Thus, for example, the competition for the department of economy at New York University is 5 people per one place for the Master’s program (on average they accept 50 people from 250 of all comers), but to get Ph D there are 50 people per one place (the right to study get 20 people from 1 000 of all comers).
So, if you are interested in getting a Master’s degree abroad, while your peers are drinking beer at the college, you will have to pore over the textbooks.
You will have to think about entrance before than it is common in our country. If you want to start studying in September, all necessary documents must be applied by January- March. The process of entering is the similar to ours. In most universities you don’t have to take any separate entrance exams – writing standard tests is enough.
So, first that you need to do is to choose universities where you would like to study at, and to find out what tests you have to take in order to start entrance procedure.
The test required for foreign students is TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) – a standard exam in the English language that estimates your level of language knowledge. TOEFL results are required for entering more that 2 400 colleges and universities in the USA, Canada and other English-speaking countries. In Ukraine it is also taken into account by the foreign companies when they hire personnel, so writing this test would be useful even for those who are not interested in education abroad.
The second important test that is required by most universities when entering Master’s programs is GRE (Graduate Record Examination). This exam estimates verbal, mathematical and analytical abilities being developed during long period of time and not concerning any specialized knowledge area. Besides this test, you will probably have to take GRE specialized in a certain subject, but it is required not at all universities and not in all directions of education.
Besides the right to enter, GRE also gives the right for financial aid, so passing it might solve some financial problems connected with education abroad, which, actually, is not cheap at all – average education cost, depending on the university, is 30-50 thousand US dollars.
You can read more about the test you have to take on the site Educational Testing Service (http://www.ets.org) – an American organization that deals with developing the tests. There are samples of standard test on the site that will help you estimate your level of knowledge.
After the tests have been taken, you may send the results to several universities at the same time, and therefore double entrance chances. All these tests are possible to be taken in Ukraine where there are also preparatory courses that can help you increase level of knowledge.
If material difficulties appear at the first stage of entrance process, the costs connected with paying for the tests, applying necessary documents (including their translation and notarizing), visa fee, buying air-tickets, etc. can be covered with the help of the Opportunity Initiative program (http://gurt.org.ua/news/training/8586.html).
To be continued…
