The Actual Process(CommonApp)

Trust me, applying to the US colleges is a long, tedious process which would not only involve you filling in the CommonApp but also getting your school counsellor(for most schools, the principal does whatever the counsellor has to do in case there isn’t any) and one or two teachers to fill out a few forms and write letters of recommendation for you. The letters of recommendation are considered an integral part of your application and most colleges say that a personal detailed account from the teachers is always better than a formal typed letter.

You can create an account on the commonapp website and fill in all the information over a period of time. The questions on the Common App include factors such as the home life of the student, academic achievements, standardised test scores and other information that colleges use to evaluate students for admission. The common app has 1 or 2 essays referred to as personal statements which ask you to write in detail about something significant in your life. The topics change every year.

Most colleges accept the common app (which can be submitted online) and have their own supplement to it. The supplement typically has questions that don't have ‘common answers’ for all institutions, such as "Did your parent attend our college? Have you visited our university?" etc. Additional essays may also be required by colleges with Common Application supplements.

The keys to getting accepted are said to be good test scores, good co-curricular achievements and sound, well thought out personal statements. So make sure you fill in all the details in your commonapp with the utmost care.

Most colleges set the deadline for the commonapp to be submitted as December 31. Students submitting their applications by this deadline would be examined as ‘Regular Action’ candidates. For this deadline, the student should have given his SAT and the subject tests by the December SAT date. The students would be notified of their application result in late March or early April. A few colleges also offer the option of ‘Early Action’, in which students have to submit their application and test scores by an earlier deadline, normally around November and would be notified of their decisions in mid-December. It is a general rumour that early action candidates do have a slight advantage over those who have applied regular action.

Those who are applying for financial aid would have to specify this in their commonapp and then later fill out another form called the CSS/Profile on the collegeboard website. The financial aid documents include signed tax returns or a certified statement of income from each of your parents’ employers.

Now, the students who are not applying for financial aid can apply to any good engineering college based on rankings such as the Times Higher Education rankings. These rankings are mostly accurate and should provide a fair measure of the best colleges based on a variety of factors. Students should also check that their SAT scores are around those of the previous year’s class to amplify their chances of getting accepted.

Those who are applying for financial aid should opt for one of the colleges I have mentioned before such as Princeton, Dartmouth, etc... These colleges are going to be tough to get into and simply put, you need to be pretty good at a lot of things or really good at something to get accepted.

All colleges do charge an application fee (though some eventually waive them). So choose the colleges you apply to carefully to minimise costs and maximise your chances of acceptance.


College Rankings:
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2010-2011/engineering-and-IT.html

http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2010/subject-rankings/technology

The Land Of Opportunities- USA

For a long time now, the USA has been the ultimate destination for any engineer. Be it to earn an MS degree, land a job or get into one of the top colleges in the world right from the undergraduate level, everyone wants to take a shot at it.

Since NRIs are more or less guaranteed admission into the NITs through DASA scheme, why not aim a bit higher and try to get admitted into one of the colleges. The application process is more or less complete by January-February and should not interfere with your class 12 board exam preparation.

Admission to most colleges is based on the SAT scores and some colleges even ask for a subject test scores in Math-level2 and any 1 of the science branches.

Before you start thinking about applying, let me tell you the pros and cons of an undergraduate college in the US. Firstly, most of the colleges in the US famous for engineering are extremely costly(approx $50000 annually) and financial aid is hard to come by at the undergrad level. If you come from deep money, you can apply to any of the several great colleges without applying for financial aid, as this would help your chances of getting accepted. Again, not all colleges are equally expensive. There are a few other colleges(mostly state run) that have fees under $30000 annually. A special mention needs to be made about the Franklin Olin College of Engineering which is considered to be a very good college.

If you are going to be unable to afford the fees, there is still hope for you as the US has the best financial aid system I have seen. At most colleges, aid is offered to students based solely on their family's financial constraints and not on merit. The downside to this is that most colleges do not offer aid to international students who are not permanent residents of the US or from one of the neighbouring countries. The colleges that do offer financial aid and 'need-blind admission' to international students are the toughest to get into. They are Harvard, Princeton, Dartmouth, Yale, MIT and Amherst. A few other colleges too provide international kids with financial aid but they are not need blind for admission, meaning that someone who can pay the whole fees would be considered above someone who is applying for financial aid.

Getting started: The SAT