Why I didnt accept my American University's admission

In my search for a Masters degree course, I did not limit myself to one country. In fact I actively researched on 6 or more countries and applied to schools in 5 out of the 6.

The United States of America was one of those countries I had applied to. I applied and gained admission to 2 schools.

Costs for a Masters program in the US can go upwards of $20k per year. Since I was self sponsoring, it meant I had to look for a bank to rob  this money somewhere. There was no solid plan of how to get the money. I was hoping by some divine intervention I will stumble on money somewhere. Or win the lottery. But neither of that happened.


Since I wasn't sure of how to raise funds for my studies in the US, my hope for actualizing this dream was only about 20%. This was why I only applied to 2 schools.

The first school did not require GRE for admission. About 90% of American universities require your GMAT or GRE score for admission. This school didn't. Of course I was going to apply.

The issue was not that I couldn't have written the GRE. I could have, and passed if I had wanted to. But seriously, considering the stress of work and the headache of looking for funds, I just didn't have any mental energy left to actively prepare for the exam.

 So I typed 'US Schools. No GRE. Masters' into my google browser. This school showed up. They offered my program. GBAM! I applied.

With the second school, not only did they not require GRE, there was no application fee as well! When I found out I was like 'Hallelluyaaah'.

P.S: If you want to study a graduate course in America you should definitely consider writing the GRE or GMAT. It is a standardized test that is used to assess students from all over the world. Think the bigger sister of SAT. Even with a an average CGPA, you stand a good chance of getting a scholarship if your GRE score is excellent!

The truth is I was determined not to spend so much on the whole application process given that I wasn't even sure of what country to go to. Okay lets do a little Maths here.

One application cost $75
Now apply to 10 schools =$750

Then add courier costs =$200

Almost a 1000 bucks! Just for application o.

So in total, for the US schools, I spent $30 on my first school and the second was free.


Then the admission letters came in.  I wasn't the best graduating student or anything. My CGPA shows I am just above average.  So when my very first admission letter came in from these schools in the US, I was ecstatic. The Masters dream felt more real.

But I didn't accept the admission. I couldn't.

I just couldn't afford to study in the US.

If I had the money, sure that would have been my first choice. But I didn't. My 20% hope of schooling in the US was the  the Graduate Assistantship program I applied to.  It is some sort of scholarship program where you will work for the school and in exchange your tuition is waived. You are also paid between $800-1000 as a stipend.

But my Professor sent an email that my grade point was low, so my application for a Graduate Assistantship was not even reviewed by the board.

And that was how my US dream ended. I didn't even bother applying for the i-20 from the school.

Could I have done more?