Graduate programs require lot of hard work University of Central Florida
- KrishnavenIndia
- University of Central Florida, USA
- PhD in Chemistry
Incoming students, do not come here thinking that you will finish the masters some how by hook or crook. That is not the way it works here. Graduate programs here require lot of hard work. Try learning from the things around you and change according to the life here. This will place you in the best position. In short, Come out of the nut shell and learn and practice the things. Every society has good and bad in it. Try to learn well from them. Be an American in America. Always remember that whatever you do here, you are carrying the name of your nation.
As part of the admission process, I had to take GRE and TOEFL. I took coaching for GRE at VISU and prepared for TOEFL on my own. For VISA processing stuff, I consulted Mrs.Usha in Begumpet. VISA is required for entry into the country. The interview for my VISA was too short. All the interviewer did was to check my educational qualifications. Having a teaching assistantship made my VISA approval easy. The next thing I did was to consult a ticketing agency, who took care of my ticketing and made my voyage memorable. I flew in Lufthansa. I loved the flying experience in that. There were no student discounts, then, for the ticketing. I landed at Orlando International airport. I had my friend pick me up but the Indian Association at my school offered pick up and transportation for new students.
There are 3 different kinds of assistantships that a graduate student can get: Teaching assistantship (GTA), Research assistant ship (GRA) and graduate assistantship (GA). All the three assistantships offer a tuition waiver (this again depends on the availability of funds in the dept. A Ph.D student gets 90% tuition waiver, remaining 10% is a common fee which we have to pay), Biweekly salary which varies from $13 to $20 per hour and we are paid for 20 hours per week. From the fall 2009, students with assistantships will be provided with health insurance also. GTA - Either teaches or assists a professor in teaching. The classes can be regular discussion classes or a lab. GRA - Assists a professor in research, in a way prepares himself for his thesis work. GA - This category includes all the students working on campus with a pay more than $13 per hour and working 20 hours per week.
Regarding the PhD programme at UCF, I am happy the way it is! But I wish the course work was more relevant to the research we are doing. There are no specializations like analytical chem., organic chem., and so on when comes to the coursework. So an analytical chemist like me has to take courses in organic and physical chemistry, which I will never use in any part of my research work. Excepting this I loved the dept and the school as it is. Professors are always there for us to help. The lecture halls in the dept are quite good and well equipped. Library is the best place in the school.
Students usually live in apartments around the campus. Our school has dorms to live in but we dont get to choose our room mates. University decides that. Also there is tough competition for the dorms. So graduate students usually live in apartments shared by 3 to 5 people. The rent varies from $500 to $1000 and is shared by all the residents of the apt. We have one of the best gyms fully equipped. Trainers are always available. We are offered free classes for different kind of dances, swimming, and rock climbing and so on. 8 out of 10 students will be able to get a job on campus in my school. Life in Orlando: Orlando has many world attractions like Disney world, Universal studios, Sea world, Kennedy space center and adding to this Florida is full of world famous beaches. So this place is always full of visitors. But the crowd in Orlando is elderly crowd. This is probably because of the climate here. It is very good in winters. I have been in Orlando for 3 years and never saw snowing here. Temperatures may vary between 45 degrees F in winters to 95 degrees F in summers. Sometimes it may go up to 30 degrees F in winters. The university has a group for students from multi cultural societies. Also the school has a large Indian association which holds different events for the Indian festivals. There is a large Indian community in Orlando and there are always happening things in the temple here.
My university holds career fairs. Even international students participate in those. Getting a work permit depends on the company you will be working for. Alumni in my school also holds career fairs.
तिमीले स्थाननिर्धारित गर्नुपर्छमा Florida.
विस्तृत रूपमा University of Central Florida को स्थान हेर्नको लागि नक्सामा क्लिक गर्नुहो्स् ।
यस सस्थानको लागि स्तर निर्धारण
- एसएचजेटी 201-300
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