Studying abroad is becoming increasingly frequent, but applying to grad school in another country is still a challenging experience. I was born and raised in Argentina, where I completed my undergraduate studies. I didn’t have a close relative or friend who had gone through the experience of studying abroad, so the idea seemed ambitious and risky initially. As I graduated with a good GPA and had a decent level of English, the chances of winning a scholarship to study abroad were reasonable, and I thought it would be a shame not to try. However, I didn’t apply right away. I decided first to get some industry experience (which is considered necessary in my country) while enhancing my English and getting some academic experience as a part-time TA. After working for two years and being awarded a scholarship, I applied to grad school in the U.S. and was accepted into a Master of Science program at MIT.
The process was definitely challenging but also enriching. While going through it, I couldn’t stop thinking how complex it must have been before the internet. I guess that candidates would have had to rely on flyers and information provided by the embassies in their home country, as well as from friends and professors who had connections abroad. At present, the process is more accessible. With an internet connection, you can reach any university that interests you, no matter where it is located worldwide.
In this blog post, I’ll share my experience applying to grad schools in the U.S. to help future international candidates applying to Master or PhD programs. I’ll point out some suggestions for key factors you should be aware of during the early stages of your process that will hopefully help you avoid surprises and choose the right academic program for your needs. Then, I’ll go through the most important aspects of the application journey for an international candidate. Finally, I’ll close with some general remarks from my own experience.
Suggested timeline
Before delving into the details of the application process, I would like to share a suggested timeline based on my own personal experience, in order to help you plan your application journey.
Language requirements and exams can help you shortlist your options
The first challenge we face when starting this journey is deciding where to go. Some may have a clear idea of the best place in the world to specialize in their field, but others might be completely lost. If you don’t have a specific school in mind, the language requirement can help you eliminate some options and narrow your list of potential schools. A level of English above Upper Intermediate (B2 in the CEFR scale) will be required in all universities of English-speaking countries (U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, etc.). In non-English-speaking countries, like France and Germany, academic programs offered fully or partially in English are becoming more popular, especially for graduate education.
Within the U.S., the English level requirement (for candidates whose first language is not English) varies from university to university and even within the same institution. For example, MIT’s minimum required score is 90 on the TOEFL iBT exam, but the MIT Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering (CEE), where I applied, requires a score of 100. Some North American universities require a score as low as 80 on this exam, while others require a higher score (I remember one university requiring a minimum score of 106). IELTS is another widely accepted English exam.
Therefore, based on your English level and exam results, you can keep some options and remove others. Although practice usually helps improve your performance in this type of exam, your level of language proficiency will set a ceiling. If you don’t reach the minimum required for your desired program or any program, you can definitely continue taking English lessons and improve your fluency. However, this will take more time, so you will want to consider if it would be worthwhile. If not, countries that offer academic programs in your native language could be a better option.
Besides the language level exam required by the university, you might need to take an additional exam to evaluate your quantitative and cognitive skills. The particular exam varies from program to program but is usually the GRE (for most programs) or GMAT (for business programs). Some universities waive the requirement to take these exams, so you should check each school carefully. Preparing for either of these exams takes time, as with the English exam, and you might need to take it more than once to get the score that you feel comfortable with to be a competitive candidate. Universities usually don’t require a minimum score on this exam as they do for the English exam.
Planning ahead and figuring out financing
Financial aid opportunities for different types of academic programs can also help you narrow down your options. To understand your different financing options, you must first differentiate the various academic programs you can apply to (at least in the US). At a high level, we can distinguish two types of graduate programs:
- Course-based: This includes master’s programs with academic requirements mainly based on class credits. They have a structured schedule of classes with mandatory and optional courses. They can require a final project or thesis, but its scope is much narrower than a dissertation in a PhD program. Course-based programs are oriented to professionals of different industries looking to gain skills in a particular field. Examples of degrees offered in these programs can include: MBA, MEng (Master of Engineering), LLM (Master of Laws), and MPA (Master of Public Administration), among others.
- Research-based: This includes Master of Science (SM) and Doctorate (Ph.D., Sc.D.) programs. Traditionally, a Master of Science was considered the first step to a PhD, but nowadays it is becoming more common to complete only an SM. The main academic requirement for both SM and PhD/ScD programs is submitting a thesis, so research is a big part of the program. A PhD thesis needs to address novel knowledge, while an SM typically doesn’t. Class credits are also a requirement, but the schedule load is lower than a course-based program. The structure of the program is also more flexible, as you can choose what classes to take, in consultation with your advisor, according to your research and interests.
Regarding financing options, Research-based programs are more likely to receive funding from the university once you are admitted. Almost all PhD students will be fully funded by the lab in which they will work. This means their tuition is covered, and they receive a monthly stipend. While funding for a Master of Science is more limited, it’s also possible in some instances.
University funding is definitely rarer for course-based programs. Students usually apply for loans or scholarships (like Fulbright in the US, Chevening in the UK, and DAAD in Germany). Once admitted to these programs, the universities usually offer their incoming students resources to find financing options, and they can eventually get funding from the university through TA (Teaching Assistantships) opportunities.
In my case, I chose to pursue a Master of Science because I was interested in a career in research and development (R&D). Completing a PhD wasn’t part of my plan at that time. During my master’s, my advisor partially funded me by covering my tuition. The rest of my costs, basically my stipend and flight tickets, were covered by the scholarship I received, administered by the Argentinian government and Fulbright.
If you need to apply for a scholarship, you must plan ahead and pay attention to the deadlines and requirements. In my case, the Fulbright scholarship in Argentina has a deadline around the end of April each year. This varies among countries and scholarships. Each scholarship also has different requirements regarding language proficiency, letters of recommendation, application statements, etc. The amount of funding also varies from program to program, so in some cases, you will need to obtain financing from more than one source to meet your required budget.
Personal factors to consider before applying: will you enjoy living there?
Apart from language requirements, financial aid opportunities, and the characteristics of each academic program, other factors come into play when making a shortlist of universities to apply to. This is very personal and depends significantly on your personality and likes. Here, I share some of the factors that were important for me:
- Access to public transportation: I was not planning to have a car and drive myself, so it was a key factor that the city where I was going to spend two years of my life had a good public transport system.
- Lifestyle: In the U.S., you can find a large university in the middle of a vibrant metropolis or in an isolated spot. I was looking for a point in the middle, a safe city offering good cultural and entertaining activities. Boston was a great option.
- Location and climate: given the vast geography of the US, there are many options. Some people prefer to avoid cold weather. That wasn’t a concern for me. However, the location of the city was. I was looking for a place where I could return to Argentina without needing more than one plane stop.
- The prestige of the university: the rankings and recognition of the university also play a role in deciding. Some people don’t care about this and only consider the characteristics that the program offers, but others do.
Preparing the application materials
There are resources online that offer excellent guidance on grad school application materials, so instead of repeating information, I’ll emphasize the most essential factors to consider from the perspective of an international candidate:
Statement of Purpose and Personal Statement essays
In my country, we are not used to writing essays when applying to a university. Therefore, preparing our application package can also take additional time and effort. The CEE Comm Lab didn’t exist when I was in this process. Now, you can check out our CommKits with guidelines on how to write your Statement of Purpose and Personal Statement, including some real examples from candidates admitted to MIT. I also encourage you to have your statements read and reviewed by a colleague or friend because the perspective of others always helps to find mistakes and areas for improvement. In my case, I hired an English professor to help me revise my essays. This investment was worth it because I had my grammar checked, and it helped me to express my ideas much more straightforwardly. The English professor was from the U.S., so she had experience with the application process, which was very helpful in tailoring the essays to what the admission committee usually expects.
Letters of recommendation
Similarly, professors in our countries might not be familiar with writing letters of recommendation for their students. So, we will need to spend some time not only finding the right people to write our letters but also giving them some advice. In my case, I provided my professors with examples of letters of recommendation I found online that they could use as templates. I met with each of them individually, explaining the process and discussing what type of information about me they could include in the letter to make it stronger. One of my professors didn’t speak English, so I took care of the cost of a translator to translate the letter from Spanish to English.
Contacting professors months before the application deadline
When we apply for a Master of Science or PhD, in most cases we will need the approval of a faculty member who will become our advisor to be admitted to the program. Due to this, it is vital to contact professors before applying to identify those willing to accept us in their labs, which will increase your admission chances. However, as international candidates, anxiety might make us contact several professors simultaneously, aiming to secure a spot. That’s not a good practice, and if we do it in the same department, professors could find out and perceive us as not really interested in their specific research. I suggest having a short list of professors you would like to work with and contacting them first. If you don’t hear back from them, or they reply that they are not hiring new students, then you can continue emailing other professors on your list. I suggest starting this process early, around five months before the application deadline.
Translating documentation
You must submit documentation, such as your university degree and transcript, to the applying university during the application process. This process is straightforward and completely electronic within U.S. universities, but this wasn’t the case in my country. You will likely need to have your documentation translated by a professional translator and then mail it to the university. Some universities even require that the documentation be verified by a third institution (fortunately, this is not the case with MIT).
Immigration requirements after getting admitted
You don’t need to worry about the immigration process until you are finally admitted to the university. You will need some documentation from the university to start your visa application process at the embassy. As you can imagine, the complexity and length of this process varies a lot depending on the country. At this point, you need to be patient and flexible. In my case, I got the decision letters from the universities in March, I made the final decision and got the immigration documentation from the university by the end of April, and I started with the immigration procedures at the US embassy in May. This process lasted one month. Be ready and have your passport prepared in advance.
Final thoughts
When I started the application process, someone told me I should consider it as a part-time job. They were right. I don’t say this to discourage you but rather to put you in the mindset you need to succeed in this process. The most challenging part for me was having to make a decision with so many options available. As I mentioned earlier, there are several factors to consider. In my case, I chose the option that, at that moment, I thought would give me an experience closer to my early expectations. This included the city I would live in and what the university would offer. At some point, we need to trust our instincts and take risks. And not overwhelming ourselves with thoughts about one-time life-changing opportunities. Life always keeps changing and giving second chances. Good luck, and enjoy the journey!