Seven Tips for a Great Credit Score

Seven Tips for a Great Credit Score

EAD for H4 Spouses

EAD for H4 Spouses

Check your interested University SEVP Certified or Not

USA University Selection Tips

101 Money Saving Tips for Students in U.S

Tips on managing montly bills, Bank accounts, Credit Scores, finding shopping deals

99 Online Tools for every Student and Professional

New GRE to Old GRE: Verbal score conversion chart

Click to see the Old GRE to New GRE verbal score conversion chart. This featured post will help applying for the right universities.

December 31, 2011

TOEFL

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All about TOEFL, TOEFL test preparation tips, TOEFL Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking tips

About the TOEFL iBT® Test
The TOEFL iBT® test, administered via the Internet, is an important part of your journey to study in an English-speaking country. In addition to the test, the ETS TOEFL Program provides tools and guides to help you prepare for the test and improve your English-language skills.

What Is the TOEFL iBT Test?
The TOEFL iBT test measures your ability to use and understand English at the university level. And it evaluates how well you combine your listening, reading, speaking and writing skills to perform academic tasks.
There are two formats for the TOEFL test. The format you take depends on the location of your test center. Most test takers take the TOEFL iBT test. Test centers that do not have Internet access offer the Paper-based Test (PBT).

Who Takes the TOEFL iBT Test?
Each year, nearly a million individuals of all ages take the TOEFL test to demonstrate their English-language proficiency. More than 25 million people from all over the world have taken the TOEFL test since it was first offered. The average English skill level ranges between Intermediate and Advanced.
• Students planning to study at a higher education institution
• English-language learning program admissions and exit
• Scholarship and certification candidates
• English-language learners who want to track their progress
• Students and workers applying for visas

Who Accepts TOEFL iBT Test Scores?
More than 8,000 colleges, agencies and other institutions in over 130 countries accept TOEFL scores. Other organizations rely on TOEFL scores as well:
• Immigration departments use them to issue residential and work visas
• Medical and licensing agencies use them for professional certification purposes
• Individuals use them to measure their progress in learning English.
Where and When Can I Take the TOEFL iBT Test?
The TOEFL test has more test dates (30–40) and locations (4,500 test centers in 165 countries) than any other English-language test in the world. You can retake the test as many times as you wish.

Resources:
  • Download TOEFL Sample questions from ETS
Related posts:
  • Free GRE and TOEFL score reporting
  • New GRE Revised test survery and Analysis by KAPLAN
  • New GRE score reporting schedule
  • Documents required to apply for USA Universities
Read more »

Top 10 easy-to-keep resolutions for this new year

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10. Create (and Stick to) a Realistic Budget.

9. Get a Better Education

8. Make New Friends

7. Keep Your Home Cleaner

6. Start Working Out

5. Learn a New Skill

4. Get that Promotion (or New Job)

3. Reboot Your Sleep Cycle

2. Eat Healthier

1. Back Up Your Data
Sounds interesting?? To learn in detail follow the link. Friends remember this article is worth a reading.

Top 10 Easy-to-Keep Resolutions for This New Year

Good luck!!
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Wish you all A Happy New Year 2012

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December 30, 2011

NEW GRE

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For Testing On or After August 1, 2011
All about New GRE, GRE preparation tips, New GRE to Old GRE score conversion charts

Just like the GRE® General Test, the GRE® revised General Test measures the verbal and quantitative reasoning, critical thinking and analytical writing skills you'll need for success in graduate and business school. 
What to expect with the New GRE revised General Test:
1. A new test-taker friendly design for the computer-based test that lets you edit or change your answers and skip questions, all within a section, and more — giving you the freedom to use more of your own test-taking strategies.

Here are the changes that give you a better test experience:
  • New preview and review capabilities within a section
  • New "mark and review" feature to tag questions, so you can skip and return later
  • New ability to change/edit answers within a section
  • New on-screen calculator for the Quantitative Reasoning section
  • New questions that better reflect the skills you'll need for graduate and business school
  • New answer formats, including tasks such as numeric entry and highlighting a sentence in a passage to answer a question
  • Less reliance on vocabulary out of context, more emphasis on reading — and no antonyms or analogies
2. New types of questions in the Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning sections, many featuring real-life scenarios that reflect the kind of thinking you'll do in today's demanding graduate and business school programs.

3. Special savings of 50% when you take the GRE revised General Test between August 1 and September 30, 2011. The 50% discount means big savings for you — and another big advantage to taking the GRE revised General Test.

4. Important score reporting information you need to know: If you take the GRE revised General Test during our special discount period of August – September 2011, your scores will be sent by mid-November. However, if you need your scores before November, take the current test before August.

Related posts:
  • New GRE Books Review
  • Free GRE and TOEFL score reporting
  • New GRE Revised test survery and Analysis by KAPLAN
  • New GRE score reporting schedule
  • Old GRE to New GRE: Quantative score conversion chart 
  • Old GRE to NEW GRE: Verbal score converstion chart
Related Videos:
  • Video: Learn everything about New GRE from the makers of it(ETS)
  • VIDEO: Learn about New GRE Score Scaling from the ETS Officials
Read more »

December 29, 2011

Use Google voice for Android to slash your smart phone bill

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Smartphone plans are tricky when it comes to voice service. You can either go overboard and have a thousand or more extra minutes that you won’t use every month, or lowball your usage and count your minutes near the end of each billing cycle to make sure you don’t exceed the cap. However, if you set up Google Voice and Groove IP on your Android smartphone, you can reduce your voice usage significantly by routing calls through your smartphone's 3G or 4G connection--or, if
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December 28, 2011

20 Most Anticipated Tech Products of 2012

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The following list of slide show present the keen 20 most anticipated tech products for the year 2012 like iphone 5, ipad 3 etc. Do you want see the future tech products?? Simply follow this link. Hope you will enjoy this..
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H1B status updates

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H1B Visa cap for the FY 2012 was full

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The US citizenship and immigration services( USCIS) announced that the H1B Visa cap for the financial year 2012 was full. USCIS announced that they received enogh H1B petitions for the statutory cap of 65,000 for the financial year 2012. USCIS notified the public that november 22, 2011 was the last date to receive the new H1B speciality occupation petitions. USCIS notified that the petitions filed properly and received on time will only be considered.
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December 27, 2011

H1B Visa Tracker

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H1B Visa application tracker is introduced in gre2usa.org website. Gre2usa.org is looking forward to assist the non-immigrant H1B applicants by providing the H1B cap details, Visa cap updates, Candidates status updates. To track your H1B non-immigrant applications status follow the link:

                                               
                 Track your H1B application
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December 24, 2011

Free phone calls worldwide

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Free phone calls to all countries. Click to learn more..
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December 23, 2011

F-1 Visa 221g tracker

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You could track your 221g administrative pending case (Pink slip, Yellow or white) status here. One more variant in 221g is a blue form. For this you cannot track your status online. The consulate people will instuct to submit few additional documets, and the 221g process will start only after you submit the requested documents in person at consulate.

                                                 Track your F-1 221g status
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November 16, 2011

Visa Interview with Eight freaking backlogs

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F-1 Visa interview at Hyderabad

My VI experience 
HYD, 14th November, 8:30AM
Counter: 11 ( VO is the same young guy who gave an interview for THE HINDU EDUCATION PLUS)
VI lasted for nearly 2 min

ME: Very Good morning officer(with a smiling face)
VO: umm good morning
ME: i passed the documents ( passing over the documents i asked him "How r u doing" with a smiling face)

VO: umm im doing #$@#$....so when did you complete your under graduation ?
ME: 2011 sir 

VO: what is your percentage ?
ME: First class degree with 64.09 percentage sir 

VO: any backlogs? 
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GraduateRoom blog changing to 'gre2usa.org'

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gre2usa.org
Hello everyone. To reach you better, GraduateRoom blog is changing to gre2usa.org. You no more need to type in any blogspot.com address, simply roll out a user friendly and easily memorable domain name gre2usa.org. Hoping to serve you all the propective students to US in a more better way.

Look at the interesting new page TELL YOUR STORY, to share your New GRE, TOEFL, Visa interview and Travel experiences and all about with Study in USA with your friends. You may get interesting reply's or suggestion from others on your comments. Sounds interesting, get in now and TELL YOUR STORY.


Recommended reading:

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November 15, 2011

Top 10 USA university Rankings

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Top US Universities,2012
gre2usa.org
U.S.News unveiled the USA top 10 univerisity rankings for the year 2012. This time Harvard University and Princeton universities made their mark with the 1st position.


Top 10 US universities rankings, 2012:
1. Hardvard University, Cambridge, MA
1. Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
3. Yale University, New Haven, CT
4. Columbia University, New York, NY
5. California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA
5.Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
5. Stanford University, Stanford, CA
5. University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
5. University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
10.Duke University, Durham, NC

The above all are the top 10 US universities with their official website links. If you wish to find what are interesting with them, click on the university name and take a fine trip.

Did you like this post, you could do the following '4':
1. E-mail this post to your friend.
2. Like and share it on facebook.
3. Add '+1' on Google+.
4. Recommend this website on Google by hitting a '+1'.

You may like to read:
  • Top 151 U.S Universities for Engineering, 2012
  • New GRE Revised test in detail: Get in know more about NEW GRE Revised test...
  • Old GRE to New GRE: Quant score conversion chart available here
  • Old GRE to NEW GRE: Verbal score conversion chart available here
  • Three important visa questions to answer confidently
  • ETS has cancelled TOEFL scores
Read more »

November 13, 2011

On-Campus jobs in USA universities

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Student jobs in US
gre2usa.org 
On-campus jobs in USA universities are divided into 2 categories.
1. Federal work study option.(Only for USA citizens)
2. Non-work study option.( For International students ie Non-USA citizens)

So, you international students understood that you are eligible only for the Non-work study job positions. There are mainly four kinds of Non-work study job options available for international students.
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November 12, 2011

ETS has cancelled TOEFL scores.

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ETS cancelled TOEFL scores
ETS has canceled the scores of many students who took their TOEFL iBT test in a non-prometric test in Andhra pradesh. If you have taken your TOEFL test in one of the non-prometric test centers in Andhra pradesh, immediately check out your TOEFL iBT online account to know your score status.
I am already in USA. Will the cancellation of TOEFL score affect my visa status?
May be not. But you need to check out with your school international student center. Follow their instructions, that may redirect you to retake the TOEFL test or taking some english prerequisite scores in your school.

Where to check, whether my TOEFL score has cancelled or not?
Go to your TOEFL iBT online account and check out if any new updates had come about your TOEFL scores.

My school has cancelled the admission and I am approaching my visa interview date.
In this case I suggest you to retake the TOEFL iBT test by the nearest date available. Go to the visa interview with the new TOEFL iBT test scores. But this time make sure you write the TOEFL at a prometric test center.

My visa has already stamped and I see my scores cancelled now..
If your visa already stamped and if the ETS has cancelled your test scores now, they may cancel your visa status too. If your visa status was not cancelled then you may required to take some pre-requisite english courses in your school or take the TOEFL test again in USA.   

University has cancelled my admission after visa has stamped.
This would be a little pathetic situation. Please dont hurt yourself or dont be panic if your school cancels your admission. The maximum possible loss would be 6 months of your academic life. You may not be having time to write the TOEFL exam again and attend the visa interview for the current semester. But you can retake the TOEFL iBT test from a prometric test center and submit your new TOEFL test scores to your school and ask them to revoke the processing of your admission application. In this case you dont need to pay the application fee again. The chances of getting the admission from your school would almost be maximum. Now attend the visa interview with the new TOEFL score. Here you need to fill out the DS-160 form, pay visa and sevis fee again.

You may like to read:
  • USA visa consulates chart for India, China, Canada, Mexico and France
  • F-1 student visa interview procedure
  • Documents to be carried to the F-1 visa interview: Mandatory and Supporting documents
  • F-1 visa interview experience
  • 221g F-1 Administrative pending case
  • F-1 visa frequently asked questions
  • VO : How did you develop the interest in this field?

Read more »

November 09, 2011

Now gre2usa.org on Google+

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gre2usa.org on Google+
Hello prospective students to USA. To reach you guys more closely the gre2usa.org is now on Google+. Now you can find the blog posts on Google+ . If you like it, 'share the page' with your friends and hit a '+1'. GraduateRoom blog is looking forward to serve you better.Now you can e-mail your-visa interview experiences, perspectives on  New GRE, TOEFL, Books and see them published on "Tell your story" page.

  • Gre2usa.org on Google+
Read more »

November 08, 2011

Great News: Unlimited voice, text and data connection in USA @$19/mo

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Hot deals on phone in US
gre2usa.org
Friends today there came a shock wave  all across the USA. A telecom revolution started in the name of Republic wireless in USA. An android phone connection with unlimited voice, text and data at just JUST $19 A MONTH. Unbelievable..!!! In addition it holds NO CONTRACT. The basic deal is like you can grab a LG Optimus android phone for $200 plus taxes. It includes the first month rental and activation charge.

Do you know this? Republic Wireless works on Wi-Fi:
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November 06, 2011

At 40,000ft from Earth: pilot announced that a big technical problem arised in flight engine

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US flight travel experience
This is the travel experience shared by  Phani kumar. He has travelled from Bangalore to Boston on F-1 student visa. We appreciate his contribution.


Boarded the flight for the 1st time:
Guys this is not to scare you but to make you understand that this could be the worst that can happen to anyone.The statistics says 98% of flight travel would always be pleasant. I'm sure you all will enjoy and remember your first flight journey for a long time!

I boarded the flight at Bangalore international airport. As it was my first flight journey ever, I was nervous. The flight service was Delta Airlines. My travel itinerary was like from Bangalore to Mumbai and from Mumbai to Boston. Two another students going to the same school had boarded at Mumbai Airport. 
Pilot announcement-1: "There is a minor problem with one of the engines..."
The flight made its take off and my pulse rate doubled. I was unconsciously focusing on every little sound around. The fear of flight teaching what the word FOCUS mean. It was around 10 hours after we took off and the flight was at 40,000 feet from earth. Here comes, a SUDDEN JERK**** ooopss and my heart fell to feet with fear. Then came an announcement from pilot to wear the seat belt and informed there was a minor problem with one of the engines. Bang..That scared like and hands started trembling. I started praying all favorite gods in line. I still remember the body started shivering and felt the extreme cold even under strong woolen comforter. 

Pilot announcement-2: " We dont have a runway to land the Airbus and the flight needs immediate landing":  
Ten minutes later one more big jerk******zzzzz. This time the second announcement from pilot," The previous small engine trouble turned big and we are trying to land the flight in xyz." (and I intensified my prayers..). The next announcement was like,"As the next airport runway doesn't have enough room for the air bus, we are making our talks with Dubai Airport authorities". This is when I lost all hope of touching the land safe. I recollected the faces of my parents and unable to stop the cry coming out. 
Pilot announcement-3: We touched the land in Dubai international airport...
Now came the last announcement from pilot, "We were alloted a runway in the Dubai international airport. We will be landing in next 15 minutes". This announcement, this is the one announcement brought a slight hope. I have been counting seconds and looking down all the time with a hope that I can see the land. Exactly after 21 minutes, flight touched the ground. Aahh...Thank god, then came a big sigh of relief. 
It took 2 complete days to reach USA from India:
Later the air services people were not able to arrange an immediate flight, so boarded us in a five star hotel. We waited in our rooms for approximately 11 hours and then made us board the alternative flight. But I realized Dubai climatic conditions are worse for a human to live. I felt an extreme humid in air with a very high temperature. The transit from Dubai to Boston took another 15 hours. Finally I touched the dream American land at Boston Logan International airport. The very first flight travel experience was like a nightmare.

 You may like to read:
  • F-1 visa interview experience
  • 221g F-1 Administrative pending case
  • VO : How did you develop the interest in this field?
  • F-1 visa frequently asked questions
  • USA visa consulates chart for India, China, Canada, Mexico and France
  • F-1 student visa interview procedure 
  • Documents to be carried to the F-1 visa interview: Mandatory and Supporting documents
Read more »

November 04, 2011

Visa Officer : How did you develop the interest in this field?

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F-1 stdent visa interview
The following F-1 visa interview was shared by Raj Ghatge. I took the visa interview at Mumbai USA consulate. My visa interview went like this..
Raj: Hello, good morning.How are you doing?
Vo : Hello good morning. May I have your passport please?
Raj: (passed over the passport)Yes, there you are.

VO : How do you pronounce your name?
Raj: Its Ruturaj Ghatge.

VO : Ok Ruturaj, which university you are going to?
Raj: I got the acceptance from the XXXXX

VO : ok, why this university?
Raj: I am going to XXXX because the current research going on in this university is my area of interest.

VO : Why USA? Why not any other country?
Raj: USA is highly developed in terms of research and technology and it also has a good infrastructure for education so USA.

VO : Which course are  you going for?
Raj: I am going for Mechanical engineering.

VO : Why mechanical engineering?
Raj: Because I have done my Bachelors in Mechanical engineering.

VO : How did you develop the interest in this field?
Raj: My dad works in the same field. Watching him doing his work since childhood, thats how I got inspired and developed my interest in this field.

VO : What are plans after MS?
Raj: After finishing the Masters, I will come back to India and work for a good MNC in the industry.

VO : I am giving you visa and Your passport will be couriered in 3 days.
Raj: Thank you so much and Im glad to hear that. Thanks again.

Regards,
RutuRaj Ghatge.

 You may like to read:
  • I am a BSc degree holder, still I got US visa
  • F-1 visa interview experience
  • 221g F-1 Administrative pending case
  • F-1 visa frequently asked questions
  • F-1 student visa interview procedure
  • Documents to be carried to the F-1 visa interview: Mandatory and Supporting documents
Read more »

November 03, 2011

USA visa consulates chart for India, China, Canada, Mexico and France

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USA visa consulates in India, China
gre2usa.org
In this post you can find your nearest USA embassy or USA visa consulate offices in your country. This post is precised to few countries like India, China, Canada, Mexico and France. I see students having less knowledge about USA consulate offices near to them in their countries. I hope this would help few candidates. You are welcome to ask or make suggestions on the topics to be written in future.

USA visa consulates in India:
• India: New Delhi
• India: Hyderabad
• India: Kolkata
  India: Chennai
• India: Mumbai
• India: VPP Bangalore
Read more »

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November 02, 2011

Visa interview : VO asked to spell the website name

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The following visa interview experience was from Raj kumar at Chennai US consulate, lets appreciate his contribution.
(As I see, two student visas (one for a guy and one for a girl) and one business person visa were approved before me)

Me: Good morning, how are doing?
VO: Which university?

 Me:XXXXX

 VO: How many universities did you apply for?
Me: 6 universities and I got admits from 4.

 VO: How did you make the list of universities?
Me: I browsed few internet websites like XXX and XXX. Should I spell the website names for you?
VO: Please...!

 VO: Who is sponsoring your education?
ME: My parents

 VO: What is your academics and do you have any backlogs?
Me: I got the distinction and no backlogs

 VO: Can I see your transcripts?
Me: Ya sure( Passing over the documents to the VO)

 VO: I see that you were passed out in 2010 and what were you doing in this one year gap?
Me: I was working in an MNC,(XXX).

 VO: What kind of work you do there?
Me: I provide technical support for the semiconductor equipments.

 (Later the VO continued to type something for 10 minutes)

 VO: Alright, your visa is approved.
Me: Thank you and you have a nice day.

 You may like to read:
  • I am a BSc degree holder, still I got US visa
  • Documents to be carried to the F-1 visa interview: Mandatory and Supporting documents
  • F-1 visa interview experience
  • 221g F-1 Administrative pending case
  • F-1 visa frequently asked questions
Read more »

November 01, 2011

I have a three year BSc bachelors and got USA visa for Masters Program

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This is a unique visa experience shared by Pushkar,Thanks to Pushkar. 
This was my Visa Interview on 14th June 2011 as I remember it.
Me: Hello, Good morning.
Visa Officer: Good morning. Why do you want to go to the United States?
Me: I want to pursue master's degree in computer sciences.

VO: Which University?
Me: University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth

VO: Oh, University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth that is nice. But how did you know    about this University?

Me: I have some friends who have just graduated from the same University in the last fall semester. So I got to know about this University, then I collected some information regarding the university, different programs offered, the structure of the courses and the current research that is been carried out there.

          VO: Oh thats great. Where else did you apply?
Me: List the name of Universities.....[cuts off]
          VO: How many Acceptance?
Me: 4
VO: Oh that is great. You have already done your master's then why did you applied for the master's again?

Read more »

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October 31, 2011

USA Port of Entry Process (POE)

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Please find the USA port of entry procedures in this video. I recommend you to look at the following video and keep these instructions in mind so that you can avoid the nerve while you land at the airport.
The following video mainly tells you to do 7 things:
1. Fill the Port of entry form of Non-US citizens
2. Queue up yourself in the Non-US citizens line
3. When your turn comes, hand over the port of entry form to the officer on duty
4. Follow the instructions of the port of entry officer while giving the finger prints and photo capture
5. Answer the general questions asked by the port of entry officer
6. Make sure you receive your passport stapled with a port of entry slip and your i-20 stamped
7. Collect the baggage

 For further instructions follow the video:

  • Port of entry procedure video


 You may like to read:  
  • F-1 visa interview experiences
Read more »

October 30, 2011

New GRE Score Reporting Deadlines

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If you take the computer-based GRE® revised General Test between August and November, score reports will be issued according to the schedule below.
Computer-based revised General Test Dates Approximate Score Report Mailing Dates and View Scores Online Dates
August 1, 2011 – September 8, 2011 November 8, 2011
September 9, 2011 – October 2, 2011 November 10, 2011
October 3, 2011 – October 15, 2011 November 17, 2011
October 16, 2011 – November 18, 2011 December 1, 2011
November 19, 2011 – November 28, 2011 December 8, 2011
November 29, 2011 or later 10 – 15 days after the test date


Students who are applying for Spring 2012 needs to be aware of this. Because the earliest score reporting would be by 8th Nov,2011. Most of the schools will be done with their Spring 2012 admission deadlines. That means, the candidates who are taking New GRE test will be eligible only for the Fall 2012 semester and there after.

 You may like to read:
  • New GRE Revised test in detail: Get in to know more...
  • Old GRE to New GRE: Quantative score conversion chart
  • Old GRE to NEW GRE: Verbal score converstion chart
  • Free GRE and TOEFL score reporting
  • New GRE Revised test survery and Analysis by KAPLAN
  • New GRE Books Review
Read more »

Old to New GRE: Verbal Score conversion chart

2 comments

Here is the old to New GRE Verbal score conversion chart. Candidates who took the New GRE and want to know the schools which suits their scores can make use of this chart.

Old GRE New GRE
230 133
280 135
290 137
320 140
340 140
340 142
350 143
360 140
370 144
380 145
380 146
400 147
410 147
420 148
420 149
500 153
510 153
510 154
520 155
530 155
530 155
540 156
550 156
560 157
600 160
610 160
620 161
630 162
640 162
650 163
670 164
700 166
720 168

You may like to read:
  • Old to New GRE: Quantitative Conversion Chart
  • Free GRE and TOEFL score reporting 
  • New GRE Revised test survery and Analysis by KAPLAN 
  • Documents required to apply for USA Universities
  • I am a BSc degree holder, still I got US visa
Read more »

Old to New GRE: Quantitative conversion chart

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The following is the Old to New GRE quantitative conversion chart. Who gave the New GRE and want to check the universities with the old scores can use this conversion chart. Please note, there will be no full mark ie 800 even if you get maximum in new GRE.


 Old New		 New GRE
390 140
450 152
520 158
640 151
650 151
660 152
700 155
710 155
720 156
720 156
750 155
750 155
750 160
760 160
760 160
760 160
790 164
790 164
800 166
800 166
800 166
800 166
800 166
800 166

You may like to read:
  • Old to New GRE: Verbal Conversion Chart
  • Top 151 US University Rankings for Engineering, 2012
  • American Student Life: Fantasy Vs Reality
Read more »

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