DESTINATION MS, Ph.D., MBA....





BASIC REQUIREMENTS TO PURSUE GRADUATE STUDIES

Before I tell you the details of the requirements, you should make up your mind and be sure whether you really want to study in the USA.

You should have had at least 16 years of formal education before admission into a graduate program in any University in USA. That is, 12+4, thus Engineering students have the most advantage as they already have a 4 year degree course. Some of the graduate programs are MS, Ph.D. and MBA. The list of Universities and all the courses they offer can be found at Peterson's

Something about the 3 degrees that are widely taken...

The MS degree: This is a 30 credit course which should take you about 2 years to complete, but you can finish it faster depending upon your abilities. The average fees are about US$ 20,000 per year, which includes living, tuition and books etc. Though some Universities like the California Institute of Technology or the Duke University cost as high as US$ 36,000 annually. Usually Indian students get scholarships and financial assistantships in the second semester.

There are various subjects offered by the Universities that a student can do an MS in. A list of some of the top Universities (ranking-wise) in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science is provided. All the required information about individual Universities can be found at the University Web-site.

The Ph.D. degree: This is a 60 credit course usually done after the MS program. Many Universities offer a direct admission to Ph.D. Boston University is one example, they call it the Post-Bacchalaureate Ph.D. There is a school of thought that taking up Ph.D increases ones chances of getting financial aid. Some students apply for MS then Ph.D or MS towards Ph.D. I for one have applied to some colleges for MS then Ph.D.

The MBA degree: This is usually a 2 year course when done full-time. Some colleges offer a one-year course,too. The part-time course lasts longer. The MBA course is meant mainly for those highly ambitious people who have had some work experience(at least two years) after their undergraduate degree. This course is, to put it very mildly, expensive for Indian students, as Financial Assistance is almost NIL. To prepare for an MBA one needs to give the GMAT . This exam has become computer adaptive since October 1997 and can be taken at a date of your choice(or atleast in that vicinity). It is advisable to be well prepared for this test and to take it as soon as possible, leaving enough time for a second chance. The scores are valid for 5 years. It is very important to have your goals set in life if you are planning to go for an MBA program abroad. The forms require you to write certain essays, which can be really tricky sometimes.
If you have any inquiries regarding the MBA program and applications I suggest you email my friend Shachii (shachii@technologist.com), because I believe she's the boss on that subject. You must go through a list of rankings of MBA colleges as a part of your decision-making.

Further on...

Outstanding students get financial assistantships while sitting at home. Thus having good academics helps a lot. Academics alone is not enough, there are a few exams which you will have to take. Like..
The GRE : It is best to take this exam about 9 months before you apply. Since all application processes start in December so it is best to give your GRE in APRIL. I and a lot of my friends gave our exam in November so we were pressed for time. The GRE score take about 6 weeks to reach you by post, thus we had to use the Phone-in service to get our scores. Besides this when you send your pre-apps you can report your score to the Universities. Certain universities in California require your GRE score even before they send you a form.
The TOEFL : This exam is very cool. Any student who can understand all the American serials running on STAR PLUS will have absolutely no problem. I studied for just 3 days and got a decent score.
The TSE : This exam is a speech exam, when I applied all the students who gave this test were the ones going in for Computer Science. This exam is not a requirement and Universities prefer students who have given TSE for teaching assistantships.

See Suvir Bhatia's page at https://members.tripod.com/~usapply


For additional information email me at gaurav@bitsmart.com

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