Hyderabad: We would like to open our column today by thanking our readers for joining last week’s International Education Week (IEW) celebrations hosted by the US Consulate General in Hyderabad and the United States-India Educational Foundation in Hyderabad. We had a great time engaging with students, parents, teachers, counsellors, researchers, academicians, education administrators, and US […]
Hyderabad: We would like to open our column today by thanking our readers for joining last week’s International Education Week (IEW) celebrations hosted by the US Consulate General in Hyderabad and the United States-India Educational Foundation in Hyderabad. We had a great time engaging with students, parents, teachers, counsellors, researchers, academicians, education administrators, and US university alumni and representatives. Please continue to keep in touch with our offices if you have any questions related to US higher education and exchanges.
During and after the IEW celebrations last week, we received a lot of inquiries from our readers about EducationUSA, services offered by the programme, and the kind of help students may receive from EducationUSA Advisers while they work on their US university applications. So, in today’s column we will talk about the EducationUSA programme.
EducationUSA, supported by the US Department of State, is a worldwide network of more than 400 advising centers in 170+ countries. The programme is designed to provide accurate, current, and comprehensive information on higher education opportunities in the United States to international students. India hosts eight EducationUSA Centers that are situated in the cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Ahmedabad. The city of Hyderabad hosts two centers.
Irrespective of the type of programme a student plans to pursue in the United States (short-term or a degree programme), EducationUSA has the resources to help students navigate the application process through EducationUSA’s ‘5 Steps to Study in the US’
EducationUSA provides many resources and services to students, including:
• Individualised counselling by highly trained EducationUSA Advisers.
• Review of essays and statements of purpose.
• Specialized information sessions on ‘5 Steps to US Study’, including sessions on student visas with visa officers from the US Embassy and Consulates.
• Access to library resources. Students can get free access to our reference libraries for 20 hours a week (currently not available due to Covid-19).
• Access to profiles of students who are currently studying in the United States.
• Sessions with representatives of US universities.
• US university educational fairs, alumni fairs, and mentoring sessions with achievers.
• Weekly webinars.
• Access to test preparation material for GRE, GMAT, TOEFL, SAT, ACT, AP through our center-libraries (in person only).
• Internet access to conduct college research through our center-libraries (in person only).
• Information on financial aid available through US universities.
Currently, EducationUSA offices are providing all of the above services virtually. There are many ways through which a student or parent may connect with EducationUSA. Audiences in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Odisha may connect with one of the two EducationUSA centers in Hyderabad – EducationUSA @USIEF Hyderabad (usiefhyderabad@usief.org.in / hyderabad@educationusa.org ) or EducationUSA @Y-Axis Foundation yaxishyderabad@educationusa.org). The full list of EducationUSA weekly activities is available on this link https://www.usief.org.in/images/pdfs/EducationUSA-
Students may also follow the EducationUSA India Facebook/Instagram pages https://www.facebook.com/EducationUSAIndia https://www.instagram.com/educationusaindia/.
Do visit the official websites: https://educationusa.state.gov and www.USIEF.org.in. Also, please follow the Facebook and Twitter accounts of the US Consulate General Hyderabad for EducationUSA announcements in the region. EducationUSA India has also recently launched its mobile app that you may download from Google or Apple App Store.
— Monika Setia (Regional Officer and EducationUSA Adviser at the United States-India Educational Foundation based at the U.S. Consulate General Hyderabad. Please visit https://educationusa.state.gov/centers/educationusa-usief-hyderabad for more information)
Q&A
Q1. When can I start my degree program in the United States? I plan to pursue a master’s degree in Computer Science. – Pushpa Gopal
Academic intakes and application timelines for master’s studies in the Unites States vary by university. Fall and spring semesters are the two major academic intakes. Fall semester starts around mid-August/September that marks the beginning of the academic year. The spring semester, on the other hand, starts around January – in the middle of the academic year. While a few higher education institutions in the United States only offer a fall semester intake, others offer both fall and spring semester intakes. Before students start working on their applications, they should make sure to visit the websites of the shortlisted institutions to check the admission intakes available at these institutions and the corresponding application deadlines.
Q2. My daughter is a U.S. citizen and in her 9th standard. She wants to pursue her bachelor’s degree in the United States. We have heard about Federal aid. Can you please share more information about it? – KV Surender
Federal student aid is funding made available through the US Department of Education, a federal government body, to pay for college education (both undergraduate and graduate studies). The funds are made available to students through grants, loans, and work-study programmes. To be eligible for the funds, the student must be a U.S. citizen with a valid Social Security number. It is also important that the student is able to prove their need for financial support. Other eligibility criteria for the aid may be found at https://studentaid.gov/understand-aid/eligibility/requirements.
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