Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

After accepting offer, you may have to show some financial solvency to process your I-20. But it varies department to department. So contact the graduate admission personnel in your department when you request your I-20.

The Pennsylvania State University (briefed as Penn State or PSU) is a public research university in the state of Pennsylvania. This university was founded on 1855. The description of this university is well documented in this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_State_University

This is the official website of this university:
http://www.psu.edu/

Penn State has several campuses in Pennsylvania, including its Commonwealth Campus and World Campus. The largest and generally-referred one is the University Park Campus, which is situated in State College. It is the administrative hub of the University. The diverse community hosts students from all fifty states and more than one hundred countries, with a typical annual student population of more than 40,000. The campus houses eleven of the University’s undergraduate colleges, the Graduate School, Schreyer Honors College, and a campus of Penn State Dickinson School of Law.

To review the requirements for graduate admission, please refer to this link:
http://www.gradsch.psu.edu/prospective/apply.html

To review the undergraduate admission requirements, please go to this link:
http://bulletins.psu.edu/undergrad/campuses/details/35

Penn State does not explicitly mention this type of requirements. But you should be well off with above 90 percentile in GRE quantitative and 50 percentile in verbal. For TOEFL/IELTS score, speaking section is very important. In the past, People got admission with points in TOEFL speaking section as low as 21. But above 23 is normally safe.

Penn State does not explicitly mention this requirement. Statistics show that in Engineering departments, usually the CGPA of the admitted students varied between 3.70 and 3.95. However, this does not mean that anyone below that scale will not get admission.

It greatly depends on the lifestyle you lead. Being a typical college town, state college is not cheap. Some examples are:

• The typical rent for a two room apartment is around 950-1200 USD per month.
• The typical rent for a one room apartment is around 700-950 USD per month.
• The typical cost for contract based cell phones (AT&T, Verizon) is around 30-50 USD per month.
• The typical cost for internet services (Xfinity) is around 20-35 USD per month.
• The typical cost for groceries per person is 150-200 USD per month.

The TAship/RAship amount may vary from department to department. But most of the time it’s between 22000 and 25000 USD per annum (more than $1750 per month after tax in most cases). Please contact with graduate students from your desired department.

In most of the US universities, contacting professor prior to admission is not necessary. But you can always contact professors working on your desired field of study.  If he or she is interested in your credentials or works, you can proceed with a great possibility. But remember, officially, a professor cannot have any impact on your admission process. But one can make positive comments if the admission committee seeks their recommendations.

The application procedure defers to some extent from department to department. Please refer to the department’s website for specific instructions for application. When in doubt, email graduate co-ordinator with your questions but don’t email about stuff thats already mentioned in the website. Graduate co-ordinator are normally very busy. Take your time to go through the instructions in the department website.

A typical outline of the application process maybe

• GRE, TOEFL/IELTS
• Find desired fields of study
• Write SOP
• Seek for good recommendations
• Apply, submit fees
• Send hard copies of documents
• Wait for offer
• If you accept your offer, send the signed offer and receive I-20
• Apply for housing
• Process SEVIS Application and VISA interview
• Book air tickets
• Perform the online Document Check-in
• Shop accordingly and buy ticket
• Have a safe journey

Use the Statement of Purpose to expand upon what your reader knows already or to help him or her see other facets of your personal and professional experiences and interests. Relax and focus on the positive aspects of your application.
Before you start writing your statement of purpose, look carefully at any instructions you have been given. If, for example, you have been asked to specify why you want to study at this university, make sure you answer that question and that your paragraph starts with a sentence that will signal that you are answering it. Different departments may ask for different information.
Here are some very good guidelines for writing SOP.
http://www.sbegraduatethesisoffice.boun.edu.tr/sop.html
http://www.ceu.hu/caw/Statement
http://www.querycat.com/question/126881b1f4dc410c12cd06ea83cec6cc
You can ask any members of BSA to help you in this regard. After first draft, have at least two person review you SOP.

The Bangladesh Community is State College and nearby towns is pretty big. We are around 25 Graduate students and 10 undergrad students so far. We also have some research Associates and Faculties here. There are also some professional personnel and families here.

Call or email any of the members. Give your contact details to the web administrator. Contact the President or the Secretary.

If you have already completed some graduate level courses in another institution before coming to Penn State, you can transfer them to your current degree if those courses have equivalents here. Talk to the Graduate Advisor in your department about it. You only need to do some paperwork with him. Have your transcripts photocopied.

You are most welcome to do that. Send an email or call the President or the Treasurer. He or she will get back to you.

BSA members are always welcoming to anyone in need of a ride from and to nearest bus stops or airports. Just call or email to any of the members prior to your journey and he or she will get someone for you.

The community transportation system in State College is maintained by the Central Area Transportation Authority (CATA), most popularly known as CATABUS. All the CATABUS services are directed to the Penn State campus.

You can purchase bus pass for one year or one month from their office. Most of the residential apartment complexes provide the bus pass to their residents, some of them are in exchange of money, and some of them are included in the rent (like Vairo Village Apartments).

The website for CATABUS is here:
http://www.catabus.com/

You can also avail taxi services. The popular taxi services are listed here:
Golden Taxi LLC
(814) 867-2644
2603 E College Ave Ste H
State College, PA 16801

Happy Valley Ride Taxi Service
http://www.hvtaxi.com/

AA Taxi Inc
http://www.taxi.macwebsitebuilder.com/page/page/7353957.htm

State College is one of the safest and happiest places in Pennsylvania. In fact it has ranked the safest place to live in North America.
http://www.statecollege.com/news/local-news/state-college-ranked-no1-safest-metropolitan-area-281209/

The weather is calm, ranges from mild summer to a moderately cold winter. The whole college town lies in the valley of Mount Nittany, which surrounds the town. The people are highly educated, from different countries, and respect each other. Being a cosmopolitan academia, state college provides a friendly atmosphere to the international students to live here. It is named as “Happy valley”.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_College,_Pennsylvania