US Scholarship HOWTO

Written by Bogdan Cocosel July 1996 You are reader number:

since Feb. 28, 1997

I have started to write this, in order to help those of you who are going to pursue a PhD (or Masters) degree at a US University. I wrote it in English because most of this information can be used by students from any other country. There are, however, some specific Romanian information which will be useful only to Romanian users and this type of information (addresses, banks, etc.) will be emphasized by a special graphical sign :

(you DO have a graphical browser, don't you?). A special warning covers the addresses and/or deadlines: they are all accurate for the 1995/1996 "season". Most of them are not supposed to change in the future years, but you must be cautious, thought. I intend to keep this information as much up-to-date as possible, (and I will appreciate any feedback from you guys), but you know how it is ... maybe I'll skip some or just get bored. >;-)

However, everything I wrote here came from my own experience (or from well thought-out advises from my friends). It outlines some things I didn't know before I started this process and some errors I made and which, I hope, you are not going to do too (not EXACTLY the same, of course, but some very close ones >:-) ). The information is provided on an "as-is" basis. Use it, enjoy it, talk dirty about it ... I don't care!

If you want some additional advises, covering the same topic, look at some considerations written down by Mihai Budiu. It is better to read it also so that you can know two sides of the same story.

Some final considerations: I will present the information in chronological order ie. in the order you should (in my opinion) solve things so that you will not waste any time and, above all, that you will meet the deadlines (which, of course, is the most important part). Let's get started now ...

0. Objectives

For a scholarship in US there are a few things that you should do (or have):

take the GRE exam
take the TOEFL/TSE exam your MS diploma (if you have graduated)
your mark list ("foaie matricola" in Romania)
your recommendations
apply for admission at the university(s) of your choice
wait for acceptance
HOPE

Any of these points are of crucial importance! Normally, you cannot skip any of them and keep reasonable chances of admittance. There are a few exceptions, thought: you can obtain a scholarship from MIT, for example, without having to take the GRE exam, but for this you should either be a well known international expert (like Linus or Stallman) and/or have published a few books either alone (but in this case, they must have been GOOD) or together with some of the above mentioned experts.

1. Request the application forms

By receiving the university envelopes, you obtain a great deal of information about the university. Actually the universities are in some sort of competition with each other: their objective is to gather the best students, and you will sometimes find better conditions to a lower ranked university than from a higher ranked one. It is, in the end, your choice to choose between prestige and security (for example financial).

You must bear in mind that in Computer Science, for example, there are about 130 American Universities which offer a PhD program in CS. Normally you are supposed to contact by mail each university and ask them to send you the application forms and information about them. The main problem is that sending 130 envelopes can be a overwhelming task. Not only you will waste a lot of time but you will also waste money. A simple envelope mailed to US costs 0.3-0.5 USD (in Romania). Luckily, we live in the information age and most of the US universities can be contacted by e-mail. You should only write a simple letter in which you explain that you want to pursue a PhD degree in Computer Science (or in the field of your choice) and that you want the application forms and the financial support information. You can look over mine as a sample.

The envelopes should arrive in 2-4 weeks, but I have received one after more than 5 month. Normally the documents for the next year are ready in June or July, so if you request them earlier, you will receive the ones from the preceding year. As soon as the will start arriving, you should read them carefully and, eventually, form a database containing the information extracted from the documents you have received, especially the deadlines and the scores requested. If you can, use a computer, and make the database as completely as possible. It will save you a lot of time when you will make the envelopes (you can print automatically the addresses for all the universities you are going to apply for) and also you can sort them by your chance of being admitted.

Keep in mind that you must request those envelopes early enough so that you will be able to read them, understand them, choose the universities and apply to them. (September 15 is sort of a deadline for that matter).

2. Enlist to take the GRE&TOEFL test

Graduate Record Examination
Educational Test Service
P.O.Box 6000
Princeton, NJ 08541-6000
USA

and for TOEFL/TSE:

TOEFL/TSE Publications
PO Box 6154
Princeton, NJ 08541-6154
USA

In Romania, the Fulbright Foundation can give you all the information you may need and is also, responsible of offering the test at the the two sites in Romania: Bucharest & Iasi. The are also depositary of the GRE & TOEFL sample test and of the Peterson's Universities Catalogue.

Note: the ETS also organizes the TSE, GMAT and SAT tests !

2.1 Fullbright Foundation

Normally for receiving the forms for the GRE and/or TOEFL exam you should contact ETS directly at the address provided above, but, normally, in each country there is an ETS representative where you can obtain any information and/or documents you may need for the GRE and TOEFL exams.

For Romania the Fullbright Foundation is located at:

str. Austrului 15
Bucuresti
Romania
Tel. (401) 210.49.14 or (401) 210.49.15

Ask for the TOEFL/TSE Bulletin, the GRE Bulletins (General and Subject tests) AND the volatile paper which contains the bank, account and beneficiary to which you are supposed to make the payment for the tests. For 1996 these reference are:

Bank : ABN-AMRO Bank - Arnhem, Netherlands
US$ account : 438993195
Beneficiary : CITO - Arnhem, Netherlands

2.2 Completing the forms

This part is pretty straight forward, the only important decisions you have to make are: how are you going to schedule your exams and if you are going to give the Subject GRE in the same day with the General GRE.

Scheduling the GRE is quite simple: you don't have many choices. The exam is given three times a year: April, October and December. The December test date is late: if you take the General exam then, you will not receive the results in time to meet the deadlines for many universities (the good ones have deadlines around January 15 or even January 1st, check the information from the university envelopes). It remains the April and the October administrations. It would be great if you can give the General exam in April and the Subject exam in October.

There one advantage and one disadvantage in separating the two exams. One advantage is that you will not be tired for the Subject exam (the General exam is given at 8.00 and the Subject exam at 14.00 the same day!). The general exam lasts around 4 1/2 hours (counting the breaks, the organization etc.) and the subject lasts 3 hours. Take into consideration if you CAN (?) give a 4 1/2 hours (exhausting) exam in the morning and after a break of 1 - 1 1/2 hours to start a new important exam of three hours! The advantages is that you pay 20$ less if you give them in the same day. For us, the poor ones, this an important aspect.

Another thing is that, usually, you will miss the April administration (it is too early, and summer is coming, isn't it?) and, if you want your application to contain ALL the results when it is evaluated, then you will have no choice (other than giving the Subject test in December, but you risk to miss the deadline, remember?). Another option is to try the Computer-based test for which the results come faster, but which is more expensive and IS DIFFERENT from the paper-and-pencil exam (different strategies of taking the test etc.) I gave the two tests in the same day. It is not as tough as they say. If you are well prepared for the exam, especially for the Subject test (that's where you will pay tribute to the fatigue). And that means knowledge that is acquired over a long period of time, not during a race against time. It is a problem of physiology: the things memorized last are the first which are forgotten. You should be prepared physically and psychologically for a 7 1/2 hours of exams. For example, I was in my best shape for the General exam and I've started quite fresh the Subject exam but after 2 hours I have surprised myself with a pencil in my hand and wondering: "Hey! Where am I and what am I doing here?".
Check the section covering the GRE exam advises for more information about this topic.

Choosing the date for the TOEFL exam is easier (for different reasons): the exam is given 12 times a year (one each month). On some dates it is given together with the TWE test. If this is the case you must give the TWE exam also. Don't worry, is no big deal! (see the TOEFL advises section)

2.3 Tests payment

After completing the forms, you should find a bank from were you should make the payment. Please, don't choose the easy way out and go to the greatest bank in town. This is a market economy after all. When making a payment there is a small extra fee the bank takes for its trouble.

There are a few different solutions for payment you should take into account (if you are Romanian check Test Financing next!):

Check: this is, probably, the "normal" way or, at least, the most used. For checks, the bank take a percentage of the sum transferred if this sum is over a certain amount or a fixed amount otherwise. The sums you are going to transfer will be, most probably, under this amount so you should search for a bank for which this tax is minimal.

Bank Transfer: if you have a USD account, then this is the most simple way to make the payment. And if you have a USD account then you know what to do. :)))
Money order: this is the safest way to go. The advantage of this method is that the recipe the bank will give you does not contain the specified amount in USD (as does the check). It is simply a proof of payment. If it gets lost, you simply go to the bank and request a duplicate of your proof of payment. On the other hand, if the check is lost ... well, life is a bitch, isn't it? (There is something you can do even in this desperate case: the bank will check if the check has been drawn, and, if not, it will cancel it and emit a new check. Of course the bank will charge you heavily for this "service". I have used checks and sent them inside the most ordinary letter and everything has been OK, but, then again, maybe I was just lucky. :) ) The problem with this method is that is VERY expensive. You will probably pay 40-60 $ only for the payment for the GRE exam (which costs around 150$!). A colleague of mine who used this solution, experienced a dramatic delay until the money have arrived. They have made over one and a half month from Romania to Netherlands (that's what happens when you trust Romanian banks!), but if you trust your bank you can give it a shot.
Credit Card: if you have a credit card (or know someone who has one and wants to help) this is is, by far, the easiest and safest method of payment. The problem is, obviuosly, that not anyone has access to a credit card. A credit card payment is guaranteed by the underlying financial institution who opened the credit (VISA, Mastercard, American Express etc.) so there is no risk of default and consequently there are no delays in cashing the money. Further more, as you send nothing but the credit card number, there is nothing to be lost. It is safe, quick and foolproof.

Well ... I think these are all (if there are more, please let me know). One final remark: 90% of those who made this before you, have used the simple, old-fashioned checks. This solution is cheap, simple and reliable. It worked for us, it will surely work for you, too.

2.4 Tests finacing

If you are a romanian student ... you are lucky! A non-profit organization, Romanian Education Foundation (REF), offers support for covering the examination fees. If you are interested in this, you should mail your application for TOEFL, GRE or SAT to REF and they will add the examination fee and forward your application to ETS. As they usually receive more applications than they can pay, they will need some extra information about you so they can filter out and support the most promissing students. Supporting information should include: your college grades, a letter explaining why, when and where you are interested to apply and any other information you feel will improve your qualification chances. Their address is:

ROMANIAN EDUCATION FOUNDATION
P.O. Box 19813
Stanford, CA 94309
USA

Mihai si Andrei Popovici (mihai@roed.org, andrei@roed.org)

You can find further details on their website (in Romanian only).

2.5 Waiting the papers from ETS

After a few weeks you will receive the admission tickets for your exams. Read the instructions from the bulletin carefully, they will give you a lot of important information (for example that you must have photos ready for the exam and a proper ID).

3. Preparing the exams

As a general advice, the sooner you start learning the better will be your results. So open your books and start eating them ...

3.1 GRE

It is composed by two exams: the General and the Subject test, each of them with its own characteristics which requires different approach strategies. A whole bunch of information about this test can be obtained from the GRE web service.

Check out a few tips for taking the General exam (taken from the ETS tips page).

3.1.1 GRE General

This is the most important exam you are going to give. It is something like an intelligence test. It is called General because it requires only general knowledge and it is offered to everyone (unlike the Subject test which requires specific knowledge which can normally be acquired only by attending a university). This test is so important because, for many universities, this is THE test they require. Some of them don't even require the Subject test (even if it will increase your chances if you have it). If you get a great score on this test, then the gates of American universities will open wide in front of you.

The General test is composed by three different sections: Verbal (V), Quantitative (Q) and Analytical (A) The actual General exam is composed by six section (two from each type) and one "experimental" section which will not count to the final score and which can be a V, Q or A section. The problem is that you don't know which of the test is the experimental one and so you must treat them with equal consideration. In theory, if you "feel" which one is the "special" one you can simply ignore it and rest but, in practice, the risk is simply too big.

3.1.1.1 Verbal section

This section is pretty tricky for most non-native English speakers. The good news is that for engineering profiles this section is less important, so that, if you should have at least 80-85% at A and over 85-90% at Q, it is OK to have a score of about 40-45% at the Verbal test. Most of the difficulty of this test comes the usage of rarely used words, or known words used for some unusual meaning. For you to obtain a score as higher as possible you should start improving your vocabulary as soon as possible. The more strange words you learn, the higher your score will be. To help you in your quest it exists now an excellent vocabulary tool: the GREV program (written by Mihai Budiu. This can help you a lot, so use it as often as you can. You will be amazed by the results! Check out some tips for the verbal test excerpted from the GRE General booklet.

3.1.1.2 Quantitative section

This section is probably the most simple of all three. The most sophisticated mathematic concepts involved are school-level arithmetics and data inference. The capabilities tested are mainly the ability to perform correctly a lot of simple computations in a limited amount of time. As a matter of fact, it is the only one of the three tests which is not a race against time. Normally, you can finish all questions after only 20 minutes. Even the most difficult tests (I had one of those) can be finished in 25-28 minutes. The time gained during this test can be crucial for your brain (that's the big grey mass inside your head! ;-) ) You can have a few moments of relaxation and disconnect yourself from the pressure of the exam. This gives you the opportunity to start fresh the next test which (if you are lucky) can be an Analytical section. The problem is that the order of the sections is random, and it cannot be foreseen. It would be best for you if the Analytical parts come at the beginning of each of the two parts of the exam (you have a 15 minutes break approximately at the middle of the General exam, ie. after the 3rd or 4th section) or, if that is too much to ask, at least the Analytic section(s) to immediately follow the Quantitative section(s).

As a general piece of advice for the Quantitative exam: be quick but not careless. Attention! After answering 15-20 very simple questions, you may start to loose focus and make stupid mistakes (if you look back over the test you will be amazed that you've answered them wrong).

I must place a little warning here: this test is simple for persons with an analytical thinking. Student from humanist profiles (which will have much greater scores to the Verbal test due to their natural ability in using words) can find this test quite difficult!

Check out some tips for quantitative test excerpted from the GRE General booklet.

3.1.1.3 Analytical section

I think that this is the most difficult section. It is tough not because of the questions involved, but because it is THE race against the clock. Giving the correct answer involves deep analytical thinking, distributed attention and memory.
The Analytical test looks a lot like an IQ test. Some of the problems included in this test are something like:

There are 5 houses in row
The third house is blue, and the person who lives next door drinks milk.
The 0 of the one who smokes Camel has a dog.
...

Question: Who drinks water and who owns a zebra?

There are many problems which after offering the premises asks you 4 or 5 questions, for which the solutions can be inferred from the data offered. The problem is that if you make one simple error in interpreting the data you will give wrong answers to all 4 or 5 questions that follows. The only good advice I can give you is: PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE! Do as many Analytical test as you can. They will increase your speed and your accuracy. All the questions asked in the test can be be solved with 100% efficiency if you would have 1-1 1/2 hours at your disposal. Unfortunately you only have 1/2 an hour to solve all 25 questions; you will be amazed how fast can 30 minutes pass!

Check out some tips for analytical test excerpted from the GRE General booklet.

3.1.2 GRE Subject

This exam will test your knowledge for the field you have chosen. The test will go through the entire Computer Science (if you have chosen the CS Subject exam) from the design of computer architectures to Operating Systems and Artificial Intelligence. The quantity of information you have to master is so huge that is unlikely that you will be able to learn all the courses you have skipped during university in the one or two months that precedes the exam.

You can look for a few tips offered by ETS for the Computer Science Subject Test.

3.2 TOEFL

The TOEFL test is composed from three different section:

Listening Comprehension
Structure and Written Expression
Reading Comprehension

Overall, this test is quite easy. After the GRE exam, the most difficult TOEFL test, will be a piece of cake. Normally, you will find no problem to obtain over 600 points which are generally required for an appointment at an US university. The results from the people I know, have a Gauss distribution between 580 and 660, with a peak at around 620. Despite this insurances, you should not take this exam lightly. If you are not very confident in your English abilities, practice a lot, or you will have nasty surprises when the test results arrive.

Usually the most difficult of them is considered the Listening Comprehension section due mainly to the inherent difficulty for the non-native English speakers to understand spoken English (American spoken English!!!). The best thing that can help you for this test is to listen some spoken American English (movies, news etc.) and try to ignore the translation (if this is the case for the movies). After that, try to listen (and understand) what it is spoken without actually paying any attention to the TV (or tape, or whatever). Try listening while doing something else, like, for example, reading or working at your computer :-) This will improve a lot your listening abilities.

3.3 Other tests

You may also need the TSE test. Some universities (mostly the outstanding ones!) require you to have the results from this test in order to consider your admission, others only require you to have them before enrollment or not require them at all. For the majority of universities this test is NOT needed and most students simply ignore it (it's cheaper this way!).
The GMAT test is the GRE equivalent for the business administration degrees. It is similar but not exactly the same because it testes different abilities.
I don't have any knowledge about the SAT tests. Sorry ...

4 Preparing the needed documents

In order to form a complete application package you will need a few official documents concerning your studies, recommendations, CV etc. Some of them are helpful, other are required but for all of them I can give you a simple advice: start obtaining them as soon as possible; they will take you a lot of time which can become critical as you approach the application's deadline.

Note: The documents provided in the Microsoft's Word 6.0 format must be DOWNLOADED. Some browsers can trick you and say that they cannot find the requested URL. Select "Save this link as ..." option!

4.1 Mark list ("foaie matricola" in Romania)

This document is ABSOLUTELY required! Without him you won't have too many chances in the admission process. Each university has its own rules to release this document so I will explain the process used in the Polytechnic University of Bucharest (of course, this is only relevant for Romanian students).

Here are the steps:

Make a request directed to the rector of PUB. Check mine for a sample (Word 6.0 document).
Go to the university registrar to register your request (get a registration number on your request).
With the request you go to the department chief registrar, and ask the release of your mark list.
After a few days (if you are lucky) the beautiful document will be yours, containing the signatures of the dean and the department chief registrar.
Take the document to the university office (I have no idea how they translate "rectorat" in English) and make it signed by the chief registrar and by the rector (in that order) and then stamped by the university (service of papers and diplomas).
At this moment you are the happy owner of a mark list released "at request". Be VERY careful with it! You will get NO duplicates!

Once you've got it you must make an English translation of it. Don't relay on the public notary to make a correct translation: they have no idea about Computer Science (and about anything else outside their 0 for that matter!) and their translation will be so strange that even you will not recognize the course names you have taken. So do it yourself! Here is my translation made in Microsoft Word 6.0. Make the necessary modification. Make enough copies of the mark list (both for the original and for the English translation) to cover the needs for all the universities you are going to apply.

The next step is to authenticate the copies at the Public Notary. This will cost you a LOT of money. I have paid (for 30 copies of diploma Rom./Engl. + mark list Rom./Engl.) around 120$. The good news is that the prices are negotiable, maybe you'll find a better bargain! Normally, you should authenticate the papers (in both languages) at your Department, but, due to Education Ministry regulations, university officials are not permitted to sign and stamp documents in other language than Romanian. So, you will have to notarize them (or see the above paragraph ...)

4.2 Diploma (MS degree)

If you have obtained a MS (or MA) degree you should also provide copies after your diploma (for the original and the English translation). Same advises as for the mark list applies to the diploma (authentication etc.). Here is my diploma translation(Word 6.0 document).

4.3 Recommendations

You will normally require 3 recommendations from three persons which know your work and your personal abilities. This is a CRUCIAL part of your application package. For some universities is even considered to have the most important influence in the admission process so be careful when choosing your recommenders. Normally, you should ask for recommendations from your teachers but you can also request one form your employer (however, if you are going to apply for an assistantship position, this is not a good choice).

Use the following tips when choosing your recommender:

Ask for recommendations from teachers who know you well: you worked on projects with them, followed many of their courses (2-3 at least) etc. They will be able to give you more personal letters which will have an important impact on the admission committee.
Recommendations from teachers who have administrative or professional titles (dean, department head, etc.) are more impressive. Be warned, however, that those persons are usually very, very busy, so ask for recommendations from them as early as possible; when the wave of requests will come they will get very uncooperative.
Another type of persons you should approach are the ones known world-wide: writers of well-known books, participants at international congresses etc.

At least one (if not all) must be enthusiastic in tone, for you to keep reasonable chances of success. The recommendation must show that the teacher knows you well, appreciates your skills and is confident in your chances of success. It should make references at your past work and achievements. Make a first contact with your teachers by asking them IF they want to give you recommendations (they can be busy!). Only AFTER their approval bring them the envelopes containing the recommendation papers from the universities. It is courteous to bring addressed and stamped envelopes in case your teacher wants to mail them directly. You should also complete the forms with all the information you can provide (your name, teacher's name and position, school address etc.) so that your teacher will have nothing else to do than completing the checkboxes and sign the recommendation. It is your teacher's decision if he wants to mail them directly or to give them to you, to be sent along with the application package.

4.4 Statement of Purpose

This is also an important piece of your application. Through the "Statement of Purpose" you present yourself and your career goals to the admission committee. This your only chance to plead for your acceptance to the committee. So give it your best shot! You can check mine for a sample.

4.5 Resume

It could be a good idea to include a resume in your application. It is not a required part of your application, but, as it present more thoroughly your achievements and experience, it can make the difference between being admitted and being rejected.

4.6 Exam scores

After receiving your official copy of your scores, you should forward them to the universities. Except for the 4 GRE recipients and for the 3 TOEFL recipients which will receive original scores directly from ETS, for all the other universities you should instruct ETS to forward your scores to each other recipient. This process is expensive as for each supplemental recipient you will pay $13 for GRE and 11$ for TOEFL. The solution is to provide only XEROX copies after your official documents. For most universities this will be enough (some will require you to sent official copies for them to validate your admission).

4.7 Completing the application forms

This part is very simple. Simply complete the forms sent to you by the university and add it to your application package. This can take some time, so start completing the forms when you still have the time to do it (ie. BEFORE your scores arrive!).

4.8 Application fee

This is the most tricky part of your application. Nearly all the universities require an application fee in order to evaluate your application. Your application may not even be looked over if it the fee has not been paid. This is your decision: you can take a chance and not paying the fee (with the risk that your application can be discarded regardless of your scores!) or paying the fee. Call me if you have questions regarding this subject.

5 Giving the tests

The rules for this exams are quite the same as for any any other exam you have given in the past. One piece of advice, thought: this exam is extremely correct. If you have heard (or thought) about a cheating possibility, forget it! The examination rooms are so small (25-30 places) that even the slightest whisper sounds like a shout in a cave! The only cheating you can do is to work to another test section if you still have some time left from the current section. The problem is that this method is of VERY HIGH risk. Your chances of success are so small that it is simply not worthy. Moreover, the stress that accompany cheating can even lower your score. And even if you succeed, you will remain with a bad taste about it, wouldn't you?

5.1 GRE

As this is the most important exam for you, I will start with him. Make sure that you are well prepared psychically and physically for it. So try to avoid trouble the days before it and take good night sleep before the exam. In any case, DON'T stay late in the evening to look over a few details you may have missed (you don't get the pig fat in Christmas Eve, remember?). Have everything prepared for the exam (pencils, razors, ID, admission ticket etc.) in the evening. Don't waste your time in the morning with those things. You will probably forget a few!

The most important warning I must give concerns the methodology of this exam. You will not be allowed to bring additional paper! Any computation you may need will be made on the test itself (not on the answer sheet, of course!). The test is specially conceived with large white spaces, so you will have enough space for your drawings and computations. However, if you normally use unusually big drawings, or if your writing is big, then you must take into account that the free space you have is not infinite, and must use what you have.

Please give this exam the attention it deserves. It has been one of the most difficult exams I've ever given so, don't be fooled by the fact that you have usually taken your exams easily. There are many things which come against you: the amount of information you have to assimilate, tiredness etc.

5.2 TOEFL

As I've already mentioned, the difficult part of this exam (assuming that you know English!) is understanding spoken English! If you have followed my earlier advises you should find no trouble with it.

The important part for this exam is that you are not allowed to write on the test book AT ALL. Any test which is written on, will have its results cancelled by ETS. The good news is that you will normally have no need to write absolutely anything (except for your answers!)

6 Sending your application

After receiving the scores from ETS, you should be ready to send the application packages to universities. For many universities (about 50%) you will have to send only one envelope, for others (40-45%) you will have to send two packages, one for the department and one for the Graduate School, and for some few you will have not only to send the two envelopes to the department and Graduate School, but also, to mail separately the recommendations. If you have to send many envelopes, try finding a post-office that will not give you stamps but, instead, will mark the envelopes as "paid". One of those post-offices is located near "Piata 1 Mai" in Bucharest. I find out about it AFTER I have sent most of my envelopes. I can't tell you what is it like to stick 10-15 stamps (as the biggest stamp value they sell is of about 0.30$) for each of the 25 envelopes you have to send!

Remember to insert the application fee inside. This way you can be sure that your application will be evaluated. But, if you don't have the money ... you'll have to gamble, wouldn't you?

7 Contacting the faculty

Now everything should be OK. All the things you have HAD to do, you have done. But you can still increase your chances of admission (dramatically, I should say!). You can contact the faculty in order to present yourself. As I have told you, the admission process goes some thing like this: the applications are impartially evaluated by a committee formed by teachers from the university. They look over applications and, if they feel that one applicant is compatible with their objectives and his background is good enough, they will recommend him for admission (this is a very simple description of the process, in fact the admission is much more complicated). When they make a decision, their motives are objective (scores, experience etc.), they have no personal contact with one student or another.

The teachers have a very important influence in the process. If you have contacted one earlier, and he wants to have you as his assistant, he will plead in for you in front of the committee, turning the balance in your favor, regardless of your application!!! This is how some student with a not so impressive background (and some average scores) can be accepted, while students with better grades and scores are denied admission.

To have this advantage on your side you should start contacting the faculty even before you have sent the applications (10-20 December would be excellent!). Make a nice letter in which you will present yourself and your achievements, paying attention to the domains you want to specialize in (they should not be different from the one you have specified in the Statement of Purpose! If it happens the teachers may think that you are not very convinced that you want to pursue a PhD degree!) The letter should be more personal in tone (you are not addressing to a committee, as it is the case with the Statement of Purpose), so try presenting yourself from a great perspective.

When choosing the teachers which you will contact, look over their fields of concentration (presented in the documents you have received from the university). It is more likely that a teacher will choose you if you have a mutual interest in some field.

One important advice: you CANNOT contact teachers by ordinary mail. They don't have time to read thousands of letters each semester! Not to mention that you must contact them through the university mail address. So, you must contact them through e-mail. If you don't have an e-mail account, obtain one, and FAST!!! Not only you will be able to make direct (and fast!) contact with the faculty but you can also obtain a whole bunch of information about the universities. You can look over mine for a sample.

8 Waiting & accepting appointments

The moment you have worked so hard for, has arrived: your admission (AND financial support) from the university of your choice (but, then again, ANY university is good, isn't it?). As most universities have application deadlines after January 15, you should normally not receive any acceptance before this date (with the notable exception of some outstanding results at your tests and an incredible background!)

Please consider (if not already done) the advantages of having an e-mail account. You will receive e-mail acceptance a few weeks BEFORE the official papers arrive. So, you will have time to prepare and decide to which university you want to go.

The acceptances are arriving in a few successive waves: the first one is from around February 5 or 10 until March 10 or 15. This is normally the wave of the first acceptances (ie. if you are the first to be offered the scholarship you will be contacted somewhere between these dates). The second wave come from March 10 or 20 until April 5 or 10. Normally, the best ranked universities should contact you by now. The competition to those universities is so high that they can choose from many eligible candidates. However, if you are not accepted until April 15, there are still chances to be accepted to a great university. The well qualified students (who have more than one acceptance) can, obviously, go to only one of them. Therefore, the other ones must find a suitable replacement for him. If the faculty continue to choose students who will not enroll at their university (because are overqualified or for various other reasons like climate, financial support offered, health insurance, taxes etc.) they can continue to be in desperate need for students many weeks after April 15. There will be only two more waves after this date: one starting at around April 20 and one starting around May 1st. If you have not received any affirmative answer until the end of May ... well, what can I say?

Some of the universities only contact students through regular mail and, if this is the case, the dates should moved consequently (with 3 to 6 weeks).

There is an important thing you must know about responding to offers. It exist a Resolution Regarding Graduate Scholars, Fellows, Trainees, and Assistants. Under this resolution you are not forced to reply to an offer before April 15. Read carefully the terms of it, as it may affect you directly. Although you can hardly find an University which has not agreed to the Resolution, you can find ones which will not respect it. So, you can find universities which impose you earlier deadlines than April 15 or which do not enclose a copy of the Resolution in the financial offer package.

When you accept an appointment take into consideration ALL the aspect of living in a foreign country:

Money: usually the appointment is designed to fully support you (ie. housing, food and expenses) but sometimes "fully" can mean the absolutely minimal living expenses. maybe you have greater goals than only housing and eating ...
Health insurance: this point is of very high importance. The medical expenses in US are VERY high: the least expensive hospital room cost per day, not including doctor fees, etc. is 400$. An appendix removal costs 2500$. A simple dental intervention costs around 200-300$. So, please consider how will you pay in case of an emergency. Most of the universities offer some sort of health insurance (if they don't offer it at all, simply ignore that university: in 4-6 years of the PhD program there are small chances that you will NEVER need ANY medical assistance), the problem comes from universities which offer partial insurance: what health problems are covered? at what level (100% or only 20-30%)? what remains your responsibility of paying? There are only a few of the questions that can be posed, so give this problem the consideration it deserves. The best deals came from universities which offer complete health insurance (there are not very many of these!): there will be one problem less ...
Housing: if you are going to live for a few years in US you must find a place to live. This a fairly simple task if you are already there but if you have to find it from far away, this can become a real problem. The questions you will have to answer are: University or private housing? Prices? Is furniture provided? Additional conditions (TV, refrigerator etc. or, as you will have a car in a few month, where will you park it?)
Supplementary taxes: to most universities there exist some taxes you must pay event if the fees have been paid. Check how much this taxes will diminish your monthly income.
Federal/Local taxes: as an employee, you will have to pay the income taxes (except for the case that there exist some agreement between US and your native country to waive this tax). Also the VAT varies from state to state (from 0% in some Eastern states, up to 9% in California). Luckily, the food and basic product are tax exempted.
Climate: Well, you should not normally choose your university by climate criterion. But, then again, who would not like to live in California, Oregon or Colorado?

9 Obtaining your visa

9.1 General information

After the university receives your written acceptance of their offer, they will sent you the I-20 forms which are needed at the US Embassy (some of them send you the I20 forms along with their offer!). This document is required if you intend to obtain an F1 (student) visa.

As for different countries there are different regulations, the following information are aimed to Romanian students: The full list needed for obtaining an F1 visa is:

passport
I20 form
2 recent photos
visa request (the document is completed on place)
visa fee (as for 1996: 20$ visa request + 60$ multiple entry F1 visa)

The address for the American Consulate is:

Ambasada Americana
Str. Tudor Arghezi 7-9
Bucuresti
Tel.: (401) 210.40.42, 210.01.49
Fax: (401) 210.03.95
Telex: 11416

9.2 Methodology

The American Consulate opens for public at 8.00 AM , but you should normally reach no later than 6.00-6.30 AM to the consulate or there will be too many people ahead of you and you cannot shift your turn from one day to another. At around 7.30 you will have tickets distributed and, if you don't have them already, the visa request forms. From this moment on you will enter the Consulate in the order given by the numbers on the tickets. You don't have to present in person until entering the Consulate. Some friend can stay in morning and take the ticket for you. However, you must be present for the interview (which more like a formality for F1 visas, but is very selective for other type of requests).

I came at US Consulate at 6.00 AM, and got number 68. I have entered the Consulate at around 10 and at 10.30 I got out; a happy owner of an F1 multiple entry visa.

10 Obtaining your travel tickets

10.1 Reservation

Usually the planes for US are quite full for this period, so you must make a reservation quite in advance. If you want to leave in August you should reserve your ticket no later than the end of June! This does not imply paying the ticket! The payment should be done only a few weeks before leaving. Be warned, however, that the prices vary a lot between different companies. A ticket Bucharest - New York which cost 540$ at Air France, can cost more than 2000$ at Delta or AUA. So, choose carefully!

10.2 Financing

The price of an airplane trip US can be overwhelming for most Romanian students. Luckily, The Soros Foundation for an Open Society is willing and able to sponsor transportation for students who are going to US PhD programs. You must bear in mind that this is not your right and that you are not forcefully entitled to receive this sponsorisation. They have sponsored the transportation for ALL PhD students until now, thought.

Their address is:

Fundatia Soros pentru o Societate Deschisa - Romania
Calea Victoriei nr.155
Bl.D1, sc.7, et.3
Bucuresti, Romania
Tel.: (401) 650.63.25, 659.07.20, 659.13.21, 659.74 .27
Fax: (401) 312.02.84, 312.70.53
E-mail: programs@buc.soros.ro

The commission who evaluates the requests, gather once a month, generally on 27. In order to have your request evaluated in some session, you must place your request before the half of that month. The requests which cannot be evaluated in one session will be evaluated next month. However, there is a small problem: the commission does NOT gather in August, so, if you leave in August or September (as does 99% of the students), you MUST obtain your sponsorisation before August!

They will cover (if you obtain the sponsorisation) the cost of your travel up to a maximal amount of 800$ (so traveling with Delta Airlines is out of the question!!!). If you will use a non-direct route to your destination, you must plan very carefully where you will buy your tickets from, not to exceed the 800$ limit. One idea is to buy tickets for some portions of the travel directly form US (if you have someone who can do this for you).

Here is my experience: I had to buy tickets from Bucharest to Santa Barbara. I wanted to make a stop in New York so that was my travel plan: I bought from Air France - Romania the tickets Bucharest-Newark (New York) and LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) - Santa Barbara and asked a friend of mine to buy a ticket Newark - LAX from US. The price difference for buying this ticket from US instead of Bucharest is of 527$ !!! (223$ instead of 750$)

10.3 Tickets

A few weeks before the date of departure, you must effectively buy the tickets. This should be a simple task (if you have the money) but there are a few additional problems:

the flight is direct or has a stop? In case of a stop, do you have to leave the airport (in which case you will need a transit visa)? If this is the case, note that the visa is the responsibility of the travel agency. You are not required to go to the Consulate in person!
If the flight will be continued the second day, check if the hotel bill is your responsibility! Normally, this should be contained in the ticket price, but there are some companies ...
are there any additional fees you will have to pay (visa tax, bus, dinner etc.)?

I think that is all. If you have reached this point you should have enough experience to get through by yourself. Hope that this information will help you in your quest. If you have questions, please contact me at bcocosel@cs.ucsb.edu.

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