if you want to get an IV League degree just like I did for my masters this video is for you in today's video we're going to talk about what the entire application process looks like for Masters and PhD applicants applying for the fall 2025 intake [Music] [Music] if you are just entering your final year of undergrad or entering your final year of Masters that is when you actually apply for your next fall 2025 intake the whole reason is the US application process takes one entire year which means that this August onwards you'll start applying for colleges and the the deadlines typically get over by December or January and yes typically that would mean that the deadline is over and you haven't finished your degree yet that is completely okay they have a different metrics in place where they judge how you're performing in your final year so it's not a requirement that you have to complete your degree in order to apply you apply during your final year for the next intake which is going to be the fall 2025 intake step one is understanding the different type of degrees that actually exist in in the US because once you are in that graduate level you have a couple options to consider a few of them include a master of science degree which can be divided into two there's a thesis track and a non-thesis track in general the master of science degree will be 2 years long and if you choose the thesis track you'll most likely be paired with like a professor and you'll do a research towards wi by the end of your master's program you'll have a thesis and a research-based program that you would have completed non-thesis option means that you will take certain amount of coursework for the two years and by the end of two years you would have completed gotten graded in those coursework and the research part is not necessarily required the next type of degree is a master of engineering degree which is what I did at Cornell University this is typically a very aggressive one-year program that allows you to be in a professional environment your courses are most likely going to be something related to what you can expect in an industry career after you graduate lastly the option is a PhD these are at minimum 3 to 4 years that's a starting point some phds even last 6 Seven 8 years so it is a big degree but this typically means that you'll be spending all of your time in research and you know have a dedicated um doctoral level degree as well as a research for the particular you know field that you're you're selecting the best thing is after you've completed your undergraduate degree you are eligible to apply to any of these degrees yes as a bachelor student you can even apply directly for a PhD I applied I got into UC merceds PhD program I didn't end up choosing it for you know certain reasons it didn't fit my kind of career prospects at the time but you are eligible so if someone directly wants to jump into research they can just skip the entire Master's process and go directly for a PhD the second step is standardized test now a lot of college had this as optional but slowly are mandating the requirement and these typically include writing the GRE or the GMAT if you're focusing on a business related degree you may have to write the GMAT if you're focusing on a master of science or PhD a GRE might be required depending on the department as well as the degree that you're applying for the minimum cut off may vary just as a ballpark if you want to get into a very competitive Department a very good program getting a GRE score of above 320 or 325 out of 340 is a good place to be in next is coming to the requirements so the number one priority are going to be your grades typically because you're applying as an international student the grading system may vary so you'll have to go through the West evaluation which is the official evaluation that colleges in the US consider to get your degree verified as well as your grades converted you as a student will not convert anything by yourself and the next thing to consider is because you're applying for a graduate level program they expect your grades to be at a minimum 70 to 75% if you're anywhere lower than this it's unlikely that you'll get into a good program if you have higher grades the competitiveness improves and you have really good chances of getting good admits letters a recommendation now these typically come from professors if you're applying for a grad program and you have some work experience you can also get it from your supervisor your boss but anywhere between two to four letters of recommendation is what colleges look for in addition to that graduate applicants are also expected to submit a resume now this resume sometimes is like given as an alternative to a CV so if you're applying for a research based program maybe you can have a lengthy CV where you're including your research based activities or if you're applying for a professional degree then you can have a more professionally looking resume it's probably a good idea to tailor the resume depending on each program so it can look different and actually be tailored towards the program that you're applying for next we come to the statement of purpose now I've seen different cases sometimes you may just have to write one statement of purpose which is what do you actually want to do as a graduate student what research do you want to get involved with what are your career prospects what do you want to do ultimately with the degree in other cases I've seen two essays a statement of purpose and an academic statement of purpose which is a little bit more research-based if you are applying for a research-based degree be prepared to write in in detail what you want to actually do your research in within these essays sometimes it's also smart to mention one to two professors that you ideally want to work with this shows that you've done your research and you know what kind of work is going on in the university and where you would be a good fit in in any case do not use AI tools like chat GPT colleges are very smart they have ai detectors all over the place and your application will most likely just get automatically rejected if you end up doing something like this lastly we have English proficiency now as an international student you will need to write one of these tests TOEFL is or dualingo and there's a minimum cut off for toel typically anywhere above 100 is a good score it's basically a formality pass or fail write the test get it over with now let's come to funding opportunities so let's talk about master of science now whether you choose a non-thesis or a thesis option really differentiates the funding opportunities if you are in a thesis based master of science you may have the option to do a research assistantship or a teaching assistantship to get a monthly stipend in a master of science non-thesis option you could maybe do a teaching assistantship but a research assistantship is unlikely because your coursework related degree master of engineering programs do not have any funding options no scholarships no raata no stiens whatsoever lastly phds are typically always funded as a PhD candidate you will be expected to work as an RA as well as a ta so you get a monthly stipend and the college takes care of your tuition fee as well now there are very very few scholarships available but often times when they are available they're typically given to master of science students so you can get maybe like a small amount of merit-based scholarship lastly submitting your application on time remember that different degrees different colleges different departments all have different deadlines so just because the main page of the website has a specific deadline it may not be that the program that you're trying to apply for has the same deadline so as a graduate student I highly recommend you use like some sort of an Excel spreadsheet tracker to make sure you have the deadlines in place so you do not miss out colleges in the US are very strict about these deadlines and it's a good idea to submit at least a week to 10 days before the actual deadline itself next being a graduate student you'll be applying to different colleges through different website and different portals so you can use that same Excel spreadsheet tracker to keep track of your username passwords and the link to the application portals itself it's a good idea to apply anywhere between 10 to 20 colleges and if we talk about a rough timeline that you're looking at since applications open August onwards it's a good idea to do all of your tests before that so the summer before the August so right now when you're watching this video start studying for your test write as many as you need if you need to write your English proficiency gr GMAT get that over with right now and start working on your essay the big essay which is typically 1,500 words or so is something that you'll be spending two to three months on so maybe by September you can finish doing that once you're done with that you start doing all of the other requirements so October and November can be spent in in in the college actual requirements Gathering documents getting your references uh working on your resume and lastly December is for reviewing and submitting as a PhD candidate start reaching out to professors as early as possible even right now because you need to make sure you find a supervisor or at least get in good terms with a supervisor for something that resonates with the research that you actually want to do now this entire process is very overwhelming even though I've given you an entire timeline and told you step by step what to do there is much more to it the ivy league 101 course is the perfect fit it has a series of videos in the right order to help you organize yourself and take you through the entire application process there are templates there are videos on how to short list colleges applying emailing professors everything you can think of related to the graduate application process for Masters as well as PhD students all in one place which makes lives easier for so many students the wait list to enroll in the program is open now I'm going to leave a link in the description so sign up because the ivy 101 course is going to launch in just a few weeks that can be super helpful for applicants applying for the fall 2025 intake okay so if you're watching till this point I have a very weird question to ask you guys who is your favorite Professor or teacher and what did they actually teach you why are they your favorite for me personally there are two like undergrad professors that come to my mind I have Roba M and paravi M both of them taught separate subjects but they were always really like nice to me whatever I needed and I used to do a lot of like outside the class stuff going for like these poster presentations and Publishing papers and doing just stuff that was just really outside of my comfort zone and they would never say no to me even once they were very helpful resourceful in any way and I'm even in touch with them to this very day so if they're watching like a thumbs up to you guys um for playing a part in in you know helping shape my career but who are those for for you guys put that in the comments below like the video if you're watching to this point And subscribe to the channel I'll see you guys in the next one [Music] bye woo