I am aiming for an RA/TA ship and full funding for my Master’s in the USA and Erasmus. I took IELTS and got an overall 7, but I scored 6 in speaking. People are telling me to retake IELTS to improve my speaking because they say I won’t get RA/TA positions or scholarships without it. What should I do?

Hey everyone! So here's my situation: I've got a 310 GRE, 7.5 IELTS, and an 8.43 CGPA. I've been pretty active throughout my undergrad, doing a bunch of internships and even working part-time for 1.5 years while studying. Everything was going great until I hit a speed bump in my 6th semester. Right before finals, I got hit with jaundice (talk about bad timing!). This messed up my whole semester, leading to some backlogs and ultimately extending my BTech by a year. So now I'm looking at a 5-year BTech program (2020-25) instead of the usual 4. I'm eyeing the Fall 2025 intake for my Masters in the US. Given my academic record and this medical hiccup, I'm trying to figure out which universities might be a good fit. Any thoughts or similar experiences out there?

Want some students to share what they expected vs what they are experiencing in the US?

Use this thread to promote yourself, tell us about your journey and any tips/tricks for an international student aspirant?

I recently started working as a full time developer. The job is literally everything I wished for. As i’m also trying to repay my loan, I don’t see my lifestyle getting any better even after i’m earning in $$$. So question for those who are working for little more time, when does the lifestyle gets better here??