HIgher Education
Dear Jatlanders
I think a post describing all the aspects of studying abroad is long overdue since a lot of us are aspiring to study abroad. I can give a fineprint of how to go about getting to the US for higher studies.
1. Planning
Planning early helps a lot in terms of saving time and efforts. The best time for a student to start planning if he/she wants to study abroad for MS program is the 3rd Year of your undergraduate studies. Start planning as soon as you're in your 3rd year and then work your way up as I'll describe in the following section so that you're ready to join a university abroad as soon as you finish your undergraduation.
1. Choosing your Field of Interest
This is the most important aspect to think of while planning to study abroad. This has to be done before you start working toward securing admission in any university. Given the vast technological areas to choose from, it can be a daunting task. But in 3 years of undergraduation, I think one can very definitely make out his interest and inclination towards the field.
2. GRE/GMAT
The first step on the ladder to higher education abroad is taking the GRE/GMAT. It's also the most important and crucial part of it. The best time according to me for students to take this test is during the summer break after the 3rd year. There's ample time in summer vacations and also it gives u enough time window (whole year) to apply and go through the admission procedure.Preparing for this test requires time and devotion. Although there're many books and reading material available, yet I'd suggest all the aspirants should join a coaching institute which gives specialised coaching for these tests. The reason I'm advocationg this is due to the personal experience I've had at one such institute. They help you focus on the areas where you lag and help you in the finer nuances of the test along with certain tips and tricks which might be hard to figure out ourselves. Those who can't afford to get specialised coaching (as its quite expensive), I'd suggest you start preparing even earlier. These tests can be taken more than once but there're some universities which take an average of the no. of test results, so its important to score well in the first go.
3. Choosing the Universities
This is perhaps the most daunting task of all in the process. There're certain criteria which should be kept in mind while finalising universities to apply to.
--- Ranking of the university
--- Financial consideration (the state and the tuition)
--- Recommendation of a Faculty
Ranking of a university is the most important criterion to be looked for, it helps your employment prospects after you graduate and also builds your credibility as a good student. Then comes the financial consideration. It is also a very important thing to be considered as higher studies in the US is an expensive affair. The cost of living in the US varies greatly in different states e.g Texas is far cheaper than California. So these things should be kept in mind before making a final decision. Also if you somehow get the recommendation of a faculty in some university that boosts your acceptance chances manifold as faculty in the US have a concrete say in the affair of the school.
4. Application Procedure
After the above mentioned steps have been completed then comes the most complicated part. I say complicated because a lot of paperwork needs to be sent to the university. The first thing to do here is to make a file and make a copy every document that you send and put it in your file. This helps in organising everything as it can be very confusing when you're applying to a no. of universities.
There are very coherent instructions of every universities regarding the documents that they need, which usually are:
-- Copy of your Xth and XIIth marksheets
-- Copy of your Bachelor's degree marksheets
-- Official GRE/GMAT/TOEFL scores
-- Financial Documents
-- Statement of Purpose
-- Recommendations
So get your documents ready and organised and be ready to send them via registered post or courier. Give the post office ample time as sometimes it takes more than 10 days for your mail to get through. Almost every university lets you create an account as soon as your application is approved for submission. You can use your account to track the progress of your application and also get to know if there's any lacking document that needs to be send.
5. Wait 
6. Post Admission
After you've secured admission in some university, its time to try to get some form of funding if you've not already managed to get some. Go to
the universities website and get to know the faculty. Almost every university has the information of its faculty online and each individual has his/her own webpage where there's information about the project/research he/she is undertaking. Find someone from your area of interest and write to him/her asking to take you under his guidance. Pretty much everybody needs student to carry their research further. If he/she doesnt seem enthusiastic about giving some kind of funding, volunteer to work for free for some time. Usually after a semester of volunteering u stand a good chance of getting funding.
I think this is practically all you need to do to get into a university in the US. Please let me know if I missed something. If I remember anything that I missed, I'll edit it. I hope this is helpful information.
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