Food Science University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Campus
- RohitIndia
- University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Campus, USA
- Food Science
I studied at the University of Minnesota (UMN) for 6 years and graduated with my PhD. I am presently working in the Chicago area. I would like to say that my overall experience at the U was awesome and would love to go through it again if I could. UMN is a great school located in the beautiful Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul in the state on Minnesota by the banks of the mighty Mississippi river. It is one of the top ranked public universities in the US with most of its programs in the top 10 in the US. It is great school with an excellent learning environment along with loads of extracurricular opportunities. The Twin Cities is approximately the fifteenth largest metropolitan area in the United States, with about 3.5 million residents and a great nightlife. I would highly recommend UMN. Please visit www.umn.edu
After you accept an admit from a school in the US, they typically send you an immigration document (I-20) which is the required document when you apply for student visa. My visa experience was very smooth since at that time we just had to mail the passport along with the I-20 and other documents to the consulate and would get it back in 2 weeks (with the visa stamp or a reject). So, I did not have to go in person and got my visa in 2weeks via mail. I don¿t know how the regulations have changed since. I got my visa sometime in July 2001 and made my travel plans for Aug. 17th (the Fall semester was to start Sep. 1st). The first steps involved preparing for the Graduate Record Exam. (GRE) and TOEFL, I gave myself approximately 4 months prep. time for these before I took the exams (please visit www.gre.org, and www.toefl.org for more information on the format, fees, and to schedule a test date etc.). Simultaneously, I also started requesting prospectus/application forms from various schools in the US (these can be got by visit the school/program websites and filling out request forms, or please do not hesitate to contact your friends who are presently at a particular school to send you one). These are free, so get as many as you want so that you can look at them and decide. I completed my GRE and TOEFL sometime in Dec. 2000 and now had the scores available when I was applying to various schools in the US. In addition to these tests another important document which most of the schools require is the ¿reason for graduate studies/statement of purpose¿. This refers to a 1 to 2 page write-up/essay describing mainly why do you want to go for higher studies and why did you choose the program and the school. There are many resources on the web which can help you with that. I completed my applications (I applied to 9 schools in the US), was offered full funding for my studies from two schools and ended-up choosing University of Minnesota (UMN) since the Food Science program was ranked high. I did not go for any formal coaching for the exams (I used textbooks such as Barron¿s guide for GRE and TOEFL, Princeton reviews etc.). I flew NWA/KLM from Chennai to Minneapolis/St. Paul via Amsterdam with my port of entry being Minneapolis (MSP) which is where UMN is located. My travel experience was very smooth. UMN does have Indian student association who can be contacted in advance and they are very helpful in picking you up when you arrive there and even help you with temporary accommodation till you find a place to live. However, since I had a friend who went to the U there at that time, I did not use the Indian student association.
The University of Minnesota is one of the top ranked universities in various fields in the US (please check out USnews.com for more details about how various programs at UMN rank in the US).After finishing my undergraduate program in Dairy Science in India, I started working with AMUL at Gandhinagar, Gujarat. After working there for a year, I decided to try for higher studies in the same field (Dairy/Food Science). Since, there were limited opportunities for Masters/PhD in those fields in India, I started exploring options abroad more specifically the US. The reasons for picking the US were firstly, numerous colleges offering a graduate program in Food Science. Secondly opportunities to find full financial aid for my studies (that was very important for me, there are programs in UK, Europe, and Australia etc., however chances to get full financial aid are very limited). Thirdly 4 of my classmates from my college were pursuing their MS in the US at that time, so I had the real time resource and help available to go through the logistics of all the requirements needed to apply to the US universities (I would strongly recommend to always find people who have gone through the experience, they are the best resource). Anyways, that said, it was Aug 2000 when I decided to start my preparations so that I could apply for the programs starting in Fall (Aug 2001). Typically, university application deadlines for graduate programs starting in the Fall of a particular year range from Feb. to Apr. of the same year, however, for more accurate deadlines please always visit the university and program websites of the schools you are interested in.
Typically, graduate students who come to the US live in off-campus housing with roommates. The university dorms are mostly used by undergraduates. The dorms are also typically on the expensive side. As for the facilities, everything at UMN was really good including the faculty, libraries, gym facilities and the international/Indian student population. Since, UMN is located in a big city the extra curricular life was really enjoyable. There was so much stuff to do both outdoors as well as indoors. The university even has a full fledged cricket team which plays in the city league (Minnesota Cricket Association). The night life is fun. There are a very few top ranked US schools that are located in big cities and UMN is one of them.
Well, the placements and how active the placement cells are totally depends on the program of study you are in at the university. Although, there is some university help, however, most of the job in the US are through the word-of-mouth (once again this is my experience). Please keep networking with your faculty, other students, alumni and various industry professionals during your studies at the university. Networking was the key in my case to get a job after I graduated. As for the work permit, once again the ease of getting or not getting one totally varies from a case to case basis. It was easy in my case.
तिमीले स्थाननिर्धारित गर्नुपर्छमा Minnesota.
विस्तृत रूपमा University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Campus को स्थान हेर्नको लागि नक्सामा क्लिक गर्नुहो्स् ।
यस सस्थानको लागि स्तर निर्धारण
- एसएचजेटी 28
सबै स्तर निर्धारण तालिकाहरू हेर्नुहोस्
यदि हाल तपाई अध्ययनरत हुनुहुन्छ भने वा यदि तपाईले अध्ययन पुरा गर्नु भएको छ भने आफ्नो अनुभव साझेदारी गरेर भविष्यका विद्यार्थीहरूलाई सहयोग गर्नुहोस् ।