Find answers to common questions about studying in the United States.
Frequently asked questions
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The academic year usually runs from August through May with breaks for holidays.
Most universities use either the semester system (two terms), the quarter system
(students attend three out of four total terms), or the trimester system (three
terms).
Undergraduate programs follow high school and lead to an associate (two-year) degree
or a bachelor (four-year) degree. Graduate programs follow a bachelors degree and
lead to a masters or doctoral degree.
Masters: two-year degree providing additional specialization. Doctorate: five to
eight-year program certifying the student as a trained research scholar and/or
professor.
Yes, but they are highly selective and require a heavy courseload across a total of
six years of study.
In a joint-degree program, students begin a graduate program in their fourth year of
college, earning both degrees upon graduation.
With permission of the International Student Office, international students may work
on campus up to 20 hours/week, their first year and can apply to work off-campus in
subsequent years.
U.S. universities require an English language proficiency test before admission to
ensure you can read, write, and speak fluently.
A credit is a value assigned to each course which reflects the number of hours the
class will meet with the professor each week.
There are no specified minimums. These quantitative measures are just one part of
the application. The admissions committee considers all aspects of every application
before making any decisions - this includes your previous academic performance, test
scores, letters of recommendation, previous research experience, etc. Thus, it is
not possible to evaluate your chances of admission based on a few quantitative
measures such as your test scores or grade point average. For international
students, low English scores on the GRE verbal or TOEFL exams (e.g. less than 100 on
the iBT) greatly reduce the chances for admission.
Information about the department and admissions is located online at the department
website. However, students are also encouraged to contact individual faculty members
to discuss potential research topics or their role as possible advisors.
We strongly recommend that students contact individual faculty members about
possible research projects or as potential advisors. If you can make contact with a
faculty member and they think you have potential, you have a much stronger chance of
being accepted into the program and getting funding.
Though we do not have a minimum GRE score, we are looking for students who score
well across all categories. We consider the entire application, including Statement
of Purpose, Letters of recommendation, Transcripts and GRE's together.
Students will be notified of acceptance to the student's email.
The estimated cost for the current year is updated at the cost webpage. Cost may
increase from year to year and are also dependent on your spending habits and
financial aid. The cost is "professional tuition", this is a flat rate tuition for
each year of the program.
You don't get to choose the course or enroll part-time. But rather must enroll
full-time in a set of courses each semester.
The minimum GPA required to apply to the MS program is an overall minimum of 3.0
(out of 4.0) in all upper division and all prerequisite courses.
Admission to the Master Programs is highly selective and Competitive
The "BEST" major of study is ANY area in which the student would enjoy working after
receiving his or her undergraduate degree. The major should be selected based on the
student's interests.