USA

Key Features of Higher Education

  • Cutting edge technologies are integrated into the academic process; opportunities for young researchers are hardly limited, which stimulates the profound interest to the chosen Master’s program
  • US universities strive to set the highest standards in both the theoretical knowledge and its practical application
  • The most popular fields of concentration for international students (primarily from Eastern Europe) are business administration, public administration, technical communication studies and computer sciences
  • Teaching staff provides assistance for international students (mandatory availability of such services as Foreign Student Adviser, Faculty Advisor and Peer Counselor)
  • To get a degree, one must have a required number of credits/credit hours

Language of Instruction

English

How to Enroll?

Academic requirements: Bachelor`s degree. To enroll to some programs (for example, law or agriculture), 1-3 years of work experience in the field is required.

Each university sets its own admission requirements for a specific program. Detailed information about the admission process is available on the university web-sites.

American universities do not require entrance exams.

To apply for a university, one usually needs the following documents:

  1.  Application form
  2. Certified copy of the university degree certificate (including the list of subjects and grades) 3.
  3. Certificate of proficiency in English (IELTS — from 6.0, TOEFL — from 550-570)
  4. Letter of Motivation
  5. On average 3 Letters of Recommendation from professors or employers

Do not send the original documents to universities; you have to certify the copies of the documents and certificates and attach their translation into English.

Application fee - $ 25-90 (sometimes there is no fee).

Applying and Studying

Deadlines for applying to universities are set by the universities themselves and can vary depending on the chosen program. As a rule, deadlines are middle of December/end of January.

You will be notified about the results of your application in 2-3 months after the deadline.

An academic year start date is set by the universities individually. Normally an academic year starts at the end of August or beginning of September, and lasts to the end of May/beginning of June.

Depending on a university, the academic year is divided into 2 semesters, 3 periods or 4 quarters.

Duration of a Master`s program — 1-2 years (depending on the field of study)

Best Universities

There are 58 American universities in the Top-200 ranking:

  1. Harvard University
  2. Yale University
  3. California Institute of Technology
  4. University of Chicago
  5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  6. Columbia University
  7. University of Pennsylvania
  8. Princeton University
  9. Duke University
  10. Johns Hopkins University
  11. Cornell University
  12. Stanford University
  13. University of Michigan
  14. Carnegie Mellon University
  15. Brown University
  16. University of California, Los Angeles
  17. Northwestern University
  18. University of California, Berkeley
  19. New York University
  20. Boston University
  21. Dartmouth College
  22. University of Wisconsin-Madison
  23. University of California, San Diego
  24. University of Washington
  25. Washington University in St Louis
  26. Emory University
  27. University of Texas at Austin
  28. University of Illinois
  29. Rice University
  30. Georgia Institute of Technology
  31. University of Minnesota
  32. University of California, Davis
  33. Case Western Reserve University
  34. University of Virginia
  35. University of Pittsburgh
  36. University of California, Santa Barbara
  37. Purdue University
  38. Vanderbilt University
  39. University of North Carolina
  40. University of Southern California
  41. Pennsylvania State University
  42. Georgetown University
  43. University of Rochester
  44. Ohio State University
  45. University of Maryland
  46. Stony Brook University
  47. University of California, Irvine
  48. Texas A&M University
  49. University of Arizona
  50. Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
  51. Tufts University
  52. University of Florida
  53. University of Notre Dame
  54. Indiana University Bloomington
  55. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
  56. University of Colorado
  57. Brandeis University
  58. University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Cost of Studying and Living

Tuition fees in the USA ranges from $ 12,000 to $ 55,000 per year.

The average cost of living expenses is $ 1,000 per month.

Taking into consideration any additional expenses on books, course materials etc., the cost of the Master`s program (24 months) totals $ 55, 000 – $ 105, 000.

Can I work while I study in the USA?

According to the US Immigration Legislation, international students from the non-EU countries cannot work during the academic year. Only part-time job on campus is allowed.