Students and their parents often enquire “ How much money is needed after cracking the GRE for M.S?” Well, this depends on which university you are applying for. After scoring well in GRE, studying abroad is a cherished dream for millions ,but it is often quite expensive too. Costs of application, tuition, living and even visas can often rack up tremendously, making studying overseas an inaccessible dream for many.

Wondering how much it costs to complete your MS from the US? I've summed up most of the factors here and you'll get a fair idea of the expenditure for MS in the USA.

Expenses for MS IN USA While in India

1. GRE Exam Fee:

This is, usually, the first step towards the entire journey for your MS in the USA. The GRE exam fee is $205

Low scorers and a bunch of restless high scorers might retake the exam adding another $205. (or INR 15,200).

2. Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL):

While you might skip the GRE test for your applications to the States (some universities do take in applications without GRE), TOEFL is something that you can't skip. It is like a passport to the United States. The universities need to know your proficiency with the language and hence, it is a compulsory exam, if not at the time of applications, at least during the VISA interview. The TOEFL exam fee is $170 (or INR 12,600).

3. Applying to US universities:

Fees for applying to each university may vary from $50 (INR 3700) to $100 (INR 7400) with the former being the most common. However, applications are incomplete without sending your official test scores (GRE and TOEFL) through ETS, adding another $47 (GRE: $27 and TOEFL: $20)

On average, students apply to 10 US universities and the total estimate comes out to be as follows;

Application Fee ($60) + Sending GRE and TOEFL scores ($27 + $20) = $107. Let's be on the safer (read higher) side and assume $110 per university. So, applications to 10 universities will be a whopping $1100 (or INR 81,400)

4. Other Expenses During Applications:

Now, this list might be long and will drastically vary from every applicant. Still, the normal expenses in this category are as follows:

1. Counseling: Applicants who feel that a counselor can fit in their shoes and get them to Stanford or Berkeley shell out anything from INR 10,000 to INR 50,000. We've assumed the average at INR 25,000.
2. Transcripts on the college letterhead (around 15 copies), Bank Statements (15), Affidavit (15) with the sponsor's name on it (15), and Dispatching them to the university (major expenditure of the lot). This, altogether, should not cost more than INR 12,000.

In some cases, students make multiple copies of the Letter of Recommendations (LoRs) and Statement of Purpose (SoP) and unnecessarily burn an extra 500 bucks or so. There may be other charges like late registration, reinstating canceled scores, sectional reviews, rescheduling which ranges from ($20-$160 each). (appx INR 7400). To avoid these extra charges, you must make a good GRE prep study plan and start applications early and well before the deadlines.

5. VISA:

While the costs are just a notable factor, it's really important to know the entire VISA Procedure.

Once you receive your I20 (official document sent by the university which states your stay in the United States and the amount to be spent for the year), follow application process of universities in the USA and pay up the VISA Fee which is $160 (INR 11,840) followed by the SEVIS fee which is $200 (INR 14,800)

6. Flight Tickets:

Single way airfares in Economy Class vary between INR 60,000 to INR 80,000 depending on your city, destination, and airline. Return airfares cost somewhere between INR 1,20,000 to INR 1,60,000.

Expenses for MS IN US

Students who plan to study in top universities in the USA located in states/cities like California, New York City, Chicago, New Jersey, Washington, Florida, Boston have to keep in mind that owing to the popularity of the location, they might have to spend more as the cost of MS in USA for Indian Students is expensive.

The two primary expenses after reaching the States are Tuition Fee and Living Expenses.

1. Tuition Fee:

This is a highly variable expense and differs from university to university and is also based on your course. It's also the biggest expense you'll be making. On average, consider tuition fees to be USD 40,000 (INR 29,60,000) for a two-year MS program in the USA. Of course, you may get scholarships or other financial aid which can reduce these costs. You might also want to consider financing your tuition fee with an education loan

2. Living Expenses:

Well, there's no accurate way to estimate living expenses as factors like

• Location
• Apartment Size
• Number of Roommates and
• Proximity to the University

On average students tend to spend between $500 to $1100 per month which includes everything. If your course length is 2 years you'll end up spending around $15,000 (INR 11,10,000). Most of the students however never end up spending so much as assistantships and internships cover up a lot of these costs.

Doing an MS at top 100 institutes will definitely cost you around INR 50 lacs and this is just your tuition Fees.

Scholarship Facilities

The GRE score is not considered solely to get a scholarship in the globally top universities; however, a high GRE score can help you to get some funding from the universities

There are several different ways you can get scholarships given by universities in the USA. Here are 3 major ways to get them.

1.  Scholarship essays- Scholarship essays need to show the strength of your profile in terms of the diverse experiences you bring in. You also need to show that your drive and long term ambitions will enable you to become a valuable contributor to the university’s alumni network. The university portal will give you clear access to the scholarship forms while you’re applying to the university itself.
2.  Need-based Scholarships- A limited number of universities offer need-based scholarships. In these cases, aid is offered on the basis of your ability to pay for the course and not on your academic abilities. Need-based scholarship forms typically ask for proof of your IT returns and assets. They may require an essay as well. Gradvine students have secured 40% need-based tuition waivers at universities like Dartmouth.
3. The strength of your application- If your academic profile and essay in the general application are very strong for a given university, the university will offer aid automatically along with the admit. Several Gradvine students have received aid from universities like Purdue and Carnegie Mellon without submitting an additional scholarship application. The scholarships have ranged from $6000 to $24,000.

Scholarship applications process:

Most of the US universities give MS and PhD together in the US, but some do give only MS. follow the steps as given below:

1. Search for such universities. Start from average ranking ones as the top ones.
2. Look at the requirements. Usually you have to have GRE and TOEFL for admissions.
3. Register for those exams and give the exams.
4. Get recommendation letters, CV, etc prepared and ready.
5. Apply in the universities before the deadlines. The deadlines vary from December, January and February.
6. Wait for their acceptance or refusal.

How the GRE score impacts your chances of availing educational loans

A good GRE score can readily convince the lender to sanction you a personal loan. Besides the age criteria, most lenders check your academic record, including your class X and XII marksheets, consistency in performance, and more to advance the loan. This also includes your performance in the admission tests.

Since many overseas institutions use GRE scores as indicators of a student’s potential, a good score can improve your chances of getting an education loan for overseas studies favourably.

Documentation required:

As per the standard operating procedure, the following documents are needed to initiate the loan application process.

1. Letter of admission
2. Recent passport size photographs
3. Duly filled and signed loan application form
4. Statement of cost of study
5. PAN Card, AADHAR card of student and parent/guardian
6. Proof of identity and proof of residence
7. IT returns or IT assessment order of previous two years of the co-borrower
8. Statement of assets and liabilities of parent/guardian
9. Proof of income of parent/guardian