You should select your desired university or school. There is no general advice for this step. Follow your taste. Ask people in the area of your interest for advice.
WWW is a relatively good source of information on universities but sometimes you could find out-of-date information. You can usually ask directly the university for up-to-date materials.
On WWW you can use lists of universities worldwide www.rirr.cnuce.cnr.it, geowww.uibk.ac.at or URL's like www.???.edu. For universities in the United States you can use this ranklist. You can send a letter to something like "Graduate Program / Department of Whatever / University of Whatever / City, State, ZIP"
After you have made some decision on universities to which you will apply you need to get application packages from them.
Some universities offer downloadable packages over Internet. This is quite comfortable because you can fill-in application forms using computer.
For packages from other universities you could ask at their Graduate Offices.
You have to register yourself for TOEFL test and GRE tests. Information on those tests can be obtained via WWW or directly from your local test administrator. Embassy of U.S.A. in your country usually has some idea who is your local administrator, so you can ask them. You should obtain bulletins on those tests. Those bulletins include registration forms.
Note: see (in Czech).
This test is usually required from all international students whose language of instruction in previous attended institutions was not English. It is not required from native English-speaking people.
In 1997/98 TOEFL test costs $63.
This test is usually required by all universities.
In 1997/98 GRE General Test costs $96 in U.S. and $120 outside U.S.
Subject Tests are administered in paper based form only. Subject Tests on all subject areas are administered on the same day as paper based GRE General Test so they are administered three times a year, too.
You can take General Test and one of the Subject Tests on the same day because General Test is administered morning and Subject Tests are administered afternoon. But it could be exacting to take two tests on the same day.
Similar to General Test registration you should register for Subject Test 6 weeks before taking test.
However, there is a big difference between GRE tests and TOEFL test. You can register for GRE tests as a standby directly at test center on the day of the test. This service costs extra money (about $35) and you have no guarantee that you will be admitted to the test. There are also some other limitations on such registration.
Such registration is pretty risk especially for subject tests because you have to find some test center with appropriate test materials (Such test center could be far away (for example 400km in another country) and you may need to phone to ETS at Princeton for information on it. You can use email of course but answer time could be a week (they are probably overloaded before testing dates.))
Important: Register early for all tests. CBT Test dates especially in December may be overloaded and you will be automatically scheduled on later dates.
In 1997/98 GRE Subject Test costs $96 in U.S. and $120 outside U.S.
On the date of TOEFL test you have to report at the test center on stated time. You should take to the test center some stuff like ID cards, pencils, erasers, and so on. Read instructions for taking TOEFL test in its bulletin.
At the test center you shall fill-in to which institutions your score should be reported. So, on the test day you should have a very good idea to which universities you will apply. You can request to send scores to up to three or four institutions free of charge. If you need report your score to more institutions you can request it. But this is charged service so you will pay about $10 for every additional institution.
IMHO it is worthwhile to be prepared for this test. At least you can exercise filling in an answer sheets. :-)
This is similar to taking TOEFL test.
If you are registering as a standby be early in the test center. Standby registration is served on first-come bases.
You have to obtain and prepare following materials:
Application form - You have to fill in application forms. This is terrible task. Some application packages contain even tens of forms, fortunately some contain only a few forms. Fill them very carefully. This takes much of time.
Letters of recommendation - You usually need three letters of recommendation. It's a good idea to ask people who know you quite well. Give them enough time to write such letters (a month or more - they are usually busy people.)
Transcripts - You have to obtain transcripts of your academic records from previous (and actually) attended post-secondary institutions. Contact Study Offices of those institutions. This could take also some time.
Note: see (in Czech).
Curriculum Vitae - Usually you should send a Curriculum Vitae but it is not always required.
Subject of purpose - This is required part of application. You should write, why you are applying, what you want to study, why you apply to this particular school, and so on.
Resumes - If you have some "working" experiences related to your study (participation in some project, teaching, ...) you can include brief resume.
Sample work - This could hold for some other fields of study than computer science.
Check application deadline and send done application package to destination. It is a good idea to send it early enough. Deadlines fall usually in the range January 1st - February 1st. Take in an account Christmas overloaded mail services.
After receiving offers of admission you have to select one of them, commit it and cancel the others. Selecting among them is usually hard task. Ask other people for advice. Try to contact some people that studied offered programs or visited those schools.
This is probably not the end. It is probably the beginning. You have to obtain VISA, "close all windows", move... ... Good luck
Some universities supply forms for letters of recommendation. They are included in application package.
In case they are not issued in English language, you have to let them translate and send them with certified translations.Sending Application
December (Y-1)Waiting For Responses And Choosing Destination
February-March YEnd?
March-August Y
Cost of application process
There is a real approximation of the cost of an application process in the year 1997/98. This is for situation in which you apply to three institutions from outside U.S.
| Service | Cost |
|---|---|
| TOEFL Test | $63 |
| GRE General Test | $120 |
| GRE Subject Test | $120 |
| Application fee | $40-$60 per institution -> 3 * $50 = $150 |
| Banque services | $10-$50 |
| Postal services | $10-$20 |
| Paper, pencil, printing, ... | $10 |
| Total | aprox. $510 |
There could be some additional fees:
| Service | Cost |
|---|---|
| Additional score report - TOEFL | $11 per institution |
| Additional score report - GRE | $13 per institution |
| GRE Standby registration | $35 |
In case you do not live in the place of TOEFL/GRE test center you should count with extra money for transportation and possible accommodation.
In some cases there is also possible to apply for fee waving.
Note: see (in Czech).
Firstly, there are some "external" foundations that offer financial support for students. You should contact them and apply for such support (of course if you are eligible for it). List of few such institutions can be found in TOEFL/GRE bulletins. (It is from other reasons there so that there are also other foundations not listed in those bulletins.)
Secondly, universities and schools usually also offer some financial support for their students. For such support you usually apply along with application for study. Either there could be separate form or you should check some options directly on application.
Such support could be in any of the following forms:
Note: see (in Czech).
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