HIGHER STUDIES IN THE UNITED STATES: PROSPECT AND CHALLENGES FOR

BANGLADESHI STUDENTS
MD RUHUL AMIN – PURSUING MS IN COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING IN THE UNIVERSITY OF TOLEDO, USA
 Motivation Prospect Challenges

AREAS TO BE COVERED
MY STORY

Graduated from RUET Kept preparing for GRE GRE 308(v154,q154), 313(v155,q158), AWA TOEFL
Admission
in 2016 & TOEFL during job AWA 4.5 4.0 104(R26,L26,S23,W29)
 POST ADMISSION
➢ The University of Toledo, Ohio, USA
➢ Current Research: Cyber Security, Machine
Learning
➢ Applied Centrally
➢ Received tuition scholarship
➢ Later received graduate assistantship
RUETIANS
DOING WELL
IN TOP US
SCHOOLS
• ZUBAER IMRAN
➢ CURRENTLY DOING PHD
IN COMPUTER SCIENCE AT
UCLA
➢ UCLA HAS OVER 350
RESEARCH LABS[4]
INTERNATIONAL
STUDENT
FRIENDLY
CAMPUS.
➢ 13.6 % of students
studying Math and
Computer Science are
international students.
[2]
BANGLADESHI
STUDENT ASSOCIATION
(BSA)

➢ Non-profit organization
➢ Organizes social and
cultural events during
events
➢ Important body in the
local Bangladeshi
Community
 BANGLADESHI
STUDENT
ASSOCIATION
(BSA)
ACTIVITIES

University of Toledo BSA members celebrating "Borso Boron 1426"

( Bengali New Year celebration )
APPLICATION TIMELINE

Fall Spring

➢ Main intake ➢ Application start from October

➢ Application start: September to November (May vary for a few
(early deadlines) and go on till universities)
April (final application deadlines) ➢ Classes start on mid January
➢ Classes start on mid August
 • Prepare for standardized tests (GRE, TOEFL)
• University selection
• E-mailing professors
• Statement of Purpose(SOP)
• Letter of Recommendation

APPLICATION PROCESS : AN OVERVIEW

 • Multiple-choice, computer-based, standardized exam
• Admissions committee looks at your GRE score, along with your academic record
and supporting materials
• A high score on GRE will have a direct and positive impact on the application
• GRE has Three sections: Analytical Writing,Verbal Reasoning, Quantitative
Reasoning
• Analytical Writing score ranges from 0 to 6
• Verbal reasoning score ranges from 130-170
• Quantitative reasoning score ranges from 130-170
• Minimum score you can get is 260

THE GRADUATE RECORD EXAMINATION(GRE)

 • Materials to be covered (How I prepared)
➢ ETS Official books
➢ Manhattan 1-6 (For Quantitative)
➢ Manhattan 5lb (For Quantitative)
➢ Magoosh account (For verbal)
➢ Magoosh flashcard App(For vocabulary)
➢ Read articles from newyorker.com, aldaily.com and other similar sites
• Mock tests
➢ Power Prep I & II (Should be taken a week before the exam)
➢ Manhattan Paid mock tests (Should be taken after completing aforementioned
materials

PREPARING FOR THE GRADUATE RECORD EXAMINATION(GRE)

• Sections : Reading(30), Listening(30), Speaking(30), Writing(30)
• Total score possible 120

Materials to be covered
➢ ETS books
➢ Notefull videos (youtube)

Mock tests
➢ ETS provided mock tests
Tip
➢ Don't follow Notefull format blindly. Make your own format
➢ Record your responses for a speaking scenerio and analyze

PREPARING FOR THE TEST OF ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE (TOEFL)

• Find your niche
➢ For example: if you are looking for mid ranked universities search state wise
universities in usnews.com(paid account required)

• E-mail professors you are interested in working with

➢ Do not write generalized email
➢ Read her/his recent papers and show her/him why you are interested in working
with her/him
➢ Provide links for any papers you may have published
➢ Mention GRE, TOEFL scores in the e-mail
➢ If you have a website/blog containing your research/blog posts- mention it in the
e-mail

UNIVERSITY SELECTION AND E-MAILING PROFESSORS

• SOP is your STORY written in a 1 or 2 page document

➢ Write about how you became interested in your field of interest

➢ Back it up mentioning your coursework and interesting undergraduate projects
➢ It is your love letter to the University, tell them why you are interested in doing
research in that university
➢ Mention the professor you want to work with (If you have previous communication
with the professor mention it)
➢ Avoid using GRE words
➢ If you have faced adverse situation that may have caused your low GPA -mention it

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
• Is a VITAL element of the application package
• Some universities prefer paper based recommendation while others do it online
• Usually online recommendations contain fields that ask the recommender to rate
the student about the student's different abilities(example: Rate the student in a 1
to 5 scale on leadership).
• Typically online recommendations include a text box for writing a letter too,
Tip:
• Ask for recommendations from those faculty with whom you have personally
worked and who can write about your strengths and weaknesses
• Ask faculties well in advance that you require a recommendation
• If recommendation is sent from institutional email- it adds value

LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION(LOR)
• Have your GRE, TOEFL,SOP,LOR ready by -
➢ December(If applying to top ranked universities)*
➢ February(If applying to mid or low ranked universities)*

*may vary according to universities

FOR THOSE APPLYING IN FALL 2020

VISA INTERVIEW

➢US visa interview is NOT a document based procedure

➢Be confident and honest
➢Even if you don't have funding- apply for visa if your parents
can sponsor you
• A good GPA is EXTREMELY important in the application package
➢ Most universities have a minimum cut off of 3.0
➢ If you have low GPA, offset it by explaining it in your SOP and do 1 or 2
publication
➢ I couldn't apply to a lot of universities for my low CGPA(2.98)
➢ My current GPA is 3.72
➢ Still there are universities that have minimum cut off GPA of 2.5 or 2.75
➢ Find those universities and APPLY!

A NOTE FOR LOW GPA HOLDERS

1. https://www.mastersportal.com/articles/1216/7-reasons-why-students-
think-usa-is-the-holy-grail-of-higher-education.html

2. https://www.indiaeducation.net/studyabroad/usa/why-study-in-
usa.aspx

3. https://www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate- REFERENCES
schools/articles/2019-03-19/3-reasons-to-earn-a-graduate-computer-
science-degree-in-the-us
4. https://laedc.org/wtc/chooselacounty/research-development/
Q&A SESSION

ANY FURTHER
QUESTIONS CAN BE
DIRECTED TO

MDRUHUL.AMIN@ROCKETS.U
TOLEDO.COM