Applying to the College Class of 2017 (Starting College in the Fall of 2013)

[Shahan]

<p>@picerulez</p>

<p>I asked for full loan (i.e tuition + accomodation + travel ) and I expected food expenses to be covered too (while I did not know that QF does not give loan for food expenses).</p>

<p>I have got the loan of $48,014 which is $500 less than $48512 (i.e the total for Tuition,Activity,Technology,Orientation,Books and Supplies).</p>

<p>I was expecting to get loan for accomodation too, for which I have sent them an appeal a week ago, but havent received an answer as yet.</p>

<p>PS : When I talked to the admission officer at CMUQ , he said that the loan you’ve got is near to highest people get, and they dont give aid for food and travel, while they might give for Accomodation.
Then I talked to a student of CMUQ, and he said that QF may give aid for Travel too, but not food.</p>

<p>How much did you get qatarbound ?</p>

[qatarbound]

<p>i just got $23000 …and no accommodation or anything else…And dude I would kill for your deal too! …I expected to get atleast 90% of the tuition and fees…to pay the rest and the living expenses is still a hefty task though, but this is the only deal my parents are willing to contribute for.</p>

<p>A tip: If u could still work out the remaining expenses, u should definitely go for it! It worth it!</p>

<p>Also were u also allowed to ask for a particular amount? They did not extend that facility to me.</p>

<p>And do please keep me posted as soon as u hear from QF!</p>

[picerulz]

<p>Ohh. qatarbound how much did you say your parents are willing to pay?</p>

<p>Shahan I didn’t know they cover only tuition but I’d be happy if they gave me loans to cover the entire tuition. that’s what I basically asked for. But I still haven’t received any reply from them :/</p>

<p>Did you guys receive any amount of scholarship?</p>

<p>I have applied for financial aid at NUS too. got in for mech engg. mind giving me ur opinion on where I should go provided I get aid at both places. NUS (Mech Engg) or cmu qatar (CS)?</p>

[Shahan]

<p>@qatarbound</p>

<p>I wish I could arrange some money from somewhere for the other expenses because what I’ve been offered is a quite handsome amount of loan. If I’d have got just $6000 more, I could have tried to arrange the other amount somehow. Ah Well.Let’s see.
And No,You took me wrong, they did not extend any such opportunity. From asking a particular amount I meant “What I expected to get”, not that I literally asked them to give me that particular amount.</p>

[Shahan]

<p>@picerulz</p>

<p>Actually, Idk, it seems like you’re confused.I mean CS and ME are totally different fields.
And NUS and CMU are both great places. </p>

<p>If you’re considering CMUQ, you should definitely keep some things in your mind:

• After you graduate from CMUQ, and since you’d be taking loan, so if you get a job in public sector and ‘get it approved by QF’ only then shall the outstanding charges on you be waived and that also within the period of 4 to 6 years.</p>

<ul>
<li><p>A plus point about CMUQ would be that you can aim to get full scholarship by QF in your second year and onwards provided that you do exceptionally well in academics.</p></li>
<li><p>After you graduate, your pay ‘IN QATAR’ can go as high as 16000 QAR and as low 7000 QAR. (Statistics given by CMUQ officer)</p></li>
<li><p>A plus point again is that you can go on exchange to Pittsburgh for 1 semester.</p></li>
<li><p>You should definitely be sure that you have a good amount of money for your expenses in Qatar (Atleast the amount shown in the Finances plan that you must have been given with the ‘You’re a Tartan’ envelope) because there have been cases that people from Pakistan went to CMUQ, but had no much money to cover their expenses (food etc) and so they were sent back by the university.</p></li>
<li><p>A plus point here is that in some cases,QF might not event bound you to work in Qatar only, as long as you agree to pay 15% of your pay to QF monthly.</p></li>
<li><p>You should definitely consider the environment of Qatar, it’s extremely hot outside.However, inside the buildings,you may require 2 or even 3 layers to wear due to good ACs. Also,that Qatar is not like Karachi,Lahore,where you’d find people roaming on streets etc. After 4,i.e when the univesity would be Off, you might run into boredom,depending on your social circle, for then you’d have less to do with your day if you had no good friends,money and conveyance to roam around the small city,Doha. </p></li>
<li><p>One more plus point about CMUQ is that -according to a student of CMUQ who is doing CS- QF would even allow you to do Masters and then do job and pay them. Though I am not much sure about this point.</p></li>
<li><p>Also,that you can work on campus in CMUQ and earn from 25 QAR to 50 QAR per hour (upto 20 hours a week) . The pitfal here is that you normally wont get a chance to do the job in your first year since all the positions would be occupied by seniors already.</p></li>
</ul>

<p>I dont know about NUS for I dint apply,but it also has some really good exchange programs. Morever, it has some very good relations with YALE too. Must have heard about YALE-NUS collaboration.
You should certainly consider that you ‘might’ face food problems in Singapore. Though the campus of NUS is extremely good and in a way better than CMUQs’.
Also I dont know much about the financial aid program of NUS. You should definitely be sure that you’d get financial aid for the entire 4 years. Also take into consideration that what kind of aid is being given and what kind of bounds would be implemented.
I dont know much about Job opportunities at Singapore after you graduate.Sorry :(</p>

<p>Last , dont ever make ‘rankings’ your primary reason to consider a college for rankings don’t decide your position as an individual in the world.It’s your abilities and how you pursue the opportunities provided at College that decide.</p>

<p>I hope that helped a little.</p>

[qatarbound]

<p>A maximum of like $40,000 dollars for the entire 4 years to cover all tution and other expenses! And that is not per willingness …that is the most they can do…and plus u can never rule out incidental expenses that may occur.
They really want to send me and I really want to attend Cmu.
And plus I am a business major
@piceruz
…so i am sorry cannot guide u about which one is better nus or cmu (on pure academic basis)</p>

<p>But I can tell u this that qatar would mostly require u to have a really steady social life.
If u like a homely-feel uni and think u can flourish in some healthy competition this is the
place for u!</p>

<p>I got to attend the gap day at georgetown and plus my dad worked in qatar for a little while…so if u have ny doubts about the city…let me know!</p>

[qatarbound]

<p>@shahan
see i am from India so i have no idea about how bank loans work in Pakistan. I know that would probably be one too many loans but the amount u would be earning is still quite substantial as compared to what we would be earning in our respective countries, even if we are on the lower ends of the pay scale (QR 7000-16000). Plus if interest rates r too high there look into education loans from Doha bank (this advice is a little vague as i haven’t researched into it personally)</p>

[picerulz]

<p>Thank you Shahan for such a detailed response! That helped. They gave you those salary statistics? I searched a lot online but could not find any statistics on graduate salaries. And I’ve heard there’s food problems in Qatar too (student there asked me to learn to cook stuff before coming :p). My parents can cover the rest of the costs if I get the entire tuition on aid. Are you in for CS too at CMUQ? And yes, I am confused. I was initially bent on ME, but I’ve read a lot abt CS and seriously considering it now.</p>

<p>And I’ve gotten in touch with a couple Pakistani students at NUS to get their opinions.</p>

<p>when did you both submit your financial aid app? I did on April 30th. maybe thats why I havent heard from them yet</p>

[Shahan]

<p>@qatarbound</p>

<p>Actually I could not find any Pakistani bank that would give loan to students for studies in abroad And Doha Bank gives loan to Qatari Nationals only.
And Offcourse, interest rates and number of loans does not matter to me for I know the pay later would be quite good, it’s just that there is no orgranization that would give such loan.</p>

[Shahan]

<p>@picerulz</p>

<p>Actually I’m in touch with a really kind cmu officer who answers to any query I have sooner as possible. So I asked him about the average salary of CMUQ graduates. So he said ‘It is a really difficult questions for there are no exact statistics but I know some of the students who have got the package as high as 16000 and I also know 2 or 3 of the graduates who are working on as low as 7000’ .</p>

<p>Yes, I would be taking CS if I join.</p>

<p>About food stuff, well yes I’ve heard that as well,that there are food problems,as a result of which-what I think- food there is expensive for internationals since students would ultimately go outside to eat.
So, before you go,you should definitely talk to any CMUQ officer and ask about food problems if there are any. </p>

<p>You know one of my cousins (usernamed as TheCricketFreak here) got in WPI and when he asked the officials about food stuff, they replied “Our cooks here can’t cook food as your mom does,but if you like, get your mom’s recipes written and we’ll try our best to replicate/repro the dish” Ha !</p>

[picerulz]

<p>@qatarbound
Do you think It’ll be easy to live in Qatar on 7000-16000 QAR (per month right?)? what do you think.</p>

<p>Also when did you and @Shahan submit your financial aid application online?</p>

<p>Shahan, I’ll keep that in mind. btw do you think after graduation it’ll be easy to get CS jobs in Qatar? Does every graduate gets employed easily after graduation? </p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

[qatarbound]

<p>@picerulz</p>

<p>see although ur salary may range to 7000-16000 (and yes that is definitely per month)working here(as far as my father tells me)
u get quite handsome perks such as housing allowance(this is less…for a bachelor accommodation maybe), insurance and etc (depends how well recruiters judge u are).
Repeating what i said before even 7000 is probably more than what anyone of us will earn right after graduating in our respective countries.</p>

<p>As for the food…mind the fact that if u plan to cook and save money in ur first year at cmu…it is not possible as fresher are only allowed to stay in the single bed rooms that does not have a kitchen facility!(they have new dorm this year…they are more like a 3 star hotel!) And on my visit to Georgetown(where as international students we were given a round of the dorms too), the common kitchen also just has a fridge and microwave.
So u can rule out cooking for atleast the first year!
Now i am not sure about what kind of food they provide with…but the new dorms are going to have a mess that serves a meal for qr15.</p>

<p>And I submitted my application on the 25 th of april</p>

<p>Hope that helps!</p>

[qatarbound]

<p>@shahan</p>

<p>wow that is tough dude!
But I really hope that all works out for u!:)</p>

[Shahan]

<p>@picerulz</p>

<p>I can’t tell you about jobs since I dont live there. But I’ll tell you what other people said :</p>

<p>Actually when I talked to the assistant director admissions at CMUQ, he said that getting a job should not be a problem for CMUQ graduates. I asked him about the ‘Arabic requirement’ which might put us behind in getting jobs, but he said that he has been living in Qatar since 23 years and has never felt much need of Arabic. However,knowing Arabic might be a bonus.</p>

<p>When I talked to a Pakistani student of CMUQ who at the moment is in Pittsburgh on Exchange, he said that getting a job in Qatar may not be very easy, but it’s not even too difficult.</p>

<p>And qatarbound is right about the benefits of accomodation etc that even if the pay is not that good (i.e 7000) , said the asst.director, “You get alot of benefits like accomodation, and even at times return ticket once a year to the home country,etc”.</p>

<p>I guess I submitted my application on 4th of May since I got my admission decision late.</p>

[Shahan]

<p>Appeal rejected.</p>

[qatarbound]

<p>mine too!
Now going to cmuq is completely out of the picture for me!
:(</p>

[picerulz]

<p>Thanks for your opinion guys. I still haven’t received any sort of reply from them. Shahan will you be able to go without the accommodation and travel aid?</p>

<p>Qatarbound, sry to hear that. You 23000$ out of 48k? thats tough. I wont be able to either if I get just 50% aid. What did you say ur parents were ‘willing to pay’ in the financial information section.</p>

[Shahan]

<p>@picerulz</p>

<p>No, it’s sad though that, unfortunately, only the inability to pay for accomodation and travel would pull me back from pursuing education at such an awesome place.</p>

<p>I wish you get more than what you expect and that too sooner. InshAllah. :)</p>

[picerulz]

<p>Thats really unfortunate, man. So you both won’t be going. Thanks btw :)</p>

[Shahan]

<p>@qatarbound
@picerulz</p>

<p>Some information I feel like sharing.</p>

<p>I talked to the Assistant Director admissions Cmuq.
And I asked him few questions.
Though Im not going, but I felt like asking these questions from him,just in case a miracle happens . </p>

<p>1) The fee for accomodation is paid semester wise or yearly ?</p>

<p>A : Accomdation fees is paid each semester, and can sometimes be paid at the end of the semester as well. But remember, they would not allow you to leave the country until you dont pay the housing. (Leave the country means going on holidays etc). If you intend to join, you can submit the accomodation fee at the end of the semester.</p>

<p>2) The food expenses, we’ll have the money with us or it will be paid too to the University and we’ll get food in mess ? </p>

<p>A : Regarding your question for food… basically you are paying that on your own. you can buy a meal plan if you want.</p>

<p>3) If in second year, a person gets a full scholarship from QF, does that include accomodation as well ?</p>

<p>A : No the scholarship does not include accomdation.</p>

<p>4) Are the expenses expected to change every year significantly ?</p>

<p>A : No expense should not change significantly.</p>

<p>5) In the financial plan provided , if I join, Since I’ll have $48014 so I’ll have to pay/carry the following:

• $500 approx for the part of tuition fee.
• $550 for the one time damage.
• $3000 for the food and living.
• And amount for housing.
  Are there any other expenses I need to consider ?</p>

<p>A : The only other expense you need to consider are buying health insurance and air fare… and entertainment, shopping etc.</p>

<p>6) How much does health insuarance cost?</p>

<p>A : Shahan, I can’t get an accurate answer… but you’ll need to do some research on this any way…
Here is one company that the university recommends:
[International</a> Medical Insurance & Travel Medical Insurance | HCCMIS](<a href=“http://www.hccmis.com/]International”>http://www.hccmis.com/)
Another is InterGlobal</p>

<p>You can also purchase a health insurance plan from pakistan as long as it covers these items:
Emergency Evacuation
Repatriation of Remains
Coverage for Health Care in Qatar Benefits</p>

<p>The best person to actually ask questions about health insurance would be our health and wellness director, her email is <a href=“mailto:ymalek@qatar.cmu.edu”>ymalek@qatar.cmu.edu</a></p>

<p>7) When we go on exchange, does QF pay everything for the exchange or it’s just the tuition again ?</p>

<p>A : They only cover tution, in all circumstances. I know that they sometimes cover partial housing,but that also only in Qatar, I’ve only heard of 3 cases where they covered full housing and that was for Palestinian refugee students.I have Never heard of airfare being covered.
If they did for any person, then it is not the norm.However, If you can get them to cover these costs for you, that’s great, however I wouldn’t rely on it.</p>

<p>8) Do Students from CMUQ too get jobs in U.S and do you know their average pay ? Is it same as graduates of the main campus ?</p>

<p>A : Very few students from CMUQ work in the US… most work in Qatar or return to their home countries. The salaries can not be compared to the main campus graduates as they have thousands of graduates and decades of stastics.</p>

<p>Adieu.</p>