elz

Viket! You actually posted the topic in the correct area! Congratulations! Ha ha ha.... Seriously, we may have a 2008 GRE surprise....stay tuned for more information! Elz

Dear Pajich, Well, some programs flat out state the GPA that you must have to get into the program. However, there are other programs that are more flexible and that sounds like your target. Now here goes the same old question: Have you been to group advising yet? That is a really good step to get the whole picture, but I must say that you sound rather well informed. (I hope you say you have been, ha ha ha!) Now there are several ways to offset a less than sterling GPA. Before you write, get into good position. First of all, really good GRE scores can show that you are better than your GPA shows. In that way you can write to programs with your interest in your research, slip in the working while going to school, plus a great GRE score. Also you might want to consider doing both GRE prep and personal statement seminar, which includes a lot of tips and consultations on writing to professors. It can really help your case with a professor, if when you write, you have plenty of things to offer them to make a case for your admission that will enable them to focus on something besides the numbers. I would recommend that you get your academic credentials in order as best you can prior to making that contact. Elz

Wow! Someone has come up with a great idea! Go to www.freerice.com. You get two great things - you get to improve your vocabulary and for every question that you get right, the big name advertisers on the site, donate 10 grains of rice. Good Luck and Enjoy! Elz

Go ahead and write the addresses in English. I am not sure what you mean about the lettters of recommendation and the major - if you mean Major Field of Study, it will be what you have studied. That is different than the just the word "Major" and these little things make a difference. Yes, you do have plenty of time. I wish you the best on this. Please do let us know how it goes. Elz

For address, I believe they are talking about your mailing address. When students live in student housing, they have a temporary address. I would use my home address and note it as permanent and then change it once I arrive to the university. Post-secondary education is after high school. If you can get it stamped, you will be in good condition. Each letter should go in a separate envelop ideally. You can take them to the professors and ask them to write their signatures across the sealed part of the envelop and that will be fine. This is what they would like for you to do. Yes, when listing courses, you will put when you took those courses. What happens with the bank, depends on a great many factors, such as when the school actually bills the credit card, that is something that we cannot answer. However, I want to emphasize one thing to you - concerning your GRE scores - are you aware that these scores are not very favorable? I am a bit surprised that you are continuing with your application process with these GRE scores. You might want to think very carefully about this. I believe that we have talked about this in the past, but I assumed that you would try to prepare, take a prep course, or retake the GRE. Also, did you finally get the required points for the TOEFL? The schools are pretty serious about these requirements. I wish you the best, but I worry about these scores. Elz

I would recommend that you visit our offices and research through the Peterson's volumes in our library to begin with. We have just started a TOEFL course and you are more than welcome to join. As far as a translator's office, you can find out more about that when you visit our office - I do not handle everything in the office, there are other people on staff who currently handle those matters, but you should not have to pay over and over again for the translations. One thing that you should be aware of, generally this process is something that a person begins working on 12 to 18 months in advance. Also most graduate programs require a minimum of 100 points on the TOEFL - that is pretty much standard although I have seen some programs that require less. Also students do not send TOEFL scores, those scores are sent from ETS directly to the institution. If deadlines are involved for university documents, the TOEFL scores are expected to arrive by that date. There is some flexibility, but think for a just moment in this way - If a student is unable to meet the basic language requirements, then there is no reason for the office to go through the incredible amount of work in processing that student's file. I think that you need to attend a graduate advising session in order to get a complete picture of the process. You have many questions and it seems to me that you need to attend a graduate advising session in order to be more directed and to have a better grasp of the overall situation. It will really help you understand things better and you will feel that you have more control of the process. We are not allowed to send money out of this country through Western Union. However, you can organize some payments through commercial bank. It sounds as if you really need to download the timeline from our website, under resources, and go to the group advising session for graduate students. You do not seem to have a thorough picture of the process yet, and it is important that you have that in order to be a successful candidate. Elz

Well Dear, Students are always welcome to come and study in the US, but to get financial assistance, it usually means that you need to be have really good grades and good test scores. On the other hand, if you are a citizen or green card holder, you can get need-based assistance. However, to get into graduate school, you do need to be a pretty good student. Now here is some good news for you. There is an EducationUSA center you can visit: TUNISIA AMIDEAST Tunis - Mailing Address: AMIDEAST EDUCATIONAL ADVISER BP 351 TUNIS BELVEDERE TUNISIA 1002 Walk Up Address: 22 rue Amine El Abassi Cite Jardins Tunis TUNISIA 1002 tel: 216-71-841-488 e-mail: tunisia@amideast.org website: WWW.AMIDEAST.ORG/OFFICES/TUNISIA I am glad to help you of course, but you might want to look into what the advising near you has to say. They will know a great deal more than I do about opportunities in the USA for students in Tanzia - sometimes there are special programs for certain countries and I don't have information about that. So you might check that out and of course, I will continue to answer any questions that you might have. Elz

First, that is Ms. Advisor Okay, first of all, graduate schools offer very good students, no matter what their status is, citizen, green card holder, international, tuition waivers and assistantships. Sometimes a student can get the full package, as do most of our alumni. I believe that there are three grad student posts in alumni that are in English. In fact, one shows the letter of offer that was received from the university. Although the other two may not state anything about the financial aid package, they were fully funded with assistantships. The key to graduate financial aid, outside of loans, is to be very good. Generally, these departments have grants to carry out activities, so they want the best and the brightest to carry out those activities. If you want to understand the process, you really need to attend one of our group advising sessions. It is very detailed and followed by a Q & A session. Where exactly do you live at this time? If you are not in Serbia, perhaps I can direct you to some resources nearby where you can also get information. Elz

Hello to you as well! First, are you an American citizen or eligible resident, since you posted here? Next, you can see quite a few stories if you go to the Alumni Section of the forum from our graduate students. 46.5% of all international graduate students are fully funded by the university that they attend. In the case of our students it covers everything and includes a monthly stipend. You must be very good to get the financial aid. How far it can help? And how easy you can get it? In the USA, education is for the most part, viewed as an investment. The cost of the education is considered what you are worth, often referred to as the value of your diploma. Once again, you can read about students in the Alumni Forum. State of the Art facilities. It is very competitive and some people prefer to use loans than take an assistantship. It depends on how much you get. As I said, most of our students are fully funded with a montly allowance/stipend included. Graduate Studies are not usually tied to financial need, they are tied to ability. As long as your school is recognized by the Ministry of Education in your country, your diploma will be recognized, if you are currently enrolled, your coursework will be analyzed and what fits within the American school's program will be accepted. And for the rest of this, you should attend the free group advising sessions for graduate students to learn all about this.

Dear Viket, First of all, the GRE is a tough exam. Outstanding American students also work very hard to prepare. Also two of our most successful graduate students from the English Department in Belgrade took our GRE preparation courses. I think that one has posted to the alumni forum and even mentions this. So even if you are unable to take a preparation course, it is still important for you to work very hard on your preparation. The competition for funding is very intense - especially for English assistantships. I am very sorry that you have such a difficult schedule. This will mean a rather high pressure application process for you. You need to make certain that you organize a very realistic time line. Also I hope that you have found more than one department that you feel is a good match for you. Elz

Dear Bajancica, You may fill them out with an ink pen and PRINT very neatly. It is also possible to fill them out with the computer, but I would suggest that recruit some technical assistance for that. You may write the professors titles. In general, the admissions office will be familiar with the titles used here, but you can also look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professor to get an idea of what is equivalent. Yes, the address of the faculty pegged to the department and office number. No, you will not use American grades. You will use the Serbian grading system. The US Schools know how to evaluate your credentials and the relationship is not exactly linear. This question concerns me because this is explained in the instruction sheet that goes with your application. PLEASE READ THE ENTIRE INSTRUCTION SHEET - we do not want you to make a mistake! Good Luck...and please let us know how things turn out for you. Elz

Wiket, Any vocabulary building would help, but once again, you should consider going through a GRE prep course here at IAC. You have three hours of instruction per week, plus a weekly practice test. It also includes seminars for the math section. Thus, you will be guided through every aspect of the verbal section, take 12 practice tests to check your progress, and get help with your math skills. Elz

Well today I noticed that there was a phone number for Croatia...now remember..all we have to do is get this equipment out of the hands of the bureaucracy and we can be set up in a few days...so now it is all up to our fearless leaders...

Dear Mickey, Actually the equipment has arrived and is in the DHL warehouse. First of all, even though it is educational material and not for resale, there has been an assessment of somewhere around 1000 euros in the first round, but rest assured that is just a preliminary estimate, next there are several inspections and probably lots more charges. First experts will inspect to make sure that certain parts of the equipment are not environmental hazards, then more experts perform a sanitary inspection because apparently GMAT provides numerous little packets of ear plugs so that test takers can concentrate. I think that might have been done by now. However, a really bad thing happened. I am not sure if you have ever seen a GMAT bulletin, but it is a little paperbooklet with the word "FREE" emblazoned across it. Since this booklet is free, the declared value was "0", but that is a no-no, because you see the recycled paper that it is printed on has some sort of value and of course that needs to be assessed as well. It is VERY IMPORTANT that every item that arrives is assessed! And just today we learned that there will be another very special inspection - a new law passed a few days ago to regulate certain monitors and as luck would have it, that is exactly the kind of new, state of the art monitor that was sent to us! Is that a coincidence or what? I like to think that maybe this was the first monitor of this kind to arrive here and so we are getting extra-special service. So we are going to have to wait a bit more to be sure that we are in compliance with everything and that all of the rule and regulations are carefully followed. I know it must seem like a headache to a student that would like to test within his or her own country, but look we can be patient - think of what that poor man must have gone through when he set up Delta City - just imagine what that must of have been like ! ! ! The really great news is that once we have complied with all the regulations, and of course if there are not any more new regulations that go into effect, we will actually have the educational testing equipment on the premises. Once that happens, the test delivery company is very fast and efficient - then things will start to move very fast. In the meantime if your test dates are coming up it is probably in your best interests to register in another country. For some strange reason, Hungary, Bulgaria, Croatia, and Romania are able to provide GMAT testing services. Remember once testing opens in Serbia, if there is time and seat availability, you can change your testing location and you will be able to take your exam right here just like other people in other countries!

Once again, this is a matter of departmental policy. There is not one rule that fits all. However, as an international student, you can submit a request that they only consider your second score since you had absolutely no experience with this type of test.

As long as there is a paper-based test, the new questions wil not appear on it. I have no idea when there will be the possibility of a computer-based GRE in Serbia. I keep asking ETS about it, but they do not respond favorably to this idea. The changes in the GRE do not drastically alter the test, it is more an addition of questions than anything else. Have you considered a GRE prep course? This can certainly help. We offer a very good course for the GRE and there should be a new one starting soon. If you think that you might be interesed, you can call our office and place your name on the waitlist. You might also want to consider attending the graduate advising session. I think that it would be of great benefit to you and might cover some of the questions that are of concern to you. It certainly gives an overview of the entire process so that you get a complete picture. Also it will not matter to the school if your score arrives early. The admissions process in the US is quite sophisticated. A department is able to keep track of documents until they catch up with the application and visa-versa.

Dear Milica, First, Congratulations on the A-SMYLE program. Isn't it great? So how do you like Tacoma and your high school. Now I want to clarify where you are in your high school education program. Are you doing your junior year in the USA and then you will return to Serbia for your senior year of high school? Is that correct? Now in terms of preparation - do you mean to prepare for the SAT? That is my impression. So here is what I recommend - lengthy but very important: I am guessing that you are taking English there and that you have a reading book full of short stories, poems, plays, and other literary items. I would further guess that if you go to the back of that text, you will have a glossary and that if you look at the words in the glossary, you will see that these are what we refer to as "SAT words". The good news is that you do not have to memorize the glossary! However, as you read your English assignments, change your style of reading. The challenge with the SAT is that it requires you to have a vocabulary that befits a well education high school student. However, people tend to read for content. This means that as long as a student understands the meaning of the entire sentence, the student does not realize that there is word in that sentence that is unknown. Then, a very well read student goes to the SAT exam and suddenly needs to know the meaning of a word in order to insert it into the sentence in a sensible way. It is not accident that the words in the glossary appear on SAT exams. It is also not an accident that the words are in the glossary. The College Board people know exactly what they are doing in terms of the SAT exam - a person going into college should have developed their vocabulary and have control of these words. Next for the reading comprehension. Pay very close attention to the exercises after the stories that you read in your literature book. Also try to read every single story in the book. The exercises are teaching you how to get the most out of a literary work. The SAT exam tests for the same kind of skill. Let the exercises and practice in your book help you develop those kind of reading skills. As for the writing section. I am not sure how much grammar you have there. If you do not have a great deal of grammar, speak to your English teacher and ask him/her if there is a book that would help you understand English grammar the way that we are taught. I know that when I was in school - and had to walk 5 miles to school - uphill both ways we had a literature book and a grammar book. We really did not use the grammar book by that time, but when our writing got real sloppy, the teacher would get mad and we would have to drag out the grammar book, so I guess there must be one somewhere around the school! Also try to speak with your high school English teacher about your writing and ways to improve your writing. Generally, most teachers are very helpful and will be pleased with your hard work. They are usually willing to help. That is a good start for you. Now how are you doing in Math? If you seem to be doing quite well, then go over to the school library and get acquainted with the school librarian. Make friends and ask about SAT materials in the library. You can look through the books and see what is available - if you like, you can go ahead and buy a couple of SAT books, but first see what the library has because you want to be sure that you get good books. Next, you can begin to combine your math homework with SAT practice math to get a feel for it. HOWEVER, WORK ONLY ON THE MATH! You are not yet skilled enough for the writing and reading sections. You can begin that in January or February during the second semester. For now I want you to work on the math and improve your reading and writing skills by concentrating in the classroom. Okay, now while you are in the USA, you might as well visit a college or two. One very good school near you is the Evergreen State College in Olympia. First you should go to the library again, and ask for assistance in finding books about college selection. After you read a few books and start to develop a picture of the US education system so that you know what you are doing, start to research this particular college. Once you thoroughly backgrounded yourself in information, contact the Evergreen State College in Olympia and find out about a college tour. I selected this college because it is considered a very good school. It is a very special school and when you arrange your appointment be sure and tell them that you are an international student. Tell them that you have been researching American colleges, but you also hope that there will be someone you can meet with during the tour that can also help you gain more understanding of the American educational experience. Also have you met with the school guidance counselor? Generally this person has a great many books and materials, but sometimes is not familiar with some of the challenges faced by an international student. My advice would be to meet with your guidance counselor - find out if you need to make an appointment or what you need to do. Tell him/her that you are working with an EducationUSA center in your home country and you can provide the web address - www.educationUSA.state.gov, and what we have suggested and see if there is anything to add. It might be kind of good, if you made that appointment after the first semester when you have good grades to show and have built up your reputation as a talented and hard-working student. Poor thing, that you had to read all of this, but it is really important that you make the most of your time while you are there. Please continue to visit the forum and post questions. If nothing comes up anytime soon, be sure to post again at the beginning of the next semester because I have more assignments for you. Warm regards, Elz

Okay Viket I am going to try to explain this to you and hope that you can follow this rather complicated explanation. The "tiers" represent a university ranking system. However, I recommend that prospective students use caution when working with these rankings. Hands down, the most widely followed ranking of US colleges and universities is US News and World Report. However, before you head off to immerse yourself into this, there are a few factors that you need to know: First in terms of graduate school, the reputation of the particular department is much more critical than the "name brand" of the school. What graduate students need to work is determining how strong a school is within the desired field of study. Next, we need to look at the rankings themselves. What are these rankings based on? In social sciences, the rankings are based only on peer assessment. In other words, department heads and directors of graduate studies in schools that had granted more than 5 PhDs from 1998 to 2002 were sent surveys. in the last five years were sent surveys to evaluate schools. Each of these departments received two surveys and were asked to rank the quality of the programs of the listed schools. As you can see, this is not a "fool proof" system, although participants are requested to mark, "I don't know" for the schools that participants are not famiar with. This may not be an ideal system, but it is a starting place. Even US News and World Report states, that it's important that you use the rankings to supplement -- not replace -- careful thought and your own inquiries However, the system ultimately breaks the schools/departments down into "Tiers". After all of this data has been processed, it is organized into "tiers". Thus, according to US News and World Report the top tier represents what the magazine would consider to be best. The second tier next, the third tier, qand so on. However, I would caution you not to breakdown the institutions in terms of deciding where to apply. It is important that you explore the various departments in different schools and begin to select schools that you wish to apply to based on a wider variety of factors, not only on the rankings. In other words, a third tier school, is ranked lower through this system than a second or first tier school, but a serious graduate student will examine the program within the department, this issues are also complicated for undergraduate students. Also programs can change very quickly, especially within a grad department. For example, if a department in a lower tier suddenly receives a large endowment - you are going to see that program make great leaps forward. University of Utah is a case in point. This school has made a journey up through these rankings in a relatively short span of time and just had a professor that won a nobel prize. One thing to think very seriously about would be the importance of professors to a program. I tend to believe that the professors really make the program - that the professors are key. Now we live in an age where we have something akin to a surplus of professors. There are a great many professors teaching at these so called third tier schools that could actually be at a first tier school, but the first tier school is already packed. Thus, you must look at the department, the professors, the publications coming out of that department, the conferences and activities that the department is engaged in, etc. These are the factors that make a program great, not the yearly surveys that hit the newstands every year at this time. Wow! Are you confused now or what? Elz Hope this helps, Elz

Dear Jovana, Okay, I think that we can answer these questions through the forum pretty easily. Okay, first of all in terms of research programs, why not look into a two year masters degree at a graduate school that offers some research opportunities? This could have several benefits for you. First it would provide you with the experience that you desire. In addition, it would really beef up your control of the English language for the USMLE. On the other hand, as your friends have advised you, there are some benefits in going straight to residency. In terms of finding a residency, right here within this topic is a link to a program that helps IMGs find residencies: http://www.iacbg.org/board/index.php?showtopic=838 - right below this topic as matter of fact! I know that these are some heavy decisions that you are facing. One of the first steps that you might like to take would be to visit our library and use the Peterson's Graduate Studies volume that covers the sciences. There you can find a list of programs. I really prefer the hard copies because they are quite thorough, but there is also an online search engine that I think you will find most helpful: http://www.petersons.com/GradChannel/code/...ath=gr.fas.grad Then the next step that you might want to consider, after carefully studying the various programs and reading the departmental information on research, the bios of the professors, and getting a real feel for the department so that you are able to present yourself as a person who is well informed about the deparment programs, would be to schedule a visit to the department. I also know that there are great advantages to spending some time engaged in research. Also it can help you make some very good contacts for finding a residency. It sounds as if you are very torn between these two options and visiting the departments and engaging with the people in the department can help you decide whether the two years of research in a masters program is for you or whether you would rather head straight for a residency. Best of luck, Elz

Dear Mickey, We have no idea as to when the near future will be. I would be very hesitant to anticipate for a number of reasons. One area of concern is receiving the equipment from GMAT. GMAT will ship the equipment to be installed at our premises. GMAT provides the equipment, so that every test center is uniform. This is not equipment that we purchase, nor do we pay the shipping. However, once this equipment rolls across the border into Serbia, there may be some very complicated problems. For example, the headsets that are provided for TOEFL, along with 24 pieces of cardboard were provided to our testing center by ETS, with the shipping paid. The total value of the contents in the box was $25. However, the customs fees and the handling charge levied by DHL of Serbia came to around $250. Of course this is over 400% of the stated value - I believe that this may be a world record in terms of customs duties and charges from a delivery service. If we run into this situation again, it will become complicated and there will be delays. As to the GMAT testing in Zagreb, it is my understanding that GMAT is trying to establish their testing partnerships with EducationUSA centers, (www.educationUSA.state.gov) such as ours. I know that the EducationUSA center in Zagreb has been in contact with the GMAT people, but I am not sure how far they have gotten in the process. Here is what I suggest: In order to insure testing availability on the dates that you need, register at the locations that is most convenient for you in time to reserve a seat. If, in the meantime, we begin to provide GMAT testing, you can change to this location for a $50 fee as long as it is 7 days prior to the exam. You want to think about this strategically, because most people would be more comfortable testing close to home, rather than having to make a trip crossing borders and so on. Of course as soon as we are up and running as a testing center, we will be announcing it on our website and so on, so you will be informed. The GMAT team is very well organized and they are very responsive to the needs of test takers, so I am expecting good news from them rather quickly in terms of getting us ready to administer the exam. However, as I said, this situation with customs regulations and the administrative fees charged by the shipping company could prove a snag. It is a most unfortunate situation. In light of this, I would certainly not recommend waiting around for testing close to home - it most important that you get yourself registered and set for this important milestone in your professional life!

First of all, we have been over this before - back in September I think. Have you been to your school to ask them about arrangements? First you need to see if they will mail these things. You could also ask them to put these items in a university envelopes, and then you place them in a Federal Express packet and mail them that way. The entire point of the process is to protect the integrity of the system. In other words, to protect the documents from the possibility of having a student tamper with them. Also the mail in Serbia does not work in the same way that the mail does in the United States. The postal delivery workers in the USA also pick up mail. (People do not have to go the Post to stand in line and pay bills, either!). Thus, it is apparent that you are going to have to improvise. I think the best thing to do would be to get these items placed into a sealed envelop by your school. Then ask them to stamp over the envelop where it seals. (This is probably illegal in Serbia, however surely there must be some way for an organization to place some kind of seal over the envelop to show that it has not been tampered with.) Professors usually just write their initials across the sealed part of the envelop, maybe you can get the shalterusha at your school to do this also? Then you can place the envelopes into a fed ex envelop and have them sent that way...you can send the fed ex from our center. If this does not sound like the way you want to handle the matter, then you need to contact the admissions department and ask for their advice. Elz

Dear Mickey, Just a quick response, although some of our students may respond later. We have a GMAT prep group right now. Many of them are planning to take it before the deadlines close for August 2008 admissions. We are also in the process of organizing a second GMAT prep group, so there will be more people. As for testing centers, there is a strong possibility that sometime in the (we hope) near future, you will be able to take in Serbia, but for now many people are scheduling their tests in Budapest. What is most important is that you get yourself scheduled in time to meet all of your application deadlines so I would not recommend waiting until you can conveniently take in Serbia if you need it real soon. Hope this helps. Best regards, Elz

It is a good idea to have them stamped, if you can get them to stamp the letters. In general, letters of recommendation issued by American professors are on official letterhead of the university, but are simply signed. Stamping is usually reserved for documents that are filed in court. However, it can never hurt to have official seals/stamps on your documents, since that is what is generally required here.

Consular does not do a credit history on you, thus any of your financial obligations in Serbia should not be of interest to them. They will require documentation that have the necessary finances to pay for any part of your education that is not covered by a scholarship, fellowship, etc. Elz

Dear Viket, My advice would be to select some of your more outstanding articles. No one will appreciate being bombarded with every article that you have published. Did you have an opportunity to read the profiile of Stevic at Yale on our alumni section of the forum? Elz