Associate Degree: It
is an academic degree awarded by the community colleges,
junior colleges, business colleges and some bachelor's
degree -granting colleges & universities, upon
completion of a course of study usually lasting two
years. In the USA , an associate degree is equivalent to
the first two years of a four year college or university
degree. It is the lowest in hierarchy of post secondary
academic degrees offered in this country.
Bachelors Degree:
Commonly known as Undergraduate degree in India. The
duration of the bachelors course is 4 years. Students
who have completed a part of their undergraduate degree
and want to go to the USA, can apply as a transfer
Student. There are two types of bachelors degree: B.A or
B.S. Some universities in the USA offer either of the
degrees in all fields and at times both the degrees in
some field. Students need to appear for SAT & TOEFL/IELTS
exams for admission.
Graduate: Commonly
known as a Masters in India. The duration of graduate
courses may range from one year to two years depending
upon the university. The various types of Masters degree
are: MA, MS, MBA, MFA, etc. To qualify for the masters
program in the USA, an Indian student needs to have 16
years of formal education. Students who have completed
their Bachelors in engineering are qualified whereas the
students who have completed their B.Com, B.Sc, B.A need
to complete their masters or atleast one year of Masters
in India to qualify for admission Students with 15yrs of
education and having a post graduate diploma can also
apply to specific institutions for specific programs.
Students have to appear for the GMAT for management
related subjects / GRE for arts, science or any other
subjects and TOEFL/ IELTS exams for admission.
Doctorate: Commonly
known as PhD. Duration of the same may range from 3
years to 5 years. Students can take admission for a PhD
course after completion of their master's degree. PhD
students need to submit a research proposal. Students
need to appear for GRE/GMAT & TOEFL/IELTS exams for
admissions.
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Public Universities:
These are state-affiliated institutions that are
publicly-supported (financed by public taxes) and they're
usually large in size. They normally offer all levels of
degrees and many different fields of study. Public
colleges and universities are relatively inexpensive for
residents of a state where the schools are located (since
they're funded in large part by state tax revenues).
Foreign students pay "out-of-state" tuition, which is
higher, often significantly so. There are many notable
public universities across the country just a few
examples: Pennsylvania State University, Ohio State
University, University of California, Kansas State
University, University of Texas and University of
Missouri.
Small Liberal Arts
Colleges: They are usually dedicated primarily to the
undergraduate study of the traditional arts and sciences
disciplines: humanities, sciences, and social sciences.
Strictly liberal arts colleges are often quite old and are
usually private schools. These colleges are usually
highly-rated institutions because they stress on small
classes, individual attention for their students, and a
close relationship between the faculty and students. Many
of them also generally have stringent admission standards.
Among these schools are: Amherst, Marist, Swarthmore,
Manhattan, Smith, Mount Holyoke, Marietta, Bryn Mawr,
Oberlin, Grinnell, and Pomona College.
The Ivy League:
Although these schools are among the oldest and most
famous in the country. Members of the Ivy League are:
Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell,
Columbia, and the University of Pennsylvania . All these
schools are in the Northeastern part of the USA. Ivy
League colleges stress undergraduate liberal arts
education, but they also have noted graduate and
professional schools. Tuitions at these private schools is
among the highest in the country, and admission is
generally highly competitive.
Technical Institutes:
These are schools specializing primarily in engineering
and science and particularly noted for their research and
graduate programs. Most International students who attend
these schools are admitted at the graduate degree level.
Undergraduates admitted to these schools usually have
especially strong backgrounds in math and sciences, as
witnessed by grades and standardized test scores (e.g. SAT
or GRE). M.I.T. (the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology), Cal Poly (California Polytechnic Institute),
Georgia Tech (Georgia Institute of Technology), NYIT ( New
York Institute of Technology) and W.P.I. (Worcester
Polytechnic Institute) are a few of the noted schools in
this category. |
