Steps for DDU students for applying to US Universities for Masters

Photo by Mohammad Shahhosseini on Unsplash

Hello, fellow DDUians.

‘Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.’ — Mark Twain

I have faced various difficulties while doing my master's application process. First of all, read my article about steps to follow for applying to foreign universities. There you will get to know all the basic steps to follow. So first, check it out. Here I will mention all the steps to follow in college and how much it will cost you to do the steps in college. Steps might include scanning processes. But don’t use Camscanner for scanning. Instead, scan them from a photocopy center. It can cost 5rs per page. Follow the steps, and you can complete all the work in approximately 2 days. So let us begin now with all the steps.

Disclaimer- The below data makes 10 copies of all documents. By using that, you can apply to 10 universities. However, you can change the number as per your requirements.

1. You will need to complete various steps in college. For obtaining transcripts, recommendation letters, and further steps.

2. First of all, you will need your transcripts. So fill out a form for that from the admin office. It will cost you approx. 300 rs to get your transcript within a week. And if you need them immediately, you will have to pay 600 rs. So fill out the form and submit the application on the 1st floor in the office beside the Head of Examination office. You will also need to collect your transcripts from there. You will get 10 transcripts for the price you pay.

3. Then, you will need true copies of your mark sheets. So a black and white copy would be fine. So make photocopies of all your mark sheets(all the mark sheets including rem and re-rem ones). After that, take your original mark sheets and the photocopy to the professor sitting in an office presence in the basement in the admin. There he will verify your mark sheets and then do stamps and sign on your photocopies hence true copy them. I suggest making 10 sets in total.

4. After that, before sealing them into an envelope, you will need to scan the true copy mark sheet and transcript. It will take 5 rs per page. So after scanning, you will need to make 10 sets. Each set consists of 1 transcript and all the mark sheets. Then take them to the Head of examinations. So Bhavsar sir will verify and hence sign all the documents personally. It might take a day too.

5. Now buy 10 large envelopes from the admin office and 30 small envelopes(for recommendation letters). The large ones would cost 10 rs each and the smaller ones will cost 5 rs each approximately.

6. Now, the task comes to seal the transcript and mark sheets. So in one large envelope, put one transcript and the mark sheets(not the original but the true copy ones). Put them together using a paper clip(commonly known as U-pin in the local stationaries). So after keeping the bunch inside, seal the envelope using a fevistick. After sealing, you will have 10 sealed envelopes in your hand. So now you will need to give them to Head of Examination Bhavsar Sir for stamps and signatures. You will need to put 3 stamps. As you can see, the picture is for small envelopes, the same format will be used for the large ones. So 3 stamps and 3 signs of Bhavsar sir over them. Hence you have almost completed 40% of the work.

7. If you reached here, you have done great work. Now comes the turn of recommendation letters. So, first of all, you will have to go to the faculties you want a recommendation letter from, and once they approve, you will need to send them the draft of the recommendation letter. Then the faculty may or may not make changes to the letter. But keep one thing in mind, that write only those things that you are sure of, and you have certificates and proof of. Then after getting the approval of the faculties, you are good to go.

8. So here you got approval from 3 faculties for the recommendation letter. Now you will have to fill out the recommendation letter form, which is available with the assigned faculty. So collect the form from it and fill it up. In the form, you will need signs of the faculties you are taking a recommendation letter from as proof that they will give you LOR. So after filling and submitting the form to the assigned faculty, just take a picture of that form for your reference, and you might need that picture in the future so don’t forget about it. Just take the picture after the respective faculty signs the form.

9. Now you will need letterheads of the college. So fill out a form for 30 letterheads from the admin office. The price is approx. 10 rs per letterhead. After filling out that form and paying the money, take the receipt to the department HOD(Head of Department). He/She will provide you with the letterheads. So once you get the letterheads, you will need to print your LOR’s on them. Go to a good photocopy center. I personally went to Asha Xerox as they are trustworthy. Then they will print your LOR on the letterheads. At my time, it took 5 rs per page. After you get the printouts, get all the 3 LORs scanned, as you will need the scanned copy.

10. After getting the printouts, go to the respective faculty and then get the LORs signed by them. After getting the signed LOR, you will need the 30 smaller envelopes you bought earlier. Now keep one LOR in one envelope. Just write the faculty name on the envelope with a pencil, so things do not get messed up for you.

11. Now, you will need to go to the HOD and ask him for the department's stamp. So here, the HOD might demand the LOR form you have filled. So show him/her the picture you clicked before submitting it to AAP sir. So now he/she will assign a peon for stamping your envelopes. Do the stamps as per the picture.

12. After getting all your 30 envelopes stamped, take them to your respective faculties and get their 3 signs on each stamp. A tedious process, but you will have to request them to do so. After that, send the faculties that gave you a recommendation letter a pdf of the scanned copy so that they can upload it if asked.

13. In addition, fill out a form for a bonafide certificate from admin to get it and submit that form to Bankim sir in the admin office. He will give you the certificate the next day. Once you get it, scan it.

14. Hence, now you will have everything that needs to be submitted for foreign university applications.

So that’s all you need to do in college. Complete the steps and fill out the application form to the university you dreamt about applying to.

Take a chance. If you want to do something, make time for it, and don’t push it aside. You may never get a chance to do it again, and you don’t want to have any regrets after a once-in-a-lifetime experience like studying abroad. Even if the experience isn’t what you expected, at least you can say you tried it.