Well, one thing is for sure - if you are applying to a US univ from Asia - chances are that you are cash strapped - meaning - in many cases you can barely afford a US college education! Heck, people in the western world find it hard to pay their way through college and with the dollar growing strong against the world currencies, its even harder for people in the developing world to think about education in the US. Many universities hence make it mandatory for students to send in proof of finances at the time of admission - while others require proof of finances after admit is issued for I-20 release.
The proof of finances - is to …

Many prospective students are wary of even trying to opt for MS in US as a future career option. This is mainly because funding one’s education in the US can become a major hurdle if one does not have some sort of university job which covers at least a part of the tuition and/or living expenses. Though education loans are easy to come by in India now, and also many scholarships are available - it is still pretty hard for many students to manage finances to get to the US.
I spoke with Somik Raha, a PhD student at Stanford about his efforts to help students with funding their graduate education in the US with his project named SWAYAM.
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