The MS Process- Demystified Part - I

Okay, so here’s the follow-up help post that I promised. I’ll try to keep this on short and sweet. Let’s do this step by step.

1. MS vs. MBA
2. Counselor or Con-Sellers
3. GRE
4. TOEFL/IELTS
5. Applications
• LOR
• SOP
• Resume
• Transcripts
• Degree Certificate
• Covering letter
6. Decisions
• Funding
• Factors that matter
7. Visa
8. Sayonara India

1.)    MS vs. MBA

Now, if you’re sure and you've decided what you want to do out of the two topics that are going to be compared then just skip this part and move on to the “GRE” segment.

The common dilemma in students nowadays is, “Should I do MBA or Should I go for MS?” There are various factors one should consider before deciding any of the two options.  Students think they are oriented towards management because that’s the only/major experience they get during their bachelor's. If you're taking up MBA for the sake that you DON'T LIKE CODING, think over it; if you did not like coding why did you take up engineering in the first place. You survived four years(in some cases the high school of two years also included Computer Science which make it 6 years of CODING) and you want to flush it down the gutter because you did not ever do actual coding with a team. For this kind of people I’d suggest that they take a year’s work experience and then decide what they want to do in life. I’d put more light on the topic later on; gather some more information, I’ll post it ASAP.

2.) Counselor vs. Con-sellers:

           One of the major problems that we have, should I opt for a con-seller? My answer is no, but if you want genuine help from people coming from various fields you can opt for USIEF (United States-India Education Foundation). USIEF gives you genuine opinion about what should be done with your SOP, which colleges are good and many other things.

            Now-a-days conning students has become a new profession altogether; you see people posting various consultancies on the groups. But, do they actually help, my answer would be no they do not, I've seen my friends, juniors and seniors being given lists of colleges to apply to, with their SOPs being drafted by the consultancies, the same guys filling their admission forms, their DS-160(s), their VISA appointments and spoon-feeding them from the moment the students decide that he/she wants to do Masters from US and takes up an consultant.

           If you want spoon-fed data, the lists made, the forms filled by someone else why the f*ck do you want say that I got an admit, all you did was pay the con-seller and give the GRE and TOEFL. If you genuinely want to go to a good college look into the past results of students who have applied, network with seniors, go to websites like Edulix and get your profile evaluated.

          One more thing I've learnt about con-sellers is that they give you colleges which are way below your profile. I met a friend with a 310/100/61% profile and the con-seller told him that University of Texas,Dallas(UTD) was beyond his reach and that he should aim for University of Texas,Arlington(UTA). But, he went ahead and applied to UTD and secured an admit from there. All I want you to know is that if you cannot manage filling your own forms and writing your own dreams/goals in your SOP how the f*ck are you going to manage the assignment that'll be given to you during you Masters?

3.) Graduate Record Examination (GRE)

            The GRE is one standardized test that is an elemental requirement of almost all colleges in the United States. The GRE has three sections: verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning and analytical writing ability (AWA). The test is divided into an hour for the analytical writing ability section which is further divided into two parts of half an hour each separated by a minute’s break. There are 5 sectional tests after the AWA which are of 30 minutes too; so the entire exam lasts around 4-4:30 hours including the breaks and the score reporting.

GRE preparation is usually started by people 5 months prior to their examination but it doesn't require putting in so much of effort. I've seen people working for more than 5 months scoring well below 300 and people with 2 months or even less preparation getting 310ish. I always feel, “It’s not the amount of hours you put in but the amount of efforts you put in those hours”. I myself scored 306 in 18 days of preparation and my best friend scored 314 with less than 20 days of preparation, thus proving my point. GRE is all about smart work, getting the formulae right, discovering new shortcuts; however, for Indian students verbal has always been a problem. Students who read less will always have to run behind Barron’s 333, Princeton Hitlist, Magoosh Words and n number of different lists which the people on Facebook groups will introduce every week. I’d suggest that start reading some books rather than the usual norm of “Do 10 then 20 then 30 and upto 50 words a day”; according to me that idea is CRAP. The words you'll learn of lists will be utter waste of your time as you won’t be able to implement it in sentences and thus, defeating the entire purpose of the popular words. There are adamant people like me who won’t take up reading books and end up studying lists, for them I’d suggest download the Memrise app which is available on the Android and iOS both. Once you download it, start with Barron’s 333 moving on to Magoosh words and then Princeton Hitlist; try implementing these words in sentences.

            Once you start with the Verbal and words, try solving some reading comprehensions because these 5 paragraph monsters will make sure you panic the moment you see them. Reading comprehensions will be easier if you have the habit of reading books as I suggested earlier for the words. For Indian students quantitative reasoning is a bit easy as we learn the majority of the topics on the test in elementary school and high school. I’d say do not waste time solving problems you already are a master at, rather trying improving the areas you lack in. GRE doesn’t have negative marking take full advantage of it and attempt each and every question. When you’re done with the initial preparation give one practice test of Manhattan, they give an insanely detailed result and from this you’ll be able to gauge your weaknesses. Two weeks before the exam start giving practice test and try not to lose marks in your area of expertise at the same time boost marks in the areas where you usually lose. Don't go on preparing from books as you will not be able to mould yourself according to the time limit. My class topper told me this, "GRE is not that tough, its just that the clock ticking on the top-right corner gets on your nerves and you need up screwing it up". Practice help you to sit for 4 hours and gauge how many question you can attempt and where you take more time. AWA is more about how to perceive a certain situation and the control over English; people usually score 3.0-3.5 in AWA. Watch Magoosh videos for AWA and you’re all set for it.

            On the exam day, don’t wear any piece of clothing with high number of pockets as it’ll increase your time taken during security checks. DO NOT TRY TO COPY; if you have a problem call the center in-charge and report the problem. GRE is all about keeping calm during the exam, the minute you start panicking you start leaking marks because you mind won’t be able to work as well as it did when you weren't tensed. If you can’t attempt say 5 questions in a section just let it go, do let those 5 marks affect the next 30.

            Points to Remember for GRE:

• You need to have a International Debit card/ credit card to book the GRE dates
• Research about the universities beforehand so that you can report your score there and save $108
• YOU NEED TO HAVE YOUR PASSPORT TO APPEAR FOR THE GRE
• Don’t waste your time behind one question there 29 more in that section

4.) Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)

          TOEFL is an English proficiency test which is another fundamental requirement of any university which is out of India. TOEFL is divided in four parts viz., reading, listening, speaking and writing with each section having 30 marks each making the entire exam of 120 marks. Most colleges in the US having a minimum requirement of 79-80 marks but they vary from college to college. RIT has a TOEFL requirement of 88, NYU and NYU-Poly of 100 and Carnegie Mellon of 25 marks in each section; so do look into the TOEFL requirements of the colleges you’re applying to.

            TOEFL is not a VERY tough exam which involves tremendous amount of analytical thinking or quantitative reasoning; it’s just plain old English. Frankly speaking I gave one mock test by ETS and thought 'this is retarded why am I studying for an English test' and I did not prepare; eventually, I ended up scoring 103 even though my reading section was devastated. But I’d refer you all to watch the Notefull videos on YouTube or on www.notefull.com which are amazing tutorials for the speaking and writing sections. The speaking and listening will be problematic because when you're speaking there might 10 more students speaking simultaneously with you; so don't be shy and sophisticated speaking slowly be as loud as the microphone test requires to be. The results of the TOEFL are declared after 10 days atleast.

            Points to Remember for TOEFL:

• You need to have a International Debit card/ credit card to book the TOEFL dates
• Do over-stress over TOEFL
• YOU NEED TO HAVE A PASSPORT
• Speak loudly, clearly and confidently

IELTS is pretty similar to the TOEFL but according to the people’s review it is “Easier”. IELTS has a few distinctions compared to TOEFL; 1.) IELTS is scored in bands with each band of 9.0 marks, 2.) IELTS has a human scorer sitting in front of you for the speaking test which is easier than talking on the PC in limited time.

You can download the study materials from: GRE/TOEFL/Visa/Documents (Thanks to the uploader Moneka Bommasani)

I'll shortly write and upload the second half of this post, so do come back and read the other half.
KANPAI!


Specials Thanks to Moneka Bommasani for uploading the Study Materials, I found the link floating on some Facebook group, thought I'll help you spread it ;)

The "Easy" Journey to F-1

     “Why are you studying for CAT and trying for MBA and why not GRE and do MS?”, asked my uncle, “In India, MBA from anything other than IIM-K, A, B, XLRI, JBIMS is like for no use; same old boring courses and similarly less pay scale after graduation. And, even after getting a 99.99 percentile in CAT there is no guarantee that you'll get a call for the GD-PI for IIM-A” he added.

     After a series of switching between MBA to MS every day, I settled for MS. Once I had decided what I wanted to do, I started preparing for the standardized test required for admission: GRE and TOEFL.

                             

I paid for my GRE and TOEFL appointments using my uncle’s credit card (Remember, GRE and TOEFL don’t accept payment via normal debit cards) and, as soon as the payment was done, I went to my bank and got the checklist for the education loan. In order to gauge where I stood without any preparation, I gave ETS’ PowerPrep-I and scored a miserable 288.

     I knew had to pick up the pace and score at least 310+ in the practice tests. Kaplan, Manhattan, and Princeton were my only friends for 18 days and I had not seen the sunlight in those 18 days. On the first day of Navratri was my best friend’s GRE; and I got a call from him saying that the GRE has raised its standards and the sums were very tough and lengthy. I panicked, I needed to ooze the built up tension but as I had my fasts going on I could not overcome my anxiety. The day came 1^st October 2014 where my 18 days of training was going to be tested. As I stepped out of my wing I felt like Captain America who had been frozen for 80 years (rather 18 days). I gathered courage, it was the last day of my fasts; exams, hunger, anxiety; well it was a very bad mixture of feelings.

     I entered the exam center well before 30-40 minutes of my appointment and luckily I was taken in early. After a long security check, permission to enter the exam hall was granted. It began with AWA which was of an hour followed by a minute’s break. After that was Quant (Math) which I used to finish with time to spare during practice tests. But on D-Day, I ended up guessing five odd questions due to lack of time. During the break, I was immensely tensed thinking about the marks I had lost and how much can I score and what not, which made me more nervous. Now it was my second quant section, I was solving an easy but lengthy sum, wasted around a minute on it already, and was about to get an answer, but somebody coughed and I forgot the figure I was supposed to add. “Chill Manan, once more!”, I said to myself and recalculated the figure and blessed heavens that guys coughed again, and repeated it at least thrice, thanks to him I had lost 10 minutes after one problem. In the end, I was so frustrated I did not even re-check the marked answers and click on Submit. While the computer was calculating the marks my heart was racing like I had being running for the past three hours, then the screen read “Verbal 149 and Quant 157”, my heart skipped a beat, and I couldn't believe what my eyes were looking at. I absorbed the sadness, bought a smile and walked out of the centre with the 306/340.

     The other vital test required for applying for Masters is TOEFL-Test of English as a Foreign Language. For my TOEFL, I couldn’t get a date of my choice in Mumbai so I booked it in Ahmadabad. I reached a day before the exam and stayed at my uncle’s place for one night, the next day the exam was at 10:00. We left home around 08:45 but to our delight we lost our way, after roaming around hundreds of small lanes we finally found our destination at 09:55. My photo was clicked and I was allotted a PC. The TOEFL started, reading was the first section, a boring passage appeared on my screen related pollination and in couple of minutes my screen went black. I tried to find the problem but it some fault in the monitor, as CPU was still on. “This is what I needed now, a blacked out monitor”, I said to the coordinator who was very pretty though. After the “Technician” had a long fight with the PC my test resumed and I had lost a total of 12 minutes, which are at least 6 marks on the exam. I braced myself and completed the reading and listening section, which was followed by the speaking nightmare section. Before one can start with the segment there’s an audio test to check if the microphone is working. The question for the check was “Describe the city you live in”; I give a long check answer thrice and the fourth time I said, “This microphone is not working” and ping, the audio test is completed. I finished the TOEFL, and came back to Mumbai. In about 10 days the scores were out, I had scored 103/120, thanks to the blackout monitor.

     Done with the GRE and TOEFL, I moved on from the test preparation phase to the application phase; this phase was much more irritating and time-consuming that the test preparation phase. One has to shortlist universities, draft the statements of purpose (SOPs), and run behind professors for getting good recommendation letters (LORs) and fill long forms of the colleges one is applying to. Added to the above mundane tasks to be done, students have to get the university mark-sheets and their college transcripts attested from Mumbai University which required me to wake up a 06:30, leave home by 07:00 and reach Churchgate by 08:00 so that I could get free by 13:00, this process takes 25 working days or so they say. Moreover, with the amount of luck I had then I found out my father’s name had been printed wrong in my semester VII and VIII mark-sheets. I had to visit the university at least 6-7 times before December and once I had my degree certificate get it corrected too, which required 2-3 visits more. Oh, yeah I forgot the special certificate which is required by colleges like UIC, UTD, UTA require during the application.

     Once I had all the documents I applied to Arizona State University (ASU) quite in the nick of time, followed by University of Southern California (USC) and then Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago (IIT-C), Syracuse, Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) and University of Illinois, Chicago (UIC).

This was actually the condition of students

     Somewhere around mid-January, I got my first decision which was a reject from IIT-C which I considered safe, followed by a reject from Syracuse. The same day Syracuse rejected me, a friend with almost the same profile as mine was rejected from RIT for MSCS. I had given up hopes, I was shattered, started having anxiety attacks and once I literally woke up screaming. There was nothing that could pacify the anxiety other than an admit and then on 13^th March 2015, I had lunch and came back to my seat at work, opened Gmail and saw no new mails but then I clicked on “spam” and saw RIT. I told myself it’s okay if it’s a reject and clicked on the mail; the first line read “Congratulations!” my heart beats increased, I continued reading further and read “You have been granted admission to RIT MSCS for Fall 2015” and my heart skipped a beat.

The ADMIT! 

 I ran to my mom told her I got admitted into RIT and ran back to my seat to read the entire mail; to my delight, I read ‘you have been awarded a scholarship of $7738”.

     Now was the time to run after the documents, the damned paperwork was to be done now. Bank trips, the paperwork, the checking of the originals, letters from work, letters from the society, letter from different banks and mark-sheets and every other paper one can think of was required. After around a month’s turmoil I had submitted my application for the loan. The officer told me it would take around 15 days for the sanction of the loan. Once the loan was under processing, I started with the visa process. I filled the DS-160 and submitted it, followed by booking a visa slot on 28^th May 2015- Student Visa Day. Later on, I paid the SEVIS fees of 200$ too. As said in a movie “Kismat badi kutti cheez hai, kabhi bhi badal sakti hai”, I got my loan sanctioned in two weeks. I readied all the papers for the Visa Interview and geared up for the final stage.

     D-Day, Judgment Day, Qayamat ka Din: - 28^th May 2015, I reached an hour earlier to my appointment and thus had to wait for the entire in the scorching sun. Once the time was due, a line was formed, it being the student visa day almost 1000-1500 students were there. We got our passports scanned and entered the embassy and what do we see, one more line like playing ‘Snakes’ in Nokia 3310, moving pretty fast, though. Entering the main building we were told to remove our SEVIS receipt and I-20 form out from our folders. The interviews were a matter of public display with people speaking bad English or unclear ideas of why MS were being rejected. I moved ahead to the first person in the line and was allotted counter 30. As was walking towards the counter I saw a guy being rejected walking away with his passport and as soon as I reached, the guy in front me was rejected. I exhaled and moved towards the counter. “Pass me your I-20 and passport”, said a manly voice from the other side of the bulletproof glass. I passed him the I-20 and passport as asked for; he took a brief look and shoved my I-20 back through the duct below the window. The interview started with the officer asking me “Which College?” to which I replied, “Rochester Institute of Technology”.

“Why RIT?” he asked.

“RIT has research in the fields which are perfectly aligned with my interests. And I have received a 20% scholarship too”, I answered

He typed for a bit and asked, “Since how long have you been working with your company?” to which I replied, “A year, sir. I’ll complete a year on 16^th June”. He typed for a long while this time and asked me, “What are you plans after graduation?” and like a rapid fire round answer I spontaneously responded, “Come back to India and find a job; and with the highly repu..” he interrupted and told me, “I am approving your visa, you can collect it in three working days”. The interview did not last for like 40 seconds. I could not believe the Visa Interview was so smooth; I waited for a couple of seconds to see if the officer returns my passport but to my delight he did not. I walked away from the counter like a boss and gave my friend an assurance smile and a nod on my way out. After a minute he joined me at the celebration organized by the US Embassy for Student Visa Day. We got Lays, Maaza, and a piece Chocolate Chips cake too.

     Yesterday, I collected my passport with the Visa stamp on the passport and it feels orgasmic. After the things a student goes through for MS, getting the F-1 is the final nail in the coffin. The GRE and TOEFL preparations, the university trips, the running behind professors for LORs, the drafting of SOP, the forms for application, the paper work, the rejects we faced, joy of an admit, the visa process, the anxiety and nervousness before the VI, the moment the you hear the words, “Your visa has been approved” you know you are preparing for a whole new life now, the last chance where you can prove yourself, do something substantial, leave a mark on people’s lives. To all the applicants for Fall 2016 – ALL THE BEST, for the Fall 2015 students, Respect! Congratulations! We've been through a lot, like A LOT; hope you have a good time in the US.

Wait for more posts to come and don’t forget to share, like, comment and read my blog. Keep coming back for more.

KANPAI!

IMAGE SOURCE: Facebook