If there is a plan, It becomes easy to proceed to do something. The stability in anyone's journey towards their life goals requires patience, interest and vision. Even though you have everything, The end result is uncertain. Though you can't control anything which is going to happen eventually, all you can do is increase your chances to succeed with a good plan. One needs to focus on the process rather than thinking about the result. A result is a judgement for your efforts to execute what you have planned.
In this blog, I'll share my journey, and I hope this will help many aspirants who would like to study abroad and will provide the necessary insights.
The Start :
I'm a computer science student. It's pretty common to any Engineering student irrespective of their stream, One has to choose between picking up a job or going for further studies like MS, Mtech and PhD etc. What I suggest you is to make a decision early. One can think that it would be a gamble sticking to one plan so early. It is indeed true that you might end up in a job due to many reasons. After you decide to pick up a job even after trying so hard to study further, it will be too late to make yourself interview ready and acquire the necessary skills to crack various entrance tests. Things that went right for me are, I took a decision so early about my career. I decided to study abroad when I was in my 1st year of B.Tech. But I was not sure how things will turn out when I reach the end of my bachelor degree.
What did I do to overcome this problem?
I made a plan that would fetch both. I had to make a list and do things that help improve my profile, giving me a chance to get into some good universities and pick up courses like Masters in Data Science, Masters in Computer Science, etc. It will improve the skills that will allow me to crack entrance exams of different interviews and give me an edge over others. You can call it safe play and avoiding risks. So now I have everything. What I have to do is make a choice. So I made my choice, and I'm going to study abroad.
My journey
After deciding to study abroad in the 1st year of my bachelor degree, My 1st preference is to acquire skills that improve my profile. Only then universities will consider and will offer admissions by putting belief in me. I browsed quite a lot and took advice from my seniors and professors. All I needed is to produce some research papers and look for something that gives me industrial exposure, like internships etc.
It was tough to find internships for me, and it made me work on some research papers. Working for research papers gave me immense exposure, and it was a rewarding experience.
Though GRE and English proficiency exams like TOFEL, IELTS etc., are essential to get into some prominent universities, one has to believe that it's not just GRE or IELTS that gives you admissions. They are just one among them. So my concentration is not just on GRE. It is also on many other things like improving my communication skills, writing research papers, participating in various social activities and being a part of hackathons. Even though you have less GRE score, you still will possess good chances of making it into desired universities with all these.
My target is an MS in CS and to pick up some electives related to Data Science. I was prepared to pick up a course called Masters in Information Systems if it is a good university and the curriculum is well designed. So, now I have a backup plan if I don't get an offer for MS in CS.
I started in my 3rd year 1st semester to take up training for the GRE in an institute, and right after that, I even took my IELTS training. It is always recommended to have scores as early as possible because the scores don't expire anytime soon. GRE will have a validity of 5 years, and IELTS will have a validity of 2 years.
By the end of 3rd year of my bachelor degree, I was able to tick everything inside my list of requirements, and I was good to go. You have to remember that your Statement of purpose (SOP) has to be so clear and appealing about yourself. It should give a complete picture of you and what you have done.
My suggestion is to apply to universities as early as you can. Because universities will indeed work on a first-come, first-serve basis, don't wait until the deadlines and enter the admissions pool early.
If you trust the process and do whatever you can to execute your plan, you will end up bagging admission to a good university and in a stream in which you are keenly interested.
Suggestions :
1.if you have any interest in studying abroad, don't waste time. Please make a list of requirements that will build your profile, and make sure you have acquired most of them.
2.Let it be USA, Canada, UK or Australia. All you need to do is strive for good universities. Only then you will be able to enter the job market without any hassles.
3.Make sure you have scores like GRE GMAT, IELTS, TOFEL etc. as early as possible
4. Enter into admissions early and apply for universities only after proper research about the university
5.Always consult people. You have teachers. You have seniors. You have friends. Make sure you discuss with them. It would help if you considered their opinions and suggestions while choosing courses and universities.
Challenges I have to face :
Even though I was early into training for GRE and IELTS, I could not give my tests due to Covid and Lockdown. I would have completed it in 6 months, but it took me one year.
I faced problems while writing my SOP. Suggestions from seniors and professors helped.
And finally I leave you with one of my admits
This is my letter of acceptance to the course of Master of Science in Computer Science at University at Buffalo.
For more information regarding GRE , IELTS , TOFEL visit the links below
IELTS : https://www.ielts.org/
GRE : ets.org/gre
TOFEL: https://www.ets.org/toefl
I'll be writing more about how I shortlisted universities and my application process, Loan and visa process in the upcoming blogs.
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