Does PhD pedigree matter?

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 Choosing a School for PhD

This post is inspired in large part by discussion over at Cosmic Variance about the importance of choice of particular graduate school and pedigree effect. Two extreme points of view are: a) pedigree matters a great deal, having a top school name on your resume will enhance your chances of getting a job and b) pedigree effect is non-existent, and if you are smart and do good science, it doesn’t matter where your degree is from. Additional discussion centered on issue of difficulty of “upward” mobility – which means that most people tend to get positions down the ranking ladder from their PhD institutions, not up.
It’s of course difficult to do proper “controlled” measure of pedigree effect – maybe students selected by top program would do just as well in lower ranked programs, who knows.
So let’s ask a different question – how many of the academic jobs in top research universities go to PhDs from the top programs? Ideally one would want to focus on recent hires only, looking at entire faculty makeup means integrating over the past50 or 60 years, with a big hiring spike in sputnik/cold war years. One way to address this issue is to look only at associate and assistant professors, which typically represent recent hires. Another, possibly better, way is to limit by the years of PhD (say count only PhDs obtained past 1995), but it involves more work. I spent about 4 hours compiling the data, and not sure I want to spend much more on this, even though it is a lot of fun and I am a sucker for playing with numbers.
So here’s the statistics, and I will criticize methods later – AIP graduate program listings, which I believe are compiled in 2005-2006 list 636 professors in the top 50 institutions (I used NRC’95 rankings) in associate or assistant rank. Typically their PhD years span about 12-15 year period from about 1990 till ~2003-2004. 162 of them have foreign PhDs (more on that later) and 472 held PhDs from US. More than half of those hires have PhDs from just 8 institutions: Harvard, Princeton, MIT, Berkeley, Chicago, Stanford, Caltech and Cornell. The effect is larger than I expected, but perhaps not completely unexpected.
Below are the institutions that have 3 or more PhD graduates among 636 assistant/associate rank professors in the top 50 physics programs:

Harvard University Princeton University MIT Univ. of California-Berkeley University of Chicago Stanford University CALTECH Cornell University University of Michigan Columbia University University of Minnesota Univ of California-San Diego Univ of CA-Santa Barbara Univ of Il Urbana-Champaign University of Washington Yale University SUNY-Stony Brook University of Texas at Austin Univ of Wisconsin-Madison Johns Hopkins University University of Pennsylvania University of Rochester Univ of California-Los Angeles Univ of Maryland College Park Northwestern University Rice University University of Colorado Boston University Indiana University Rutgers -New Brunswick Brandeis University Duke University Purdue University

42 39 34 32 29 28 26 22 14 13 11 9 9 9 9 9 8 8 8 7 7 7 6 6 5 5 5 4 4 4 3 3 3

Foreign degrees are more scattered all over the world, but here’s some strong contributors:

MoscowCambridgeOxford Munich Toronto Vienna Warsaw

15128 8 8 3 3

Top 10 universities contribute 59% of US PhD hires, those ranked 11-20 provide another 18%, the next ten ranked 21-30 provide 10%, and ALL of the remaining US universities contribute remaining 12% or so.

More charts like:

Percentage of PhDs that goes on to become faculty at top 50 universities.

Comparison ranking in terms of total PhD hires and ranking of USNews and NRC.

and the complete article is available at Incoherently Scattered Ponderings

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Business School Essays Topics

Technorati Tags: Business Management, Essays, India, MBA, Study, degree, education, education specialization, higher education | Tagged: Admission, Austin, Carnegie Mellon, Columbia, Cornell, Darden, Dartmouth, Duke, Emory, Essay Topics, Georgetown, Haas, Harvard, higher education, Indiana, INSEAD, ISB, Kellog, LSB, MIT, NYU, Ohio State, Purdue, Rochester, Stanford, UCLA, UNC, Universities, University of Chicago, University of Michigan, USA, USC, Vanderbilt, Washigton, Wharton, Yale University

These instructions are for the previous admission period.The topics may change.Please verify from the schools web sites

Schools Covered here:

Harvard, Wharton,Carnegie Mellon, University of Chicago, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Darden, Duke,

Emory, Georgetown, ISB, Indiana, INSEAD, Kellog, LSB, MIT, NYU, Ohio State, Purdue, Rochester, Stanford, Austin, Haas, USC, University of Michigan, UNC, UCLA, Vanderbilt, Washigton, Yale.

Harvard Business School
What are your three most substantial accomplishments and why do you view them as such? (600-word limit)
What have you learned from a mistake? (400-word limit)
Please respond to three of the following (400-word limit each):
Discuss a defining experience in your leadership development. How did this experience highlight your strengths and weaknesses?
How have you experienced culture shock?
What would you like the MBA Admissions Board to know about your undergraduate academic experience?
What is your career vision and why is this choice meaningful to you?
What global issue is most important to you and why?
What else would you like the MBA Admissions Board to understand about you?
The following question is for dual and concurrent degree candidates only:
How do you expect the joint degree experience to benefit you on both a professional and a personal level? (400-word limit)

Wharton Business School
All first-time applicants are required to complete four essays, with the option of a fifth essay that may be used to address extenuating circumstances. Re-applicants who applied for the Entering Fall 2006 or 2007 Class are to complete the re-applicant essays. All other re-applicants are to complete the first-time applicant essays.
REQUIRED:
1. Describe your career progress to date and your future short-term and long-term career goals. How do you expect a Wharton MBA to help you achieve these goals, and why is now the best time for you to join our program? (1,000 words)
2. Describe a failure or setback that you have experienced. What role did you play and what did you learn about yourself? (500 words)
3. Tell us about a situation in which you were an outsider. What did you learn from the experience? (500 words)
4. Please Complete One Of The Following Two Questions:
Where in your background would we find evidence of your leadership capacity and/or potential? (500 words)
Is there anything about your background or experience that you feel you have not had the opportunity to share with the Admissions Committee in your application? If yes, please explain. (500 words)
OPTIONAL:
5. If you feel there are extenuating circumstances of which the Committee should be aware, please explain them here (e.g., unexplained gaps in work experience, choice of recommenders, TOEFL waiver request, inconsistent or questionable academic performance, significant weaknesses in your application). (250 words)

Carnegie Mellon University – Tepper
Required Essays (Suggested length — 2 double-spaced pages per essay)
A. What are your short-term and long-term goals? How will a Tepper MBA help you to achieve these goals?
B. How will your academic and professional background, personal characteristics and life experiences contribute to the diversity of the Tepper community?

C. Please answer three of the following five questions or statements (your three answers should equal a total of two pages).
a. Describe an ethical dilemma that you have faced in your professional life, how you dealt with the situation, and what the outcome was.
b. Describe a failure or setback in your professional or academic life. How did you overcome this setback? What, if anything, would you do differently if confronted with this situation again?
c. What do you consider to be your greatest achievement and why?
d. Describe your most challenging experience while working in a group.
e. Of what skill or talent are your especially proud?

Additional Essay (Required for applicants with previous academic suspensions and/or a criminal record; optional for other applicants.)
D. Is there anything additional that you think we should know as we evaluate your application? Note: if you believe your credentials and essays represent you fairly, you should not feel obligated to answer this question. This essay is intended to provide a place for you to add information that you think is important but is not covered elsewhere in the application.

University of Chicago – GSB
Essay 1: Why are you pursuing an MBA at this point in your career? Describe your personal and professional goals and the role an MBA from the University of Chicago GSB plays in your plans to reach these goals. (1500 word maximum)
Essay 2: If you could step into someone else’s shoes for a day, who would it be and why? (500 word maximum)
Essay 3: We have asked for a great deal of information throughout this application. In this portion of the application, we invite you tell us about yourself using a non-traditional application format – a PowerPoint presentation. In four slides or less, please provide readers with content that captures who you are.
Chicago offers the following guidelines on preparing slides for Question 3:
The content is completely up to you. There is no right or wrong approach to the way you construct your slides or answer this question.
There is a strict maximum of 4 slides.
Slides will be printed and added to your file for review, therefore, flash, hyperlinks, embedded videos, music, etc. will not be viewed by the committee. You are limited to text and static images to convey your points.
Slides will be evaluated on the quality of content and ability to convey your ideas.
You are welcome to attach a word document of notes if you feel a deeper explanation of your slides is necessary.
If you do not have access to PowerPoint or a similar software application, you can contact the admissions office at admissions@chicagogsb.edu for alternative methods.
Essay 4 (Optional): If there is any important information that is relevant for your candidacy that you were unable to address elsewhere in the application, please share that information here.

Columbia
1. What are your short-term and long-term post-MBA goals? How will Columbia Business School help you achieve these goals? (Recommended 750 word limit)
For Dual Degree Applicants: Please indicate the Dual Degree programs and schools to which you applied or intend to apply. Please discuss how the Dual Degree will enhance your short-term or long-term goals, and at which school you intend to begin your studies.
2. Leading in the global economy requires enabling high performance from a diverse set of employees, colleagues and partners. Tell us about a manager you’ve observed who enabled or inspired others to do their best work and analyze how this manager did it. (Recommended 500 word limit)
3. In discussing Columbia Business School, Dean R. Glenn Hubbard remarked, “We have established the mind-set that entrepreneurship is about everything you do.” Please discuss a time in your own life when you have identified and captured an opportunity. (Recommended 500 word limit)
4. Please select and answer one of the following essay questions. (Recommended 250 word limit)
a. Please tell us what you feel most passionate about in life.
b. If you were given a free day and could spend it anywhere, in any way you choose, what would you do?
5. (Optional) Is there any further information that you wish to provide to the Admissions Committee? Please use this space to provide an explanation of any areas of concern in your academic record or your personal history.

Cornell – Johnson
To ensure the depth and dynamism of the Johnson School education, we seek to enroll a class composed of students whose insights are distinct and whose actions are penetrating. The essay portion of your application gives you the opportunity to candidly demonstrate your attributes and your compatibility with our rich and vibrant program.
1. For all MBA applicants (required) – 400 words
Describe your greatest professional achievement and how you were able to add value to your organization.
2. For all MBA applicants (required) – 400 words
What career do you plan to pursue upon completing the MBA and why? How will the Johnson School help you achieve this goal?
3. Optional Essay – 400 words
Complete this essay if there is other information you would like to add regarding your candidacy. For instance, if you believe one or more aspects of your application (e.g., undergraduate GPA or test scores) do(es) not accurately reflect your potential for success at the Johnson School.
4. Reapplicant Essay (required for reapplicants) – 400 words
Describe the measures you have taken to strengthen your application since you last applied to the Johnson School.

Dartmouth – Tuck
The recommended maximum length for each essay is 500 words.
1. Why is an MBA a critical next step toward your short- and long-term career goals? Why is Tuck the best MBA program for you? (If you are applying for a joint or dual degree, please explain how the additional degree will contribute to those goals.)
2. Tuck defines leadership as “inspiring others to strive and enabling them to accomplish great things.” We believe great things and great leadership can be accomplished in pursuit of business and societal goals. Describe a time when you exercised such leadership. Discuss the challenges you faced and the results you achieved. What characteristics helped you to be effective, and what areas do you feel you need to develop in order to be a better leader?
3. Discuss the most difficult constructive criticism or feedback you have received. How did you address it? What have you learned from it?
4. Tuck seeks candidates of various backgrounds who can bring new perspectives to our community. How will your unique personal history, values, and/or life experiences contribute to the culture at Tuck?
5. (Optional) Please provide any additional insight or information that you have not addressed elsewhere that may be helpful in reviewing your application (e.g., unusual choice of evaluators, weaknesses in academic performance, unexplained job gaps or changes, etc.). Complete this question only if you feel your candidacy is not fully represented by this application.
6. (To be completed by all reapplicants) How have you strengthened your candidacy since you last applied? Please reflect on how you have grown personally and professionally.

Darden
1. (Required) Why is an MBA a critical next step toward your short- and long-term career goals? (500 word limit)
2. (Required) Each of our applicants is unique. Describe how your background, values, education, activities and/or leadership skills will enhance the experience of other Darden students. (500 word limit)
3. (Required) Choose one of the following questions. (250 word limit)
a) What would you do if you didn’t have to work for a living?
b) Describe a significant maturing experience.
c) What have been the most satisfying aspects of your work life thus far and the most dissatisfying?
4. (Optional) If there is further information that you believe would be helpful to the Admissions Committee, please provide it below. (250 word limit)

Duke – Fuqua
Two short essay answer questions and two long essays must be completed before submitting your application. Prepare your essays carefully. The Admissions Committee considers your responses to the following questions important in the selection process. Please respond fully and concisely using 1.5 line spacing.
For the short answer questions, please restrict your response to a single page each. For the long essay questions you must answer the first question and for the second essay you may select from one of three essay options. There is no restriction on the length of your response for the two long essay questions. Applicants typically use between 500 and 750 words for long essays one and two.
Candidates who applied to Fuqua between September 2006 and April 2007 are considered reapplicants. Reapplicants are asked to complete the Reapplicant Essay in addition to the Applicant Essays.
All applicants have the opportunity to submit an optional essay to explain any extenuating circumstances of which the Admissions Committee should be aware.
Applicant Essays
Short Essays – Answer both short essay questions.
1.Why are you interested in The Duke MBA program and how will it help you achieve your goals? In answering, please also discuss your career path and state your short and long-term goals. If you are interested in the Health Sector Management concentration or a joint degree program, please address in this essay.
2. How will your background, values, and non-work related activities enhance the experience of other Duke MBA students and add value to the diverse culture we strive for at Fuqua?
Long Essays – For essay 1, please answer only one of the three essay options provided. All applicants should answer question 2.
1. Please respond fully and concisely to one of the following essay topics. Clearly identify which question you have selected.
a. To be a good team player, one needs to be an effective individual leader and vice-versa. Describe an example of where you were challenged to become a leader in a team-oriented context. What was the challenge you faced, how did you address it, and what did you take away from the experience for your future development as a leader?
b. Describe a situation in which your ability to perform ethically was challenged. What was the issue, how did you handle it, and what did you learn from it?
c. Describe a significant leadership failure in your life. What did you learn from this failure? How has it impacted who you are today and the kind of leader you would like to be?
2. How has your personal history and family background influenced your intellectual and personal development? What unique personal qualities or life experiences distinguish you from other applicants? Note: The goal of this essay is to get a sense of who you are, rather than what you have achieved professionally.
Reapplicant Essay
In addition to the Applicant Essays listed above, please answer the following question. There is no restriction on the length of your response. Re-applicants typically use between 500 and 750 words for this essay.
1. Write an essay describing how you are a stronger candidate for admission compared to the previous year’s application.

Emory- Goizueta
1. List one of your most significant professional or organizational accomplishments. Describe your precise role in this event and how it has helped to shape your management skills. Please limit your response to two, double-spaced, typed pages.
2. Please complete/address two of the following statements. Please limit each response to one, double-spaced, typed page.
A. I have always wanted to….
B. My most memorable cross-cultural experience….
C. My family background is unique because….
D. The person who has had the greatest influence on my leadership style is… because…
E. The greatest lesson I have ever learned….
F. Of Goizueta’s core values (courage, integrity, accountability, rigor, diversity, team, community), which value resonates most with you and why?
3. What do you expect to accomplish in the Goizueta Business School MBA program? How will your participation in the MBA program fit in with your experiences and responsibilities as well as your short and long-term career goals? Please limit your response to two, double-spaced, typed pages.

Georgetown – McDonough
Essay 1 (Required – limit 750 words):
a) In one or two sentences, please state your short-term and long-term career objective(s).
b) How have your prior professional, academic, and personal experiences influenced your career plans?
c) Specifically, how will your participation in Georgetown’s MBA Full-Time Program contribute to your career objectives?
Essay 2 (Required – limit 750 words):
In your own words, how do you define leadership? Please provide a specific example (professional or personal) of a time when you embodied the characteristics of a leader. Be sure to highlight the challenges you faced and the results you achieved. What areas do you wish to develop in order to become a more effective leader?
Essay 3 (Required – limit 750 words):
What is the most significant change you have made to any organization with which you have been recently affiliated? Please describe how you identified the need for change and how you managed the process of implementing change. What were the results?
JOINT DEGREE APPLICANT ESSAY – To be completed by all joint degree candidates (Limit: 250 words)
If you are applying to a joint degree program, please address how the additional degree will help you to reach your goals.
COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTIONS, PERSONAL INTERESTS, AND AFFILIATIONS (Required)
List in order of importance all community and professional organizations and extracurricular activities in which you have been involved during or after university studies. Indicate the nature of the activity or organization, dates of involvement, offices held, and average number of hours spent per month.
OPTIONAL ESSAY (Limit: 500 words)
Please feel free to provide a statement concerning any information you would like to add to your application that you have not addressed elsewhere. For example, you may comment on your academic record as an indication of your potential for graduate management education, or you may explain any gaps in your work history. If you are not submitting a letter of recommendation from your current supervisor, use this space to explain why. Similarly, if you are not currently employed full-time, use this space to provide information about your current activities.
RE-APPLICANT ESSAY – To be completed by all re-applicants (Limit: 500 words)
How have you strengthened your candidacy since you last applied? We are particularly interested in hearing about how you have grown professionally and personally. In addition, please update the Admissions Committee on your career goals and your reasons for wishing to pursue an MBA at Georgetown

Indian School of Business (ISB)

1. The ISB culture stresses on a diverse mix of students; life at the ISB is a unique experience for the students. How will your candidature contribute to this culture at the ISB? (300 words max)
2. A million dollars or knighthood: what would you choose and why? (300 words max)
3. You have a new manager who has just joined your organisation. As a part of the handover, the outgoing manager is describing each person reporting to him. How do you think the outgoing manager will describe you to the incoming manager? (300 words max)
4. (Optional) Please provide additional information, if any, that will significantly affect the consideration of your application to the ISB. Please do not repeat information which has already been stated elsewhere in the application. You may use this to clarify any breaks in education/work, inform about any other item which you think has not been covered elsewhere etc. (300 words max)

Indiana – Kelley
Maximum length: 2 double-spaced pages.
Mandatory
1. Please discuss your post-MBA short- and long-term professional goals. How will your professional experience, when combined with a Kelley MBA degree, allow you to achieve these goals?
Choose two of the next three:
2. Describe an ethical dilemma that you faced in your professional career. How was it resolved and what did you learn from the experience?
3. Suppose you had to choose three people—people alive now or people from another era—to travel with you on a cross-country automobile trip. Who would you choose and why? What would you hope to learn from them? (Think carefully about the company you want on those long stretches through Nebraska or Kansas.)
4. Describe what there is about your background and your experiences that will contribute to the diversity of the entering class and enhance the educational experience of other students.
Optional:
5. Is there anything else that you think we should know as we evaluate your application? If you believe your credentials and essays represent you fairly, you shouldn’t feel obligated to answer this question.

INSEAD
Job Essays:
1. (Required) Please give a detailed description of your job, including nature of work, major responsibilities; and, where relevant, employees under your supervision, size of budget, number of clients/products and results achieved. (250 words)
2. (Required) Please give us a full description of your career since graduating from university. If you were to remain with your present employer, what would be your next step in terms of position? (250 words)
Personal Essays:
1. (Required) Give a candid description of yourself, stressing the personal characteristics you feel to be your strengths and weaknesses and the main factors, which have influenced your personal development, giving examples when necessary. (400 words approx.)
2. (Required) Describe what you believe to be your two most substantial accomplishments to date, explaining why you view them as such. (400 words approx.)
3. (Required) Describe a situation taken from school, business, civil or military life, where you did not meet your personal objectives, and discuss briefly the effect. (250 words approx.)
4. (Required) Discuss your career goals. What skills do you expect to gain from studying at INSEAD and how will they contribute to your professional career? (500 words approx.)
5. (Required) Please choose one of the following two essay topics:
a) Have you ever experienced culture shock? What did it mean to you? (250 words approx.), or
b) What would you say to a foreigner moving to your home country? (250 words approx.)
6. (Optional) Is there anything that you have not mentioned in the above essays that you would like the Admissions Committee to know? (200 words approx.)
7. (For reapplicants) In case of reapplication, please use this page. Your essay should state any new aspects of professional, international, academic, or personal development since your last application. We would also like you to explain your motivation for re-applying to INSEAD. This essay should not exceed 400 words.

Kellogg
All applicants are required to answer questions 1, 2 and 3 in addition to 2 of the optional essays in question 4.
1. All applicants must complete A OR B as appropriate:
A. Master of Business Administration applicants only: Briefly assess your career progress to date. Elaborate on your future career plans and your motivation for pursuing a graduate degree at Kellogg (one-two pages double spaced).
B. Master of Management and Manufacturing applicants only: Briefly assess your career progress to date. How does the MMM program meet your educational needs and career goals? (1 to 2 pages double spaced).
2. Each of our applicants is unique. Describe how your background, values, academics, activities and/or leadership skill swill enhance the experience of other Kellogg students. (1 to 2 pages double spaced).
3. How have your past and current leadership experiences prepared you for Kellogg? What leadership areas are you hoping to develop through your MBA experience?
4. Applicants must answer 2 of the below essays. (Re-applicants must answer question 4D and 1 other essay).
A. Outside of work I…
B. I wish the Admissions Committee had asked me…
C. Describe the most challenging professional relationship you have faced and how you handled it.
D. (Required essay for re-applicants only)—Since your previous application, what are the steps you’ve taken to strengthen your candidacy?

London Business School
The essays are an opportunity to tell us more about yourself. Use the essays to detail your interests, values and goals. We are interested in what motivates you, evidence of leadership and team work, why you are looking to pursue an MBA at this point in your life, and what you will bring to the London Business School Community. The essays are a vital part of your application and thus we recommend that you spend a significant amount of time in their preparation.
Required Essays:
Question 1 (500 words)
In what role do you see yourself working immediately after graduation? Why? How will your past and present experiences help you achieve this? How will the London Business School MBA Programme contribute to this goal?
Question 2 (200 words)
Where do you see your career progressing five years after graduation and what is your longer term career vision?
Question 3 (500 words)
Please describe your experience of working in and leading teams, either in your professional or personal life. Given this experience, what role do you think you will play in your study group, and how do you intend to contribute to it?
Question 4 (400 words)
Student involvement is an extremely important part of the London MBA experience and this is reflected in the character of students on campus. What type of student club or campus community event do you envisage yourself leading? How would you set about becoming involved in a leadership position and how would you align and communicate the goals and vision for the club to the wider School community?
Question 5 (150 words)
Describe any significant experiences outside of your home country. What did you gain from these?
Optional Essay:
Question 6 (300 words): Is there any other information that you believe would help the MBA Admissions Committee when considering your application?

MIT – Sloan
Cover Letter
Prepare a cover letter (up to 500 words) seeking a place in the MIT Sloan MBA Program. Please comment on your career goals and those factors which influenced you to pursue an MBA education at MIT Sloan. The cover letter provides a chance for you to discuss your passions, values, and interests. Through what you write we hope to discover whether you will thrive at MIT Sloan and how you will contribute to our diverse community. Address your cover letter to Mr. Rod Garcia, Director of MBA Admissions.
Essays
For all applicants:
Use the essays to tell us more about you and how you work, think, and behave. For each essay, please provide a brief overview of the situation followed by a detailed description of your response. Include what you thought, felt, said, and did. Please select experiences or events from the past one to two years.
More than that, the essays are a chance for you to discuss your passions, values, interests, and goals. Emphasize those experiences that were most important and meaningful for you — which may not necessarily be those that were most outwardly prestigious. Be sincere and be specific. There is no one “right” kind of MIT Sloan student; in fact, MIT Sloan deliberately builds each class to unite varied strengths and perspectives. Tell us what particular experiences and expertise you will bring to the mix. The essay instructions and questions are included below.
We are interested in learning more about you and how you work, think, and act. For each essay, please provide a brief overview of the situation followed by a detailed description of your response.
For MBA and LFM applicants [LFM applicants also see Essays 5 and 6, below]:
Essay 1: Please tell us about a time when you had an impact on a group or organization. Describe in detail what you thought, felt, said, and did. (500 words or less.)
Essay 2: Please tell us about a challenging interaction you had with a person or group. Describe in detail what you thought, felt, said, and did. (500 words or less.)
Essay 3: Please tell us about a time when you defended your idea. Describe in detail what you thought, felt, said, and did. (500 words or less.)
Essay 4: Please tell us about a time when you executed a plan. Describe in detail what you thought, felt, said, and did. (500 words or less.)
For LFM Applicants only:
Essay 5: Why do you wish to pursue the LFM Program? How does this fit into your future plans? (250 words or less.)
Essay 6: Why do you wish to pursue the engineering field and specialty area you have selected? (250 words or less.)
For BEP Applicants – All applicants to BEP must answer two essay questions: Answer question A and question B or C.
A. (Required of all BEP applicants) What is your definition of success as you consider a career in the biomedical industry? Provide a brief overview of your ideal career path over the next 10-15 years as you move toward that success. Explain what you hope to have accomplished at the end of that period and how your experiences in BEP will have helped make those accomplishments possible. (500 words maximum)
B. IAnswer B or C) Describe one area of science or technology that you believe is particularly promising in terms of having an impact on the practice of medicine and affecting people’s health. What is the underlying problem, why is it significant, and what are promising solutions that might address it? (750 words max)
C. (Answer C or B) Describe one medical or healthcare problem on which you hope to make a positive impact. Explain why this problem is meaningful to you and how you hope to promote progress toward solving it. (750 words max)

NYU – Stern
The admissions committee requires three personal essays. These essays give you the opportunity to provide insight into your character, experiences and goals. Your essays should be written entirely by you. An offer of admission will be withdrawn if it is discovered that you did not write your essays.
1. Professional Aspirations
Think about the decisions you have made in your life. Describe the following (500 word maximum, double-spaced, 12-point font):
(a) What choices have you made that led you to your current position?
(b) Why pursue an MBA at this point in your life?
(c) What is your career goal upon graduation from the NYU Stern? What is your long-term career goal?
2. Fit with Stern
The NYU Stern community is one of our strongest assets. Please answer the following questions about community: (500 word maximum, double-spaced, 12-point font)
(a) What is your personal experience with the Stern community? What actions have you taken to learn more about us?
(b) How would you contribute to our community as a student?
(c) How will you benefit personally and professionally from the Stern community?
3. Personal Expression
Please describe yourself to your MBA classmates. You may use any method to convey your message (e.g. words, illustrations). Feel free to be creative.
All submissions become part of NYU Stern’s permanent records and cannot be returned for any reason. We do not recommend submitting anything that must be played or viewed electronically, that is perishable (e.g. food) or that has been worn (e.g. used clothing). If you submit a written essay, it should be 500 words maximum, double-spaced, 12-point font.
4. Additional Information (Optional):
Please provide any additional information you would like to bring to the attention of the admissions committee. This may include gaps in employment, your undergraduate record, plans to retake the GMAT or any other relevant information.
An explanation must be provided in Essay 4 if:
You have been subject to academic discipline, placed on probation or required to withdraw from any college or university.
You have ever been convicted of a crime.
You cannot provide a recommendation from your current supervisor.

Ohio State – Fisher
1. Shaping Your Vision: Every year Fisher College’s MBA program admits a select group of talented young professionals with demonstrated potential to become successful business leaders in an increasingly competitive, global environment. Briefly summarize your professional accomplishments to date. Why do you want to earn an MBA degree in general and a Fisher College MBA specifically? Include your goals post-MBA and your plan for achieving them (maximum 750 words).
2. Focusing on Leadership: Another of Fisher College’s strengths is its dedication to developing leaders. Below are 10 attributes that characterize great leaders. Please select the two criteria that best describe you, your leadership style or your leadership successes to date and provide us with concrete evidence of your accomplishments. You may submit physical objects, images, photographs or photocopies, along with brief descriptions of how the objects exemplify the leadership qualities (example: to illustrate endurance, you might share a copy of a marathon medal along with a paragraph describing your marathon experience) or you may choose to write an essay for each of the two characteristics you select, describing situations in which you exemplified these leadership traits (each with a maximum of 500 words). Please note: The Fisher College will not be responsible for returning physical objects to applicants.
Integrity
Passion
Empathy
Vision
Curiosity
Self-awareness
Endurance
Communication and inter-personal skills
Creativity
Global awareness
3. Discovering You: As a Fisher College MBA student you get the best of both worlds: the up close and personal feel of a small program combined with the resources and opportunities offered by a major research university. You as an individual participant will play a key role in shaping our culture. For this reason, we would like to learn more about who you are and what unique characteristics you will contribute to the Fisher College community. Provide an honest description of yourself outside your professional context, stressing the personal characteristics you sense to be your strengths and weaknesses and the factors that have most influenced your development to date (maximum 750 words).

Purdue – Krannert
A. Discuss your long- and short-term career goals, how these goals developed, and what you hope to gain from graduate study at Krannert. Limit your response to no more than 500 words.
B. The Krannert community is comprised of a diverse student body. Describe an aspect of your personality, things you have learned, skills you have acquired, or life experiences you’ve had that could benefit potential classmates and will help you contribute to Krannert’s diversity. Limit your response to no more than 500 words.
C. In 100 words or less, describe a character-building event or situation in which your involvement made a significant difference.

Rochester – Simon
Please limit each response to no more than 500 words.
1. Describe your post-MBA or post-MS career plans. How does your past education and experience support your career objectives? What aspects of the Simon School program make it a good choice for your graduate study?
2. Discuss three accomplishments which demonstrate your potential as a successful leader.
3. Answer one of the following questions:
Cite and explain a specific situation in which you demonstrated initiative.
Describe a failure or setback that you have experienced. How did you overcome this setback? What, if anything, would you do differently if confronted with this situation again?
4. (Optional) Share any information that you think is important in the evaluation of your application, including any concerns you think the Admissions Committee may have regarding your application

Stanford
We read the essays to get to know you as a person and to learn about the ideas and interests that motivate you. Because we want to discover who you actually are, resist the urge to “package” yourself in order to come across in a way you think Stanford wants. Such attempts simply blur our understanding of who you are and what you can accomplish.
In other parts of the application, we learn about your academic and professional accomplishments (i.e., what you have done). Through your personal essays, we learn more about the person behind the achievements (i.e., who you are).
We want to hear your genuine voice throughout the essays that you write. Truly, the most impressive essays are those that do not begin with the goal of impressing us.
This is the time to think carefully about your values, your passions, your hopes and dreams. In your short answer responses, we learn more about the experiences that have shaped your attitudes, behaviors, and aspirations.
Your answers to all 3 questions may not exceed a total of 7 printed pages, double-spaced, using a size 12 font.
Essay A: What matters most to you, and why? (Recommended length is 3 pages, double-spaced, using 12 point font)
Essay B: What are your career aspirations? How will your education at Stanford help you achieve them? As a Stanford MBA student, you will be assigned a team of advisors who will guide both your academic experience and your personal development. Your team will include a faculty advisor, a career counselor, and a leadership coach. Use Essay B to help you prepare for your first conversations with these mentors. (Recommended length is 2 pages, double-spaced, using 12 point font)
Essay C: Short Essays—Options 1-4
Answer 2 of the questions listed below. In answering both questions in Essay C, tell us not only what you did, but also how you did it. Tell us the outcome and describe how people responded. Describe only experiences that have occurred during the last three years.
Option 1: Tell us about a time when you empowered others. (Recommended length is 1 page, double-spaced, using 12 point font)
Option 2: Tell us about a time when you had a significant impact on a person, group or organization. (Recommended length is 1 page, double-spaced, using 12 point font)
Option 3: Tell us about a time when you tried to reach a goal or complete a task that was challenging, difficult, or frustrating. (Recommended length is 1 page, double-spaced, using 12 point font)
Option 4: Tell us about a time when you went beyond what was defined, established, or expected. (Recommended length is 1 page, double-spaced, using 12 point font)

UT Austin – McCombs
You are required to answer all three questions. The Admissions Committee is not looking for any “correct” answers to these questions; we simply want to get to know you better.
Required Essays
1. Please define your short- and long-term goals and objectives, your career progression to date, and how an MBA fits in at this time. What makes the Texas MBA the perfect fit for you? (Limit 900 words)
2. The Texas MBA is built around four key pillars of leadership. Describe an experience that you have had that clearly demonstrates your leadership as it relates to one of our four pillars: 1) Responsibility/Integrity; 2) Knowledge/Understanding; 3) Collaborative/Communication; or 4) Worldview of Business and Society. (Limit 650 words)
3. At the McCombs School of Business, you will be part of an active and diverse community. Referencing your personal strengths and unique experience, how will you enrich the McCombs community during your two years in the program? (Limit 500 words)
Optional Essay
Please provide any additional information to the Admissions Committee that will highlight your unique personality and character and/or address any areas of concern that will ultimately be beneficial to the committee in considering your application. (Limit 350 words

UC Berkeley – Haas
Essay Questions
Listed below are the short answer questions, required essays, and optional essays that you will need to provide when completing the Fall 2008 application for Haas.
Short Answer:
1. If you could have dinner with one individual in the past, present, or future, who would it be and why? (250 word maximum)
2. Tell us about your most significant accomplishment. (250 word maximum)
3. At Haas, we value innovation and creativity. Describe an innovative solution you have created to address a specific challenge. (250 word maximum)
4. What steps have you taken to learn about the Berkeley MBA program, and what factors have influenced your decision to apply? (250 word maximum)
Required Essays
1. Give us an example of a situation in which you displayed leadership. (500 word maximum)
2. What are your short-term and long-term career goals? How do your professional experiences relate to these goals? Why do you want an MBA from Berkeley at this point in your career? (1000 word maximum)
Optional Essays
1. (Optional) Please feel free to provide a statement concerning any information you would like to add to your application that you haven’t addressed elsewhere. (500 word maximum)
2. (Optional) If you wish to be considered for the Haas Achievement Award (for individuals who have achieved success in spite of significant economic, educational, health-related and/or other obstacles), please use this space to address the obstacles you have overcome. (750 word maximum)

USC – Marshall
1. Describe in a brief essay (do not exceed 250 words per section – 750 words maximum):
a) Your post-MBA short-term goals. (immediately after graduation)
b) Your post-MBA long-term goals. (3-5 years after graduation) and
c) How your professional experience, when combined with an MBA degree, allows you to achieve these goals.
2. Complete one of the following three statements (do not exceed 250 words):
a) “My most significant accomplishment to date is,” or
b) “People may be surprised to learn that I,” or
c) “I am considered a leader because.”
3. Answer two of the following questions (do not exceed 500 words per question):
a) The Marshall MBA Prime Program prepares students for doing business in a global economy. Describe a cross-cultural experience that challenged you. How did you meet this challenge and what did you learn from this experience?
b) USC has garnered national acclaim for its emphasis on community outreach and service. How have you impacted your community?
c) We all experience significant events or milestones that influence the course of our lives. Briefly describe such an event and how it affected you.
4. Optional Essay: Please add any additional information that you would like the Admissions Committee to consider in evaluating your application (do not exceed 250 words).

University of Michigan – Ross
Required Questions
Applicants must answer all 4 of the questions below.
1. Briefly describe your short-term and long-term career goals. Why is an MBA the best choice at this point in your career? What and/or who influenced your decision to apply to Ross? (500 words maximum)
2. Describe your most significant professional accomplishment. Elaborate on the leadership skills you displayed, the actions you took and the impact you had on your organization. (500 words maximum)
3. If you were not pursuing the career goals you described in Question 1, what profession would you pursue instead? (For example, teacher, musician, athlete, architect, etc.) How will this alternate interest contribute to your effectiveness in solving multidisciplinary problems? (300 words maximum)
4. Describe your experience during a challenging time in your life. Explain how you grew personally, either despite this challenge or because of it. (300 words maximum)
Optional Question
Is there anything else you think the Admissions Committee should know about you to evaluate your candidacy?
University of Michigan Ross School of Business Admission Essays
Required Questions
Applicants must answer all 4 of the questions below.
1. Briefly describe your short-term and long-term career goals. Why is an MBA the best choice at this point in your career? What and/or who influenced your decision to apply to Ross? (500 words maximum)
2. Describe your most significant professional accomplishment. Elaborate on the leadership skills you displayed, the actions you took and the impact you had on your organization. (500 words maximum)
3. If you were not pursuing the career goals you described in Question 1, what profession would you pursue instead? (For example, teacher, musician, athlete, architect, etc.) How will this alternate interest contribute to your effectiveness in solving multidisciplinary problems? (300 words maximum)
4. Describe your experience during a challenging time in your life. Explain how you grew personally, either despite this challenge or because of it. (300 words maximum)
Optional Question
Is there anything else you think the Admissions Committee should know about you to evaluate your candidacy?

UNC Kenan – Flagler
Questions 1 and 2 are required of all applicants. Questions 3 and 4 are optional.
Essay One (Required)
Describe your career progression to date, highlighting leadership and management positions and reasons for changing jobs or career paths, if applicable. Tell us how your experience, coupled with an MBA degree from UNC, will lead you to your short-term and long-term career goals. (1200 words maximum)
Essay Two (Required)
Describe the major obstacles or challenges you have faced in pursuit of your goals. Tell us how you addressed these challenges and how they have shaped you. (800 words maximum)
Essay Three (Optional)
Tell us about any international experience you have, either living or working abroad. Tell us how it has impacted your global perspective. (400 words maximum)
Essay Four (Optional)
UNC Kenan-Flagler seeks to enroll students from a variety of undergraduate majors. Regardless of your major, we strongly recommend that all students enter the program with some background in calculus, microeconomics, statistics and financial accounting. If you have not studied one or more of these subjects in college or university, please tell us how you have developed proficiency in these areas. If you have not been exposed to one or more of these subjects, please tell us how you will prepare yourself prior to entering UNC Kenan-Flagler. (400 words maximum)

UCLA – Anderson
The Admissions Committee considers your responses to the following essay questions extremely important in the selection process. We endeavor to admit an interesting and diverse group of students who will both benefit from and contribute to UCLA Anderson. Therefore, you are encouraged to prepare your essays with great care. Any personal insights you can offer us concerning the qualities and experiences you believe distinguish you from other applicants would be especially helpful.
All applicants must answer questions 1 through 3; question 4 is optional.
1. (Required) Please provide us with a summary of your personal and family background. Include information about your parents and siblings, where you grew up, and perhaps a highlight or special memory of your youth. (Limit to 2 pages, double-spaced.)
2. (Required) Discuss a situation, preferably work related, where you have taken a significant leadership role. How does this event demonstrate your managerial potential? (Limit to 1 page, double-spaced.)
3. (Required) Discuss your career goals. Why are you seeking an MBA degree at this particular point in your career? Specifically, why are you applying to UCLA Anderson? If you are a concurrent degree applicant, please incorporate in your answer how the dual program fits your professional interests. (Limit to 2 pages, double-spaced.)
4. (Optional) Is there any other information that you believe would be helpful to the Admissions Committee in considering your application? If you feel the application already represents you well, do not feel obligated to answer this essay question.

Vanderbilt – Owen
Please respond to each question below. As a guideline, required Essays 1 and 2 should be no more than 500 words in length. Optional Essay 3 should be only as long as necessary.
1. (Required) Explain your short-term and long-term career plans as specifically as possible. When combined with a Vanderbilt MBA degree, how will your previous experiences and personal attributes enable you to pursue these goals successfully?
2. (Required) Discuss significant challenges and opportunities currently facing the industry or functional area in which you plan to work after completing your MBA degree. As a change agent and visionary leader, how would you approach these issues to have a positive impact on business and society?
3. You are strongly encouraged to provide an additional statement to clarify and explain any of the following: gaps of more than three months in full-time employment, poor academic performance, weak test scores, lack of recommendation from your current or most recent supervisor, academic misconduct, violations of the law, or anything else you think is important for the Admissions Committee to know about you that is not already addressed elsewhere in your application. (Response should be no longer than necessary.)

Washington – Olin
The purpose of these statements/essays is to help the Admissions Committee get to know you. Any information you can provide concerning those qualities and experiences that distinguish you from other applicants will be especially helpful.
1. Why are you seeking an MBA and, in particular, an MBA from Washington University? How will the MBA program support both your short-term and long-term career goals? (400 words maximum)
2. You step onto an elevator and find the president of the company that is your number one choice for a summer internship. It is a tall building – but you still have only two minutes to convince her that you possess the qualities that will make you the best candidate for the position and that Olin has fully prepared you for that internship. What will you say? (325 words maximum – for your information, 325 words is about 2 minutes of speaking)
3. Please explain how you might have an impact on the MBA Program at Washington University. In other words, what legacy will you leave behind? (300 words maximum)
4. Please provide any additional information about your application that you believe would be helpful to the Admissions Committee (optional).

Yale
The two required essays provide an opportunity for you to tell the Admissions Committee about your life, your career, and your goals. Because we are interested in learning as much as possible about you, your essays must be entirely your own work. Although you may ask others for general feedback on your essays, you may not allow anyone else to edit them for you. We suggest that anyone reviewing your essays do so without a pen in hand.
1. Why an MBA? – Please describe your short- and long-term goals and how your previous experience and an MBA will help you to achieve these goals. (500 words maximum)
2. Personal Statement – Please develop a question/topic of your choice and answer it in essay form. Please state the question/topic at the beginning of your essay. (500 words maximum)
Some example questions/topics include:
Describe a situation in which your leadership and/or teamwork had a significant impact.
What personal achievement are you most proud of and why?
What activities/interests do you enjoy outside the office and/or classroom and how would you integrate these activities/interests into the Yale SOM community?
What is the most difficult feedback that you have received and how did you address it?
Where is the most exciting place you have ever been and what did you learn from being there?
Describe a situation where you questioned your values and/or beliefs.
What does accountability mean to you?
If you are reapplying: How has your candidacy changed since your last application?
Optional Essay
If any aspect of your candidacy needs further explanation, please provide any additional information that you would like the Admissions Committee to consider. (200 words maximum)

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MBA DEADLINES

Canadian MBA

del.icio.us Tags: Business Management, Essays, India, MBA, Study, degree, education, education specialization, higher education | Tagged: Admission, Austin, Carnegie Mellon, Columbia, Cornell, Darden, Dartmouth, Duke, Emory, Essay Topics, Georgetown, Haas, Harvard, higher education, Indiana, INSEAD, ISB, Kellog, LSB, MIT, NYU, Ohio State, Purdue, Rochester, Stanford, UCLA, UNC, Universities, University of Chicago, University of Michigan, USA, USC, Vanderbilt, Washigton, Wharton, Yale University

LiveJournal Tags: Business Management, Essays, India, MBA, Study, degree, education, education specialization, higher education | Tagged: Admission, Austin, Carnegie Mellon, Columbia, Cornell, Darden, Dartmouth, Duke, Emory, Essay Topics, Georgetown, Haas, Harvard, higher education, Indiana, INSEAD, ISB, Kellog, LSB, MIT, NYU, Ohio State, Purdue, Rochester, Stanford, UCLA, UNC, Universities, University of Chicago, University of Michigan, USA, USC, Vanderbilt, Washigton, Wharton, Yale University

Entrepreneurship – where is it taught best?

Technorati Tags: Arizona State University, Babson, Babson College, Baylor, Boston University, Cornell, Entrepreneurship, Harvard, Indiana University, Kennesaw State University, Loyola of Chicago, MIT, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, NY Times, New York Times, Northwestern, Stanford, Stanford University, Syracuse, Syracuse University, TRUMP, University of Arizona, University of California – Los Angeles, University of California at Berkeley, University of Chicago, University of Houston, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Pennsylvania, University of Texas at Austin, University of Texas at El Paso., University of Wyoming, Wake Forest., Western Carolina University

Recently New York Times published an article about the subject. Interest in Entrepreneurship is growing and the study programs are increasingly being offered. Nearly 3000 colleges provide training in the subject.As with every thing American passion for Ranking of the ‘ Entrepreneurship’ programs is existing.

So which school is the right place for those interested in starting their own companies?

Fortune Small Business spent seven months interviewing hundreds of entrepreneurs, professors, administrators, students and alumni to try to find out.

The magazine answers the question this way: It found that the best places to get an Entrepreneurship education were:

Undergraduate

Babson College

Indiana University

Syracuse University

University of Arizona

University of Pennsylvania

Online Education

Boston University

University of Houston

University of Wyoming

Western Carolina University

Cross-Disciplinary Studies

Cornell

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Stanford University

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Wake Forest.

Graduate School

Babson

Harvard

Indiana University

M.I.T

Stanford

Syracuse

University of Arizona

University of California at Berkeley

University of California, Los Angeles

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

University of Pennsylvania

Executive Education

Babson

Harvard

Northwestern

Stanford

University of Chicago

University of Texas at Austin

Family Business

Babson

Baylor

Kennesaw State University

Loyola of Chicago

Northwestern

University of Texas at El Paso.

DOES PASSION TRUMP ALL? Maybe we have the whole approach to teaching entrepreneurship backward, George Gendron writes in Inc.

READ THE ARTICLE AT

del.icio.us Tags: Arizona State University, Babson, Babson College, Baylor, Boston University, Cornell, Entrepreneurship, Harvard, Indiana University, Kennesaw State University, Loyola of Chicago, MIT, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, NY Times, New York Times, Northwestern, Stanford, Stanford University, Syracuse, Syracuse University, TRUMP, University of Arizona, University of California – Los Angeles, University of California at Berkeley, University of Chicago, University of Houston, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Pennsylvania, University of Texas at Austin, University of Texas at El Paso., University of Wyoming, Wake Forest., Western Carolina University

From the Diaries of Engineering Applicants

Technorati Tags: Arizona State University, Baylor University, Carnegie Mellon University, Case Western Reserve University, Clemson University, Emory University, Georgia Tech, Iowa State University, Johns Hopkins University, Kansas State University, Michigan State University, New Jersey Inst. of Technology, New Mexico State University, North Carolina State University, Northwestern University, Ohio State University, Oregon State University, Oregon Graduate Institute of Technology, Penn State, Purdue University – West Lafayette, Rutgers- the State University of New Jersey, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Southern Methodist University, SUNY- Buffalo, SUNY – Stony Brook, University of Arizona- Tuscon, University of California – Irvine, University of California –Los Angeles, University of California – Santa Barbara, University of Chicago, University of Cincinnati, University of Delaware, University of Florida, University of Georgia – Athens, University of Illinois – Urbana Champagne, University of Kansas – Lawrence, University of Maryland- College Park, University of Maryland – Baltimore County, University of Massachusetts – Amherst, University Minnesota, University of Minnesota – Duluth, University of Michigan, University of New Mexico, University of South Western Louisiana – Lafayette, University Oregon, University of Utah, University of Wisconsin – Madison, University of Texas – Arlington, University of Texas, Dallas, University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, Washington University – St. Louis, Washington State University- Pullman:

Names of Universities are  followed by comments from real applicants.

Arizona State University:

1^st Applicant

M.S. Admit. Looks like it wants to keep up the tradition of not giving aid until you land there. Aid sure once you reach ASU. Very difficult to get aid here. I contacted a few professors. One of them replied. He asked me to not pester him. Asked me to contact him only if I was going to do a direct Ph.D. good University. Has gone into top 50 of late. The Univ. has lot of research funding including some defense projects. They have a very good dist. Comp. lab and some really good Profs. Can give a try. Aid sure for Ph.D. from here. For M.S. u will get one after landing.

2^nd Applicant

ADMIT: definite admit to guys here. Aid only when you reach there.

3^rd Applicant

Easy to get admit with a decent Q+A score and decent CG (at least 7) not possible to get aid unless you are physically present there. Aid is guaranteed as soon as you go there. Excellent place for internships. ASU follows a kind of rolling admission process…so clashes hardly matter!!

Baylor University

a. In their minimum requirements, there was an emphasis on the GRE scores and no mention of GPA. Their app form was different from others’. They asked me to write a few (short) essays…

b. resumes, recos, sop, GRE score

c. low GPA students (provided you can justify your low GPA in the class can apply as safe

Carnegie Mellon University

1st Applicant

This WAS my dream university. This is the Mecca of Computer Science, comparable, if not better to UCB, Stanford and MIT. There were two reasons why I applied here. One, some of us decided to try some great, new universities that have not been cracked yet. CMU ranked very high in that list. Not only does it have a very intimidating ranking but also no senior (past 2 yrs) has ever applied and got in here. Two, this is the best place for computational linguistics. My senior bugs strongly advised my against applying here. The applying fee is also high at 75 dollars. But, I got a fellowship offer from the Language Technologies Center which is THE BEST place for natural language processing and computational linguistics. I chose not to go to this place due to a variety of reasons ranging from a very narrow course stream to a very taxing and demanding coursework (there are nerds there that expect you to study 5 subjects every semester, do original research and submit a thesis every semester and continue the research even during summer). But the toppers in your class, who are ready to slog their butts out can seriously app here, because this is one of the best places you can ever hope to get in during your entire lifetime. CGPA, GRE, SUBGRE crazy university.

2nd Applicant

I applied here as Pittsburgh has a good temple ;-). I need not tell you about this place. But don’t get scared off. Sunder-man got a fellowship here, and Sutra has an RA. So, if you have a 9+, app and I think you can get in. Esp. if you app for Ph.D. Refer to Sunder-man’s apply info, regarding the 10-dollar issue.

Case Western Reserve University:

I really don’t know why I applied to this place. Case western people seem to be dozing. I really doubt if there’s a college called case western, or if they simply have a garage, so gullible people like me app and they run off with the application money. I tried Phone, Email, Snail-mail even homing pigeons, telepathy and prayers. No reply. Guess I got to go and meet them personally to find out what’s happening.

Clemson University

Good in computer engineering. Gave admit to almost everyone who applied. Aid limited. Ranked 42. I’m going there.

Emory University

Senior Gopinath had the same credentials as me and got into Emory. My GRE scores did not reach them! Senior Srividhya said Emory was not a very good place for CS. You may try your luck because 2 of our seniors are on a fellowship. But apply early!

Georgia Tech

1st Applicant

I applied here as a probable university (similar to Purdue). They seem to be following a very irrational method of admission. They bumped me whereas Merle and Lakhs were given TAs. I had similar or better credentials than them in every aspect you might look into. The only reason I can think of is the way in which I wrote my SOP. I was interested in a variety of fields (even though they lacked synergy). So I mentioned every one of them in my SOP and the work I had done in each field. This should have been construed as lack of focus and research aptitude. (I personally feel that nobody (any undergrad student) can actually decide on what he is going to do in his PhD during his final year of undergraduate study. He might have certain inclinations and interests but it is simply too early to decide.) I was true to myself in that I wanted to do research in all the fields I had mentioned. The moral of the story is, even if you don’t have any real idea of what you want to do or even if you like a variety of unrelated fields please don’t mention so in you SOP and stick to a particular field of interest. ‘Coz there are crazy, illogical and irrational fools sitting in admission committees ( akin to our cricket selection committee ) who think that just because you mention so many fields in you SOP, you (in this case me with 9.4, 2320, 88% ) are fit for nothing. The decisions seem to be more rational (i.e. based on the quantifiable results) in top universities. The top three universities I applied to, gave me admits and the last three universities I applied to, bumped me. Please excuse me for the above digression. Apart from that, the college of computing in GTECH is a good a place to be in for a variety of fields. Usually, the credential requirements for GTECH and Purdue are similar.

2nd Applicant

Gives PhD admissions easily and aid is automatically assured with a PhD admit. Also highly ranked univ. S GRE is required here else the app will be incomplete. Though they say they require Sub GRE’s > 90%ile, it is strange that I got an admit here. No aid for Masters.

Anyone with 8.5+, 2100+, 70%ile+ has a good chance of getting a PhD admission. GPA’s with 8+, give a try for PhD here. You may get thro’. Toppers! Leave this for lesser GPA’s who want to do a PhD because you may get thro in better universities like Stanford, CMU, etc. for a Ph.D.

3rd Applicant

Excellent all round place in terms of dept size, ranking, research and overall ranking. Don’t believe Sunder-man. They want focused people like me and not confused ones like him ;-). I think MS doesn’t have aid, full aid guaranteed for all Ph.D. students. Other guy in is Muralikrishna. If you have an 8.6+ with 2200+ GRE and 80+ AGRE, interested in a Ph.D. and think that you can get along with me reasonably well, you should app here. I think that you will have more admits next year, as one of your seniors is going to make a great impression here.

Why I had an Admit = same decent credentials funda. I do think AGRE made an impact. Plus I had strongly indicated in my sop that I was inclined towards research and definitely will be with them to complete my Ph.D. (GTECH people are very anxious about this aspect).

4th Applicant

Nothing much to say, I feel that I was denied admit for PhD because of my AGRE.

Iowa State University

1st Applicant

I applied here only in Jan after meeting Dr.Manimaran of ISU, in the Calcutta Conference (HiPC’99). In the first meeting itself he said he had an asst. free and if I had a GRE score above 22 and Top 10 % grading in RECOS (in RECOS which everyone gets easily in our dept) then he can give an asst. Later I just mailed him once and he said I can apply for both CS dept and CE dept with a single application fee and I just did the same.

In CE dept., he carried my application literally and I got all this TA and PACE because of him. He said that he got me TA, even thou the deadline for it was over when my app reached their dept.

I’m going for M.S (CE) in Diff. Services (pretty scary term, isn’t it?), N/Ws and Dist. Systems.

Regarding the CS department, I do not know how I got admit and aid from here as he said that he was not aware of me applying there though he only asked me to apply for both.

2nd Applicant

BUMP. Good college. Everyone who applied was bumped. Apply only if you have a contact there. I applied because of matching research interests.

3rd Applicant

Bump. Good univ. My low credentials (GRE) probably got me a bump. All those who applied to this university except Swaminathan got a bump. Swami is going to this university. Manimaran who is known to Renuka madam has given him aid. Contact swami for more details as he is going there.

Johns Hopkins University

Applied for PhD.BUMP.Scores sent – All Xerox copies. I asked for an application fee waiver and they accepted it.

Everything was free with this university expect for the postage of course. This was very strong in cluster computing. That is why I chose to do a PhD here. This Univ accepts ONLY 10 students and that to only for PhD.

Kansas State University:

M.S. Admit.

Refused to give aid. Tried to contact some professors, but none of them replied. They have some good professors in distributed computing. Aid not very easy for M.S. and obviously not a very good college to do your Ph.D. Previous applicants specifically mentioned that aid was available only for Ph.D. I decided to defy it. Still could not make aid.

Michigan State University:

1st Applicant

This is one place which, on hindsight, I felt I shouldn’t have applied to. I had been ultra-conservative in choosing this university as a safe place and I request you not to follow a similar course. MSU is one place which has an undisputed and doubtless reputation of determining aid purely based on your AGRE score. So, for those of you with a relatively lesser GPA, but with a capability and confidence of securing a good AGRE score, this is THE place you can try for.

2nd Applicant

This univ looks at your subject GRE. Though not very strong in computer architecture I applied to this univ because I had pretty good chances of getting in. 3 of us (Methuen, Saravanan and me ) got TA from this univ.

3^rd Applicant

Very AGRE strong…

New Jersey Inst. of Technology

1^st Applicant

NJIT has 50% Indian Students and is ranked!! .GRE score. I don’t recommend this univ as aid chances are almost nil. But a student there said it was possible to pay the fees through campus jobs. Getting an admission is quite easy. If you can’t think of any other univ, apply to this one (just $50).

2^nd Applicant

It’s PIG SHIT in capital letters.

New Mexico State University:

BUMP. Ranked college. Not situated in the industrial belts hence problem arises when it comes to finding jobs. They seem to be bothered about academics (GPA). Guys with GPA less than 8.0 need not app to this college

North Carolina State University:

1st Applicant

I shouldn’t have applied to this place. One of my friends in U.S asked me to app to this place. I don’t know very much about this univ. Its neighbors are UNC Chapel Hill and Duke Univ. I thought I could transfer credits to one of those well known Univs (Normally it happens in this place).

2nd Applicant

Very good university. Our senior Balsa is there. This is a part of the research triangle (UNC Chapel hill, Duke, and NCSU). They look at your subject GRE. It was surprising that in spite of a lot of people applying to this univ, none of us got aid first. With Bales’ help, Ramrod got RA later from a professor there.

Northwestern University

I really do not know why I applied here that too for a PhD program

Good place to blow out your money.

Ohio State University:

1st Applicant

This is a reasonably good university, the main attraction being that it is very Anna friendly. Almost ten of us made it to this university, two with fellowships and the rest with TA/RA. I had this as my safe university since over the past 2 years, it has been consistently favorable towards CEG applicants and there is absolutely no reason why this should not continue in greater proportions in the years to come, considering the quality of our students going there. I strongly encourage a good number of you to try this place.

2nd Applicant

They have lots of admits + aid over here. Really have a good impression on Anna Univ, thanks to our seniors. Hope, the record is maintained. Applied because our seniors got lots of admits with aid.

GRE doesn’t matter here. People with 8+, 2000+ can give a try here. Admission with aid is almost assured for 8.5+, 2100+. I was shortlisted for a TA (not offered) and they asked me whether I was interested in their univ (If I was interested, I had a 99% chance of getting aid). By then, I took a decision on the univ to which I was going and hence rejected the offer.

Here also, they are very busy giving admission offers that the Grad-Sec never replies for email queries. But, Profs normally reply. You can contact Dr.P.Sadayappan (saday@cis.ohio-state.edu) if you have any doubts regarding the procedures. He is helpful.

3rd Applicant

A safe place for everybody. Admit and aid sure if you have 8.5+, 2150+. Great for networks and good place to be in. Lots of funding and lots of our people here. 10 of you can apply here especially as they gave us 5 TA and 2 fellowships. I got admit + TA. Decent credentials are enough.

4th Applicant

the 2nd largest university in the US. Lots of Indian grad students. I heard that one can go there even without aid and manage as there is lots of funding (including jobs in other departments). Although the univ catalog says that TSE is needed for TA, they grant TAs even without it, but one has to clear the SPEAK (administered on campus) to get full stipend.

Areas of active research: ATM, Multimedia networking, Parallel & Distributed Computing.

5th Applicant

Applied for MS. Admit + TA. Scores sent – GRE, AGRE, TOEFL

Nice for Distributed Computing. Lots of Indians are here. Quarter system … so you can finish early…but you have to slog.

Oregon State University

1st Applicant

I applied here as a safe university that has a history of giving tons of admits of AU students. Of the 9 people who applied for CS this year (including one senior), two got fellowships, six got TAs, only one got bumped and you guessed right, that fortunate person is me. The reasons for my bump are the same as that of for GTECH. This is a very big university with a lot of students of Indian origin. It is good for networking. Since they give admit with aid to every Tom, Dick and Harry that says he comes from AU computer science, I strongly suggest/advice the toppers ( top 5 ) to desist from applying here.( Anyway, you will get aid from a better university. Even if you get a fellow here it is better to go the better university with TA or RA). Guys with CGPA 8.5-8.9, GRE~2200 can expect aid here. Sub GRE helps even though it is not required.

2nd Applicant

CS dept isn’t all that good here. Aid chances depend on the availability of funds. Last year, one guy with credentials no better than mine (some other college) got aid while this year I didn’t.

Oregon Graduate Institute of Technology:

1^st Applicant

M.S. Admit – no aid

My worst choice. Was a last minute replacement. Big mistake. Never apply here as this a purely graduate institution. So there are no TA’s. I came to know of this only after applying. Felt very bad. RA’s very difficult to get. So forget this univ. also this is a private univ. so funding very less.

2^nd Applicant

OGI does not have undergraduates. So no chance for TA. Admits easy. Aid chances slim.

Areas of active research: databases, AI

Penn State

I shall give some points about Penn State. The information I am providing below is from the Graduate Brochure of the Computer Science and Engineering Department and can be taken as FACTS, not my opinion.

Penn State requires the GRE and the TOEFL. The TSE is required for eligibility for financial assistance. The AGRE is strongly recommended. It is not possible, except under extenuating circumstances, to break-off from the Ph.D. program and receive a M.S. degree alone.

Purdue University – West Lafayette:

1st Applicant

The chosen one. Ranked 11^th in the current US news rankings and has been rising in the rankings in the past. Not the best university for research. Is of the same caliber as that of UIUC in research. But the course work is very intensive here and the standards very high. This is where Douglas Comer (TCP/IP) is. There is a large Indian Student community here. Apart from that Indy car racing, Indiana Grand Prix are the other attractions. I applied here as one of my probable universities, since seniors with similar or slightly lower credentials had secured aid. There was a myth that Purdue does not give aid to M.S. But Marla got TA for MS The reason why I am mentioning this is; do not blindly follow/believe what has been written in this book or something that was told by some senior. Apply your thought, browse extensively through the university web pages, contact the students there, contact some professors there and then decide on the university to apply. People usually have the tendency to match their credentials with some senior in the app info and blindly ape his/her choices. Please don’t do that. CGPA~9, GRE~2200, SUBGRE~75 should do the trick.

2nd Applicant

My destination in U.S: Good university (known for network security), highly ranked (among the top ten), excellent funding. It was a great surprise that I was admitted for M.S with aid because there was no track record of any of our seniors getting aid for Master’s. My senior VP went with aid for Ph.D.

GPA matters very much here. Though S GRE is recommended, they aren’t very particular about it. I didn’t send my S GRE scores here. Applying for M.S leading to PhD helped because if I wasn’t able to make it to M.S, I would have definitely got a PhD admit + aid. This was my PhD safe.

Anyone with 8.5+, 2200+ should definitely give a try here. Students go for internships. Neil Armstrong graduated from this univ :-). The first and the last man to visit the moon graduated from Purdue. It is called the “cradle of astronauts”.

3rd Student

I had a very bad experience here. I chose ECE to CS as Sunder-man and Muralikrishna had applied to CS. (There was a CE program inside CS. I preferred CE in ECE as I didn’t feel like clashing). Professor in ECE I contacted kept telling me that it would be a cakewalk. But I got bumped off. Now I feel that I would have got into CS if I had applied. App here to CS if you have 8.8+ and good GRE. They have lots of money, so aid is not a problem.

Why I got Bumped = ECE too IIT strong and GPA strong. CS gettable though. Avoid ECE here like plague (no matter what the Professors tell you.

4th Applicant

BUMP- (8.5 + only apply) applied because it was a univ whose name I knew from the 1st semester and because that was the name of the only college my brother (elder) recognized.

Other Remarks by those who considered this university:

CS -Gettable

Rutgers- the State University of New Jersey:

This is a considerably high ranked university with a very good reputation. Seems to be a safe choice for anyone with a GPA of above 8.5. Subject GRE is required.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

I really don’t know why I applied to this place. Rensselaer refused aid for me although I got admitted for Ph.D. So you can imagine the state of funding there. Apply to Rensselaer Ph.D. if you have 72,000$ cash and fancy studying in a place half the size of our football ground.

Why I got Bumped = Rensselaer research is supposed to be good. But they sent me a mail home asking me to furnish a document showing 72,000$ (or some other ridiculous figure) in cash as I got an admitted without aid. I mailed them back with a mail that boiled down to this: – “If I had 72,000$ with me I would have opened a jewelry shop in T Nagar”

Southern Methodist University

I had a feeling that SMU had 100% acceptance policy:-, its ranked, heard of univ. they were ready to admit anybody from India! I don’t recommend this Univ. because there is financial aid. Please apply to this univ only if you want to create history by managing to secure aid or if you need an admission.

SUNY- Buffalo :

1^st Applicant

Aid is next to impossible for MS. The general trend is that they give no aid for MS and ask students applying for MS to join Ph.D. to get an aid. The trend continued till date and I think it will continue.

2^nd Applicant

Please don’t app here. I don’t see any reason to apply here. No aid for MS, aid only for PhD. If you want to do MS without aid then you can as well app in some top 50 college. If you want to do a PhD you might as well apply for better colleges than SUNY – Buffalo.

SUNY – Stony Brook:

1^st Applicant

Research oriented university .Getting admission is easy. But in the past few years they haven’t given aid for our college for M.S at all. They promised aid from the 2nd semester for me.

Areas of active research: Graphics, Visualization

2^nd Applicant

ADMIT: same case as University of California-Irvine. Only admits. No aid for MS students. Good college.

University of Arizona- Tuscon:

1st Applicant

I thought I had a good chance for a TW, but didn’t get one. It may be because I applied late. (I mailed my apps in the first week of Dec). The grad students I contacted told me that UA has lots of funding and that one can come over with a TW and manage.

Areas of active research: Distributed computing, networks.

2nd Applicant

Good univ, but why waste app fees for a Tuition waiver :-). Lots of projects on Distributed Computing. Almost 6 of us bumped their offer.

GPA’s 7.5 – 8.5 should give a try here. One good thing about this univ is that you needn’t waste money sending official score reports of GRE, TOEFL. They are happy with photocopies. I heard aid is available after going to this place.

3rd Applicant

I was desperate to go to University Arizona when I applied. But later I found out that they are very strong in research. Hence I took VirginiaTech instead of University Arizona. But generally a Anna friendly univ. gives a lot of TW.

4th Applicant

Lots of Indians in this univ. The climate is very much Indian. This univ gives plenty of tuition waivers and no aid. But seniors say that you’ll get aid soon after you go there. I got admission in ECE department. They didn’t give me any aid (not even tuition waiver). CS dept asks for TSE. ECE dept doesn’t.

5th Applicant

Seems Tuition Waivers are available for the taking.

6th Applicant

Applied for MS. Admit. Scores sent – GRE, TOEFL, TSE

I know nothing about this univ except that it gives admits with TA for CSE with GPA around 8.5 plus or minus 0.2. They have a peculiar situation wherein they give aid only when you have a SSN number. But you get an SSN number only when you reach US. Catch 22 situation. That is, they give you aid once you land there. Check whether this is the same for all universities in Arizona.

7^th Applicant

It’s similar to ASU in many ways…u need to have a decent GRE or decent CGPA to get admit from here. A lot of on campus jobs are available…so aid wont be a problem at all.ASU is better than UofA in many ways but since this is highly ranked than ASU , I might be prefering UofA.Here too , clashes hardly matter!

University of California – Irvine:

1^st Applicant

No chance of aid here. Gives lot of admits. Even a guy with a CGPA of 7.5 can get an admission here. But one of the top ranking schools in US. Top 30. Hence if you are willing to shell out 30K per year, you can choose this univ.

2^nd Applicant

Applied for M.S. Good univ I felt. Said he required TSE for an aid. I was giving my TSE so bravely applied??? Unfortunately bumped me. Reason very sure my low GRE scores. A GRE score of 2200 – 2300 would have got me an admit. Also three guys with a good GRE applied to this along with me. One thing very sure about this univ – requirements are high. So apply if you have a decent GPA (8.75), a good GRE (2200) and a surely a good TSE score (50-55). My TSE score became useless since I flunked it. This univ allows u to go for an internship. Plenty in number –its California Result: Bump

3^rd Applicant

ADMIT; good college. But bad policy because of no aid to any MS student at all. Only PhD. guys get aid. This was told to me by an admission officer of the Graduate office in Irvine.

University of California –Los Angeles:

Another ‘Dream School’. When I asked my senior Bugs regarding applying to this univ, he strongly advised me against it for, he didn’t want me to waste my app cost. However, I applied because there was a professor (Dr. Ercegovac) whose interest was reconfigurable computing and computer arithmetic – exactly like mine. Moreover, our final yr project was very much in the line of his work. So, my idea was “why not give it a shot, after all there are 5 probable universities and we can surely make it in to at least one of them”. Anyway, they bumped me. I still feel some amount of professor contact would have helped. I committed a serious mistake in not trying well to contact the professor. (a professor contact doesn’t help in all universities. Some even discourage it. However, in most of the universities, it helps a lot.)

University of California – Santa Barbara:

1st Applicant

This was an interesting univ. Initially they gave me admission for Master’s with TA and half Tuition waiver and conveyed this to me by email and asked me to give their acceptance. When I didn’t care to reply, they sent me a bump letter.

Again GPA’s 7.5 – 8.5 can give a try. Nothing much about this univ.

2nd Applicant

I was told that my app was not being processed due to lack of application fee. I furnished evidence of payment of app fee. In spite of that I did not hear from them afterwards. Moreover, they don’t seem to give aid for M.S (from what I have seen over the past few years). Also, Fee waivers are not granted to international applicants (Univ policy). Hence I would advise against applying to this university.

University of Chicago:

It is known for its liberal admits to Indian Students and called rightly as “University for Indians at Chicago” as lot of Madras Univ. guys enter easily here. I just chose this to be a safe and applied. No other specific reason for applying here.

2. University of Cincinnati

1^st Applicant

Good university for computer engineering. Lots of research in Reconfigurable computing. Waiver easily available. Many of my friends with less GPA got waiver. I had applied very late like in Feb and my app was declined

2^nd Applicant

M.S. Bump

Don’t app here if you have good and decent credentials like me. Gave t/w to Hangnail who had a CGPA of 7.5 and gave me, Rajesh and Sundar (EEE) bumps for higher credentials. Said I was refused admission because of high competition. Surely we guys deserve a much better Univ. than this.

University of Delaware:

1^st Applicant

M.S. Admit .Very slow in processing. Processes application in the descending order of GRE score (fool – he said FCFS and betrayed me) did not bother to enquire once I got aid from university of Kansas. Good for n/w and dist. Systems

2^nd Applicant

A safe. You will make an admit here. (GRE strong) I was the first to make it because of GRE score. Others here were lower

3^rd Applicant

Applied for MS .Admit .Scores sent – GRE, TOEFL .This was a safe univ. It had good funds and was moderately OK for networks.

4^th Applicant

It is good for AI and networking. The only info I have about this university is that they process the application in decreasing order of GRE scores.

University of Florida:

1st Applicant

It is believed to be univ with rolling admission. But I applied on Nov 1st to get the admit letter on May. Hence do consider before applying.

2nd Applicant

I got my admit letter when I was preparing for my VISA interview. They exhibited some remarkable pace in processing apps. Finally, they refused aid saying that they didn’t receive my TSE scores which I had sent thru’ ETS, FAX and email.

University of Georgia – Athens:

1^st Applicant

ADMIT+TA. UGA though not ranked seems to be a quite decent college. Not much of research work is going here but they do research on distributed information systems. This college is very responsive in their correspondence with students. Heard that graduates of UGA are placed in good companies. This college is not concerned much about GPA. They mainly use GRE score for giving aid. People with GRE of above 2150 have good chance of securing aid.

2^nd Applicant

Supposed to be the oldest university in US and has a decent computer science department.

3^rd Applicant

ADMIT+TA. UGA though not ranked seems to be a quite decent college. Not much of research work is going here but they do research on distributed information systems. This college is very responsive in their correspondence with students. Heard that graduates of UGA are placed in good companies. This college is not concerned much about GPA. They mainly use GRE score for giving aid. People with GRE of above 2150 have good chance of securing aid.

University of Illinois – Urbana Champagne

1st Applicant

This is a very highly ranked university that has a history of admitting AU students. Though they did not give any aid this year, we secured four admits. The reasons for not securing any aid are as follows.

One, most of them who applied did not write TSE (sandy, Deepak, Merle, Methuen). Two, I wrote TSE but had only 50 which was not good enough in this university. You need 55 to safely get a TA and TA is the major form of aid in UIUC. Around 90% of the students are supported using TAs. Even though AGRE is strongly recommended in this college, it seems to make no impact at all. This university strictly requires a financial document – a proof for your finances and this is a criterion even for admission (Methuen got bumped due to that). Admission for PhD is very very competitive. M.S and M.S/PhD are easier to get in. I applied for PhD and they took aeons to decide on my application. Finally they bumped me for PhD and gave an admit to M.S. Not a very great univ for research (it does not deserve the ranking it has). If you have 9+ CGPA, 2200+ and 55 in TSE, you can treat this college as a safe or a probable college.

2nd Applicant

Highly ranked univ and a good dept. It seems they don’t have email facilities :-) (No replies from graduate secretaries or for that matter any official in this univ). May be, they are very busy having MoU with Indian computer centers like Quantum Institute, etc. Applied to this because they gave lot of admits and aid for my seniors.

If you have a 9+, 2200+, admit is easy. Without TSE, aid is next to impossible. For admit without a TSE score, financial stmt. is needed.

3rd Applicant

Another one in the top schools list. Excellent research in reconfigure is going on in its ECE dept. CS dept has been giving admits to us. However, since comp. arch work is going on in ECE dept, I’d to app there. It has been almost impossible getting into the ECE dept. Our ECE topper (Arum) was bumped! Moreover, it requires TSE for any form of assistantship. I didn’t send my financial statement. So, there was no chance for the univ, even to consider me for admission. Thinking back, I feel foolish to have applied to this univ. Even Methuen (Our topper) who applied to CS dept was bumped. (He didn’t take up his TSE neither did he send his financial statement.) The universities rationale is “a guy doesn’t. Take TSE => No aid. So, to offer admission, he/she should at least be able to support himself/herself during study (financial statement vouches for this). If not, bump him/her”. That’s pretty logical. However not all universities are so strict about financial statement and TSE either.

4th Applicant

The results with this university this year have been very shocking and contrary to expectations. This univ. has had the characteristic of being very Anna friendly in the past (last year around 5 applicants got aid). I do not see a concrete reason for this sudden turnaround. One possible factor contributing to the decline is that most of the applicants this year (except one) did not take the TSE. UIUC is crazy about TSE, since the state of Illinois forbids award of a TA without a passing TSE score. Considering the fact that TA is the predominant form of aid given here, this could be a reason why none of us got an aid here. Another reason is what I had mentioned earlier. A financial statement seems to be absolutely essential even for your application to be considered by this university. (This university has the distinction of being deaf to whatever mail you send. So don’t be very much worried if you don’t hear from the University for a Considerable Length of time.

5th Applicant

Applied for MS/PhD. BUMP

Scores sent – GRE, AGRE, TOEFl and Financial Statement

This univ gave admit to my senior with similar scores, so I applied. This was supposed to be Anna friendly. I did not have a realistic chance over here…. Just an outside chance. Nothing wrong in trying your hand at some high ranked univ. You never know when luck smiles on you.

6^th Applicant

It is very very CGPA strong….Not at all recommended for people with <9 CGPA

University of Kansas – Lawrence:

1^st Applicant

M.S. Admit + Aid .Very hot for n/w. yearly around $11 million are invested for research in this area. Was pleased to get into it. I am going to this Univ. be careful with the graduate admissions officer (Carmela Sibley) here. She is a lazy woman. Keep reminding her regularly after u have applied else she will doze off or go on leave. Had a bitter experience getting my admission letter and I-20. Gave aid to 2 of us (Muthuvelan and myself). 4 of them in ECE got into it – 3 with aid. Had plenty of money this year – looks like. Contact me for further details. Anyone with a decent GRE and GPA (>8) will be able to get into it with full aid. TSE necessary for TA and recommended for RA.

2^nd Applicant

Good for Networking and Distributed Computing. People with 8+ and >2000 can apply here. TSE is required for a TA. They have increased the intake of Anna University students due to good showing by our ECE seniors over there.

University of Maryland- College Park

1^st Applicant

(BUMP) applied just for kicks. I was almost sure of a bump. I do not think there is any use of applying here since last year’s topper (samba) also was bumped with no reason

2^nd Applicant

Very good university and has one of the heavily funded computer science department. It is particularly good in the field of Artificial Intelligence, databases and distributed computing. Nothing is known about the attitude of this university towards Indians except contempt. They consider IIT as only college in India. I suggest the topper could app here. It requires AGRE and TSE for TA. I wasted $75 as they were doing extensive research in the field of wrappers- my project is also based on wrappers.

University of Maryland – Baltimore County

1^st Applicant

It is a fairly new university and has a good computer science department. It is involved in extensive research in the field of agents. People with CGPA 8+ and GRE 2000+ can almost surely get an admit.

2^nd Applicant

ADMIT

UMBC researches a lot on agent technology. As my final year project was on mobile agents I applied to this university. Though ranked in the late 90’s for computer science seems to be a good college, located near Washington is an added advantage when it comes to jobs. If you have a GRE >2250 you stand a good chance of getting aid here.

University of Massachusetts – Amherst:

1st Applicant

This is again a very good place for distributed systems, especially with focus on multimedia. It was supposed to be IIT strong, and to some extent, it really is. A considerable proportion of their intake from India is from IITs. Still, this year two of us made it to this univ with aid. I don’t have information to assess the criteria on which they select, except repeating the obvious fact that a good GPA + GRE are what required. AGRE is NOT AT ALL considered by this university, so don’t waste your money sending your score here, however good your score is. TWE score is required here. (I was really impressed by the attractive file that came along with the offer letter from this univ.

2nd Applicant

Applied for MS .BUMP .Scores sent – GRE & TOEFL (no TWE) (Both Xerox copies)

This univ says that TWE is mandatory. But I don’t think so. My reject was purely based on my average academic performance. Supposed to be good in Networks, Dist comp….and so on.

University Minnesota:

1^st Applicant-

A decent univ. Aid is very difficult. A very cold place to live (-50 at times). Please do consider before applying.

2^nd Applicant

*Applied for MS *BUMP

*Scores sent – GRE, AGRE, and TOEFL I applied here only because it was AGRE strong. They stated it very clearly that aid is dependant only on AGRE score. I got bumped whereas sandy who did not even take AGRE got an admit. Strange policies indeed…..

3^rd Applicant

Applied for MS :Bumped

Really good univ. latest CS Engg. ranking is 19 according to US news. I went by my seniors’ app info. 2 years ago 2 of them with a cg of 8.5 and a GRE = 2000 had got into it without aid. So I applied. Thought I could make some RA here. I clashed with sandy since I was taking my AGRE. The univ said AGRE required for aid. Many IITians apply here. All CSE IITians get 99% in AGRE – they cheat u know (we have also decided to do so from this year – check out Kart hick for our AGRE question paper). Back to my story. I sent my free AGRE score to this univ and wrote my AGRE totally without any preparation – I flunked and I was bumped by this univ. never mind. Everyone except sandy got bumped. Even Vijay (90% in AGRE) got bumped. Sandy too got only an admit. App to this only if has a high GPA, GRE and AGRE. Be careful while choosing this univ.

University of Minnesota – Duluth

1^st Applicant

I had a feeling that their aid program was good. Nice sop, resume, recos, and GRE score .People with low GPA (7-7.5) so desperate to get into some univ with aid can apply to this univ as a safe. There are many Indian students in this univ. contact them for your queries.

University of Michigan:

1st Applicant

Great school. Ranked in the top 10. Excellent for Computer Architecture. Lakshmi and I applied to this univ. We had the exactly similar credentials – GPA, GRE, AGRE, TOEFL, Recos, and Project Guide! So, we split universities between us avoiding clashes. We also decided to app at least to one univ together (so that it either admits both or bumps both.) The opportunity was awarded to UMich and you know what the result is! This univ hasn’t been cracked by CS guys in the last 3 years. I feel this can definitely be done by the toppers. If some topper is interested in Comp. Arch, this univ is a great choice.

2nd Applicant

THE place to get in, if you are interested in Computer Architecture. Excellent program in Comp Arch with lots of funding / research. Pentium Branch prediction unit was done here. Other fields are also good here. This was the only place I clashed with Kathie. (See his credentials to find out why). We were dreaming of going to the same place and participating in the famous Umich graduation-day bash. Ultimately both of us got bumped off. Apply if you have an 8.8+ and want to do a Ph.D. I feel it is gettable for 8.8+ people. 9+ people who have no interest of doing a Ph.D. here, go ahead, apply and get an admit, so your juniors can make it next time.

Why I got Bumped = although this place is (very) good. I still think it is gettable with my credentials. Umich is very IIT strong, and so is not taking people from Gundy. If one of you with 9.2+ app and get admits and open this place up, I am sure they will start behaving normally.

9. University of New Mexico

Not a great computer science department. But has a decent Electrical Engineering department.

University of South Western Louisiana – Lafayette:

1^st Applicant

ADMIT. One with GRE > 2150 will be able to get aid. Though they may not give aid here they will after you go to us. Not a very responsive college. Their whole mail system seems to be nonfunctional as your mails won’t elicit

Any response from them, so it is up to you to app correctly (documents/name formats etc) as far as this college is concerned. Experience speaks.

2^nd Applicant

Good for networking. It is a very cheap place. I can’t remember an AU guy who has gone to USL.

University Oregon:

I just wanted to try some untouched college apart from the standard AU favorites. Also, a Prof there said that their dept does some good work in DC and PC. Anyway regd. GTF, They call their TA as GTF (Graduate Teaching Fellowship), which is TA + some other benefits. Really happy that this one clicked thou’ I’m not opting for this. I hope this univ is added to the list of future AU applicants.

University of Utah

This was one place I really wanted to get in. Academically they can’t be termed great, but this place is decent. Since Utah is near California, you get a lot of chance for internship in a good Silicon Valley company. I am a Utah Jazz (Malone and Stockton) fan. Also, Salt Lake City where Utah is situated has many sport stadia that host a variety of high quality sports throughout the year. Two seniors (Balamurugan and E.Vidya) got aid here. So I applied. Every one (boy) who applied here got bumped except Lavonia. I guess they are not an equal opportunity institution and they have a bias (favorable) towards girls. Supposed to be Sub GRE crazy. But, Lavonia had only around 60%. I really don’t know what the criterion for admission here is.

If I am a given a chance now, where would I have applied?

I would not even have considered such low ranked colleges like Utah, OSU and would have stuck to top colleges. The list of universities I would have applied to is CMU, Stanford, Brown, UMass Amherst, University of Southern California and Purdue. CMU, Stanford and Brown are dream universities. UMass is a probable university. USC and Purdue are safes. In this list apart from Purdue, every other university is very strong in Natural Language Processing apart from other fields.

University of Wisconsin – Madison:

1st Student

This is a very good place to be in. A good place for database and distributed systems. Besides, Madison is one of the best places to live in the US (it has reportedly been voted many times as the best living place in US). In my opinion, anybody with a reasonably good GPA (above 9, 9.2) and a decent GRE (above 2200) has a good chance of making it to this university. This seems to one of the Univ., which values a good AGRE score. In fact, it insists on an AGRE score to start processing your application. I personally feel that at least the top 3-5 of you have a bright chance to make it to this university, since your application is going to be processed in the light of their strong opinion that CEG produces top intellectuals (out of their experience with me – I am going to this university :-

2nd Student

These people have a very strong CS program and lots of funding. They are ultimate GPA veterans. Do app only if you have a 9+. Class toppers (1, 2, and 3) will have sure admission and aid. Web-site claims all Indians have aid. In my class only Methuen was applying so I thought I can give it a shot with my high GRE and reasonable grades. While Methuen got a fellowship, I got bumped off. This place has a very early deadline. So beware. Also don’t app to EE as they deal with electricity in the 40000volts range rather than the 5volts we are accustomed to. While admit is easy in EE, funding is almost nil.

Why I got Bumped = Low GPA. Bad Idea to app if you have below 9

University of Texas – Arlington

I still can’t figure out what is their area of specialization is – certainly not networking may be intelligent agents. People with CGPA 7.5+ can app here. If you have taken TSE then you have good chance of getting a TA when you get over there.

University of Texas- Austin:

1st Student

It’s a nice place to do your M.S or Ph.D. You will have a competitive atmosphere (lots of IITians around). Highly ranked univ and admission for M.S easily gettable, but aid is difficult. Austin is also a very cheap place and it’s a developing industrial city. In fact, I applied it as a safe for “admit only” into M.S. My senior Samba had a GPA of 9.8 and S GRE of 89%ile. You won’t believe that she got a bump here for PhD (admitted for M.S though’).

The topper should try this univ. I have a feeling that a GPA of 9+ and a Subject GRE of 95%ile and above will easily get a PhD admission. Teaching Assistance – a possibility. TOEFL Score waiver can be easily got if Verbal Score > 600.

An SVCE guy got an admit for PhD here (normally IITians get an admission for PhD here). He had academic marks around 78% and didn’t take his S GRE. Do you want to know how he got that? His senior (who had presented many papers in Intl Conferences), opened up this univ. and was performing well there. The moral of the story is “Contact your senior and know whether he is performing well. If he isn’t, I don’t think it is really good news for you from that univ.”

M.S decisions are given late (as late as May 1st week). By then you would have made a decision. So if you are very confident of getting a PhD admit, try this. They support PhD students.

2nd Student

ECE here is a bad idea if you have my grades. CS is very much gettable for 8.7+ guys. Texas is very cheap (hot and dusty too) so prefer Texas based places if you don’t get any aid anywhere. Texas Austin ECE is too GPA strong, IIT strong and head strong. (to borrow Ravi Rajan’s words). Impossible place.

Other Remarks by those who considered this university:

They place M.S students in “the bottom link of the food chain”. They said that they simply do not have the funds.

University of Texas, Dallas:

1^st Applicant

M.S. Admit

Aid guaranteed if you have either a good GPA or a good GRE. K.S.Balaji was considered for aid. Once he refused then got it by virtue of his better GRE. I did not have one to get one. Industrial area and very cheap to live. Can easily manage without aid for one semester. Second semester – aid assured. Good in systems and s/w engineering. I applied for systems. Jobs easy to get after completing M.S. since it are flooded with s/w industries.

2^nd Applicant

ADMIT+AID: Definite admit. Aid is again GRE and GPA strong

3^rd Applicant

Easy to get admit with a decent V+Q score…difficult to get aid. But for internships and jobs its one of the best schools.

Texas Tech:

ADMIT. I do not know much information about this college. But gives admits if one has a GPA>7.5. Also gives some 1000$ scholarship pa. Heard that one can get on-campus jobs and support oneself.

University of Toledo:

ADMIT+TUITION WAIVER. Please don’t app to this university. AU students deserve colleges better than this. This college gives tuition waiver to all Desis who apply. Getting visa will be tough as it seems to be in the black listed ones. Students with GPA>7.0 and GRE >2000 will be assured of a tuition waiver. Unranked college.

6. Univ of Tennessee, Knoxville

I heard it was a decent university. I didn’t meet their minimum requirements! Check out if it is good for CS. There are many Asian students in this univ.

University of Virginia:

1st Applicant

The univ I’m going to. A very good school for comp. arch. The dept there is very friendly and is small. Year before last, Isanti Mohan raj from our college went there. The place and the living conditions are great. The univ has lot of funding and gives admits only with aid. 3 of us (Vijay, Deepak and me) got full aid from this univ. This is one of the universities which asked financial statement even for consideration for admission. (Many universities don’t ask financial statement for admission. The ask it only for sending I20. In which case, if you get an aid, the proof of the aid itself is a valid financial document.) I took a risk by not sending one. However, they offered me aid. So, they are not as serious about financial statement as their application says. This univ is a good choice for people with GPA around 8.5 and GRE around 2200.

2nd Applicant

Applied for MS. Admit + TA. Scores sent – GRE, AGRE, TOEFL and Financial Statement

This was the univ which gave me the first Admit. I was surprised to receive an admit with full aid well before their deadline for application was over (Jan End). This univ has a little bit of everything in the field of computer science. A very nice city. It is like a paradise on earth (from what I heard from my seniors and others living there). I had opted for OSU because it had a quarter system. If given another chance I would have grabbed UVa with both hands.

Other Remarks by those who considered this university:

Good Comp-arch

Virginia Tech:

1st Applicant

Aid is said to be very difficult for MS. I am very lucky to get an aid here. If you are looking for a MS degree and then do a job, VTech is one of the schools to which you could apply. Liked by big companies in US.

2nd Applicant

This univ, though not ranked very high for CS, is a top school for EE. Great work is going on in the EE dept. (Comp. Engg. comes under EE dept there). It’s a great place for reconfiguration. I applied for a PhD there (EE Dept) but they gave me an admit for MS. I was really surprised by this for one of the EEE toppers was bumped by this univ. If they’d given me assistantship, I would have gone there. CS dept has given 3 admits (Lype, Jude, Balaji) 2 of which are with full aid. (Lype and Bajaj). This univ has very low application cost! (25 dollars). It is one of those early deadline universities. So apply early for this univ. (November or early December).

3^rd Applicant

ADMIT+AID i am going here. Why? Because it is the better of the two colleges I got aid in. it is really good for ECE and EEE. So any computer engineering. Guy should apply here. SK said that reconfiguration. Work here is excellent.

Washington University – St. Louis:

1^st Applicant

Although it is mentioned in the webpage that AGRE is a must to be considered for admission, one can request himself/herself to be considered without it.

Areas of active research: middleware for distributed systems – they have a distributed object computing centre (DOC) for research activities.

2^nd Applicant

*Applied for MS

*Admit

*Scores sent – GRE, AGRE, TOEFL

I applied here just because my friend said that this is a good univ for dist. comp… I don’t know for sure. What I know for sure is that this univ gives aid only based on AGRE score. I got 90 and I did not get aid. I don’t know why?

Washington State University- Pullman:

This was my safe. Now, I feel I needn’t have applied to this place. There’s a professor. there who is an alumnus of SCSE. (Dr. Krishnamurthy – krishna@eecs.wsu.edu) He’d come here twice. He’s working on Networks. Umea Maheswari madam will be able to give you more info for, he’s her student. When I mailed him writing about my scores interests etc… He told me that I can easily make it into WSU with aid. He also asked me (In a personal, non-official message!) to consider better universities for my credentials and interests. An MCA student (Haring) is going there. She is in touch with Dr. Krishnamurthy and he’s giving her RA

Random Comments about Science and Art of Applying

ADVICE

1. Select colleges mainly based on your area of Interest. I think there is nothing wrong in choosing a safe university (only for aid) where you have a very good chance of making it with aid. However, the search for the right safe university can be tough to decide.

2. Before deciding to app to any university, just ask them whether they provide any financial aid for your program or not, as generally some universities don’t consider MS students for aid itself. These decisions can change every year due to change in funds position in the dept/professor, change in admission comm. etc… Say, the same Penn State or SUNYSB can give a TA for M.S the next year and don’t blame me if it happened so. I really missed out on this and applied for 3 colleges which refused aid for MS right away.

3. Regarding clashes, I feel every application is viewed separately and one need not have a great sense of paranoid about it. But, this shouldn’t encourage a guy with a very good GPA to apply to a prospective university for lower GPA guys.

Aim high!!! Don’t underestimate yourself. If you plan to apply for 10 colleges then I would suggest the following split up

2 very high ranked Universities where you have a very slim chance of making it.

3 universities where you have an outside chance

3 universities where you have a good chance

2 safes (places where there are a sufficient funds and moderately OK education). You can probably refrain from this applying to ‘safe’ universities because you may not go there even when you get an aid there.

This is the list of colleges that I would apply if given another chance:

1. UIUC

2. Purdue

3. U Texas Austin

4. U Maryland College Park

5. U Massachusetts Amherst

6. University of Virginia

7. Ohio State University

8. University of Arizona

9. Michigan State University

10. University of Delaware

ADVICE

Don’t be paranoid about SOPs and Recos. They do matter….but not very much.

1. Apply to colleges with ranks above fifty, without worrying about whatever GPA you’ve got. They will certainly give you admits with aid. If you think low ranked universities will suit you better because you’ve got low GPA/GRE you’re mistaken. Low ranked universities will give admits but not financial aid. So be careful.

2. DON’T be bothered about clashes; it will NOT affect anyone at all. The universities have been giving admits to everyone or bumps to everyone so don’t worry. Don’t worry about clashes and go for lower rank universities.

3. Applying to very few universities (4-5) would do. Choose good universities (not only based on rank but professor contact, seniors; that is what really matters). Save your dad’s money. You’ll need a lot of it when you have to fly. Be choosy in applying. Then be confident and pursue contacting the Profs and seniors. You’ll certainly get an admit and aid.

4. Most universities that gave aid previous year didn’t give this year. NCSU, UTAH most universities that had no history of giving aid gave fellowships. CMU, so the information provided in this app-info may not help this year.

5. Apply meetings don’t help so u needn’t attend at all.

6. Don’t be worried if you get a low verbal score. It will certainly not affect you. Getting a high GRE score may sometime not help at all. Have a look at everyone’s app-info and you’ll find that GRE score has rarely helped so don’t be worried if you have got a low score.

7. Don’t get tensed while doing this applying business. Stay relaxed and don’t care a damn about what others do. Don’t hurry, be careful.

8. After applying is in touch with the Profs and seniors you know in those universities. If you mail a professor and he does not reply, mail him again (you can go up to 10 mails without a reply). They will not get irritated but will appreciate your persistence.

9. If you don’t get financial assistance from the grad school try to get an RA from some professor. you can even try to get some job from some other department.eg. Someone got a job of doing web design for the psychology department. They paid him in an hourly basis amounting to more than what a TA would generally get.

Univs to which I would have applied if given a second chance:

· U Virginia (I had this in my list of selected universities till the last minute – the replacement for this was OGIST- big mistake)

· U of Arizona, Tucson (same as above – chose ASU instead of this)

· Ohio state Univ. ( I had even this – I dropped because of my low GRE – feel now that I would have made it – looks like it became a safe for every guy who applied)

· Purdue University

· U Kansas

· Iowa state

· U Texas, Dallas

· U Minn., TC

· UCI

ADVICE:

· Take your tests as early as possible and app quickly. Take all the tests including TSE and AGRE. You might find it useful. Prepare well for your AGRE. I wrote it with zero prep (I swear) and that is why I flunked.

· Please give a deep thought after a detailed analysis of any univ to decide whether u really want to apply and u going to gain much by applying to that Univ. Competition keeps increasing year by year, so it’s safer applying to 8 or 10 Univ., unless u really feel u will run out of money or very confident of getting into any. Nothing is assured until u get an admit + full aid from the univ. So be very careful in choosing your universities.

· Clashing – very interesting issue. I just feel I made a mistake by thinking too much about it. U guys aren’t the only ones applying to that univ. See it from a global perspective. I feel I dropped all the good universities in the list that I have given just above fearing a clash. You can clash even with your topper as long as your recos don’t say something stupid. (For e.g. your CGPA is 8.5 and your topper’s 9.5, if he gets a top 1% don’t go about getting a top 2% or 5% in your reco. – both of u will blow your top by doing so- not only that it might influence the Univ. decision next year).

· Always app to a Univ. which has no history. One such Univ. this year was university of mass, Amherst – both Methuen and Sandy got TA.

· Start contacting Profs in 2 or 3 universities right from august or September. All Profs Sit together to take a decision on your application. So if a Prof. says he knows u and that u have been having contact with him it will help u.

· Don’t app for a Ph.D. unless you are really sure of doing it. Be firm in your decision.

If given another chance now, complete list of Univ. you would have applied

OHIO

University of Virginia, Charlottesville + all those above

ADVICE

General Comments or Advise to your juniors.

Do not look at clashes too much. But they do matter when hordes of toppers apply. eg. 3 guys applied to Purdue including me. GPA was 9.5, 9.4 and 8.449(me) got it. I was way behind these guys with no filling gap also. No point applying too low if you will not go there. Use the money instead on a better college. Be early. I applied real late and hence was nervous. I applied only in early Jan.

General Comments

(1) There is often a misconception about the relative importance of CGPA and GRE.

One should remember that for securing an admit, the university considers your CGPA and is satisfied with a decent GRE score. If you are to be awarded assistantship then they want your GRE score to be good. People with low GRE score tend to believe that if they app for a low ranked college they get aid. I believe that this is not true – see my list of applied colleges and the results.

(2) I believe that universities that are low in the rankings are so because they do not have enough funds. Hence not often they do not give more than one TA/RA for guys from same university.

(3) I feel there should be a certain degree of optimism while applying. I was not so optimistic when choosing my universities. I think I should have applied to higher ranked universities.

(4) The app info is only based on the experience of your seniors; it is not a complete guide. When you go through the app info, if you find a guys with little better credentials getting admits to a particular university then you can consider that university as your safe.

(5) Universities attitude towards AU keeps changing based on the performance of the students whom it had taken in the past.

Conclusion

If I were to be given a chance then the following my choices are – University of Arizona, ASU, Ohio State and University of Kansas. I would have tried Indiana University which is giving many admits to SVCE students. I believe that people with 8+ and 2000+ should not apply to colleges like UGA, UNM, USL and UTA.

University of Georgia, Athens

ADVICE

Some General Tips about Applying:

· Don’t just look at the rankings as if they were the only guide, and don’t look at just one ranking. Some rankings that you must look are those published by the NRC, U.S. News and World Report, and the Gourman Report. Each of these rankings is based on a combination of factors. You need to judge which factors are important to you. In this regard, begin your ranking search at www.phds.org. You can customize the rankings to tailor to your needs and expectations.

· After you have a list of universities that may interest you, try and look at the annual reports that are published by the Department. Each university publishes these and they are usually available for public viewing at their respective web-sites. Here, you can find information about how much money the department had (and has), how many students were supported through financial aid, how many research publications were done etc. This information should help you short-list your options.

· Look at the placement statistics for the CS Department from the respective office of the universities. If they are not readily available, the university should provide you this information on demand.

· Look though the students’ web pages (especially those of Indians) to find out information about internships. Students usually put this information in their web pages, as it is a feather in their cap.

· Use the facilities provided by the United States Education Foundation in India (USEFI). They publish some handbooks that contain some tips about applying. E.g. “The International Student Handbook” published by ETS and NAFSA and “The Graduate School Folder” is available at USEFI for about Rs. 100. Also attend the seminars that are conducted there.

· Try and match your research interests with the universities that you are choosing and NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND. If you search hard, you will find your PERFECT University!

· Remember that the published rankings are all for the Ph.D. programs in their respective universities.

I have lived in the U.S. for three years, where I did a part of my schooling. I therefore have some unique qualifications. These are reflected in my SOP, Recommendation Letters, etc.

5. I would have applied to Penn state and dropped NJIT.

Since ASU gives a lot of admits, guys with low CGPA can app there. Don’t worry about the aid. It’s a highly funded school and you will get funded as soon as you go there. Toppers- don’t app to UofA…what u can get is TW and nothing more. People who r not finicky about aid can app to UTD, ASU, UofA and NCSU. And one final suggestion-people avoid going thru this app-info…This misguides u in more than one way…I have seen ppl who spent hours going thro this and finally ending up with the wrong set of univs..Have 2 safes. 2 Probable and 2 to blow out your money.

If you have any more questions or need any help, people do not hesitate to mail me at premkr@mailcity.com

If given another chance now, complete list of universities you would have applied

1. UTArlington

2.USL

3. UGeorgia

4.UMD

5.Baylor

ADVICE

General Tips:

1. Take your TOEFL as early as August and for that you have to apply very early. Normally getting TOEFL paper test dates are a problem. Though I didn’t fear of getting a bump in any of the colleges above, I had a fear of getting bumped for the TOEFL exam (I applied for it late). Many of my classmates got a bump for TOEFL date. Without this exam, your app will not be complete and whatever be your credentials, the decision on your app gets late. If u r taking TOEFL, take it in the month when TWE is also offered. Some universities require a TWE score too.

2. Depending on the universities. Chosen, decide whether to take a TSE or not. E.g. universities like UIUC, U Florida, etc. require a TSE for giving aid. But some universities like Purdue, etc. are not very particular about it and normally they ask u to take a speak test when you go over there.

3. If u r taking S GRE, prepare well for it. Don’t just write for the sake of it. A good score will definitely boost your chances. Normally what happens is you get exhausted after applying, doing projects, etc. and take the S GRE easy. If you have a good S GRE score, you may get a fellowship where without that you would have got a TA/RA. Again based on the colleges, decide whether to take S GRE or not. e.g., UT-Austin, MSU, GTECH, etc. insist on your S GRE scores.

4. After deciding on the colleges, immediately send the additional score reports. Don’t wait for the applying to be over. It takes normally a month’s time for ETS to report the ASR’s to the universities.

5. Before deciding on the college, contact your senior (if any) and get to know about the college and your chances. He / She would have more details after 1 or 2 months in that univ, than what he had here in India.

6. Normally, the universities want the recos to state that so and so are in the top 5 – 10% of his class. See to it that you get a reco like that. Recos are as important as any other test.

7. Discuss among yourselves about the colleges u r going to app for and avoid major clashes. E.g. a clash between a 9.6 and 9.4 is ok. But a clash between 9.8 and 8.2 will only result in a bump for 8.2. So, be practical. Also, if the GRE scores difference is below 100-150, don’t fear about clashes.

8. Be open and frank with your friends (on the college’s u r applying to). We had an open discussion on such things and the end result is there for you to see. Around 30 admissions with assistance.

9. I would suggest you restrict the no. of universities to 5 or 6. (Break up: 2 risk, 2 ok, 1 or 2 safe).

10. Write to us (your seniors) on whatever doubts you have and we are always ready to help you in your applying process. We know how difficult the whole procedure is. So, DON’T HESITATE to email your seniors, even IF YOU DON’T KNOW them.

In the app-info given by our super seniors, they said it is very difficult to get into this univ and aid is next to impossible. But my senior got an aid and Ramrod is also well placed. The moral is:” Things written in the app-info are personal views of each person (who doesn’t even know how the grad committee evaluates, but presents it on the basis of his/her experience). You should try to take the essence from the app-info and take independent decisions. The graduate committee changes every year, their criterion changes, there may be special factors, etc.” Many of my classmates suffered by making their decisions based only on app-info comments.

General Comments:

Although these are some of the guidelines, please do not stick only to this. The trends can change in some cases. Regarding the AGRE examination, the trend in our set is that only Michigan State Univ admitted students depending on AGRE scores. NCSU, UT Austin. Do not feel dejected if your scores are not as high as others. All the universities do not see only the scores, only the CGPA. Apply to at least 1/2 high ranked universities. Do not care about the clashes. The Recos you get are equally important as compared to your GRE, TOEFL scores.

I did not contact my seniors when choosing the universities. Do not make the same mistake. Contact me and I am there to help you.

The choice of the nine universities was like this – 3 ‘Dream Schools’ (all bumped me!) 5 good and probable ones (the rest except WSU), 1 safe (WSU). I intend to do my PhD. So, I applied for PhD in real great schools. In others, I applied for MS so that I can get a chance to do my PhD in a better univ.

Now, for a brief look at the universities I applied to:

This is the list of universities I applied. Given another chance, the list of universities I’ll app to will be: Umich, UCLA (more of professor contact), UVirginia, GTECH, Ohio State, (for both GTECH and Ohio, I needn’t have worried about clashes), MSU, UArizona, NCSU and VTech. I would have dropped UIUC and WSU.

So, that’s for the list of universities. Now for some general guidelines:

· Apply early. This helps in case of universities with early deadlines. Moreover, you’ll not be burdened during end-semester exams. I made a mess by not applying early.

· Concentrate well on your SOP. It should be clear and focused and not just flowery. When you write your own recos, don’t be extremely praising. Be realistic. Write to me if you want to look at my SOP and self written recos. I can also get you some of my friends’ docs.

· Do not worry too much about clashes. If it’s clashing with people having similar credentials, there’s no reason to worry at all. Even if it is clashing with people above you, it is OK to an extent. (Say when 3 people are clashing). Classic examples are Ohio (Lots of clashes for Ohio but still they gave 5 TAs and 2 Fellowships.), UVa (I clashed with Deepak and Vijay) and MSU (I clashed with Methuen and Saravanan).

· I applied online to UCLA, UIUC, UVirginia, MSU, NCSU and WSU. The advantage in applying online is you don’t need to get cheques. (Most of the online apps provide Credit card facility.) There’s less of paper work (You don’t need to fill in or send your app form). However, you need to send recos only by post. In paper app, the job gets over in one shot by filling the form, attaching sop, recos, resume and sending it. Some universities provide the credit card option even in paper app. I can’t clearly state which (online applying or paper application) is better. If you have ample time for applying, apply thro’ the paper app form. If you are in a hurry, apply online. Because, the date of submission of application will be early enough though the of date of completion of application may be late (recos should reach there for your app to be complete)

· As for the financial statement, I didn’t send any. Some universities ask F.S even for consideration of admission while others ask for that to send you an I20 (after admission and aid decisions are made and notified). In the later case, you don’t need to bother because if you get aid, the proof of aid itself is a valid financial document. In the former case (e.g. my case with UIUC and UVirginia) some universities are lenient (UVirginia) some are strict (UIUC). It is at your own risk that you can refrain from sending an F.S.

· Finish filling up forms for all universities in one goes. Get recos and transcripts for all the universities together. You can contact a senior in the US who might help you and ask his/her help in dispatching the app material. If he/she agrees, send him/her all the apps (each packed neatly and ‘To’ address written) put into one large pack. The senior can open it, affix required postage and send it. This will work out a lot cheaper. (Costs of courier services are such that speed post is OK for small packets (400 Rs). FedEx (Blue Dart is the Franchisee in India. The office is there near APS Plaza Adair) provides reliable and fast service. There’s online tracking facility too. It is suitable for large packets (like the

Single common packet described above). (1100 Rs for 1000g 1600 Rs for 1.5 Kg.) You can also bargain in the courier services. They’ll give discount for students.)

7 is the decent number of universities you need to app. If you’re confident, app to 6. If you’re doubtful, apply to a max of 10. Anything more is NOT AT ALL necessary. Don’t waste your money.

· Take all the required tests. Not taking TSE will restrict the choice of universities you can app to. Take subject GRE also.

· As for the GRE, practice a lot. By the time this reaches you, most of you would have finished your GRE. So, there’s no point in talking much about it.

· As for the Subject Test, it is easy for any guy/girl with decent fundas to score great. More of practice would have helped. Make sure you look at “ALL” practice q papers.

· TOEFL doesn’t require more than 2 days prep. So, don’t worry much about it.

· For people whose area is comp. arch, you might have confusion as to which dept. (CS or ECE) to app. The admit + aid scenario is much better in CS than in ECE. So, the general rule is “if there’s arch work both in CS and ECE – choose CS (e.g. in my case – UVa, NCSU, MSU, etc.). Else go for ECE/EE/EECS according to what the universities have.”

· It’s OK to app to universities which have history of seniors. That’s playing safe. However, explore some top schools also. After all, you are applying to ‘n’ universities but will go only for one. So, take some risk and apply to some great schools. In case it clicks, that’s a treat for you. It will also open new venues to the juniors.

· Depend on the Apply info to an extent but don’t take its words as if from Bible. Be optimistic and rational in applying.

You know that this apply info has helped you. This is given to you under the serious condition that you should pass this on safely to your juniors along with considerable addition of your year’s data. You can also pass on some more info on GATE and Campus. (We’ll start it by giving you some minimal stuff. Improve upon that).

Kudos to the efforts of Srinivasan and Muralikrishna in compiling this applies info. Their constant scolding when we delayed sending this apply info has definitely helped in bringing regularity.

Most of the questions you have would be answered in the apply info by at least one of us or at least one of the seniors. Anyway, if you have further questions, please contact us.

For the tremendous capability that you people have, you’ll come out in flying colors.

Department

As a rule, admits in ECE departments are more difficult than admits in CS. Moreover ECE does not have as much funding as CS. So apply for ECE only if you feel strongly about say, computer architecture. If the same stuff is offered in CS also (say, like Wisconsin Madison) choose CS instead.

Clashes

Try to avoid clashes as much as possible. Look at the college’s history and have safe clashes. (Say 4 people applying to place that has given 2-3 admits last year). Avoid reco clashes where a 9.5 guy is marked as top 2% and an 8.5 is marked as top 2.00002%. There will be pre-app, post-app, during-app anxiety during the admit process. But do be considerate and open while sharing colleges among friends. Have frequent app meetings among yourself. You should have observed that the number of people applying is going up. So every one of you should app to at least 1 new place each, so that it gets opened up. Don’t stick to the same old places. This is esp. for the 8.8 + guys. Try applying to places like Cornell, Princeton, Cal-Berkley, Stanford Ph.D. etc. People in 8.3+ ranges please don’t apply to 20 colleges, with some of them ranked as low as 300. Restrict your applying to 7-8 places with 1 new, 2 impossible, 3 gettable, 2 sure places.

My Places: Note that I reported all my scores everywhere.

ADVICE

General Comments or Advise to your juniors.

1. From the information in the app book, you should be reasonably confident that whatever your credentials are, there is at least one senior with the same credentials as you, who has got at least one aid.

2. All you need to do to be successful in anything is:

a. Find out how to do it

b. Do it. (Very simple???)

All you need to know about finding the right schools to app is :

Doing what you are supposed to do will give the appropriate results.

3. Of course here is what you are supposed to do:

1. Give your best shot to the GRE (July-august)

2. Bcc for pre-app, enquire about the schools u have in mind, TOEFL is almost a formality (Sep-Oct)

3. Transcripts, Recos (early Nov), SOP, resume, short listing of schools (late Nov)

4. Revising list of schools, bank checks, applying (early Dec), subject GRE.

5. Of course, you can always comfortably be behind schedule if things do not go as you had planned. Make sure your app forms and other stuff reach the schools at least by January 20. If you missed a financial aid opportunity, it should not be due to late application. Anyway, remember ‘Better late than never’.

6. Even if you don’t have either a decent GPA (like me) or a decent GRE or both, nice recos, sop and resume would still improve your chances of securing AID.

7. This app book doesn’t prevent you from exploring the unexplored universities or applying higher than what your seniors could bargain for. You should be wise to consider applying to the second chance list of universities also after consulting your senior.

8. Get as much info about your univ as possible. Start with these sources: app-info book, petersons.com, your seniors and other students in the universities. Don’t hesitate to ASK.

Funda behind the choice of universities:

Actually I had wanted to app to 8 universities, but eventually got bored during the lengthy, winding, tiresome, irritating applying process and decided to app only to 6 universities. But I think 9 is the ideal number of universities. You can apply to 3 dream universities, 3 universities where you have a chance (probable) to get in, 3 safe universities where you will definitely get in ( all this is based on the seniors experiences, rankings and other information supplied by the university authorities ). In my case I applied to two supposedly safe universities OSU and UTAH. Two dream universities UIUC and CMU. Two probable universities GTECH and Purdue.

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The Times Higher World University Rankings 2007

UNABLE TO SEE A TABLE? HIT THE HEADER

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Rank 2007	Rank 2006	Institute	Country
1 2= 2= 2= 5 6 7= 7= 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20= 20= 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33= 33= 33= 36 37 38= 38= 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51= 51= 53= 53= 55= 55= 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65= 65= 67 68 69 70 71= 71= 73 74= 74= 76 77= 77= 79 80= 80= 82 83 84 85= 85= 85= 88 89 90= 90= 92 93= 93= 95 96 97= 97= 99 100 101 102= 102= 102= 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112= 112= 114= 114= 114= 117= 117= 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126= 126= 128 129 130= 130= 132= 132= 134 135 136 137= 137= 139 140= 140= 142= 142= 144 145 146 147 148 149= 149= 151= 151= 151= 154 155= 155= 157 158 159= 159= 161= 161= 163= 163= 165 166= 166= 168= 168= 170 171= 171= 173= 173= 175= 175= 177= 177= 177= 180= 180= 182 183 184 185= 185= 187 188= 188= 190 191 192= 192= 194 195= 195= 197= 197= 199 200= 200=	12 3 4=  9 10 7 11 25 4= 12 21 13 26 23 16 19= 33= 6 35= 15 8 33= 46= 29= 18 22 37 42 40 35= 54= 50= 45 19= 14 64= 50= 29= 28 31 24 38 41 27 =70 66 69 43 46= 63 32 58= 78 84 79= 73 44 17 58= 96 105= 86 111= 90= 98 82= 102= 61= 85 61= 111= 77 56 124= 109= 88 127 111= 121 141= 53 81 90= 60 116= 87 176 95 99= 118 102= 54= 181= 48= 170= 133= 145 141= 116= 139 102= 108 168= 39 122 211= 155 132 130= 172= 128= 204= 126 75 79= 141= 64= 101 219= 105= 150= 76 141= 180 105= 215= 119 133= 194 67 198= 93= 224= 226= 128= 195 232= 282= 198= 109= 187= 170= 219= 153 149 228= 97 154 99= 133= 123 147= 165= 165= 152 72 140 163 130= 120 48= 92 179 201= 266= 138 156= 82= 291 238 222= 207= 232= 124= 284= 448= 219= 215= 190= 158= 172= 197 161= 239= 115 252= 333= 177 258= 255= 172= 74 190= 137 192= 147= 181= 196 257 146	Harvard University of Cambridge University of Oxford Yale University Imperial College London Princeton University CALTECH University of Chicago University College London MIT Columbia University McGill University Duke University University of Penn Johns Hopkins Univ Australian National Univ University of Tokyo University of Hong Kong Stanford University Carnegie Mellon University Cornell University University of California, Berkeley University of Edinburgh King’s College London Kyoto University Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris University of Melbourne Ecole Polytechnique Northwestern University University of Manchester University of Sydney Brown University University of British Columbia University of Queensland National University of Singapore Peking University University of Bristol Chinese University of Hong Kong University of Michigan Tsinghua University University of California, LA ETH Zurich Monash University University of New South Wales University of Toronto Osaka University Boston University University of Amsterdam New York University University of Auckland Seoul National University University of Texas at Austin Hong Kong University of Sc & Tech Trinity College Dublin University of Washington University of Wisconsin-Madison University of Warwick University of California, San Diego London School of Economics Heidelberg University Katholieke Universiteit Leuven University of Adelaide Delft University of Technology University of Western Australia University of Birmingham Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität  M Technische Universität München University of Sheffield Nanyang Technological University University of Nottingham Dartmouth College Uppsala University University of Illinois Emory University University of York University of St Andrews University of Pittsburgh Purdue University University of Maryland University of Leeds University of Southampton Vanderbilt University University of Glasgow Leiden University Case Western Reserve Univ Fudan University University of Vienna Queen’s University Utrecht University Pen State University Tokyo Institute of Tech Rice University University of Copenhagen University of Montreal University of Rochester University of California, Davis University of Alberta Georgia Institute of Technology Cardiff University University of Helsinki University of Liverpool Georgetown University National Taiwan University Tohoku University University of Geneva Lund University University of Colorado McMaster University Durham University University of Virginia Maastricht University Nagoya University University of Waterloo University of Aarhus University of Basel University of Otago University of California, SB Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale De L University of Southern California Ohio State University University of Sussex Texas A&M University Université Catholique de Louvain University of Ghent Nanjing University Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin Univ of Western Ontario Hebrew Univ of Jerusalem Newcastle University Technical Univ of Denmark Eindhoven University of Tech Korea Adv Inst of Sc & Tech Université Pierre et Marie Curie University of Arizona University of Florida Kyushu University University of Aberdeen Indiana University Bloomington Simon Fraser University University of California, Irvine University of Zurich University of Minnesota Universität Tübingen Universität Freiburg University of Bath Freie Universität Berlin University of Lancaster Wageningen University City University of Hong Kong Queen Mary, Univ of London Hokkaido University University of North Carolina Tel Aviv University Université Libre de Bruxelles Univ of Sc &Tech of China University of Notre Dame Ecole Normale Supérieure Cranfield University Michigan State University Tufts University Keio University Washington University in St Louis Erasmus University Rotterdam Shanghai Jiao Tong University Universität Stuttgart University of Calgary Vienna University of Tech Universität Göttingen Macquarie University Helsinki University of Tech University of Dundee Universität Karlsruhe University of Bologna University of Groningen University of MA ,Amherst University of São Paulo University of Campinas University College Dublin Rutgers,  New Jersey University of Reading Waseda University Rheinisch-Westfälische Tech Università Degli Studi Di Roma Université Louis Pasteur University of Leicester University of Twente University of Antwerp University of Canterbury University of Oslo University of Surrey Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute KTH, Royal Institute of Technology Univ Nat Autónoma de México University of Barcelona Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen Queensland Univ of Technology Chalmers University of Technology Kobe University University of Wollongong University of Cape Town Rmit University	US UK UK US UK US US US UK US US Canada US US US Australia Japan Hong Kong US US US US UK UK Japan France Australia France US UK Austraila US Canada Austraila Singapore China UK Hong Kong US China US Switzerland Australia Australia Canada Japan US Netherlands US New Zealand South Korea US Hong Kong Ireland US US UK US UK Germany Belgium Australia Netherlands Australia UK Germany Germany UK Singapore UK US Sweden US US UK UK US US US UK UK US UK Netherlands US China Austria Canada Netherlands US Japan US Denmark Canada US US Canada US UK Finland UK US Taiwan Japan Switzerland Sweden US Canada UK US Netherlands Japan Canada Denmark Switzerland New Zealand US Switzerland US US UK US Belgium Belgium China Germany Canada Israel UK Denmark Netherlands South Korea France US US Japan UK US Canada US Switzerland US Germany Germany UK Germany UK Netherlands Hong Kong UK Japan US Israel Belgium China US France UK US US Japan US Netherlands China Germany Canada Austria Germany Australia Finland UK Germany Italy Netherlands US Brazil Brazil Ireland US UK Japan Germany Italy France UK Netherlands Belgium New Zealand Norway UK US Sweden Mexico Spain Netherlands Australia Sweden Japan Australia South Africa Australia

For a Commentry on this Ranking also See:

THES-QS World University Rankings 2007

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Base salary MBA candidates expect to earn-2006

HIT THE HEADER IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO SEE A TABLE

Expected Salary first job after graduation $	Industry	Expected Salary five years after graduation $
103,27498,088 97,563 95,971 95,726 95,342 93,155 92,838 92,809 92,733 91,531 91,432 91,426 90,752 90,220 89,500 89,097 89,043 88,919 88,424 88,326 88,200 87,763 87,743 87,046 87,012 86,962 86,871 86,684 86,667 86,100 85,724 85,592 85,289 85,266 85,178 84,908 84,339 84,027 83,180 82,130 81,394 79,908 79,804 56,531 88,087	Venture capitalInvestment management Management consulting Internet/e-commerce Investment banking Computer software Financial services Energy/power Biotechnology Telecommunications Hospitality Healthcare/pharmaceutical Real estate Computer hardware Healthcare Metals Other Electronics Chemical/petroleum IT consulting Food service Utilities Airline/travel Academic research Automotive Consumer goods Hotel/restaurant/tourism Retail/fashion/apparel Engineering/manufacturing Forestry/paper/pulp Entertainment/media/public relations Network communications/data networking Insurance Commercial banking Government/public service Engineering consulting Aerospace/defense Non-profit Environmental/conservation Transportation/distribution/logistics Agricultural Construction Education/teaching Advertising/public relations Auditing/accounting/taxation Average	234,344225,254 195,341 177,324 239,336 173,842 194,733 168,435 160,629 178,493 172,188 158,157 183,755 144,504 159,541 186,800 157,480 144,281 152,453 154,208 176,075 160,385 166,835 173,456 144,606 143,776 143,228 155,552 142,374 139,444 150,435 163,069 175,938 155,832 144,882 133,378 142,212 138,309 130,342 143,083 144,545 141,563 139,554 126,402 92,000 167,052

CNN MONEY

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University Performance – US still dominates

Says BBC

Four of the top 10 are British and the rest American. Harvard is top and Yale, Oxford and Cambridge joint second.

University College London breaks into the top 10 for the first time and Imperial College London rises to fifth.

The annual survey by the Times Higher Education Supplement and careers and education group QS ranks according to factors including academics’ opinions.

University College London rose from 25th position last year to ninth.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology was joint fourth last year but falls to 10th place, while Stanford falls from sixth position to 19th.

Another US university which tumbles in the rankings is the University of California, Berkeley. It was rated eighth last year but drops to 22nd place this year.

Asia

The rankings are based on a number of factors including the opinions of academics and of companies employing graduates, international student and staff numbers, and research.

The managing director of QS, Nunzio Quacquarelli, said the rankings recognised the quality of education that UK universities offer.

He said: “In an environment of increasing student mobility, the UK is putting itself forward as a top choice for students worldwide.

They are taking a closer look at the quality of faculty, international diversity and, of course, the education they will receive there.”

Asian universities improved their standing but European institutions outside of the UK fell back, the survey said.

Last year there were 41 European universities in the top 100, but in this year’s table there are 35.

The president of Universities UK, Professor Rick Trainor, said: “As this table shows, the world standing of UK higher education is at the very top.

“This is due to the high quality of our research and teaching.

“Our competitors are increasingly marketing themselves more aggressively so it is vital that the UK remains among the foremost destinations for international students and staff.”

The Top 10 in full is:

1 Harvard University (US)
2 University of Cambridge (UK)
2 University of Oxford (UK)
2 Yale University (US)
5 Imperial College London (UK)
6 Princeton University (US)
7 California Institute of Technology (US)
7 University of Chicago (US)
9 University College London (UK)
10 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US)

Story from BBC NEWS

WSJ Rankings Comparison of Top Business Schools

To see a table underneath hit the header

Rank	School	Enrollment	Tuition $	Test Scores	Job Offers %	Compensation $
1	Dartmouth College	490	42,990	710	98	100,000
2	University of Cal-Berkeley	1381	26,881*	707	95	98,977
3	Columbia University	1869	43,436	706	94	101,428
4	MIT-Sloan	781	44,566	702	97.7	101,988
5.	Carnegie Mellon	636	41,900	696	96.4	93,479
6.	University Of NC-Chapel Hill	888	18,375*	664	92.8	90,044
7.	University of Michigan	1745	39,800	701	91	93,474
8	Yale	469	42,000	701	95	92,213
9	University of Chicago	3180	44,500	703	97.3	98,289
10	University of Virginia	702	37,000	677	95	95,704

EXPLANTIONS

Enrollment : Number of full time students.

Tuition : Annual tuition and fee 2006-2007. *In-state tuition shown for public schools.

Test Scores : Mean GMAT of accepted students

Job Offers : percentage of job-seeking full time graduates who received prior to or within three months after graduation.

Compensation : Average starting salary of full time graduates who accepted employment.

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MBA DEADLINES

Canadian MBA

‘Career Enhancement Potential’ Ranking of Business Schools-Financial Times

If you cannot view the tables please hit the header

Rankings of the B-Schools from Students Career Enhancement Perspective has been made in Table 1. It shows the world schools from a different perspective.

In analyzing the Financial Times,London data it is assumed that a MBA student opts for the program to increase his earnings potential or desires change in his career stream. Thus factors as defined in “Open New Career Opportunities ” and “Increase in salary ” are taken in consideration.

Definitions:

Open New Career Opportunities Sums the following:

1. Diversity of recruiters.Number of industry sectors.
2. Assessment of careers services.Percentage of graduates in jobs three months after graduation
3. Jobs found through the careers service.Percentage of graduates finding jobs through careers service
4.Student assessment.Meeting expectations and needs

Increase in salary considers the following:

1. How much did your salary increase after graduating? Salary change from pre–MBA to post–MBA (excluding bonuses)
25.00

2. Leaving salary.Post–MBA salary (excluding bonuses)

TABLE 1

(First twenty ranked schools in each area have been considered)

This table has been created from FT -2007 Rankings Statistics.

Rank	Open new career opportunities	Increase in salary
1	GSB-Chicago	Ashridge
2	IIM-A	Henley
3	Berkeley -Haas	HULT
4	IE Business School	IESE
5	IESE	IMD
6	NYU-Stern	Oxford
7	Virginia-Darden	HEC
8	Dartmouth-Tuck	Strathclyde
9	Stanford	Stanford
10	Hong Kong University	LSB
11	Michigan-Ross	Harvard
12	Columbia	University of Bath
13	MIT-Sloan	Cranfield
14	IMD	TiasNimbas
15	Ohio-Fisher	RSM Erasmus
16	Northwestern-Kellogg	Dartmouth-Tuck
17	Washington University	Intl.Univ of Monaco
18	CMU-Tepper	Cambridge
19	ESADE	Manchester B-School
20	Penn State-Smeal	Monash

Conclusion:

Table 2

Country or Region	Open new career opportunities	Increase in salary	Schools in both category
	Number of Schools	Number of Schools	Number of Schools
USA	14	4	2
Europe	4	15	2
Hong Kong	1	X	X
India	1	X	X
Australia	X	1	X

USA Schools

1.Considering both these criteria Stanford and Dartmouth are the only USA schools having Ranking in the range of 1-20.

2. If we consider only “Open new career opportunities” then there are fourteen USA schools in this category meaning thereby that these schools place more emphasis on creating career opportunities.

3.”Increase in Salary” has four USA schools HULT,Stanford,Harvard and Dartmouth

European Schools

1. IMD and IESE fall under both the categories.

Conclusion

It is concluded that American schools emphasize more on creating career opportunities or maybe on having better placement offices and contacts with the industry.They have a poor record of increase in salary as compared with their European cousins.

European School candidates have a better jump in income after completion of their MBA, may be because the concept of MBA is in the process of being integrated into European economies.The Americans have a head start in this as such this is not surprising.
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Top Business Schools – WSJ Ranking 2007

The results of The Wall Street Journal/Harris Interactive Year 7 Business School Survey were published The Wall Street Journal on September 17, 2007.

In order to make relevant comparisons, the 86 schools are grouped according to where recruiters tend to recruit, resulting in three rankings:

National, Regional, and International.

• National Ranking Includes 19 U.S. schools
• Regional Ranking Includes 51 U.S. schools
• International Ranking 25 schools (9 U.S. schools, 11 European schools, 3 Canadian schools, and 2 Latin American schools)

National Schools

1 Dartmouth College (Tuck)

2 University of California, Berkeley (Haas)

3 Columbia University

4 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan)

5 Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper)

6 University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (Kenan-Flagler)

7 University of Michigan (Ross)

8 Yale University

9 University of Chicago

10 University of Virginia (Darden)

11 University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)

12 Northwestern University (Kellogg)

13 Duke University (Fuqua)

14 Harvard University

15 University of California, Los Angeles (Anderson)

16 Cornell University (Johnson)

17 New York University (Stern)

18 University of Southern California (Marshall)

19 Stanford University

International Schools

1 ESADE

2 IMD

3 London Business School

4 IPADE

5 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan)

6.Columbia University

7.ESSEC

8.Tecnologico de Monterrey (EGADE)

9.HEC Paris

10.Thunderbird

11.York University (Schulich)

12.University of Western Ontario (Ivey)

13.University of Chicago

14.Instituto de Empresa

15.INSEAD

16.University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)

17.Bocconi University

18.Erasmus University (Rotterdam)

19.IESE

20.Northwestern University (Kellogg)

21.Harvard University

22.New York University (Stern)

23.University of Oxford (Said)

24.University of Toronto (Rotman)

25.Stanford University

Regional Schools

1.Brigham Young University (Marriott)

2.Wake Forest University (Babcock)

3.Ohio State University (Fisher)

4.University of Rochester (Simon)

5.Indiana University (Kelley)

6.University of Florida (Warrington)

7.Louisiana State University (Ourso)

8.Emory University (Goizueta)

9.University at Buffalo/SUNY

10.University of Maryland (Smith)

11.Thunderbird

12.Purdue University (Krannert)

13.Georgetown University (McDonough)

14.University of Notre Dame (Mendoza)

15.Vanderbilt University (Owen)

16.University of Miami

17.College of William and Mary (Mason)

18.Michigan State University (Broad)

19.University of Texas, Austin (McCombs)

20.University of Denver (Daniels)

21.Babson College (F. W. Olin)

22.Southern Methodist University (Cox)

23.Texas A&M University (Mays)

24.Pennsylvania State University (Smeal)

25.Boston University

26.University of Washington

27.Fordham University

28.University of Missouri, Columbia

29.University of California, Davis

30.Boston College (Carroll)

31.University of Iowa (Tippie)

32.University of Wisconsin, Madison

33.Rice University (Jones)

34.University of Georgia (Terry)

35.Arizona State University (Carey)

36.American University (Kogod)

37.Georgia Institute of Technology

38.University of Minnesota (Carlson)

39.Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey

40.University of Utah (Eccles)

41.University of Pittsburgh (Katz)

42.University of California, Irvine (Merage)

43.University of Arizona (Eller)

44.Pepperdine University (Graziadio)

45.George Washington University

46.Washington University (John M. Olin)

47.University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

48.Tulane University (Freeman)

49.University of South Carolina (Moore)

50.University of Colorado, Boulder (Leeds)

51.University of Connecticut

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