Graduate School Application Fee and Cover Letter
Application Fee
Whether or not it will be possible to
waive an application fee completely depends on the university. I
would say 90% of the universities will waive the fee and if you are
persistent it maybe 100% (when applied second time I didn't pay fee
to any universities including MIT and Stanford, which are usually
the most strict ones in terms of the fee).
First of all, ask the secretary via email whether it is possible to
waive the fee, explain the financial hardship. If the waiver has
been granted, state so in the cover letter when sending your
application materials, if not include request for the fee waive with
your application materials,
you might also include the Letter from Profkom (don't forget to get
it signed), and state in the cover letter that you are requesting a
fee waiver. After that it is important to check with the department
whether the fee waiver has been granted and your application is
being considered, because some universities might put your
application on hold until you pay the fee and you won't find out
about that unless you contact them.
If after all your attempts, your fee waiver was not granted, you
might try to send another request to the dean of the department or
somebody else on the admission committee, if it fails it's probably
better to pay the fee or just cross out this university.
ATTENTION: If you are applying on-line you won't be able to
submit your application without paying the required application fee.
Cover Letter
Cover Letter is not required, but it is highly advisable to
include it.
Filling out Your Application
The easiest way to fill out an
application is to do it online. Unfortunately in the most cases to
submit it you will have to pay an application fee, so if you don't
plan to pay the fee you will need to fill out an application forms
by hand. Remember that neatness is important. Before filling out the
original application, you might want to answer some of the questions
on a separate sheet of paper. You risk delay or even denial of
admission if you send an incomplete application. It is very
important to collect all the requested application materials
(statement, recommendations, test score report copies if you don't
request originals, transcripts etc.). University admissions
committees will not review your application until all the requested
documents are received (if you have a valid reason why you cannot
submit some documents by stated deadline, explain it in the cover
letter and send these documents ASAP).
Sending Your Application
To avoid losing parts of the
application, send all the requested documents together in one large
envelope. The recommendations should be sealed in individual
envelopes signed by recommenders and enclosed in the big one. If you
are able to pay the application fee, it is better to do so. Some
schools will waive the fee, but others will not. If they refuse to
waive the fee, they will hold your application and contact you.
IMPORTANT: If you are applying to graduate school and are
unable to pay the application fee, send the application to the
academic department (you can find their address on the
university website or ask the secretary) to which you are applying.
Only the department may apply for a fee waiver. If you are able to
pay, follow the instructions on the form.
The best and cheapest way to send your application is with your
friend who currently in US and come home for winter break. If it is
impossible use good post service such as Garanpost, PXPost.com, etc.
Deadlines for receiving application materials are often in January
and February (mid-December in some top schools). Do not wait until
the deadline, send as soon as possible. After you mail the
application, it is very important stay in touch with the
university departments to monitor the progress of your application.
One or two weeks after your application was supposed to be received
check whether it was received, is complete and was given to the
members of the admission committee for consideration. Personal
Story.
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