The Solvency Certificate

October 30, 2013October 28, 2013doaonline

The ‘solvency certificate,’ which is also known as a ‘capability certificate’ is a letter from your banker stating that you are capable of raising funds equivalent to your tuition fees and costs of living in the United States. Most bankers are willing to give these certificates to their regular customers. This certificate is one of the documents that you will need to send along with your application form to the university that you are applying to.

Note that if the university to which you are applying demands a ‘bank certificate’ indicating the actual funds available in your bank account, then a solvency certificate will not be acceptable.

October-December Alert for Students Applying for Fall 2014

October 29, 2013October 28, 2013doaonline

October-December 2013

For many of you who are applying for admission in fall 2014, the months from October to December will be when several important phases of the application process will draw to a close for you. Here’s what you have to do in that critical phase:

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GRE News: Now Available from ETS The Official GRE App

October 28, 2013October 28, 2013doaonline

Ripples from the smart phone revolution started by technology giant Apple are spreading out everywhere. Apps for mobiles for a variety of organizations and services are being rolled out in increasing numbers. Now, the ETS has got onto the band wagon with its launch of the first-ever official GRE® test prep mobile app on the App Store.

According to the ETS, the app, which is based on the second edition of The Official Guide to the GRE® Revised General Test, gives users access to authentic GRE® test questions from past administrations of the test, answers and explanations by ETS and the ETS’s own tips and strategies for the GRE®.

GRE News: ETS Test Prep Videos Available

October 27, 2013October 28, 2013doaonline

With earlier versions of the test, students would go to the ‘Big Book’ for practice on actual GRE test papers of the past. With the Revised GRE coming in August 2011, A new version of the prep book called the Official Guide came in. Now, the GRE® program also offers ‘GRE® Success Starter videos’ to help you crack the GRE®.

There are two videos:

GRE® Success Starter: Tips & Strategies for the Quantitative Reasoning Section
GRE® Success Starter: Tips & Strategies for the Verbal Reasoning Section

The videos are designed to help you familiarize yourself with the two most important sections of the test: Quantitative and Verbal Reasoning. According to Dawn Piacentino, Director of Communications and Services for the GRE Program at ETS, , “In less than 20 minutes each, these videos walk test takers through examples of the different question types in the test, provide strategies for answering each question type, and share useful tips and strategies.”

GRE News: ETS Opens Customer Support Centers in India

October 26, 2013October 24, 2013doaonline

Here’s an additional bit of good news for GRE test takers in India. The growing number of students taking the GRE® test in this country has pushed the GRE Program to open customer support centers here.

According to the ETS, the new GRE Customer Service Centers will “provide guidance and information for individuals preparing or planning to take the GRE® revised General Test or GRE® Subject Tests. Information about test preparation materials, test centers and dates, score reports and other test-related inquiries can be answered by call center staff.”

News from ETS: New GRE Test Centers Open in India

October 25, 2013October 24, 2013doaonline

Starting in July this year, the GRE program made additional testing available across the country to support the growing demand in India. The cities where additional testing will be available include Ahmadabad, Bangalore, Bhopal, Calcutta, Dehradun, Hyderabad, Mumbai, New Delhi, Vadodara and Vasad. A surprise inclusion is Nasik. Pune is yet, however to get a test center of its own despite the large number of test takers from Pune.

Dawn Piacentino, Director of Communications and Services for the GRE Program at ETS explains that there are two reasons for the increase in the number of test-takers: “Interest in the GRE revised General Test has been steadily growing as more people are choosing to submit GRE scores when applying for an MBA or specialized master’s program. The number of graduate schools around the world who accept GRE scores is also on the rise, giving GRE test takers a lot of options.” The GRE is obviously still aggressively challenging the position of the GMAT a the premiere test for students seeking admission to MBA programs in the United States.

Dr. Harchol-Balter on the Recommendation Letter

October 24, 2013October 21, 2013doaonline

Ideally you would like to make all your letters of recommendation count. Consider the following two letters:

(i) Letter 1: “I highly recommend student X for your graduate program. Student X received an A+ in my undergraduate algorithms class. He was ranked Number 2 out of 100 students. He got the highest score on the ﬁnal. He worked very hard all semester, never missed a class, and was always able to answer the questions that I asked in class. This conscientious attitude makes him an excellent candidate for any graduate program. ”

Great FREE Application Tools on DOA Online: Part 3 – Question & Answer Forum

October 23, 2013September 19, 2013doaonline

Question & Answer Forum

- What are transcripts?
– When should I register for the GRE test?
– Where can I find university deadlines?
– From whom do I need to take recommendation letters?

The list of questions that come up when you are applying to American universities is endless. Most probably you won’t know where to look for solutions or, whom to ask for the answers. That’s where the next of our great free application tools comes in – the DOA ONLINE Q&A FORUM.

The Revised General GRE: All the Details

October 22, 2013October 17, 2013doaonline

The Revised General GRE was introduced in August 2011. But if you are thinking of giving the GRE just now, it is still all pretty new to you. So, what is the test like? What are the sections, what are the questions like and what are the challenges? Contained in this blog are links to descriptions of every section in the GRE and a description of some of the most important challenges they offer.

Click on the links below to go to he individual posts.

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MS-in-US: Vital Information, Key Decisions, Crucial Steps!

October 21, 2013October 30, 2013doaonline

This post brings together a list of must-see links to our most important posts on ‘Admissions to American Universities’. The links are arranged under different headings:

university deadlines (spring 2014, fall 2014)
selecting which semester to join
step-by-step explanations of the application process
tips on the F1 visa and on preparing your Statement of Purpose
and several others.

This is important information. Don’t miss out on it!

Deadlines for Application

Did you know that there is no standard deadline for application for American universities? Deadlines for fall range from November of the previous year all the way up to August of the year in which you will join your university. Deadlines for spring range from June of the previous year to Jan of the year of joining. Your planning of the application process depends on the deadline for the most important university you are applying for. Check out the deadlines for your university through the links below.

GREat Oaks Reads

Smart Reads for Smart Students

University Applications