Student's Journey to Study USA Part - 2

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Student's Journey to Study USA Part - 2

Author: Sureshbala

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Undergraduate Schools in the U.S

Upon completion of K-12/High School, Students who intend to join college or university must attend what is referred to as an Undergraduate School.These schools offer either a Bachelors Degree. or an Associate Degree

Bachelors Degree	Associate Degree
Most traditional degree given by US colleges and universities. Normally requires at least four years but not more than five years of full-time college education. Most common bachelor degrees awarded by US schools are the bachelor of science degree (B.S.) and the bachelor of arts degree (B.A.). Some schools offer only the B.A. degree, even for science majors	US associate degree is generally offered by two types of colleges: Community Colleges & Junior Colleges. US associate degree is a 2-year degree. Three classes of associate degrees are offered:Associate of Arts(A.A.), Associate of Applied Science (A.A.S.), and the Associate of Science(A.S.). US junior colleges offering associate degree programs are generally privately run.

Normally, most of the international students enrolling in a U.S university or college pursue Bachelors Degree since it is the desiderata for the majority of the ducky jobs.

Admission into Undergraduate Schools in the U.S

The U.S undergraduate schools require that their all applicants take one or more standardized tests which include SAT® (Scholastic Aptitude Test™) and TOEFL® (Test of English as Foreign Language™).

Let's look into the details of these two exams.

SAT®

SAT® exam is comprised of two levels: SAT Reasoning Test™ & SAT Subject Test™

SAT Reasoning Test™ includes the following three sections:

Critical Reading	Mathematics	Writing
Content: Reading Comprehension,Sentence Completion and Critical Reading. Duration: 70 minutes (two 25 minute sections and one 20 minute section. Score: 200-800	Content: Numbers and operations, algebra and functions, geometry, statistics, probability, and data analysis. Duration: 70 minutes (two 25 minute sections and one 20 minute section. Score: 200-800	Content: Grammar Usage and Word choie. Duration: 60 minutes (one 35 minute section and one 25 minute section. Score: 200-800

This information about the test is from the official SAT® website

SAT Subject Test™ is conducted in five general subjects: English, History, Mathematics, Science & Languages.

For more info and practice material on SAT, why don't you consider joining
SAT Prep Community?

TOEFL® Test

TOEFL® Test is administered on two platforms: Internet Based Test (iBT) & Paper Based Test (PBT).

TOEFL®iBT: TOEFL®iBT assess one's skills in reading, listening, speaking and writing and ability to combine these skills to answer the questions given in the exam.

TOEFL®iBT includes the following four sections:

Reading	Content: 3-5 passages from academic texts; each passage is approx. 700 words long; 12-14 questions per passage. Time: 60-100 minutes. Questions: 36-70 questions. Score: 0-30.
Listening	Content: 4-6 lectures, some with classroom discussion; each 3-5 minutes long; 6 questions each. 2-3 conversations; each 3 minutes long; 5 questions each. Time: 60-90 minutes. Questions: 34-51 questions. Score: 0-30.
Speaking	Content: 2 tasks to express an opinion on a familiar topic; 4 tasks to speak based on what is read and listened to. Time: 20 minutes. Questions: 6 tasks. Score: 0-4 points converted to 0-30 score scale.
Writing	Content: 1 task to write based on what is read and listened to; 1 task to support an opinion on a topic. Time: 50 minutes. Questions: 2 tasks. Score: 0-5 points converted to 0-30 score scale.

This information about the test is from the official TOEFL® website

The TOEFL® Paper-based Test has 3 sections plus a 30-minute writing test, the TWE® (Test of Written English™), which is required of everyone who takes the paper-based test.

Section	No.of Questions	Time
Listening Comprehension	50	30-40 minutes
Structure and Written Expression	40	25 minutes
Reading Comprehension	50	55 minutes
Writing (Test of Written English)	1 topic	30 minutes

This information about the test is from the official TOEFL® website

For more info and practice material on TOEFL®, join our
TOEFL® Prep Community?

All international students seeking admission into undergraduate schools of the United States must take SAT Reasoning Test™(generally referred to as SAT®) and TOEFL®. Generally all international students take iBT but in some regions where iBT is not administered students take PBT.

Graduate Schools in the U.S

Upon completion of Bachelor's Degree, a student can advance his education by pursuing Masters Degree in the Graduate Schools of the Unites States.The graduate schools in the united states offer two classes of degrees: Master Degree and Doctorate Degree(also known as PhD).

Masters Degree

A graduate school degree that requires two years of full-time graduate school coursework to complete.
Unlike bachelor's degree, master's degree program is a complete course that is highly centralized in a particular field of study (called major).
Generally, students decide on their major before applying to a master's degree program.
Entry Level Exam: GRE®/GMAT®/TOEFL®
Degree Awarded: M.S/M.B.A

Doctorate Degree(PhD)

US PhD degree or doctoral degree is even more focused and specialized than the master's degree.
US doctorate degree typically takes between three and six years. The time taken to accomplish a PhD depends on the student's educational background (one with a master's degree may take less time to complete, if it is in the same field), the field of study chosen, the student's ability & dedication, and the knotty thesis the student has chosen for his PhD.
Entry Level Exam: GRE®/TOEFL®
Degree Awarded: PhD

Now, let's dig into the pattern of the exams that one has to conquer in order to get an admission into one's own darling college.

GRE®(Graduate Record Examination®)
All international students planning to undertake M.S or PhD are required to put up a decent performance in this exam. GRE® is offered on two different platforms: GRE® General Test(normally referred to as GRE) and GRE® Subject Test(required for PhD by some universities). In most of the countries GRE® General Test is offered as a Computer Based Test and in some of the countries where Computer Based testing is not available, Paper Based Test is offered.

GRE® Computer Based Test Pattern

Section	No. of Questions	Time
Analytical Writing	1 Issue Task	45 minutes
Analytical Writing	1 Argument Task	30 minutes
Verbal	30	30 minutes
Quantitative	28	45 minutes
Unscored	Varies	Varies
Research	Varies	Varies

GRE® Paper Based Test Pattern

Section	No. of Questions	Time
Analytical Writing	1 Issue Task	45 minutes
Analytical Writing	1 Argument Task	30 minutes
Verbal(2 sections)	38/section	30 minutes/section
Quantitative(2 sections)	30/section	30 minutes/section
Unscored	Varies	30 minutes

GRE Subject Test®
GRE Subject Test is conducted in the following eight disciplines:

English Literature
Mathematics
Physics
Chemistry
Biology
Computer Science
Psychology
Biochemistry,Cell and Molecular Biology

This information about the test is from the official GRE® website

For more info and practice material on GRE®, join our
GRE® Prep Community?

GMAT®(Graduate Management Admission Test®)
All international students with a fervent desire of pursuing M.B.A in the United States are obliged to come up with a competent performance in this exam. GMAT® is a Computer Adaptive Test tailored to assay one's Verbal Reasoning, Quantitative Aptitude and Analytical Writing skills. GMAT®, being a Computer Adaptive Test, gauge the test taker's original calibre by selecting the questions depending upon his performance in answering the previous question.

GMAT® Test Pattern

Section	No. of Questions	Time
Analytical Writing	1 Issue Task	30 minutes
Analytical Writing	1 Argument Task	30 minutes
Verbal	41	75 minutes
Quantitative	37	75 minutes

This information about the test is from the official GMAT® website

For more info and practice material on GMAT®, join our
GMAT® Prep Community?

International students seeking admission into the Graduate Schools of the United States,in addition to one of these exams (GRE®/GMAT®), are required to take TOEFL®.

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