Home	GRE and TOEFL	Appln process	Scholarships	VISA
Seniors	SOPs	Stat depts	Math depts	Econ depts
FAQ	Troubles	Things to take	USA map	Housing
Medical	Site map	Feedback

Application procedure

FAQ for this page!

Introduction

Once you get the application materials from the foreign universities, it is time to start applying. Since each application involves expenditure (application fee + postage cost), you should now narrow down your choice to at most five or six universities. In your reduced choice list you must keep at least one institute which is highly likely to accept you.

What to send ?

Typically each university requires you to send the following.

The filled in application form
Application fee
Official transcripts (usually 2 sets)
Recommendations (usually three sets)
Statement of purpose
Course list and CV
Official ETS scores

Filling in the application form

Read the instructions given by the university very carefully before filling in the form. Here are the answers to some frequently asked questions that might help you.

You should always try to use the online application form if that is possible, i.e. if you have an internationally valid credit card. It saves time, money, trouble, and you can be sure that your application is on file. Although it might sound surprising, but university staffs in US are as clumsy as their Indian counterparts.

Application fee

You may either draw a bank draft on some American bank in favour of the institute you are applying to, OR you may request some senior student to make the payment for you. In the former method it will immensely help you to have an account in some American bank. Should you choose the latter option here is a list of seniors that you may like to browse through.
It is also possible to get 'Dollar Drafts' made from any Indian bank which has overseas branches, e.g. SBI or IOB. They are made only from branches which has a ForEx divison (notably the regional head offices). But post 9/11, rules have got stricter. Contact bank officers for more details.
A final word of caution, since new rules have been recenly implemented, the bank 'babus' might not be fully aware of it. So, they might unnecessarily demand more than needed. It is best to speak to known people or officers at the Head Offices.

If you are using an online form, ask a senior to supply the credit card number. The senior will not (and should not) send the number over email, as it is not safe to do so. However, all online forms have an option to postpone submitting after filling in the details. You are given an username and password which you can use to submit the form later. So fill in the details, do not submit, email your username and password to the senior. Then the senior can submit the form after entering the credit card info. This is the most hassle free way.

Official Transcripts

Usually each university asks for two sets of official transcripts. So if you are applying to n universities you should prepare 2n sets of transcripts. Each set of official transcript should contain attested copies of

Your Bachelor's degree certificate
Your Bachelor's degree marks list
Your Master's degree certificate
Your Master's degree marks list

In case you still do not have the last two then substitute them by their provisional versions.

Put all these attested copies in an official envelope from the dean's office. After glueing the envelope have it sealed with the dean's signature. Finally put a transparent adhesive tape across the seal. Do not forget to write on the envelopes the addresses of the place where you are sending it.

Since attesting all those papers usually takes time, submit the things to the dean's office well ahead of time.

These must always be sent by post, even if you apply online.

Recommendations

Recommendations are one of the most crucial instruments used to evaluate you. So be careful to choose your recommender. Remember the following points.

If more than one students take recommendation from the same recommender for the same place, then usually the recommender orders the students according to their merit. Clearly the students down this ordered list are at a disadvantage. So you should carefully choose your recommender after discussing with your fellow applicants.
A recommendation is valued based on many things among which two are the repute of the recommender and how much he/she has praised you. And usually there is a trade off between the two.

The application materials usually contain three recommendation forms, which you should request the recommenders to fill in. But many universities also accept recommendations written on ordinary letter heads. Before giving the recommendation forms to the recommenders you should write your name , degree sought and the department applied to in the places provided on the form. The form will ask you to specify whether you want to waive your right to see the recommendation. You should waive it. It is believed to increase the seriousness of the recommendation letter. Do not forget to sign the form at appropriate places, since once the recommender fills in the form you have no right to open it again.

Along with the recommendation form also give copies of your marks lists to the recommenders.
Clearly write on a piece of paper the date by which you want to mail your application packet. Give this paper to your recommender.
If you are taking more than one recommendation from the same person try to give him/her all the recommendation forms at the same time.
Recommenders are busy persons. So submit the recommendation forms to them at least three weeks ahead of time.

These must always be sent by post, even if you apply online.

Statement Of Purpose (SOP)

The SOP is expected to be an essay written in good English delineating your interests, motivations and aspiration. Typically applicants find it somewhat confusing to write a SOP. The best way to start about it is to look at examples in our SOP sample page. Also, there is whole website about SOP at http://www.statementofpurpose.com.

When writing your own SOP first jot down the points you want to write about. Remember the following tips.

Write in a flowing style. Do not be formal.
Mention whatever achievements you might have had. Support all these with attested documents.
Avoid specific mentions about some particular person(s) or field(s) of research.
Do not imitate a SOP written by anybody else. However, after writing one for yourself, have it checked by different people.
Don't forget to sign the SOP at the end.

More detailed hints on writing SOPs may be found here.

Online forms provide space for the SOP.

Course List

The course list is supposed to contain the topics that you have covered during your Bachelor's degree and Master's degree. Copy of the syllabus from the students' brochure may be used for this purpose. However it is a better idea to supply the names of your teachers along with a detailed description of the syllabus. Here are two examples that you may download:

Course list of Mr Sauvik Jash: [text file] [RTF (Rich Text Format) file]
Course list of Mr Parathanil Roy (prepared for applying to Math depts): [RTF (Rich Text Format) file]

(Sauvik's course list was provided here by Mr Abhyuday Mandal.) Some students like to attach a CV with their application. Here are some downloadable examples:

Mr Abhyuday Mandal's CV: [RTF file] [MS Word file]
Mr Parthanil Roy's CV: [RTF file]
Mr Pinaki Biswas's CV: [RTF file]

Also it is good idea to give a list of the presentations and projects that you have done. For instance, here are the presentation list and project list as submitted by some other ISI student while applying abroad.

Officially reported Scores

The GRE and TOEFL scores used by the universities to evaluate your merit must be the scores reported officially by the ETS . Thus, though many universities also ask you to send a xerox of the student's score card for the GRE's and TOEFL, yet this report is not considered final.

ETS would send your GRE and TOEFl scores to at most 4 universities free of charge. You get to specify the university names right after you take the examinations. To request ETS to send your official scores to more universities you have to use addition score request forms. You may download these forms for TOEFL as well as for GRE. However, it is ALWAYS a good idea to send a xerox copy of your student's score report to the university.

The official score must always be sent by ETS, even if you apply online.