Studying in the United States

A lot of students that I know would like to study in the United States. Unfortunately due to economic constraints they cannot. What they do (which I do too) is to try and beg for scholarships. Unfortunately not many scholarship are offered for international students studying in the United States.

The problem is that there isn't that much information about studies in the united states in general. Germany has done a lot of promotion in Indonesia (stressing among other things that education is free in Germany). Actually, before I came to the US. I didn't know much about the education system in the United States either. As a result, I was misinformed about many things in the US.

Some myth about education in the states.

1. There are no scholarship for international engineering students to study in the US. A lot of international foundation only give scholarships for social studies. Unless you happen to work in a big company or extremely rich by Indonesian standards, it seems there's no way you can afford to study in the US.
   This is just not true. Although there are no private scholarships that gives you money to study, the United States system is based on assistantship. That is you work (slave :) ) as a teaching or research assistant for 20 hours a week in return for a stipend and the tuition fee. Students should focus on looking for these jobs instead of scholarships/fellowship which gives money without any obligations to work (even though if a fellowship were to come, you should always accept it).
   
   
2. The research/teaching assistantship is usually limited to only PhD students. However, you don't need a master's degree to apply for the PhD degree. This is one of the biggest myth around, that a master's degree is needed to apply for the PhD. I guess we're so used to the fact that a primary school diploma is needed for junior high and so on, that we think a master's degree is needed to apply for the PhD.
   In most universities, to get a PhD you need a bachelor's degree. You have to commit yourself to 5-7 years of study to get the PhD. In the process of obtaining the PhD degree, you actually do some of the Master's coursework. However if you only apply for the master's then you are expected to be finished in 2 years.
   
   
3. Because you come from the best school, and you have great grades you are definitely in. One of the more important factors in your application is your research and independent work. Grades are important but research and independent work are more important. Unfortunately, the education system in Indonesia does not put any focus on research and independent work.
   

As closing, I present a very good article about the application process. Good luck in your application process, and see you in the US.