Key Ingredients

Folks,

Given that most of my friends are interested in pursuing graduate studies, and owing to the fact that most of the material on websites and blogs is misleading, I decided to write my own version of what is good and what is not with respect to applying to graduate school.

People might have many reasons to apply to graduate schools in other countries. It could be interest in research, good work in companies, or merely more money. But, if your interest is just to migrate to a foreign country, I dont think this blog would be of much help.

Now, let us go into what exactly makes a nice app. There is a lot to a nice app. But, somethings are already out of hand. A good GPA would definitely help one but once you are in your last year you could hardly do anything about it.

Apart from all this, there is nothing like a winning formula. The baseline is that you would like to work with someone and you should convince him/her that you are the best bet. "Statement of Purpose" is the one where you can project yourself. Your projects, GPA and recommendations should back you up.

So, how do I start the process of applying? Here are the various steps.

1. Decide on what you want to do? MS or PhD? What field? (June)
2. Give your GRE/TOEFL. (July - August)
3. Decide which places to apply. (August - September)
4. *Write Statement of Purpose and recos(if you have the option of writing your own recos)(September - October)
5. Get everything reviewed by as many people as possible. (October - December)
6. Get recommendations. (November)
7. Apply (December)

In subsequent posts, let us see on how to go about each of these individually.