====== Matriculation procedures (fall 2008)====== Process after you accept our financial support and admission offer: ===== American Students (US passport holder or permanent resident): ===== * Send us Email notifying us that you are accepting our offer - probably you have done this already if you are reading this web page. * Fill out __[[http://www.grad.umn.edu/prospective_students/apply_online.html|Application form]]__ to the Graduate School online if you have not done so. This needs to be done by June 15 at the latest, but please do this fairly soon if possible. Note that the Graduate School needs at least a copy of your transcript from each of the schools at the college-level or above that you have attended. If you have not sent it to them, please let us know (grad@physics.umn.edu, or call 612-624-6366 for Judy) so that we can forward the copy you sent us. The physics department will receive from the Graduate School a message asking if we should grant you admission. We will say, yes, if we have offered you financial support/admission. After that, the Graduate School will send you an admission letter online which has a link to the online __enrollment form.__ * You will fill out this form online and submit it. * In order to register for classes, the Graduate School requires a __final original transcript showing receipt of your degree__; please send this to the Graduate School as soon as possible if you haven't already. It must be sent directly from your school in its official envelop to the Graduate School. Sometimes more than a transcript is required. The Email admission letter you will receive from the Graduate School provides more details. The address is listed below. If you sent such a document(s) to us already, we will forward it to the Graduate School, so there is no need to resend it. More details can be found at here ==== Research opportunity this summer ==== If __you are interested in doing summer research__ (from mid-May to mid-August), please send Email to yk@physics.umn.edu. Also contact professors you are interested in working on research with. When/if you and your professor come to agreement, please send me Email about your summer research plan (~ half page). ==== Orientation ==== There is an Orientation Program for new graduate students that you are required to attend, scheduled to begin on August 18, 2008. During this program, there will be a special seminar program designed to prepare you to teach the laboratory and recitation section classes, which will be part of your teaching assignment. The first day of Fall Semester classes is September 2, 2008. Please notify us of address changes over the summer, as we will be sending you further orientation information. ==== Proof of citizenship ==== U.S. immigration law requires proof of citizenship as a condition of employment. Acceptable proof of citizenship is (1) a current or expired passport or (2) a picture I.D. (preferably a driver's license) and a birth certificate or original social security card. If you do not have these items, please arrange to get them before you come to Minneapolis. ==== Housing information ==== We will be glad to help you resolve any problems you might encounter in coming to Minneapolis to begin graduate study. We have collected some information about housing http://zzz.physics.umn.edu/doctor_physics/housing. The results of housing cost survey can be seen at http://zzz.physics.umn.edu/doctor_physics/students/housing_cost_survey ===== International students (needing a US visa) ===== * Send us Email notifying us that you are accepting our offer - probably you have done this already if you are reading this web page. * Fill out __Application form__ to the Graduate School online if you have not done so. This needs to be done by June 15 at the latest, but please do this fairly soon, particularly as an I-20 needs to be issued for your visa application. Note that the Graduate School needs at least a copy of your transcript from each of the school at the college-level or above that you have attended in both English and in your native language. If you have not sent it to them, please let us know (grad@physics.umn.edu, or call 612-624-6366 for Judy) so that we can forward the copy you sent us. The Physics Department will receive a message from the Graduate School asking if we should grant you admission. We will say, yes, if we have offered you financial support/admission. After that, the Graduate School will send you an admission letter online which has links to the online __enrollment form__ and the online __financial certification__. * You will fill out these forms online and submit them. The I-20 is processed after the Graduate School receives each of these forms. The earlier you get the forms to the Graduate School, the sooner you'll receive an I-20. If everything is in order, it can take up to three weeks after the Graduate School receives the forms to issue the I-20. * You will apply for a visa at a US Embassy or Consulate using the I-20. * In order to register for classes, the Graduate School requires a __final original transcript showing receipt of your degree__; please send this to the Graduate School as soon as possible if you haven't already. It must be sent directly from your school in its official envelop to the Graduate School. Sometimes more than a transcript is required. The Email admission letter you will receive from the Graduate School provides more details. The address is listed below. If you sent such a document(s) to us, we will forward it to the Graduate School, so there is no need to resend it. More details can be found at here * If you have not had your official TOEFL score report sent to the Graduate School online, please do so soon. Alternatively, the Graduate School accepts IELTS or MELAB test results. Further details are provided in the online admission letter you will receive from the Graduate School. Note that if you have completed 16 semester credits/24 quarter credits (within the past 24 months) in an academic program in a recognized institution of higher learning in the U.S., you do not need to submit the TOEFL, MELAB, or IELTS scores as part of the application procedure. ==== English and pedagogy workshop - required for TA's ==== The University sponsors a language program beginning on Thursday, July 24, 2008 for Teaching Assistants whose native language is not English, which you are required to attend. (Note that the exemption of TOEFL does not mean that you are exempt from this program since a major component of this program is about teaching culture in the U.S.) Due to the visa rules, you are not allowed to arrive in the US more than 30 days before the start of the English training. This year, the Graduate School will be listing July 23 as the start date for those attending this training, so June 23 is the earliest you can come to the US. You are required to pass the test at the end of this TA language training session to be certified to teach in the fall. It is important that you make every effort to pass. During the training session, you will not only learn how to communicate better in English -pronunciation, listening, grammar, etc. - but also how to be a good instructor at an American university. ==== Summer research ==== Because of the constraint on the entry date imposed by INS mentioned above, we will only be able to offer you a short summer research opportunity to non-US passport holders. If you managed to get your visa early, it could start on and after June 23, 2008. ==== Orientation - required ==== There is an Orientation Program for new graduate students that you are required to attend, scheduled to begin on August 18, 2008. During this program, there will be a special seminar program designed to prepare you to teach the laboratory and recitation section classes, which will be part of your teaching assignment. The first day of Fall Semester classes is September 2, 2008. Please notify us of address changes over the summer, as we will be sending you further orientation information. ==== Possible help ==== === General === We will be glad to help you resolve any problems you might encounter in coming to Minneapolis to begin graduate study. Many questions including those related to visa and housing can be answered by International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS):\\ 190 Hubert H. Humphrey Center\\ 301 19th Ave. South\\ Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455\\ Telephone: (612) 626-7100\\ Fax: (612) 626-7361\\ Email: isss@umn.edu\\ URL: http://www.isss.umn.edu (general)\\ http://www.isss.umn.edu/new/housing.html (housing - particularly useful for temporary housing for new international students) === Housing === We will be glad to help you resolve any problems you might encounter in coming to Minneapolis to begin graduate study. We have collected some information about housing http://zzz.physics.umn.edu/doctor_physics/housing. The results of housing cost survey can be seen at http://zzz.physics.umn.edu/doctor_physics/students/housing_cost_survey. You will find some information about temporary summer housing (in a dorm) which will be useful when you arrive in Minneapolis for the first time. For students from PR of China, the student organization: Friendship Association of Chinese Students and Scholars offers new students help in adjusting to American life. Their web page is http://www.isss.umn.edu/programs/smallworld/CHhost.html. If you are aware of other such organizations, please let us know and we will list them here. ===== Transcripts and/or Credentials and English Language Requirements ===== Here are several things regarding transcripts/credentials and English language requirements that will assist us in processing your application efficiently. We hope this information will make it easier for you to provide us with the transcripts/credentials we require. Please read the sections on transcripts/credentials from U.S and international schools, and English language proficiency, if they apply to you. You will receive another notice indicating what specific information we are still missing, but it is to your advantage to provide it to us before we contact you. You also will receive a notice when your application is complete. To check on the status of your application in the future, the most up to date information is in your ApplyYourself application record. For access to the ApplyYourself system click http://www.grad.umn.edu/prospective_students/apply_online.html Then click on “check the status of your application”. If you have misplaced your PIN or password, click on “Need to look up your PIN or Password?” and then follow the instructions. Do **NOT** use "Create Account" to obtain this information. **FORGED CREDENTIALS:** Due to a perceived increase in forged transcripts/credentials, we will write to the schools of selected students and verify their transcripts/credentials. If the student's transcripts/credentials are forgeries, we will drop the student from The Graduate School and may refer the matter to law enforcement authorities for prosecution. ==== Transcripts and Credentials: ==== === Transcripts from U.S. schools: === * You must provide us with official transcripts from each college and university attended. The transcripts must be received in The Graduate School Office of Admissions directly from the schools. * However, we can consider you for admission if you mail a photocopy or fax us a legible copy of your transcript. If you do fax or send a photocopy, do not send official transcripts at this time; if you are admitted, we will request official transcripts from you when we send you the admission letter. Transcripts can be mailed to The Graduate School address listed below, or faxed to 612-625-6002. === Credentials from international schools: === See below for the types of credentials required from various countries. However, we can consider you for admission if you mail a photocopy or fax us a legible copy of your credentials. If you do that, do not send official or certified credentials at this time; if you are admitted, we will request official or certified credentials from you when we send you the admission letter. Credentials can be mailed to The Graduate School address listed below, or faxed to 612-625-6002. === Transcripts from international schools: === All international applicants who have attended universities that issue official transcripts on request must submit such credentials; the transcripts must be received in The Graduate School Office of Admissions directly from the schools. An official English translation should be attached if the transcript is not in English. * Applicants from __Bangladesh__, __India__, __Nepal__, and __Pakistan__ should submit attested or certified mark sheets or examination reports showing the detailed results of all exams taken. An official English translation should be attached if the credentials are not in English. * Applicants from the former __USSR__, __Germany__, __Brazil__, __France__ (and countries outside of France which are on the French system) should submit official English translations of their credentials which should include the detailed results of all exams taken, and the award of all degrees received. A certified true copy of the credentials, in the original language, should be attached. * Applicants from __Taiwan__ should submit transcripts showing grades on the 0-100 scale. * Applicants from the __People's Republic of China__ should submit transcripts and degree statements in both English and Chinese; both versions must be official. If percentage grades are shown on the original Chinese transcript, they should not be changed to letter grades in the translation. * International applicants who have attended institutions which do not issue transcripts, exam reports, or mark sheets, should submit an official statement from the Registrar or their adviser giving a detailed description of their program, a qualitative evaluation of their work and the results of all exams taken. This statement should be addressed to **"SPECIAL TRANSCRIPTS"** in The Graduate School Office of Admissions. * All international applicants who submit credentials on which the award of the degree received is not recorded should submit certified copies of their diplomas; an official English translation should be attached if the diploma was not issued in English. If the grading system employed is not shown on the credentials themselves, a separate statement from the university is required giving this information. On CERTIFIED or ATTESTED credentials, the certifying official should write "this is a true copy of the original" and should then sign and seal each document. Applicants may not certify their own credentials. ==== English Language Proficiency Examinations: ==== If your native language is not English, you are required to take one of the following: * TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language)\\ * MELAB (Michigan Language Assessment Battery)\\ * IELTS (International English Language Testing Systems) The operational standard for admission to the Graduate School is a TOEFL score of 79 on the internet-based TOEFL with section scores of 21 on writing and 19 on reading (213 on the computer-based TOEFL, 550 on the paper-based TOFEL) or a MELAB score of 80, or an IELTS score of 6.5. Individual departments may have a higher requirement. __Scores must be less than two years old__. TOEFL information is available on the web at: http://web1.toefl.org/ at U.S. embassies and consulates, information agency offices, and educational foundations, or by writing to TOEFL Services, Educational Testing Service, P.O. Box 899, Princeton, NJ 08541-6151, U.S.A. MELAB information is available from The English Language Institute, MELAB Office, University of Michigan, 500 East Washington Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48104-2028, U.S.A. Overseas testing is available on a limited basis in selected countries. IELTS information is available on the web at: http://www.ceii.org/ or by writing to IELTS International, 825 Colorado Blvd, Suite 112, Los Angeles, CA 90041. An official report of the TOEFL, or MELAB, or IELTS scores should be sent to The Graduate School. Our TOEFL __institutional code is 6874__. If you have completed 16 semester credits/24 quarter credits (within the past 24 months) in an academic program in a recognized institution of higher learning in the U.S., you do not need to submit the TOEFL, or MELAB, or IELTS scores as part of the application procedure. ==== If you need to contact or send something to the Graduate School ==== The address to have your transcript and official TOEFL scores sent: Graduate School\\ University of Minnesota\\ 309 Johnston Hall\\ 101 Pleasant St. SE\\ Minneapolis, MN 55455-0421\\ USA