American higher education - basic concepts. Part 1

Hi guys!

This post is meant to answer the questions I have been getting on facebook from a lot of you in the past week.

I thought it would be enough to make a general overview in the beginning but now I understand I have to explain some basic terminology first before you can really understand any of the stuff I post here.

So, here is the American higher education system 101 (that means the most basic concept) from an international student's perspective.

College/University

I understand now that college and university can be two very different concepts depending on where you come from. Basically, college is (almost always) a four-year school you apply to after high school. This usually means you are 18-19 years old although there aren't any age limits there, it's just the average age of the kids who get in.

Going to college is the same as going to university in most countries. Colleges are basically schools within universities that specialize in different areas of study. That means that most universities have a number of colleges.

The degree you usually get when you graduate from college is Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) or Bachelor of Science (B.S.) and it is the equivalent of finishing university in most countries.

Now, universities have two types of students: undergraduates that go to college (what I just explained) and graduates that go to graduate school. I will explain what graduate school is later in the post.

Right now focus on the undergraduates (or undergrads) who go to college.

Major/Minor - specialization

When you go to college you are supposed to declare a major (class) that you want to pursue your degree in. Let's say you pick psychology. Since you get to pick classes you want to attend in American higher education system, you have to choose a number of classes that have to do with psychology (your major) to get a degree in it after 4 years of study.

You do not have to pick a major in your first year and you can drop one and take up another major during your studies but you have to fulfill the core program requirements to get the degree in the academic discipline you chose (you can't take only arts and literature classes and get a degree in psychology).

Another thing they let you choose is a minor, which is basically another area of study you should focus on, but significantly less than your major. It doesn't even have to have anything to do with your major. For example, you can get a B.A. degree in psychology (your major) with a minor in political science. Once you have this degree you are basically a psychologist (probably unemployed forever but what can you do).

Graduate studies

Once you have your B.A./B.S. degree you can choose to attend graduate school. In Great Britain this name is much more logical and they call it postgraduate studies. It means you attend university after graduation.

You can choose to spend some time in the workforce (highly recommended for most people pursuing Master's degree) before you apply but it is not necessary and you can start right after college.

The degrees you can aim for are Master of Arts (M.A.)/Master of Science (M.S.) - this usually requires two years of study - and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) - this usually takes 4-5 years and a thesis (which is basically the equivalent of writing a book about something).

Don't be confused by the "philosophy" in Ph.D., you can have a doctorate in mathematics, physics, literature, law, pretty much anything.

Also, many schools will let you get an M.A./M.S. while you're studying for Ph.D. as a kind of "on route" degree - you get it after two years in a Ph.D. program.

So, to sum it up, every university consists of colleges (for undergraduate students) and graduate schools (for graduate students).

While American colleges tend to be an opportunity to party a lot and choose a lot of different classes in search of your true calling, graduate studies are very serious and they require a lot of dedication and are highly focused on a narrow area of study.

In addition, Ph.D. students very often get scholarships and are expected to work as research assistants (RAs) doing research for their professors and/or teaching assistants (TAs) teaching undergraduate students.

Many professions require graduate degrees

In many countries, if you want to be a lawyer you go to law school right after high school; if you want to be a doctor you go to medical school when you're 18-19. This is not the case in America. You cannot become a doctor or a lawyer just by finishing college.

The rule is, first you finish college and then you are allowed to enter law school, medical school and many other specialized schools that last from 3 years (law school) to 5-6 years (med school, and with specialization it becomes even longer), etc.

Be aware of this fact when applying to American colleges. Those first 4 years tend to be much more general than in most other countries!!!

Stay tuned because I will cover some other basic aspects in part 2 of this story. Please send me your comments and questions here or on facebook so I know what kind of stuff you would like to know more about.

Also, share this post and the facebook page with your friends who might also be interested in finding out more about how to apply to American universities (now you know that includes both college and graduate school)!


 

All you need to know about the GRE

If you’re thinking about applying for grad school, one of the first things you should plan for is taking the GRE (Graduate Record Examination). There are very few schools that won’t ask you to send them the results of this exam with the only exception that some might ask for GMAT – basically the same thing, only focused more on math than its competition, usually required by MBA programs. Check out the websites of the schools you want to apply to and see which test they want you to take and then start working on honing your test-taking skills!

Here are the answers to some of the most common question about the GRE.

By U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Tiffini M. Jones. [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

How important is the GRE in admissions process?

My wife used to be on a student advisory board of one of the most prestigious American universities as a student who reviewed graduate applications and recommended them to be admitted or not. So this is what she found.

There are so many applications that it is hard to keep track of everybody’s grades, test scores, personal statements, etc and what you want to do as an applicant are two things – not screw up a part of your application terribly (that immediately eliminates you) and somehow find a way to stand out from the crowd – this could be a stellar resume followed by a really good personal statement.

When it comes to GRE results, they can unfortunately do you more harm than good. Basically, if you have very bad results, that may raise a red flag, and if your results are really good, you might get a “Oh, nice” from the person reviewing your application. If they are just average (as, by definition, most of them are) nobody will look at them twice.

If you’re an international student, universities will tolerate lower verbal scores but don’t expect them to overlook your bad math results if you’re applying to an MBA program. In short, if you’re applying to a program in humanities or social sciences they won’t care much about math, the sciences/MBA programs will put less emphasis on the verbal part, and you want to at least get an average result on both not to raise any alarms about you application. Which brings me to the test structure.

What does the test look like?

The test is roughly divided into three parts – verbal skills, quantitative skills, and analytical writing. If you want to get into the nitty-gritty details (and you should), you can find it here. As someone who took this test five years ago - and aced it, if I may add - I can tell you that it is quite difficult and you should take it seriously. Remember, it’s not the thing that will get you into the program but it might be the one eliminating you from further consideration.

The verbal part consists of multiple-choice questions that refer to academic-level texts about science, literature, art, etc. that you are supposed to answer in a very short time window. The articles are not simple and you need to be focused throughout to be able to answer the questions (the answers tend to look alike and they are designed that way to confuse you). Also, you’ll have to learn a lot of “big words” – they’ll ask you for synonyms, antonyms, logical reasoning (if A then B questions with long words in between), and stuff like that.

The quantitative section is basically a code for high-school math so I won’t dwell more on that. GMAT will require you to know this at an A level, so watch out! Also, these are also multiple-choice questions; they don’t care how you got the result or even if you guessed it! This may come as a surprise to many international students.

Analytical writing is just that. You’ll have to write two essays – one analyzing an argument, one analyzing an issue. More than form, you’re asked to show critical thinking and that you can demonstrate it in writing in a coherent manner. It doesn’t have to be perfect or very long, it’s not a term paper and they know it’s written in haste.

The test takes around 4 hours to complete and, depending on where you’ve registered, it can be paper-based or computer-based. It is administered by ETS or their affiliates which can differ greatly in their practices around the world. For example, I took the paper-based version (now almost extinct but still going strong in some countries) and in my experience it was easier to navigate and quicker to finish than the other one. I did a lot of practice on computer-based mock tests from previous years and the thing about them was that I had to answer every question before getting a chance to answer the next one. I think this has now changed  for more info check out the ETS website.

You can take the test quite often during the year (3-4 times in some countries), especially the computer-based version. The paper-based test is only administered in a few countries and they’re phasing it out, slowly but surely. Of course, if you’re already in the United States, only sky is the limit! Also, you can retake the test and choose to send only the results you pick. Check out what’s available in your location.

How do I prepare for the GRE?

Well, practice makes perfect. I did great on the test although I’m not a native English speaker, and what I did was get a lot of mock tests from my academic advisor and solve them, a few every week. You can find (or purchase) a lot of stuff to help you along the way but, honestly, I wouldn’t bother spending money. Just learn how to solve this particular type of test and make it a routine because you won’t have much time to think about the best test-taking strategies while you’re rushing from one question to another. You can also find some documents for free online, like Math Review or Practice Book for the Paper-Based GRE.

By Tbuckley89 (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

How long will it take to prepare for the test?

Very hard question to answer  This depends on where you are with math and if English is your first language. If it is and you are a college graduate, I would say from a couple of weeks to a month. If English is your second language you might be in it for a couple of months but it all depends on your individual circumstances. Here’s an interesting discussion about this.

How much does it cost and how are the results distributed?

This is a question usually asked by international students not familiar with standardized tests in the US. As of July 1, 2013 the price is $185. Why? Because they know you’ll pay anything, that’s why. The way this works is you do the test and they send you the scores by mail but you can also access them online. When you apply for the test you give the names of four schools where you want them to send your results. If you want to add more schools, you can do that, but that privilege will cost you additional $$$. The schools should get the results of the computer-based test within a couple of weeks and the paper-based one within six weeks.

What is the GRE Subject Test?

In addition to the general GRE test, students can take subject tests in specific areas: biochemistry, cell and molecular biology, biology, chemistry, computer science, English literature, math, physics and psychology.

These paper-based tests have their own fees and are offered only in October, November and April. Contact the schools you’re applying to in order to find out if you’re required to take a subject test.

Can I cheat?

You can try! I get this question sometimes from people, so that’s why I want to address it here. Honestly, if you’re taking the computer-based test I sincerely doubt you can even think about that but it is possible with the paper-based version. I did see some people copy their friend’s work when I was taking the test but I would definitely advise against it. Not only is it bad from the moral point of view but it is also something you can’t rely on. Just imagine if you get caught! The future of your academic career shouldn’t depend on your ability to get away with being a cheat… Oh, I almost forgot, there have been a lot of interesting stories coming out of Asia about unusually high scores for years now.

Ok, if you stuck around this long and you’re an international student, here’s a bonus section!

TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language)

If you’re not a native speaker, and you haven’t spent a year studying in an English-speaking country (South Africa doesn’t count, for some reason) you’ll have to take this test. The universities want to make sure you can attend classes and write well in English.

In my experience, there are a lot of people who pass this test and get accepted to universities without being fluent in the lingo. I’ve had a few people in my classes during grad school who struggled quite a bit during the first semester but you could tell that by the end of the first year the progress was amazing. So, unless you want to study creative writing, you should be fine. Plus, if you’re good enough to do well on the GRE, TOEFL will be a walk in the park. Here’s some info on what’s a good TOEFL score.

One thing, though. It will still take you good 4 hours and about the same amount of money (it varies by country) you paid for the GRE to check this off your list. And yes, it’s the same company behind it. Another thing to have in mind is that you will be required to speak during the test, so do work on your accent a little (they just need to be able to understand you clearly). You won’t be talking to a live person but your answers will be recorded and reviewed by ETS people. Also, you should practice listening because they will require you to provide answers about something you just heard. Analytical writing (less difficult than the corresponding GRE section) is there, too. The test can be computer-based or internet-based, no paper version is available. Here, get some practice. Might want to do some listening, as well.

Also, check out how to do research and find a graduate program that suits you!

How do I explore graduate programs in my area of study?

So, you have your BA/BS degree in your pocket and hopefully a couple of years of work experience under your belt. In this day and age, if you want to be eligible for promotion in many companies or even if you just want to apply for a good position (often even an entry position) you need to have an MA. On the other hand, you need to be aware that not all graduate degrees pay off and that two additional years in school are a big investment that you should be able to cash in one day.

Another scenario is if you’re aiming for a Ph.D. If this is the case you should know that you are in for 4-5 years of serious work and if you don’t have a clear plan, even if it’s a couple of options instead of one – plans do change – for the love of god, don’t apply. Doing a doctorate is a serious thing, it usually involves working long hours as a research assistant/undergrad TA (teaching assistant) plus going to classes, doing homework, writing long essays and a thesis that will make everything else you’ve done in your life seem like a joke.

Student orientation
By Tulane Public Relations (Flickr: Student Orientation) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

On the other hand, if you’re completely in love with what you do, if you can see yourself working as a professor and/or researcher one day, and if the life of academics is the one for you, go for it! It’s a lot of work but it pays off at the end. Oh, and one more thing. Although you will probably get a scholarship from the university (accept nothing less, if you have to pay for it, they probably aren’t the right match for you anyway) do know that you will be as poor as a church mouse during your studies – the scholarships are very small and cover only the most basic stuff. 

Now, if after all this you’re still interested, let’s see what your first step towards applying could be.

The most important thing is to find schools that are the right fit for you, not the ones that would impress people when they ask you where you study. For example, when I was applying for grad schools in 2007 the example my academic advisor used was Harvard and its chemistry department – apparently they didn’t quite compare well against many universities you’ve never heard of that invested much more money (and effort) into this particular area of study. The point is, don’t go for the brand, look for the substance. People in your niche know what programs are good and when you apply for your first job after graduate school they might not be as impressed with a big university name as your friends and family might have been when you enrolled.

What you need to do is create a list of schools (programs) you are interested in and put them in order of preference – my first, second, third choice, etc. After you’ve done enough research this list will make itself, and may I suggest not opting for ten programs, 5-6 will do the trick. You should pick schools so that you are satisfied if any of them send you an acceptance letter and if they all reject you, well, it wouldn’t matter if you sent 100 applications.

By Ziko van Dijk (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Another mistake I’ve seen people make is apply only to the schools that top the rankings. So, it’s Yale, Princeton, Harvard or nothing! This is definitely the wrong attitude. There are plenty of great schools out there and if you can get into the one that’s number one in your field of expertise that’s great, but know that you should have some reserve options. For example, if you’re applying to 6 schools, make 2 your absolute priorities, 2 more realistic options, and 2 your fallback plan. Of course, you should know yourself best and only you (should) know what is realistic for you. The best option is the same for most people. If the two overlap you have hit the jackpot!

But there are so many schools, how do I cut the list to only a few good ones? Easy. Find a good academic adviser, get a list of all schools with programs in your area of study and start digging. If you want to know about rankings, check out US World & News Report. They are the most credible source out there but know that many faculty members complain of them privately because they have very rigid guidelines and don’t take into consideration all aspects of academic life.

Once you’ve found the schools that might potentially look interesting (up to 20, 30 if you’re really clueless) you just need to go to their websites and start doing incredible amounts of tedious research. But hey, if you’re not into that, you might as well give up on going to grad school in the first place.

You’ll soon see how all these websites look alike and you’ll learn the keywords like academics (to see what courses they offer and who teaches them), financial aid (differentiate between what is available to Americans and what international students can hope for – the answer is a lot less), bios of faculty members, housing (usually off campus for graduate students but there are exceptions), cost of study (take into consideration the cost of living at the location, living in Iowa will not hurt your pocket as much as finding an apartment, or a shoe box more likely, in NYC).

After you narrowed down your list even more and know you have a much better idea what you could hope for, check out the professors who teach the courses you are most interested in within these programs. If you already know some names and are a fan, that’s fantastic. If not, try to search their names using googlescholar. Find what they have written, read as much as you can, get a feel for what their course is about and what it would be like to be in their class or even cooperate with them if you’re a Ph.D. candidate.

Graduating students
By Sasikiran 10 (Own work) [CC-BY-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Once you identify the professors that interest you most get in touch with them. It’s easy to find their profile on the faculty list section of the school website and that email address next to their name is there for a reason – use it! Get in touch, tell them what you’re interested in, mention some of their work and how it got you interested to join the program. You’ll definitely get a better feel for the school and it won’t hurt your chances in the admissions office once those faceless applications start pouring in. Some of these professors are on the admissions committees and they all talk to each other! Also, if you’re a Ph.D. candidate you’ll need a mentor and this is a great way to start working your way towards finding one.

Final thought, and this is especially important for international students who are not familiar with the way American universities work – make sure you note down all application deadlines way ahead of time. If you want to start school in the fall the application must be out the door usually in December or January and you won’t get an answer until at least early to mid March. Now, if you need to take the GRE/GMAT test (and you do) try to find the location nearest you where you can do this and please find a tutor or a good manual on how to prepare. But I’ll write about that in one of my next posts.

What’s coming up: how to find the right college. Stay tuned! Also, all you need to know about the GRE and TOEFL!