Fulbright Scholarship

There are a number of scholarships available for Pakistani students. Most of them cater to post-graduate courses, instead of undergraduate programs. Some popular scholarships are Fulbright (for US universities), Rhodes scholarship (for university of Oxford, UK). The detail of Fulbright scholarship is appended below.

The Fulbright scholarship is offered to students aiming to take up a graduate course in the US, either at Masters Level or doctorate (PhD) level. The scholarship offers full tuition fee, living expenses and a return air ticket for the student. This scholarship opens in February every year, and closes in mid-May. The main requirement is GRE Exam, and the students who qualify for the interview, are required to take TOEFL Exam as well. The condition attached with scholarship is that one has to return to country and serve the country for the period of time this scholarship has been availed in the US.

The application process for the Fulbright scholarship (for entry in fall 2013), began in February   2012. If you are interested in applying in this batch, it is recommended that you take the GRE as soon as possible. The application form can be downloaded from the website (Fulbright.stat.gov), and filled and submitted electronically. A hard copy of this application must be sent to the United States Educational Foundation in your Country. Make sure you obtain the official transcript from your university, and attach three LORs with your application.

Fulbright application form includes an SOP and Study Objectives; a precisely worded document outlining your main academic aims, and the exact program you want to pursue in the US, including the reasons why you wan to apply for the program. It would be helpful to add how a particular program will help you achieve your goals.

I hope above mentioned information helps you to understand the procedure of Fulbright Scholarship but If you need further assistance on this than you must visit its official site for details application form, document checklists, and submission deadline. Furthermore, get instant information about Preparation of TOEFL Exam from 'what is TOEFL test'. 

GRE Exam

The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is a prerequisite for admission to a graduate program at most US universities.  GRE is a comprehensive test given by the Educational Testing Service (ETS), in order to test whether a student (ETS), in order to test whether a student is ready for graduate studies or not. The GRE is divided into two classes: General and Subject. Most US universities require the GRE General Test; only a few require the Subject GRE Test. Currently, in many countries all GRE candidates are required to give the computer-based test. 

The GRE General Test is composed of three sections:

Analytical Writing

The analytical writing portion is the first part, followed by an unidentified and un-scored section which may comprise either verbal or quantitative reasoning. A research section (indentified and un-scored) may also be included in the test and is always included at the end of the test.

There are two tasks in the analytical writing portion:

1. Issue task: In this task, you are given two essay topics and are required to write an essay on one of them. You have 45 minutes to do this.

2. Argument Task: Here, a single topic is given, which you have to analyze for logical reasoning and reasoning flaws. You have 30 minutes to do so.

Verbal Reasoning

After analytical writing portion, the verbal and quantitative sections can be tested in any order. The total time allotted for the whole test is three hours. The verbal portion tests your vocabulary and includes sentence completion, reading comprehension, analogies and antonyms. You have 30 questions in the verbal section and 30 minutes to solve them. 

Quantitative Reasoning

The quantitative portion includes word problems, quantitative comparison and data interpretation questions. You have a total of 45 minutes to solve 28 such questions.

It is advisable to take the GRE Exam, at the beginning of the final year of your undergraduate program. Ideally it takes three months to prepare for the GRE, so you can easily site down and prepare during the year-end holidays and take the exam immediately before the burden of the final sets in. Some important books for GRE Preparation are available from Kaplan, Barrons and The Princeton Review. Its good idea to read through all the tips and trick mentioned in these books, for each section of the GRE Exam. A score over 1350 is vital for securing admission in some of the top universities in the US.

As said before, you should shortlist universities that you would like to apply before talking the GRE. This is because the ETS has a system of sending GRE scores to the universities of your choice. Note down the universities code from their websites and write/type them in the exam to save yourself the burden of sending scores manually. Some universities require the GRE scores to be sent only through ETS.

GRE Exam Changes

Another important bit of information to retain in that the format of the GRE General Test shall change from August 2011. The major changes are:

1. New user interface, which allows a candidate to change / edit answers and even skip questions within a section (Note: Currently, this is not allowed).

2. An on-screen calculator is allowed.

3. New types of questions.

The ETS is offering a 50 per cent discount on GRE General Test registration (for the new format) scheduled between August 1, 2011 and September 30, 2011. Considering that the test fee is 190 US dollars, a 50 per cent discount makes a significant difference.

How to Apply for Post-Graduate Programs

Many students wish for a foreign post-graduation degree but are confused as to when they should begin the application process. Finding online resources for post-graduate programs in foreign universities is not difficult, if you what to look for a where. Here some tips to help you determine when to begin the application process and how to secure admission (with scholarship) in the university of your choice. 

A ‘Foreign Degree’ is something that garners much attention and stirs excitement among Pakistani students. The very though of a foreign education brings and air of excitement, anxiety (in some cases) and, of course, dreams of ‘making it big’. You can get admission in foreign post-graduate programs available in USA, Ontario, Singapore, Israel, Toronto, Canada and different abroad countries. 

Foreign education not only broadens your intellectual and professional horizons, it also gives you the experience of living independently and managing time and resources for studies and work all in one package. You can also establish international contacts, which can be helpful in the future. In a nutshell, studying abroad is an overall exciting deal to go for.

Many students prefer to pursue undergraduate programs at local universities; preferring to save funds for their post-graduate studies abroad.   This makes sense, as post-graduate studies are expensive, and compared to undergraduate education they are more crucial to one’s career. Now days, lot of students interested to post graduate programme in management.

A lot of foreign / Pakistani / Indian students prefer universities in North America or the UK, although some students do opt for admissions in European universities. The US / UK option is far more popular among foreign / Pakistani   students. It is important to understand that one needs to begin their post-graduate application process well before the completion of their undergraduate degree. If you are starting your final year (fourth year in most cases) of undergraduate studies, now is the time to start researching in order to secure an admission in a high-ranked foreign university. 

Prerequisites

University application prerequisites for internal students depend on the study program of choice, as well as region and university. However, there are certain application requirements, which remain the same for most foreign applicants. It is important to acquaint yourself with university admission procedures and requirements, before rushing headlong into your pursuit of a foreign degree. Prior to the application process, you will also be required to take certain test (i.e. GRE, IELTS, TOEFL, GMAT etc.) and send in your scores to your selected universities. Therefore, it is better for you to shortlist universities that you want to apply to as early as possible.