Purpose of the Thread: Many students in college and working professionals face a decision that decides their future career path, Management or Technical? In particular, engineering students in their 3rd year who know that they are at ease w…
Purpose of the Thread:
Many students in college and working professionals face a decision that decides their future career path, Management or Technical? In particular, engineering students in their 3rd year who know that they are at ease with technical and want to pursue further studies in it, a MS or PhD degree from a good university is definitely a good bet for them. Not only engineering, US universities provide degrees for streams like Biotech, Food Sciences, Finance, etc. For the technical minded who have decided to pursue a degree in the USA, this thread will serve the following purpose
1. Provide information for the entire MS/PhD application process and the timeline for various tasks involved.
2. People can post their profiles and ask for advice on a particular aspect of the application process.
3. People studying in US universities can also post their experiences. This can give information specific to a department in a university.
Mandatory Examinations
1. Graduate Record Examination (GRE)
The GRE is a computer adaptive test held by the ETS (www.ets.org/gre). Use the link to register for the test. The fees for the GRE varies from time to time but its generally around $150. Keep a credit card handy while registering.
Computer Adaptive Test implies that if you answer a question correctly, the next question will be of higher difficulty and weight. So the key to a good score is to atleast get the first 5 questions of each section correct. 😁 Also there is a heavy penalty if you are unable to answer a Q before the time ends so if short on time, mark blind guesses.
Best time to give GRE: By August end so that you have enough time in hand to do the remaining stuff. People in final yr of engineering are recommended to give the exam in April before the end of their academic term if they want to join a job for a year or two (thats what I did, easier to study while in college).
Dates for GRE get filled up fast around july so keep that in mind and get a comfortable date near about a month before you intend to take the exam.
The GRE consists of 2 main sections.
a) Quantitative - This is the relatively easier section. One should aim to score the maximum ie 800 in this section. One should not be overconfident and time their section well by doing the first 5-10 question with a cool head and then build up the speed.
b) Verbal - The nemesis of many aspirants, lemme just jot down few tricks to tackle the verbal section. There are 4 types of questions in the section Sentence completion, analogies, antonyms and RC.
- Cram the entire Barrons wordlists in the holidays/weekends atleast 1.5 to 2 months before your GRE date. Its helpful to write all the words that mean the same together someplace e.g. there are 7-8 words that mean "to disavow" like abjure, recalcitrant, recondite, etc. Write them someplace
Time this section to perfection (again :)
- Secondary meanings of words are very important.
- RC's are ambiguous so only practice can make you confident. Take as many Big Book tests as possible.
c) Analytical Writing: Basically essay writing. You need to write 2 pieces. Use the words added to your vocabulary to get the best marks in this section.
Books/Software to use
Barrons Wordlist
Big Book
Kaplan CD tests (tough but good practice)
ETS CD tests to be given in the week before your exam, the average of the powerprep tests will be near to your GRE score.
BTW my GRE score was Q. 800 V. 670 (my 2nd answer was wrong 😃 AWA 4.5/6
Some more first hand experiences can be found at http://www.pagalguy.com/discussions/a-guide-to-the-gre-and-application-for-ms-abroad-25012103
2. TOEFL
Not much preparation is required for TOEFL. 4 sections are Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing. All universities have a lower TOEFL cutoff (arnd 90/120). Catch someone in your city to find out a good TOEFL centre where there is little external noise (that can disturb you in the listening and speaking sections).
Books/Software to use
Kaplan TOEFL guide will give you sufficient feel of the 4 sections.
Best time to give TOEFL: October
I scored 112 in TOEFL Speaking: 24 Reading: 29 Listening: 29 Writing: 30
A special thank you to Mahip for letting me open this thread and hope that many aspirants can derive something from it.
Many students in college and working professionals face a decision that decides their future career path, Management or Technical? In particular, engineering students in their 3rd year who know that they are at ease with technical and want to pursue further studies in it, a MS or PhD degree from a good university is definitely a good bet for them. Not only engineering, US universities provide degrees for streams like Biotech, Food Sciences, Finance, etc. For the technical minded who have decided to pursue a degree in the USA, this thread will serve the following purpose
1. Provide information for the entire MS/PhD application process and the timeline for various tasks involved.
2. People can post their profiles and ask for advice on a particular aspect of the application process.
3. People studying in US universities can also post their experiences. This can give information specific to a department in a university.
Mandatory Examinations
1. Graduate Record Examination (GRE)
The GRE is a computer adaptive test held by the ETS (www.ets.org/gre). Use the link to register for the test. The fees for the GRE varies from time to time but its generally around $150. Keep a credit card handy while registering.
Computer Adaptive Test implies that if you answer a question correctly, the next question will be of higher difficulty and weight. So the key to a good score is to atleast get the first 5 questions of each section correct. 😁 Also there is a heavy penalty if you are unable to answer a Q before the time ends so if short on time, mark blind guesses.
Best time to give GRE: By August end so that you have enough time in hand to do the remaining stuff. People in final yr of engineering are recommended to give the exam in April before the end of their academic term if they want to join a job for a year or two (thats what I did, easier to study while in college).
Dates for GRE get filled up fast around july so keep that in mind and get a comfortable date near about a month before you intend to take the exam.
The GRE consists of 2 main sections.
a) Quantitative - This is the relatively easier section. One should aim to score the maximum ie 800 in this section. One should not be overconfident and time their section well by doing the first 5-10 question with a cool head and then build up the speed.
b) Verbal - The nemesis of many aspirants, lemme just jot down few tricks to tackle the verbal section. There are 4 types of questions in the section Sentence completion, analogies, antonyms and RC.
- Cram the entire Barrons wordlists in the holidays/weekends atleast 1.5 to 2 months before your GRE date. Its helpful to write all the words that mean the same together someplace e.g. there are 7-8 words that mean "to disavow" like abjure, recalcitrant, recondite, etc. Write them someplace
Time this section to perfection (again :)- Secondary meanings of words are very important.
- RC's are ambiguous so only practice can make you confident. Take as many Big Book tests as possible.
c) Analytical Writing: Basically essay writing. You need to write 2 pieces. Use the words added to your vocabulary to get the best marks in this section.
Books/Software to use
Barrons Wordlist
Big Book
Kaplan CD tests (tough but good practice)
ETS CD tests to be given in the week before your exam, the average of the powerprep tests will be near to your GRE score.
BTW my GRE score was Q. 800 V. 670 (my 2nd answer was wrong 😃 AWA 4.5/6
Some more first hand experiences can be found at http://www.pagalguy.com/discussions/a-guide-to-the-gre-and-application-for-ms-abroad-25012103
2. TOEFL
Not much preparation is required for TOEFL. 4 sections are Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing. All universities have a lower TOEFL cutoff (arnd 90/120). Catch someone in your city to find out a good TOEFL centre where there is little external noise (that can disturb you in the listening and speaking sections).
Books/Software to use
Kaplan TOEFL guide will give you sufficient feel of the 4 sections.
Best time to give TOEFL: October
I scored 112 in TOEFL Speaking: 24 Reading: 29 Listening: 29 Writing: 30
A special thank you to Mahip for letting me open this thread and hope that many aspirants can derive something from it.
Selecting Universities
Well this is a very sensitive topic as no one exactly knows what a university looks for in a student but if I were to rate the "factors" affecting admission in an order, it would be as follows
1. GPA / Graduation Percentage: Acads have a huge weightage.
2. National / International papers or good major projects preferably more than 1 (specially for PhD applicants).
3. Good SOP (Statement of Purpose) and LOR's (Letters of Recommendation). An application can turn on its head if you get this right.
4. GRE score (surprisingly does not hold too much weight :)
5. TOEFL score (basis for a TA)
A good number of universities to apply to is 8 with the break-down being 3 ambitious, 3 moderate and 2 safe universities. Again its up to you to decide.
Best way to thin down your options is to see the websites of the universities. The path for one to use while navigate generally looks like Uni home page Graduate School Prospective Students
Hopefully through this thread you'll also be able to read first hand-experiences of people studying in certain universities in the US.
Timeline: Finish university selection by october-end to mid-november
Applying
Keep a credit card handy (again, actually used throughout the process liberally :). Soon after submitting the online application, send your application packet to the uni. Find a good deal for sending your packets coz its quite expensive and sometimes you may have to send 3 packets to the same university
Wait and Watch
After applying begins the excruciating wait for results :sleepy:
Visa Power
With an admit in your hand, go and get your visa through another process which I shall not describe here at this point of time (coz am yet to get my visa :biggrin:)
:cheers: to all puys aiming for MS/PhD in the US
Well this is a very sensitive topic as no one exactly knows what a university looks for in a student but if I were to rate the "factors" affecting admission in an order, it would be as follows
1. GPA / Graduation Percentage: Acads have a huge weightage.
2. National / International papers or good major projects preferably more than 1 (specially for PhD applicants).
3. Good SOP (Statement of Purpose) and LOR's (Letters of Recommendation). An application can turn on its head if you get this right.
4. GRE score (surprisingly does not hold too much weight :)
5. TOEFL score (basis for a TA)
A good number of universities to apply to is 8 with the break-down being 3 ambitious, 3 moderate and 2 safe universities. Again its up to you to decide.
Best way to thin down your options is to see the websites of the universities. The path for one to use while navigate generally looks like Uni home page
Graduate School Prospective StudentsHopefully through this thread you'll also be able to read first hand-experiences of people studying in certain universities in the US.
Timeline: Finish university selection by october-end to mid-november
Applying
Keep a credit card handy (again, actually used throughout the process liberally :). Soon after submitting the online application, send your application packet to the uni. Find a good deal for sending your packets coz its quite expensive and sometimes you may have to send 3 packets to the same university
Wait and Watch
After applying begins the excruciating wait for results :sleepy:
Visa Power
With an admit in your hand, go and get your visa through another process which I shall not describe here at this point of time (coz am yet to get my visa :biggrin:)
:cheers: to all puys aiming for MS/PhD in the US
Well its been a hurricane couple of months for me since i landed here 😞 So will keep this post short till i get a breather. Things u need to know (or already know) are
1. Post graduate degrees in the us are a LOT of work. Life cycle has been defined by deadlines of projects and assignments and taking tests.
2. Its advisable to land 20 days earlier to search for an on campus job, coz thats a fight in itself. I have been very very lucky to land a job before classes started. 
3. Work ex helps masters students definitely to get their resume noticed.
4. As the economic situation is a lil tight these days, ppl who r planning to apply shud hope that the finanacial bail-out works :|
Will post elaborately later on. Missing SB 😞 but PG rocks PG rules 
Thanx Ani for such an elaborate and accurate description.I want to ask 3 things-
1-when should we start applying to univs after selecting them? (i.e when are the deadlines of good univs normally).
2-Also,After taking GRE in august,can i focus on CAT and start univ selection and apping process in dec after taking CAT?
3-Please tell 8 good univs where one should apply
Hey plz keep giving us the details of ur uni, field, fees, ur part time job there and everything... Plz... And could u plz tell me abt fellowships? Wat r they? Hw to gt? Who actually gets them? And do we have to pay our tuition fees if we do fellowships or it gt reimbersed?
And one more thing, is there anything like Indians dont get good jobs or fat salaries after MS?
And do we have to apply to jobs in US only?
Wat was ur total expenditure per month approx other than tuition fees?
Thnx :grin:
Thanx Ani for such an elaborate and accurate description.I want to ask 3 things-
1-when should we start applying to univs after selecting them? (i.e when are the deadlines of good univs normally).
2-Also,After taking GRE in august,can i focus on CAT and start univ selection and apping process in dec after taking CAT?
3-Please tell 8 good univs where one should apply
@Akshay
I graduated with a Master's degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Florida. In college I worked as a programmer and also was funded through my job (such jobs however are really rare to find). That meant that I paid only my 1st sem fees as my funding kicked in after that. 😁 Search for TA, RA, GA, etc in the website of any US university to get an idea of university funding.
Expenditure, jobs, research etc is very university specific. I got a couple of great offers (from US and South Korea, so country is not a bar) and I have chosen a job based in Seattle (which I feel has a fat pay packet 😉 ). At UF.. $450 per month is a livable expense figure.
@Jhakaas
Deadlines for an August admission are generally close to Dec 15.
Sandwiching CAT in between GRE admission process will be really tuf. All those SOP LOR letters can be more than a handful and CAT is too competitive to give u much time for anything else.
There are NO "Top Universities" but here are the criteria u should base ur decision on (in no particular order)
1. Fees and living expense
2. Jobs avail after graduation
3. Research and faculty
4. Funding opportunities
Hope this helps
hey ani..
ur suggestions are really very helpful!!
well i am in second year of engg in Electronics now and i am very keen in pursuing masters from US..however i am a little apprehensive about it((coz of the huge amount of money involved))
how much is at risk if say i dont land up wit a part time at all!!
and is it advisable to get a work ex and then go to US??
Hey... M working in Siemens PLM domain in Pune. Though my engineering is in the field of ECE, my work is purely mechanical software development. I really want to do MS, the main issue is which stream to choose. Can i still persue MS in ECE?Will this work ex be useful for me if i do MS in ECE. IF not... then what all courses can I do related to the PLM(Product Lifecycle Mangement)? Kindly guide me. Thanks
Logged into PG after a long time and am happy that some people are gaining something from this thread.
hey ani..
ur suggestions are really very helpful!!
well i am in second year of engg in Electronics now and i am very keen in pursuing masters from US..however i am a little apprehensive about it((coz of the huge amount of money involved))
how much is at risk if say i dont land up wit a part time at all!!
and is it advisable to get a work ex and then go to US??
@Megha
There are many many universities to study from and fees vary from very low (and even free with scholarships) to very high (ivy league). In terms of risk the biggest chunk of money you will pay is your tuition fees so try to apply to universities where you know you wont exceed your budget for tuition. A part time job only does enough to pay for your month to month expenses like rent, utilities, etc so you should ask someone who studies in the uni ur planning to go about
1. Monthly costs
2. Avalability of part time jobs
to determine risk vs rewards
It's advisable to land in the US 20 days before 1st day of classes solely to hunt for jobs and it's also helpful if you know a senior in that university.
deepti.dheer SaysHey... M working in Siemens PLM domain in Pune. Though my engineering is in the field of ECE, my work is purely mechanical software development. I really want to do MS, the main issue is which stream to choose. Can i still persue MS in ECE?Will this work ex be useful for me if i do MS in ECE. IF not... then what all courses can I do related to the PLM(Product Lifecycle Mangement)? Kindly guide me. Thanks
@Deepti
As a rule of thumb, your chances of getting admission to a program (ECE, CS, Mech, etc) are the greatest for the field you have an undergrad degree for. Having said that I have seen people move with ease between CS, ECE and electrical doing masters in 1 of these 3 but undergrad in a different branch (also 1 of these 3). So in your case Deepti you can easily apply to an ECE master's course based on ur undergrad. And to leverage your work experience you shoudl highlight your software & programming expertise and how you would like to go back to working with ECE in ur SOP.
With regards to PLM I am not sure if any university gives a master's degree for that field but I am sure there will be subjects that you can take that would bolster your PLM knowledge.
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, so I am posting 1 pic of my university and 1 pic of my current city to show you what things "look" like here..Enjoy
Around 30K out of 90K ppl in attendance to watch a University of Florida Amercian Football game. Unbelievable atmosphere.
Seattle night skyline
Purpose of the Thread:
Many students in college and working professionals face a decision that decides their future career path, Management or Technical? In particular, engineering students in their 3rd year who know that they are at ease with technical and want to pursue further studies in it, a MS or PhD degree from a good university is definitely a good bet for them. Not only engineering, US universities provide degrees for streams like Biotech, Food Sciences, Finance, etc. For the technical minded who have decided to pursue a degree in the USA, this thread will serve the following purpose
1. Provide information for the entire MS/PhD application process and the timeline for various tasks involved.
2. People can post their profiles and ask for advice on a particular aspect of the application process.
3. People studying in US universities can also post their experiences. This can give information specific to a department in a university.
Mandatory Examinations
1. Graduate Record Examination (GRE)
The GRE is a computer adaptive test held by the ETS (www.ets.org/gre). Use the link to register for the test. The fees for the GRE varies from time to time but its generally around $150. Keep a credit card handy while registering.
Computer Adaptive Test implies that if you answer a question correctly, the next question will be of higher difficulty and weight. So the key to a good score is to atleast get the first 5 questions of each section correct. 😁 Also there is a heavy penalty if you are unable to answer a Q before the time ends so if short on time, mark blind guesses.
Best time to give GRE: By August end so that you have enough time in hand to do the remaining stuff. People in final yr of engineering are recommended to give the exam in April before the end of their academic term if they want to join a job for a year or two (thats what I did, easier to study while in college).
Dates for GRE get filled up fast around july so keep that in mind and get a comfortable date near about a month before you intend to take the exam.
The GRE consists of 2 main sections.
a) Quantitative - This is the relatively easier section. One should aim to score the maximum ie 800 in this section. One should not be overconfident and time their section well by doing the first 5-10 question with a cool head and then build up the speed.
b) Verbal - The nemesis of many aspirants, lemme just jot down few tricks to tackle the verbal section. There are 4 types of questions in the section Sentence completion, analogies, antonyms and RC.
- Cram the entire Barrons wordlists in the holidays/weekends atleast 1.5 to 2 months before your GRE date. Its helpful to write all the words that mean the same together someplace e.g. there are 7-8 words that mean "to disavow" like abjure, recalcitrant, recondite, etc. Write them someplace
- Secondary meanings of words are very important.
- RC's are ambiguous so only practice can make you confident. Take as many Big Book tests as possible.
c) Analytical Writing: Basically essay writing. You need to write 2 pieces. Use the words added to your vocabulary to get the best marks in this section.
Books/Software to use
Barrons Wordlist
Big Book
Kaplan CD tests (tough but good practice)
ETS CD tests to be given in the week before your exam, the average of the powerprep tests will be near to your GRE score.
BTW my GRE score was Q. 800 V. 670 (my 2nd answer was wrong 😃 AWA 4.5/6
Some more first hand experiences can be found at http://www.pagalguy.com/discussions/a-guide-to-the-gre-and-application-for-ms-abroad-25012103
2. TOEFL
Not much preparation is required for TOEFL. 4 sections are Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing. All universities have a lower TOEFL cutoff (arnd 90/120). Catch someone in your city to find out a good TOEFL centre where there is little external noise (that can disturb you in the listening and speaking sections).
Books/Software to use
Kaplan TOEFL guide will give you sufficient feel of the 4 sections.
Best time to give TOEFL: October
I scored 112 in TOEFL Speaking: 24 Reading: 29 Listening: 29 Writing: 30
A special thank you to Mahip for letting me open this thread and hope that many aspirants can derive something from it.
hi :)
i wanted to know from where did yu take coaching for gre, and esp if you did your coaching from delhi?
thank you :)
ps : this question is actually for everybody!
hii ani
i m a 3rd yr mechanical engg.....n i want to do MS after my graduation....so i jst want to knw to knw abt projects n research papers.....n wat kind of reasearch is required......or is research paper shld be related to d course to which v r applyin n can d research or project necessary be don in coll itself....plzz helpp mee asap....i m gettin vry tensed relatin to dese stuffs....:(
Coaching is not a requisite for taking GRE. I had not taken any, with some amount of planning it can be done by oneself. However I do recommend a consultant for the applying process. It can get quite tedious.
hi,
i am a GRE aspirant and i wanted to to have my analytical section reviewed and examined but i couldn't find any where to post, can you please advice where to post or should i post it here itself?
thnx so much...
hi,
i am a GRE aspirant and i wanted to to have my analytical section reviewed and examined but i couldn't find any where to post, can you please advice where to post or should i post it here itself?
thnx so much...
Again am late to update this thread. I am not sure where you can get your analytical section reviewed. As far as I remember its not a big difference maker in MS admits. But things may have changed since I took the exam. Just treat it as an essay writing.
hii ani
i m a 3rd yr mechanical engg.....n i want to do MS after my graduation....so i jst want to knw to knw abt projects n research papers.....n wat kind of reasearch is required......or is research paper shld be related to d course to which v r applyin n can d research or project necessary be don in coll itself....plzz helpp mee asap....i m gettin vry tensed relatin to dese stuffs....:(
Its fine if the project / paper you are doing is relevant to your mech. engg. course. All you need those for is to demonstrate in your SOP that you have research inclinations and can back them up with your work.
Hi all,
I have a GRE score of 1360 and TOEFL of 113. My Engineering % is 72.2 without any back logs and I have work experience of a year. I want to pursue management information systems (MIS/MISM). I've tried to locate colleges over the internet but not much of a help. Is there any structured way I can search or should I approach a consultancy?
Hi,
I am an engineer graduate(I.T) with 85.6%. I am working in an MNC for past 2 years.I want to do masters in US, but if i start preparing now i will not be able to get admission before 2013(since admission process is very tedious). So, at that point of time i will be having having 4 yrs experience.Is it advisable to go for MS at that point time(since it is vary late in my carrier compared to others) or i should try for MBA.
thanks in advnace
i m thikin of takin GRE towards mid of dis year.....but hv no published research work....my CGPA is 8.76 with no history of backlogs....n m 4m electrical engineering backgound presently working for nearly 4.5 months.....what are my chances to getting full funding for MS if i manage to get a good GRE score?
Hi Ani,
I wanted to know a few details about MS program in US. Before that I'd like to brief you up with a few details of myself.
I completed graduation in 2009 with 67%, 12th in 2005 with 70% and 10th in 2003 with 73%, I am currently working as a software engineer(Quality Assurance) in an IT company for the last two years(though not enjoying the job much!!) I had tried for MBA (had given CAT..scored miserably) for the last two years....gotta few calls from above average colleges, but I'm not considering them given the fact that ROI from these colleges is not that good and I guess I am not cut-out for MBA (i know....i realised it late!!) also I don't have the urge to learn subjects like marketing, finance etc. Previously too I was aiming for MBA in IT itself, why not MS then? coz i used to think MS would be way too expensive and I'll manage to do MBA(IT) here with low amount of investment and higher returns in the future.
Now following are my questions:
1> Is it possible for me to land up in a decent US university this year itself? What is the usual amount of time taken(in months) by these universities? If its around a year then should I quit this QA job and take up a programming job to get a better part-time job while pursuing MS there? Or it doesn't make a huge difference, I can continue with this job and later switch to programming.
2> I was planning to give GRE by June/July, so that I can start applying for these universities. Is it the best time or should I give it in a months time i.e. by April?
3> Now about the financial part of MS, I read this somewhere,"You have to maintain a liquid cash of 30 lacs in your account" Is this true? I come from a mediocre family background, and accumulating this much amount of wealth may not be possible for my family.
Ani, I am in desperate need of advice. Please share your valuable thoughts and help me.
Thanks and Regards,
Siddharth
Hi All,
I'm a GRE aspirant. I want to do MS in Computer Science in US.
But I don't have much idea as to which university I should go for.
I want to go for 2013 session with good financial aid as it's difficult for me to afford the regular tuition fee and other expenses.
I've an average academics:
10th : 81%
12th : 74%
BE (IT) : 65%
I have around 7 years of work experience in IT.
Would really appreciate if someone can guide on:
- the universities I should target
- chances of getting aid given my academic details and experience.
Thanks.