Although there are many countries to study in, most people still have the United States as their main goal. The following is a list of information aboutStudying in the United States for graduate students: conditions and costsCost of studying for a master's degree in the United States2023 study abroad expensesHow much does it cost to study in a high school in the United States, ,Cost of studying in the United States for high school studentsThe problem.
1. Requirements and costs for studying in the United States
1. Requirements for studying in the United States
1. Education requirements
For Chinese students, applying for undergraduate courses in the United States requires high school graduation, and applying for graduate courses in the United States requires undergraduate graduation in China and a bachelor's degree. When applying for graduate schools and majors in the United States, you should try to match your personal career goals, educational background, work experience and personal interests and hobbies, and avoid blindly pursuing university rankings, etc. However, some special majors can also be considered for conversion, such as students graduating from English majors in China can switch to the Master of Business Administration (MBA) or education majors in the United States.
2. English requirements
There are different requirements for English when applying for graduate studies in the United States, but generally, a TOEFL score of 80 or 100 is required for undergraduate applications. However, some universities can provide dual admission courses for some students who do not have TOEFL scores, that is, dual admission for language and professional courses. Applying to study for a master's degree in the United States requires not only a TOEFL score of 80 or above (some popular majors may require a TOEFL score of 85 or above 100), but may also require other relevant English scores, such as GRE scores for science, liberal arts and mathematics majors, GMAT scores for business majors, DAT scores for dental majors, MCAT scores for medical majors, and LSAT scores for law majors. However, some American universities do not require GRE or GMAT scores for students applying for graduate courses.
3. Economic requirements
Due to differences in schools and majors, the tuition fees of American universities vary greatly. Generally speaking, the annual tuition fees of public state universities are about 10,000-18,000 US dollars, while some excellent private universities have annual tuition and board and lodging fees of up to 40,000 US dollars or more. Living expenses vary slightly according to different regions. Usually, in small towns in central and southern America, 6,000 US dollars per year is enough for living expenses, but for some large cities in California and New York, less than 10,000 US dollars per year is not enough for living expenses. Undergraduate courses in American universities are generally 4 years, master's courses are usually 2-3 years, and doctoral courses are 5-7 years. Therefore, students must provide sufficient financial guarantees when applying for visas at the embassy.
II. Application Materials for Postgraduate Study in the United States
1. Fill in the admission application form
Among the application materials sent by American universities and research institutes, there will be an application form for admission, which mainly contains personal information, such as name, gender, date of birth, marital status, existing education, intended degree, major, hobbies, etc. The application form for admission to American universities is usually relatively simple, that is, two or three pages, but some schools may be very complicated, with more than ten pages. The application form for admission is the basic information for applying for studying abroad. No matter how simple or complex it is, it must be filled out carefully one by one. Some American schools may also send two application forms, one is the school's unified application form, and the other is the application form for the institute you are attending. Both forms must be filled out item by item.
2. Academic transcripts of previous years
An important criterion for American universities to admit students is to look at their past comprehensive academic performance. Academic transcripts can be applied for from the academic affairs office of the school you are attending or the school you have attended before. Be sure to translate the transcript into English and stamp it with the school's seal. In addition, Chinese schools usually calculate on a percentage basis, which is different from American schools. They can be appropriately marked with A, B, and C grades. For example, 95 points or more can be marked as A+, 90 points or more can be marked as A, and 85 points or more can be marked as A-. When mailing, some American universities require that the school you are attending send it directly. When applying, you should prepare an envelope with the address of the university you are applying to, and the original school should seal it and send it directly.
3. Educational qualifications and degree certificates
The applicant's past academic certificates and degree certificates are essential materials for applying to American universities. When applying, you must first make a copy of your academic certificates and degree certificates, and then ask the school you are attending or have attended to stamp the school's official seal. Nowadays, there are many cases of forged graduation certificates and academic certificates, and American schools are also aware of this. Therefore, the applicant's certificate copy can be sealed in an envelope with an official seal by the issuing school, or notarized by a notary office, so that the American school and research institute being applied for can be assured.
4. Proof of financial resources or financial guarantee
This is a required document for applying to American universities. If the applicant has neither financial resources nor a financial guarantor, he/she can attach a short note to explain his/her situation and express his/her willingness to apply for scholarships. If he/she has financial resources, he/she should estimate the annual expenses provided in the information sent by the school and ask his/her bank for a certificate of sufficient financial resources. If there is a financial guarantor, he/she should provide a financial guarantee letter and financial proof of guarantee ability. It should be noted that the financial guarantee letter usually needs to be notarized.
3. Tuition fees for graduate studies in the United States
The annual tuition for graduate students at public universities in the United States is between $15,000 and $28,000. The key depends on the reputation of the school and the city where the school is located. Schools in small cities that are not very famous are relatively cheap. The annual tuition for graduate students at private universities in the United States is between $25,000 and $45,000. If it is an absolute price, it will be higher.
Tuition fees for different graduate schools in the United States are: Law School $43,000-$35,000/year, Business School $46,000-$39,000/year, and Engineering School $35,000-$15,000/year.
2. Application process for graduate students studying in the United States
1. Application process for graduate students studying in the United States - exam preparation
Applying for graduate school in the United States generally requires preparation for standardized tests and language proficiency tests.
First of all, from the perspective of standardized test scores, depending on the different majors you apply for, business schools generally prepare for GRE/GMAT exams, science and humanities and social science majors prepare for GRE exams, law majors such as JD prepare for LAST exams, and medical-related majors prepare for MCAT exams. Everyone can prepare according to their own situation, and it is recommended to start reviewing as early as possible.
As for language scores, generally speaking, TOEFL internet-based exams are widely accepted by American schools, and most schools also accept IELTS. Please note that not all schools accept IELTS, so if you are taking IELTS, you must confirm in advance whether your favorite school and major accept IELTS. In addition, schools have conditions for exemption from language tests. If you have studied in an English-speaking country for a certain number of years and obtained a degree, some schools can exempt you from the language test. Most undergraduate degrees can meet this requirement, but master's degrees may not. You need to go to the school to confirm.
2. Application process for graduate students studying in the United States - background improvement
There are several main aspects to improving a graduate student's background: first, if you are applying for business, you should note that some business programs will have some prerequisite courses, and go to the program in advance to confirm whether you have completed all of them. If there are missing courses, try to have these courses appear on your transcript in the form of minors/electives/double degrees. If not, you can take online courses to get a certificate; in addition, it will also involve soft background, for example, business students should do as many related internships as possible to exercise their professional abilities, students in humanities, social sciences, and science and engineering can try to do more research and publish papers; finally, you can participate appropriately in some extracurricular activities, competitions, and volunteer activities that reflect your diversity.
Latest time: It is never too late to improve your soft background. Even if you have already applied, you can continue to do it and update it to the school as supplementary materials later.
3. Application process for graduate students studying in the United States - school selection and document preparation
After the test results are confirmed, you can prepare to choose a school. The workload of school selection is relatively large and it takes a lot of time to do research. If the project is mainly for employment, it is recommended to consider schools in large cities with convenient transportation and rich employment resources. For research-oriented projects, it is still necessary to look at the project's professional ranking and the situation of the faculty and staff. It should be noted that if you are planning to return to China in the future, you can focus more on the comprehensive ranking.
After the school is confirmed, you can start preparing documents. Generally speaking, documents include resume, personal statement or short essay and recommendation letter. [Note: The documents must be true, and American schools have very strong penalties for falsification].
Latest time: Documents can be prepared as early as possible, especially resumes, which can be polished and improved over time. Because the materials need to be uploaded to the online application system, the latest time is before the application deadline.
4. Application process for graduate students studying in the United States - application materials and online application
At this stage, we have basically entered the application season. After all preparations are in place, this step can be handled calmly.
Generally, the materials needed for graduate school applications include Chinese and English transcripts of educational experience, starting from the undergraduate stage. If you have already graduated, you also need to provide a degree and diploma. Most schools have accepted scanned materials uploaded in the online application. Some schools or some projects also require paper materials to be mailed. This needs to be confirmed in advance. It should be noted that some projects require transcript certification. Since transcript certification may take up to two or three months, you must confirm in advance whether it is necessary.
The online application system requires you to truthfully fill in your personal information, educational background, etc. You can also upload previously written documents. Overall, it is not difficult, but it does require patience and carefulness.
At the same time, what needs to be done at this stage is to submit the scores, which usually takes one to two weeks, so you can send the standardized test scores and language scores to the designated program or school at the latest one to two weeks before the deadline.
5. Application process for graduate students studying in the United States - application results and follow-up work
After submitting the online application, you need to check regularly whether your application materials are complete. If there are any incomplete materials, you need to supplement them in time. During this stage, you must check your application email every day to pay attention to important information, because the interview/application results are basically notified by email. Some projects will send interviews during this stage. Pay attention to find relevant interview experience in advance and practice more. The application results will generally be sent out in February-May of the following year. Students who have received admission should pay attention to whether there is a deadline for acceptance and deposit to avoid missing the opportunity and having their admission revoked.
3. Preparations for applying to study in the United States
1. Prepare your passport
If you plan to study in the United States, you should get a passport before applying. Many schools require a passport when applying, especially for students applying for business. A passport is required for the GMAT. Every year, many students cannot take the GMAT because they do not have a passport and have to transfer to another school. Transferring to another school is very expensive. Therefore, before going to study in the United States, you must prepare your passport first!
2. Prepare proof of funds
When applying to American universities, you also need to provide proof of funds, which can be deposited in the name of the parents or the student. The amount is to cover the first year's tuition and living expenses. It should be noted that many banks can only open a bank account once. If you find that it is not enough after opening it, you need to return all the previously opened proof of funds before opening it again. So open more at one time in case of emergency. According to Yunxue Education Group, parents should pay more attention to the proof of funds. Don't block your children's path to studying in the United States because of one less proof.
3. Prepare a dual-currency credit card
When applying to most American universities, you need to pay an application fee, which can range from tens of dollars to hundreds of dollars. It is usually paid online. Generally, banks do not allow students to apply for credit cards, so before applying, you should remind your parents to go to the bank to apply for a dual-currency credit card. VISA or Mastercard are currently used internationally, and some schools only accept Mastercard.
4. Prepare transcripts
Recently, it has been found that many students' transcripts have some minor errors. Some students are careless and seal the transcripts without even looking at them. Little do they know that teachers in schools can also make mistakes. Therefore, after the school issues your transcript, compare the Chinese and English versions and correct any errors in a timely manner. At this stage, the fake transcripts of Chinese students have left a very bad impression on foreign universities, so you should be as careful and meticulous as possible in this regard. In addition, in addition to the accuracy issue, it should also be noted that the transcripts issued by the school should be sealed in an envelope and stamped on the seal of the envelope to be considered formal. American universities attach great importance to this. Before preparing to study in the United States, you may wish to check your transcripts to see if there are any errors so that you can correct them in time.
5. Prepare recommendation letters
Now many universities in the United States allow you to submit recommendation letters online. The specific method is that when you apply online, the school will send a link to submit the recommendation letter to the recommender, and the professor can open the link and upload the recommendation letter. This method does not require the teacher to sign the recommendation letter, and you can quickly get all the materials. But the premise is that your teacher needs to know a little English and computer. If some teachers do not understand English or cannot use the Internet, it is safer to use paper recommendation letters. Moreover, submitting recommendation letters online requires the cooperation of teachers, because if you apply to 10 schools, the teacher will receive 10 recommendation letter submission requests from time to time. It will be very troublesome if the teacher does not check the mailbox frequently.
Summary of the requirements and costs of studying in the United States
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