside
course has some relevance to your intended field of
study.
 Example, a student with ECE major can take
Management course from School of Management or
Robotics course from Industrial/Mechanical Department.
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13. Test of English as Foreign Language
TOEFL
Section Time Limit Questions Tasks
Read 3 or 4 passages
Reading* 60–80 minutes 36–56 questions from academic texts and
answer questions.
Listen to lectures,
classroom discussions and
Listening 60–90 minutes 34–51 questions
conversations, then
answer questions.
Break 10 minutes — —
Express an opinion on a
familiar topic; speak based
Speaking 20 minutes 6 tasks
on reading and listening
tasks.
Write essay responses
based on reading and
Writing 50 minutes 2 tasks
listening tasks; support an
opinion in writing.
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14. Graduate Record Examination
GRE
Measure Number of Questions Allotted Time
Analytical Writing One "Analyze an Issue"
(One section with two task and one "Analyze an 30 minutes per task
separately timed tasks) Argument" task
Verbal Reasoning Approximately 20
30 minutes per section
(Two sections) questions per section
Quantitative Reasoning Approximately 20
35 minutes per section
(Two sections) questions per section
Unscored¹ Varies Varies
Research² Varies Varies
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15. Procedure to Go
 Appear for GRE.
 Appear for TOEFL.
 Complete Applications:
 Fill up applications to universities.
 Get your SOP’s, LOR’s transcripts and other documents.
 Sent the documents to universities.
 Once you get a I-20 (Acceptance) from the
university:
 Apply for your VISA.
 Once you get the VISA:
 Pack up your bags… Get going.
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16. Costs and Expenses
 Cost for exams and application (to approx. 8-9
universities) process is :
 Rs. 80,000 – 1,00,000 Approx.
 Expense for VISA and preparation
 Rs. 1,00,000/-
 Cost of Attendance:
 Rs. 10 to 25 Lac. (Varies widely)
 Cost of living:
 350$-750$ per month.
 Including everything.
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17. Application Procedure
 Short listing of universities.
 Preparing personal documents like SOP, LOR’s,
Resume.
 Gathering formal documents like Transcripts, Bank
statement etc…
 Filling online application for each university.
 Sending application packet to each university.
 Ordering scores from ETS to each university.
 Checking status of application.
 Requesting for I-20.
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18. VISA Procedure
 Payment of VISA fees at HDFC bank.
 Filling online F-1 VISA form (DS-160 form) at the
respective consulate and taking appointment for
VISA interview.
 Submitting documents to the consulate.
 Payment of SEVIS fee online.
 Preparing all required documents.
 Preparing for VISA interview.
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19. F-1 VISA Rules and Regulations
 F-1 is students VISA for international students who
wish to study in USA.
 F-1 VISA is generally given for 5 years.
 Your F-1 VISA status is valid as long as you are a
registered students under any university or on
OPT/CPT.
 You cannot stay back in USA for more than 3
months after graduating unless you are in OPT/CPT.
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20. Earning in $$$
 On-Campus part time Jobs
 Universities have plenty of on-campus jobs.
 You can cover your cost of living by working part time.
 Part time jobs will be like a library assistant, computer
assistant, shift work in cafeteria etc…
 TA/RA/CCA may also fall into the category of part time job.
 Internships
 You can apply for internship or any job only after 1 year/2
semesters.
 Internships can be converted into full time job if your
employer has a post.
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21. Earning in $$$ cont…
 Full time jobs
 During your final semester of graduation you may apply
for full time jobs through respective company website.
 Every semester/quarter university organizes “Career Fair”
where interested companies come to campus on same
day and shortlist students on basis of resume for
telephonic interview.
 Full time job requires H-1 VISA (Work permit in USA)
 Filing for H-1 VISA will be taken care by your employer.
 Package for a full time job will be 55K USD to 120K USA
per annum.
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22. *Disclaimer
All information contained in this presentation are purely based on
experiences of the authors besides some have been directly taken
from internet.
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