Graduate Study in the U.S.

:
Choosing, applying and financing

Sandarshi Gunawardena
Senior Program Officer
Vietnam Education Foundation

Why Study in the U.S.?

Flexibility: Design your own program,

work collaboratively with other

departments and universities, gain
practical experience in your field,
attend conferences.
People: Dynamic, respected, and
diverse, with high proportion of
international students.
Personal: Leadership, independence,
challenge, experience, networking,

Why Graduate Study in

the U.S.?
Quality: Facilities, resources & faculty are considered the

best in the world

Accreditation systems and strong financial base ensure high

standards.
$55 billion spent annually on research
44% of total world R&D spending
38% of patented new technology inventions by the
industrialized nations of the OECD

Choice:
100 universities offer graduate study to 2.6 million graduate

and professional students in different types of institutions

755,000 graduate degrees awarded in annually including
60,600 Ph.Ds.
277,000 international graduate students

Why Graduate Study in the

U.S.?
Results
Employs 37% of OECD researchers
Produces 35% of total world publications
49% of citations
63% of highly cited publications
Employs 70% of the worlds Nobel Prize
winners and 66% of the worlds most
cited individuals

What is Graduate Study

(Post-Graduate study)
Masters Degree: 2 years beyond

a four-year Bachelors degree

Academic masters degree
Professional masters degree
Doctoral Degree/Ph.D.: 3-7 years

beyond the Masters degree

U.S. System
Associate Degree (In Community Colleges): 2 years
BA/BS: 4 years (some 5 years)

MA/MS: Post- BA and often 2 years

PhD: Combines coursework and research and is 3-7

years after the MA/MS

Students can start PhD after the BA/BS

Researching and
Selecting Graduate
Programs

To help define your education and career goals,

ask yourself these questions: What career do I

want to pursue? Is employment available in my
country in this field? What advanced degree is
required to enter this profession?
Steps in the Research Process:
Selecting those 6-10 Universities
Finding the right fit
What do we mean by "fit"?
Financial and Academic Needs: How are these
two important and how are they linked?
Be realistic

Which is better for you?

Masters:
More practical
More professional
For those who want to work at a high professional level
Shorter in duration

Doctorate:

For research oriented disciplines

For those who want to teach in universities and do
research
Longer in duration

Survival of the fittest

Overall, 57% of students who begin a

Ph.D. program in the U.S. will complete

their degree within 10 years
Approximately 30% will drop out or be
dismissed
The remaining 13% of student will
continue on past ten years
So need to be realistic

Resources for Selecting

EducationUSA Advising Centers: Have

many resources
Printed directories: E.g.: Petersons
Guide to Graduate and Professional Study;
Petersons MBA Programs; Get into Grad
School: A Strategic Approach for Masters
and Doctoral Candidates
Online/web-based search sites/tools:
E.g.: www.petersons.com
Contacts
US College/University Fairs

Other Considerations
Accreditation & Recognition of

University and Degree program

Location
Opportunities for training and
internships
Ranking
Student services
Funding

Criteria for Admission

Preparation and Promise
Past academic Performance
Test scores
Statement of Purpose
Letters of Reference
Experience particularly research and teaching

experience
Match between academic goals and university
program and availability of resources and
mentors

Financing Graduate
Studies

Basic Premises
Admission with funding is limited to the

most promising applicants, with

demonstrated academic potential,
research and teaching experience, and
polished applications.
The key to admission with funding is

RESEARCH of sources and

ENHANCEMENT of the application.

Patterns and Trends

41% of international graduate students

receive funding
More funding is available for PhD programs
than for Masters programs
Research and Doctoral universities have far
more money than Masters institutions
More funding is available for academic
programs than for professional programs
More funding is available in the sciences than
in social sciences or humanities
Many programs dont offer funding until the
second year

Funding varies by field

Engineering, computer science, math:

82% of PhD candidates, 55% of masters

candidates are funded
Humanities: 56% of PhD candidates,
41% of masters candidates are funded
Business, law, health, communications,
and other professions: funding rare,
loans common

Sources of Funding
Universities: The primary source of

initial funding comes, in the form of

assistantships (ca. 40%)
Governments: Advisors are
responsible for knowing about
sources of funding from local (<3%)
and U.S. government (<1%) sources
Other Organizations: Funding from
foundations, agencies etc. (1-4%) is
more common at dissertation or postdoc level

Number Crunching
University funding:
48% at Research institutions
33% at Doctoral institutions
14% at Masters institutions

Personal/family funding:
43% at Research institutions
54% at Doctoral institutions
76% at Masters institutions

University Funding: Sources of

Information
Overview of entire field of study:

Petersons 6-volume Guides to

Graduate Study.
Field of study guides
Departmental websites
Communications with graduate
department coordinator, professors
Advisors must know and show how to
interpret info at each level!

Types of Funding: Assistantships

Teaching (TA): Awarded by department

with concurrence of grad deans. Must

demonstrate spoken English and
teaching experience. Can be in other
departments (languages, math).
Research (RA): Awarded by professors.
Contributes to your thesis research.
Graduate (GA): Awarded by grad
school. Administrative, computer work.

Types of Funding: Other

Fellowships or

Internships: Off-

Tuition
Scholarships:
awarded by grad
school, based on
academic merit
On-campus jobs:
20 hours/week,
low-paying

campus, payment
varies, good
experience
Co-op Programs:
Off-campus, fulltime, pays well,
good experience

The Professorial Link

Professors control teaching and research

assistantships.
Therefore you need to communicate with
them, make them understand what you will
contribute to their research.
From departmental website,
www.scholar.google.com, and
www.scholarly-societies.org, learn about
professors and their research, then write to
them about your academic interests.
They should know you before they receive
your application!

Questions to ask the departmental

coordinator
How many first-year international

grad. students received aid? Any

special qualifications, such as TOEFL?
Please send me information on any
aid for which I may be eligible.
What does it take to get admission
with funding in this department?
If they cant answer these questions,
dont apply!

Funding Strategies
Thorough research of all possible options
Apply to the programs that have the most

funding
Be prepared to pay for the first semester,
so they can see what you can do
Score as high as you can on GRE or GMAT,
TOEFL
The early bird gets the worm: submit
completed applications before January 1
Complete, professional and polished
applications

Enhancing the Application

Select departments where there are

professors who will be interested in

supporting your research
Learn to write a superior Statement
of Purpose
Cultivate effective recommendations

Cost Defrayment
Look for best buys, out-of-state tuition

waivers
Take as many courses as possible,
including summer term, to finish quickly
Resident Assistants in undergrad dorms
get free housing
Live-in with elderly house-owners, or
families with young children, free in
exchange for assistance

Resources: Web
www.educationUSA.state.gov
A good starting point for international
students, providing a clear, concise
introduction for people unfamiliar with the
U.S. system of graduate education. Click on
publications, and download the booklet, If You
Want to Study in the United States: Graduate
and Professional Study and Research.

Resources: Web
www.rpi.edu/dept/llc/writecenter/web/gr

adapp.html-- Rensselaer Polytechnic

Institutes clear directives on writing the
statement of purpose.
www.accepted.com/grad/default.aspx -assistance, some free but mainly commercial,
in writing graduate admissions essays.

Resources: Web
www.lib.msu.edu/harris23/grants/gra

nts.htm-- Michigan State Universitys

database, the most comprehensive of all,
covering a wide range of funding issues
www.nyu.edu/gsas/fininfo/gigs.html-New York Universitys database, Grants in
Graduate Study, well organized
http://www.library.wisc.edu/libraries/
Memorial/grants/intlweb.htm -- The
University of Wisconsins guide.

Resources: Web
www.fastweb.org; www.iefa.org
www.isoa.org; www.iefc.org
www.cs.indiana.edu/docproject/grad.st

uff.html-- in-depth advice about surviving

grad school. This is a superior site, full of
advice that youll return to time and again.
www.cs.indiana.edu/~kfisler/funding.h
tml-- common sense funding guidelines

Resources
Getting What You Came For: The

Smart Students Guide to a Masters

or Ph.D.
Graduate Admissions Essays: Write
Your Way into the Graduate School of
Your Choice. Donald Asher, Ten Speed
Press
Inside Graduate Admissions (Advisorproduced CD)

Questions