| Click here to read Episode-1 | Click here to read Episode-2 | Click here to read Episode-3 |
| Folks, in the previous episode, an exposition on how to request application materials, we have successfully uncovered the procedure for requesting the application materials from the Universities of your choice. Besides filling up the application, as you have to submit other important documents I would name this part of the journey as Application Preparation rather than simply naming it as Filling up the Application. Fine, let's resume our journey…. |
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Generally, the application will ask questions about your
academic background, your hobbies and extracurricular
activities, and your educational and career plans. You are
also required to furnish the application with one or more
essays. The purpose of the essays, besides looking into your
English writing ability, is to provide an opportunity for you
to express yourself and the goals that you have set for
you. One of the essays will be a statement of educational purpose. In this essay you have to articulate certain details like why you are pursuing an education in your field, your knowledge, strengths and experience in that field, your future plans etc; Your essay must be a picture that depicts where you've been, where you are now, and where you are headed in the future. Your essay should be cohesive and well-organized. Give specific examples to support any general statements. One of the crucial aspect here is to ensure that you are allocating sufficient time to review your essay for spelling and grammatical errors. |
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Besides completing the application and essays, you have to
provide the following documents.
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In addition to these general documents, you may need to send
some more documents as per the universities guidelines. Bear
in mind to include all the items requested failing which your
application will be considered incomplete and the admissions
office will not review your application until it is
complete. One more important aspect is that you have to send the transcripts of your educational records directly from your former schools. Transcripts should be issued directly by the university. Do not send your original documents, since they cannot be returned.Make copies for original transcript, take it to Universities Registrar office, pay the fees, then give your details with an envelop.They will verify the copies submitted by you and the registrar will sign each page with seal. Each set is then placed in an envelop and the envelop is sealed with the Registrar Stamp and will be signed on it as well. Universities will not accept copies attested by the Head of the Department(HOD). Certain schools require atleast 6 semesters of transcripts whereas some schools require 2 transcripts to be considered for admission. So it's better to send transcripts up to 6 semesters. Do not forget to keep a copy of everything you send to the admissions office. Create a chart showing all the deadlines and important dates, and keep a record of the date you mailed each application. This will help you track your progress. So folks, here we come to an end of a brief episode on application preparation. In the coming episodes we will get into each and every aspect like How to Write Statement of Purpose, Recommendation letters etc; |
To be continued…
