GRE Revised General Test - Major Changes - book from March 15 2011

ETS will be replacing the current GRE General Test with a revised edition starting from August 1 2011 (For which the registration will begin on March 15 2011).

Monetary Advantage :
Test takers taking their test between August 1 2001 and September 30 2001 will be eligible for a 50% discount on test fee.

Changes in User Interface:
1) Includes an Screen Calculator (for Quantitative Reasoning Section)
2) Test takers will be allowed to go back and edit answers (with in a given section)
3) Test takers can mark/tag questions so that they can be skipped and reviewed later
(Click here to download the latest FREE PowerPrep® Software provided by ETS, using which you can practice for the test and get hold of the new user interface)

GRE Revised General Test - Test Structure:

SECTION	NUMBER OF QUESTIONS	ALLOTTED TIME
Analytical Writing (One section with two separately timed tasks)	One "Analyze an Issue" task and one "Analyze an Argument" task	30 minutes per task
Verbal Reasoning (Two sections)	Approximately 20 questions per section	30 minutes per section
Quantitative Reasoning (Two sections)	Approximately 20 questions per section	35 minutes per section
Unscored†	Varies	Varies
Research††	Varies	Varies

ETS has removed antonyms and analogies from verbal reasoning section and compensated it by adding more reading comprehension questions,new text completion questions and new sentence equivalence questions

Quantitative Reasoning section includes more data interpretation questions and new question types based on real life scenario.

Analytical Writing section has not changed much.

To know the test structure in detail and to get a glimpse of sample questions please visit
http://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/about/content

Click here to download a Free GRE practice book (PDF) 

Books for GRE:
a) Normal/Regular GRE (before Aug 2011)
1) Barrons GRE - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0764142…
2) Princeton GRE - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375429…
3) Kaplan GRE - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1419549…
4) ETS GRE - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0886852…

b) Revised GRE test (On or after Aug 1 2011)
1) ETS revised GRE book - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0071700…
2) Mc-Graw Hill GRE book - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0071742…
3) Princeton GRE book - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375428…
4) Kaplan GRE - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1607148…

PowerPrep® is a registered trademark of Educational Testing Service (ETS)

Taxes in US relevant to a student

Knowing your Tax obligation will enable you to get a better hold on your spending.
Two types of taxes are imposed in US namely 1) Federal Tax and 2) State Tax.
All taxes discussed here are applicable under Federal Tax laws. State Taxes differ from state to state.



Following guidelines are applicable to US tax rules/system:

1) Tuition Fee Waiver
Tuition fee waiver is not taxable (Fellowships award often comprises a tuition fee waiver component which is not taxable under US tax rules)

2) Stipends for Fellowships:
Stipends - Fellowship awards comprises another component called stipends ( also referred as "maintenance allowance") is considered taxable in income and is taxable under federal laws. Check http://www.irs.gov/individuals/index.html to see more details.
For international students 14% of the stipend is deducted at the source as tax and reported to IRS automatically. International students need not file a tax return as the tax is already deducted from the stipend. For US Citizens and permanent residents this tax is not deducted and are required to file tax returns (Deadline for filing tax returns : 15 April) and can pay quarterly tax payments to IRS.

3) Stipends for teaching/research (TA and RA stipends)
Stipends given for teaching/research assistantship are taxable.For international students the rate of tax is determined by the information given in IRS form W-4 (filled in during student's registration at the University) and is deducted at the source as tax and reported to IRS automatically. International students need not file a tax return as the tax is already deducted from the stipend. Same rules apply for US citizens and permanent citizens.

4) Hourly Employment wages (in the case of partial assistantships)
Hourly Employment wages are taxable under federal tax law

5) Social Security Tax
Social Security Tax is only deducted if a student is working as a TA/RA (Teaching/Research Assistant) and is working during summer months. Social Security Tax is not deducted during rest of the year for TAs/RAs. For Fellowship students, no Social Security Tax is deducted at any situation (i.e even during summer months)

6) Travel Funds
Students receiving funds for traveling is not taxable only when the travel is related to the university business (like attending conferences etc..,)

Summary:

For International Students:

Type of Fund	Tax Paid by Students ?	Withheld at the source?	Students need to report?
Tuition Waiver	No	Yes	No
Fellowship Stipend	Yes (Taxed at 14%)	Yes	No
RA/TA Assitantships or Stipends during Masters course	Yes (Tax rate as determined by W-4 form)	Yes	No
Hourly Wages	Yes (Tax rate as determined by W-4 form)	Yes	No
Travel Fund- on University business	No	No	No
Travel Fund - non University business	Yes (Taxed at 14%)	Yes	No

For US Citizens and Permanent Residents:

Type of Fund	Paid by Students ?	Withheld at the source?	Students need to report?
Tuition Waiver	No	No	No
Fellowship Stipend	Yes ( Tax rate as determined by W-4 Form)	No	Yes
RA/TA Assitantships or Stipends during Masters course	Yes ( Tax rate as determined by W-4 Form)	Yes	No
Hourly Wages	Yes ( Tax rate as determined by W-4 Form)	Yes	No
Travel Fund- on University business	No	No	No
Travel Fund - non University business	Yes ( Tax rate as determined by W-4 Form)	Yes	No

External Fellowships

Many foundations and corporations grant full or partial fellowships to graduate students to assist in their education. Students may apply for some of these fellowships directly to the concerned corporations or foundations before admission itself . They should notify the University/School to which they are applying about their application for financial assistance from external resources (if any). Here is a list of corporations/foundation offering external support (some are applicable for international students also).

Amelia Earhart Fellowships for Women
American Meteorological Society
American Psychological Association Minority Fellowships
Andrew W. Mellon Early Career Fellowships
Annal Sobol Levy Fellowships
Alcatel Lucent Fellowships
Beinecke Scholarship Program
Canon National Parks Science Scholars Program for the Americas
Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies
Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship
Compton Foundation Mentor Fellowship Program
Computational Science Graduate Fellowship Program
Department of Homeland Security Graduate Fellowships
DOE Fusion Energy Science Fellowships
DOE High Performance Computer Science Fellowships
DOE National Nuclear Security Administration Stewardship Science Graduate Fellowship
Dolores Zohrab Liebmann Fellowship
East West Center Graduate Degree Fellowship
Eisenhower Institute Scholarship Programs
Environmental Protection Agency Fellowships
Financial Aid Information Website
Ford Foundation Fellowships
Fulbright Hayes Fellowships (study abroad)
Gaius Charles Bolin Dissertation Fellowships
Gates Millennium Scholarship Program
GEM Engineering Fellowship Program
Georgia O'Keeffe Museum Research Center
Google 2006 Anita Borg Scholarship
Hertz Fellowships   

IBM Graduate Fellowships
Jack Kent Cooke Foundation
Jacob Javits Fellowship Program
John Gyles Education Award
Josephine de Karman Fellowship Trust
Korean American Scholarship Foundation
Leifur Eiriksson Foundation

Margaret Yardley Fellowship
NASA Graduate Researchers Program
National Alliance for Autism Research
National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowships
National Humanities Center
National Physical Science Consortium Fellowships
National Science Foundation Fellowship
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
Newcombe, Charlotte W. Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship
Nuclear Regulatory Commission Graduate Fellowship Program
Organization of American States
PEW Younger Scholars Program
Post Doctoral Fellowship Opportunities

Soros Fellowships
Social Science Research Council Fellowship
Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation
Thomas Pickering Graduate Foreign Affairs Fellowship
TIAA-CREF Ruth Simms Hamilton Research Fellowship
Truman Scholarships

United Negro College Fund/Merck Dissertation Fellowship
United States Army Center of Military History Dissertation Fellowships
von Humboldt German Chancellor Scholarship
Women's Research & Education Institute
Woodrow Wilson Dissertation Fellowships in Women's Studies

Fellowships and assistantships ( TA and RA )

Fellowships and assistant-ships ( mostly in the form of Teaching assistantships and Reasearch assistantships) are available for students pursuing their graduate study in US universities.



Fellowships:
Normally awarded to all doctoral candidates entering their first year of study, freeing them from the need to conduct research activities or the obligation to teach in the first year. Generally a fellowship for an year provides a full tuition fee waiver plus student health plan fee plus a maintenance allowance  for the year. The maintenance allowance is usually paid in monthly installments and is taxable. Fellowships are awarded by the degree granting department based on the merits of the candidate.

Assistantships:
Assistantships in teaching and research are provided for continuing students and aid applicants. The department granting the assistantship directly negotiates with student before granting it, meaning that, the student may need to talk to the professors directly to negotiate the assistantship (This normally happens for research assistantship). Entire assistantship amount is taxable. Two types of assistantships are commonly available : 1) Teaching Assistantship (TA) ; 2) Research Assistantship (RA)

Teaching Assistantship:
Depending on the need of the degree granting department, student are offered teaching assistantship who will provide services such as supervising the laboratory, assist professors in classroom teaching (prepare slide, presentation, material etc..,) and help the professors in grading ( evaluate answer sheets). Teaching assistantships may be offered as a full-appointment or partial appointment assistantship. In a full-appointment contract, the student needs to work for about 20 hours per week ( 6 classroom hours + 14 hours for preparation - this is also called full 6 hours appointment ). In the case of partial appointment, the student may need to work less than 20 hours ( it varies on a need by need basis). The allowance for the partial appointment is pro-rated according to the number of hours worked. Entire TA amount is taxable.

Research Assistantship:
Students offering research assistantance need to work for 20 hours per week in the case of full time assistantship and less than 20 hours (varies according to the need of the professor) in the case of a partial appointment ( The compensation is pro-rated according to the amount of time devoted to research). Entire RA amount is taxable.

Summary of Differences:

Fellowship	Teaching Assistantship	Research Assistantship
Full Tuition fee waiver + health plan fee + maintenance allowance	Full-time: 20 hours/week work; Partial: < 20 hours/week work - amount accordingly	Full-time: 20 hours/week work; Partial: < 20 hours/week work - amount accordingly
No obligation to do research/teaching assistantship	Assist in teaching, make slides,grade exam papers,supervise labs	Assist in research activities of the professor
Only maintenance allowance is taxable	100% taxable	100% taxable

Percentage to GPA conversion

There is no straight forward way (in fact "no way") to convert percentage marks (which is offered in many universities across India,Bangladesh,Pakistan,Nepal) to GPA.

Percentage marks and GPA will not have any correlation unless lots of factors are factored in (Factors like quality of education,academic standard,academic syllabus,highest marks obtained, mean and variance of the marks etc).

The way the GPA is calculated is completely different from percentage marks.

Most of the US universities (to which you are applying to), will have two entries in the application form to list your GPA. 1) GPA 2) Scale.

So if you have scored 75% marks in your undergrad, it should be given in the application form as
GPA: 75
Scale: 100

Some universities will ask you to leave it blank if your marks were not graded in terms of GPA. Just do as you are told and they will do the conversion themselves.

I do not want to list a conversion table to convert from percentage to GPA, which is absurd.

10 Point GPA to 4 Point GPA

It is very easy and straight forward to convert GPA in 10-point scale (offered in some elite schools in India like BITS Pilani) to GPA in 4-point scale (as required by US universities).

The application form for the US university will specify whether you need to convert your GPA to 4-point or 5-point scale.

To convert a 10-point GPA to 4-point GPA, just use the following formula
GPA in 4-point scale = (GPAIn10Points-2)/2

Table for verification :

10-Point GPA	4-Point GPA
10	4
8	3
6	2
4	1

Example: If you have scored 8.4 on a 10-point GPA scale, it converts to (8.4-2)/2=3.2 on a 4-point GPA scale.

Foot Note: 
Schools in India using 10, 5 or 4 point GPA system:
All IITs,IT-BHU, NITs, PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore, BITS Pilani (Pilani, Goa,Hyderabad campuses), BIT Mesra,IIITs, Thapar University Patiala, Government College of Technology, Coimbatore, NERIST Itanagar, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU),Anna university (main campus),Coimbatore Institute of Technology (C.I.T.), University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering (UVCE,Bangalore) and most of the State run Technical Universities follow this system.

How to order GRE scrore reports online

Required materials : Credit Card

Step 1 and Step 2 are only applicable for new user

Step 1: Sign Up
If you are a new user, go to https://mygre.ets.org/greweb/login/login.jsp , which is the sign in page for all your GRE related services. Signing in allowed you to 1) Register for a test (Paper based as well as computed based test), 2) View/print your test admission ticket, 3) View test scores 4) Order test scores (ETS will directly mail the scores to the universities). Once you are on the page, click "Sign Up".

Step 2: Create your GRE account
If you are a fresh user who have not yet registered for GRE, supply your name exactly as it appears in your primary identification document ( Even-though ETS web page lists possible documents defined as primary ids, passport is the widely accepted identification proof - So you must have your passport before registering for GRE exam). Make sure that you give your name and date of birth exactly as it appears on your passport. Fill the user sign up form carefully and click continue and follow the instructions.

If you have already taken a GRE test and want to access online services, you still need to fill up this form. Make sure that you supply your name and date of birth that exactly matches what you have given for registering the previous test (You can confirm this from your recent score report, if you have received any)

Step 3: Sign in to your GRE account
You can access the GRE account sign in page at https://mygre.ets.org/greweb/login/login.jsp

Step 4: Order additional score reports
Supply your username and password under "Returning user" panel. Under the heading "Services", click "Order additional score reports". Confirm your personal information before placing the order and click submit. Select a test date for which you want to report your scores. and click "continue". Select the country and state of the school to which you want to send your score reports. Select your intended school from the list of schools listed in the search results. Make sure that the College Code listed against your intended school - exactly matches the code given in that school's website. For example, the code for University of California - Berkeley is 4833. Search for your department and select it. Again make sure, the department code is exactly same as given in the school's department website to which you are applying to. Select the test scores (General test/Subject test) you wish send to your intended school and click continue. Add more score recipients if you want and click "continue". Review your order and accept the terms and conditions. Next, supply your credit card information and you are done.