This is a very important topic for all MS aspirants. This is what could be of a major concern for those who think they cannot afford their education. Firstly I would like to mention that there are 51 states in the US. No two states have the same standard of living. This should be one of the most important factors that should be taken into consideration while selecting your universities which, unfortunately, most of ‘The Wicked Counselors’ fail to consider. Universities on either coast ( For rookies: US is divided into two coasts, East Coast and West Coast) maybe a little cheaper but the cost of living there is high, whereas the ones in the central part have a lower cost of living.
Coming to the main question,
What is Funding?
It’s basically a bait that the professors/admissions panel show the students to attract them towards their university. Do not fall for this trap. Scholarships/funds and assistantships are two different things. Although most universities have a similar fee structure for international students, I will talk specifically about my university . We, the international students, pay an ‘in-state’ fee plus an ‘out-state’ fees since we are non-residents. This ‘out-state fee’ is the real killer.
After getting an assistanship the best thing that happens to you is that the out-state fees gets waived off plus you get paid to do work.
The amount that you get paid depends on the number of hours you work ( trust me, at the end of the day all desis work for the same amount of time).
Coming back to the topic, there are three different time periods or ‘Times’ a full-time student can work for. The maximum time duration for students is 20 hours. However, the maximum time duration for non students is 40 hours. Hence, these three ‘Times’ are calculated as “time out of 40 hours”.
The options are Quarter Time, where a student works for 10 hours, Half Time, where he works for 20 hours and Three-eighth Time, where he works for 15.
In most cases, working Quarter Time is sufficient to pay your in-state fees. Consequently, your fees get taken care of and you only need to pay for your living, which should not be a big deal.
The best option is that of Half Time which not only helps you save money but also send some back to your parents.
What do you need to get funding?
1. Some work experience.
2. Write Technical Papers
3. Research about which professor has funds ( seniors are the only ones who can help on this) in your university and write an impressive mail to them.(more about impressive mails later)
4. You need to have the will to work( be prepared to slog your a***s out)
5. Arrive a little earlier on campus( before the rest of the crowd).
The most important thing - Be at the right place at the right time.
All the best!!! May these fundas usher lots of fun and funds in your M.S.!!
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hey there.. thnaks a lot..
i ve a small query.. u’ve mentioned about technical papers..published papers or presented papers in some national conference?? can u elaborate on it?? this kind of thing is necessary if u wish to work as a research or lecturer assistanships only or is is for adminstrative ones too?? what are the chances of getting it??
madhupriya
September 23rd, 2007
Generally administrative jobs will not qualify you for an out-state waiver. Papers and stuff do not matter when you are applying for administrative jobs. Also, most universities will not give you a teaching assistantship till you complete at least one semester in the department. Research Assistantships are where all your papers(published, presented or any technical paper competition under a reputed banner like IEEE), past projects and hands on knowledge on the required technologies will help. I hope this solves your doubts.
Pratik Shah
September 24th, 2007
Technical papers in your related field are a huge bonus when you are trying to apply for an MS and also very useful when you are looking for research assistantship. With regard to administrative jobs, papers would not matter. They are not jobs which will fetch you scholarships. They are jobs which fetch you hourly wages.
Nikhil Nilakantan
September 24th, 2007
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how bout some technical papers presented at HAL ( hindustan aeronautics limited ) and some published at indian science congress ???????
as i dont hav any better resources……..
or can u suggest me how to get one done by IEEE….????
has it got 2 be a top class paper….?????
Rishabh Jaiswal
November 1st, 2007
@Rishabh
I am not sure about how to publish papers in IEEE. HAL and ISC are good enough. They might not be helpful initially but once you get here, it will be helpful in getting an assistantship. Quality papers are highly valued here.
Pratik Shah
November 1st, 2007
hi.i have got a query. are there campus placements in US universities??? please tell me how to go about getting a job after completing the course. also please tell me what r the requirements for getting a gud job after ms. also if there are not campus placements…then wats the use of gettin admit to top universites OR does admin to top universities gurrantee a gud job than the graduate who has done ms from a medicore university???
sailesh
November 2nd, 2007
@Sailesh
It always helps to consider the placements of your college before applying to it. Most of the universities have 2 career fairs, one in each semester. A lot of companies participate in this. The requirement is that you should have a decent GPA which is some thing above 3.5 on a scale of 4. The name of the university does not matter so much, although its not negligible. The top most universities i.e. first 20 will definitely assure you a good job but the rest depends on the career center of the university. I hope this solves your query. If you have a doubt, let us know.
Pratik Shah
November 3rd, 2007
hey pratik,
should i contact profs @ UMR for assistantship or should i do it once i reach there. is there any scope of me getting an assistanship this sem.. since its spring !
and yes i have no work exp.. i have given few technical papers but only at college level. one BE project.. thats it !
abhijeet
November 5th, 2007
@Its not a bad idea to contact a few profs right away. Its very likely that most of them will not reply. Do not flood their mailboxes. Make sure that you contact professors only in your area of interest. The ‘try your luck’ game can be tried once you come here. If you have time, I would advice you to learn MATLAB and C/C++ as much as you can. If I am not mistaken, you are looking at VLSI. In that case, try and learn softwares that help you simulate chip designs and stuff. Let me know once you finalize your university and I can suggest you the profs you should mail to.
Pratik Shah
November 5th, 2007
ok.. will let u knw for sure.
thanks man !
abhijeet
November 6th, 2007
hey pratik !
almost decided on UMR.
loads of question this time.
1. which option is better from job point of view - thesis or non thesis?
2. i tried reading the ECE handbook but could not understand much. so.. actually how many credits do we need to complete? and how many courses can we take each semester?
3. i am planning to complete my MS in 3 sems. is it possible? how many courses do i need to take per sem?
4. will i be eligible for summer 2008 internships? does UMR offer courses in summer? if both answers are NO.. then what will i do for 3mnths?
5. whats the procedure to get accomodation? off-campus should be cheap. how do i go abt the entire accomodation thing.. found this in one of the UMR communities? is it ok?
http://www.orkut.com/CommMsgs.aspx?cmm=38874246&tid=2566547116097989434&start=1
confused abhijeet !
November 17th, 2007
@Abhijeet
First of all sorry for such a late reply. Had been for a trip to Chicago. See that’s also part of the fun when you come here. I will try to answer all your questions here itself but definitely its gonna be a huge reply. So Here goes..
1. Thesis option is better
2. We need 30 CREDIT HOURS which means a total of 10 COURSES. Each semester you can take up to 5 courses but generally people take 3 or at max 4.
3. For those who plan to complete the course in 3 semesters, it definitely possible by taking 3-4-3 courses in the semesters 1-2-3. But all this can change once you come here… so be prepared.
4. No, you will not be eligible for summer 2008 internships because you have to be in the US for at least 9 months before you can go for an internship. Yes UMR offers courses in summer. For more on internships and what you can do read my article ‘Loot at the Career Fair’
5. Accommodation in Rolla is a huge issue. Although it works out pretty easily once you are here. This is something i cannot explain here. Will need another post for that. Hope I can come up with one soon. Watch out for that and do inform me if you plan on coming here.
Pratik Shah
November 20th, 2007
hey pratik !
thanks a lot.
will be waiting for your post on accomodation.
bye.
not so confused abhijeet !
November 21st, 2007
hi pratik…. wat if no work xperience, no publications or not so good projects… are good GRE n TOEFL scores enough????
sk
November 24th, 2007
@sk
Thats good enough… that should be pretty helpful in getting into a decent university. then you can bank on being at the right place at the right time to get funded or just your sheer talent.
Pratik Shah
November 24th, 2007
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