PROCESS OF SECURING ADMIT FOR MS FROM USA

Hey guys!! My name is Shruti Nair and I have recently completed my under graduation (Class of
2017) from National Institute of Technology, Raipur. I am spending my summer quite peacefully by
doing almost nothing. Thus, I thought to not waste any more time and pen down my journey from
writing GRE to obtaining an admit from a world class university (Stony Brook University).

I have been getting constant mails and requests from juniors to guide them through the admission
process. So here I am, all your guide for the next 10 minutes. Good luck!!

Students who decide to pursue MS from a foreign university are always very self-motivated.
Getting an admit is a three-year process and you should be patient throughout the course
especially in your final year. It's very important for you guys to be always curious and aware.
You should develop an innate ability to research about your interests, dream universities
and most importantly your ultimate goal. Don't get scared if you don't know how to start. I
will let you know.

It all starts before you even imagine. Don't wait or procrastinate. Start building your profile
from today. Start doing RELEVANT projects. If you don't know your research field yet, take
an open source project from Github or Kaggle and try to modify it. I bet you!!! you will end
up somewhere. It's better if you could do at least two projects by the end of your second
year.

Mind you!!! Don't take third year lightly. It is one of the most crucial years in your
engineering when you must decide what you really want to do. If your aim is MS, start doing
up project under some professor and try to get a paper published in a reputed
journal/conference. Papers are one of the important factors for admission committee to
judge your research potential. So, get it done by third year itself.

Research internships are essential when it comes to MS/PhD programs. There are a lot of
scholar programs available for Indians to do their research internship abroad. Some of them
are SN Bose Scholar Program, Viterbi India Program, Mitacs, DAAD, Charpak, NTU research
etc. If you are not qualified for any of this program, don't get disheartened. Even I was not.
Your other alternative should be to contact the professors directly through mails. It entirely
depends upon you whether you want to go abroad from your own money or through
professor's funds. Securing the latter is difficult, pain staking and a time taking process. Be
patient and don't lose hope!! If even that doesn't work, go for Indian Institutes like IISC, IITs,
ISI etc. But do something in your summers and winters. Don't waste it.
 Once you are done with building your profile, start your prep for GRE. TOEFL is a cake walk
for you, if you are prepared enough for GRE. That being told, dont ignore it as I did. The
time required for preparing GRE differs from person to person. If you are a vociferous
reader, GRE is just another exam for you. And if you are not, take a time frame of at least 3
months for your preparation. Try completing it by the end of 6th semester itself.

Start with a mock test and analyse your mistakes. Start reading newspapers and focus on
those sections that doesn't interest you. GRE is a 5-hour ADAPTIVE test on a score of 340,
260 being the minimum. Your scores are not based on absolute numbering. A computer
algorithm decides your score based on your continuous performance throughout the time
frame.

GRE has three parts - Verbal, Quant and AWA. Don't ignore Quant and AWA. Quantitative
section is easy for most of the engineers. Brush up your 10th grade maths and you will be
good to go. However, there are high chances that you will make silly mistakes during your
exam. Try avoiding that in mock tests. AWA is analytical writing assessment. It can only be
improved by your continuous writing practice. Start your blog or write answers on Quora.
Basically, do anything that will keep you engaged with the writing stuff.

Verbal is probably the most challenging section for Indians. It has two parts- Sentence
completion and Reading comprehension. You need to know at least 800 GRE words before
you appear for the exam. Improve your vocabulary by any means. Most importantly,
whenever you learn a new word, you must understand the context in which it is being used
You can install the Magoosh app/ Barron word app on your phone and read it during your
free time.

Once you are done with your GRE, go for TOEFL. It is an English based test which will
evaluates you on four measures - reading, listening, speaking and writing. Focus on speaking
without fumbling. Talk with your friends in English who are also preparing for GRE/CAT.
That will help you to speak confidently.

Once you are done with all the tests. Make an account on Yocket or Edulix, and see the kind
of profiles being admitted for Universities which is somewhat similar to your profile. Make
a rough list of the universities. But don't trust it blindly. Talk with your seniors and make a
concrete decision of university based on some solid reasons. Some of the reasons can be
ranking of the program, location of the university, financial scholarship provided, ongoing
research, alumni network and various others. Go through each universitys website and see
the program they are offering, their requirements and their deadlines. Start applying
according to that.
 Statement of Purpose is perhaps the most important parameter for securing an admit from
top 10 universities. It is a two-page description about your motivation and reasons to pursue
MS. It will take you at least one month before you can come up with your final draft. Ask
your friends, professors, seniors or parents to give honest reviews about your SOP.

Be in good contact with your professors. You will be needing at least 3 Letter of
Recommendation for each University. Your LOR can be given by your Professor, your
research mentor, your final year project guide, HOD or your manager. Anyone who has
worked with you who can give credible information about your potential would be a good
recommender.

Sometimes, Scholarship/Assistantship positions are based on your TOEFL test. Give it

sincerely. Most Universities have a deadline of December/January. Try to complete
everything before November itself. Some universities roll out admits on first come first
basis. So, it's better never to be late. Apply for transcripts after coming from your 3rd year
summer break and keep it ready. For your application, you will be needing

Mandatory

Undergraduate Transcript (Have good GPA)

GRE Scores
TOEFL Scores
Statement of Purpose
3 Letter of Recommendation

Recommended

Resume
Publication
Certificate of your Internships/Online courses taken up
Your own website preferably LinkedIn
Diversity essay letters

Keep it all ready, before you apply. All the best.

So, this is it guys!! I guess you are all good to go now. I hope you have learnt something fruitful and
positive from my experience. It is just an overview of the process you must go through during
admission. Let me know if you have any doubts.

Contact - shrutinair1996@gmail.com, +918319161147