Following article was written by Meetpal Kukal (New HSB contributor).
According to the Forbes magazine, it can cost upto 40,000 dollars per year( 20 lakhs approx).
It is not equally easy for all of us to study in a foreign university, especially when funded completely by our parents.
Photo Credit : That’s the look, if you don’t get Aid
So we look on to incentives provided by the universities and funding agencies to take care of our tuition.
In return, we have to give our inputs for some specified requirements ( working in a lab, field, teaching to undergrads). This facility could seem easy to some to avail but it can turn into a nightmare, if not properly organized.
How to Get Assistantship
I am going to give some organized efforts you can put into finding good assistantships.
- Start finding potential advisors for your program, which align with your research and academic taste. You can do so on the university websites. Usually, one can find 2-3 professors in a university who are involved in the same research areas.
- Start reading and tracking their publications and read the ones which intrigue you. By this time, you should have the complete scenario of the professor’s area of interest.
- Write to the professor saying that you have read his/her publication(s) and that you want to work with him/her. clearly show your interest in the area and if possible, also present some related prior experience you have . Inform him about your credentials like GPA, GRE and TOEFL scores. In short, try to impress him/her, but all the information should be credible.
- Establish contact and inquire about a bench place in his project. > How to Get Teaching Assistantships?
- Since most of the assistantships involve lab work, you can google ” research group ( your area of interest)”. You can have several links leading to lab websites. You can check the “employment opportunities for students” on the website and can find a position.
I hope this post would help considerably to arrange for your funding.
Always remember, this can be quite tiring and demoralizing ( if you can’t find one), so never let yourself down. You’ll ultimately achieve your goal.
But the snag is that none of the professors actually reply or respond back to you..so there is hardly any point in contacting them
thanks for this article. It was really helpful. I’ll try to use these tactics.
A POST THAT WAS IN REAALL NEED