Case Study – MS in CS (Surya)

Presenting the case study of Surya Sumukh’s successful application journey for MS in Computer Science for Fall 2014.

syr uiuc  cornell_logo

Surya graduated from BMS College of Engineering, Bangalore with a stupendous GPA of 9.36 and joined a big bank as a developer. His significant achievements in music and 2 years of good work experience made a strong profile for him until he found out that he had scored 301 in GRE. The battle to get into a worthwhile school began when he joined Scholar Strategy for Fall 2014 apps.

Profile:

Undergraduation – BE Computer Science and Engineering from BMS Bangalore
GPA – 9.36
GRE – 301
Experience – 2 years of software engineering experience at a global bank and research internship at CDAC Bangalore
Area of Interest – Network Security and general CS
LORs – 1 academic, 2 professional ones from internship and full-time work

QnA:

Q: What do you think were your strong points before applying?

GPA and project work at CDAC, I believe were my strong points. I also think fulltime work experience at a well-known bank was important.

Q: What do you think were your weak points before applying?

Low GRE score, I had no proper plan and I do lack the ability of expressing myself clearly in the SOP.

Q: What do you think you did right?

I am happy I joined Scholar Strategy!!

Q: What could you have done better?

I would have devoted more time to my SOP to make it more enthusiastic. I should have planned and prepared myself better for the applications and GRE.

Q: What should applicants be more careful about (based on your experience)?

Definitely spend more time in planning for the full application process to be able to see the bigger picture.

Q: Where did Scholar Strategy help you?

Specifically in helping writing the SOP in a very short period. More importantly, suggesting universities more suited to my profile and overall profile evaluation.

Results

Surya has admits from Cornell (where he is heading to), Syracuse (30% scholarship), UIUC MCS program and University of Texas, Arlington and no rejects so far.

Read Surya’s testimonial here.

MCS admit from UIUC

Reporting a fantabulous MCS admit at UIUC which is the Professional MS program for Computer Science. Go Illini!

ScholarStrategy-UIUCMCS

More admits going to be announced soon!

Success story for MS Robotics

We are very happy to start reporting our success stories and case studies.

wpiSupreeth is one of our earliest and favorite students. He joined SS when he was already working with another counselor. He had a fantastic research profile but not so ideal GPA and GRE. He had applied very ambitiously the first time and received rejects from all. And, now he is studying at one of the TOP programs for Robotics. We helped focusing on stronger schools in his area of interest (Robotics) suited for his profile. Sometimes, we are too blinded by general rankings but when our area of interest is very specific, we need to spend time focusing on finding best programs for our specialization (not necessarily the top ranked in general rankings). Also, we need to decide when to reapply to a program that rejected us and when to not. It isn’t wise to be just obstinate and keep applying to same programs. But most importantly, we should NEVER give up.

This is his profile-
Undergraduation – BE Electrical Engineering from BMS Bangalore
GPA – 7.76 (first class distinction)
GRE – 311
Toefl – 108
Experience – Good internship and 1.5 years solid research experience from IISc and RRI (2 International journal research publications with him being the 1st author)
Area of Interest – Computer Vision and Robotics

And, we are happy to report that he is now a proud student at WPI, one of the top 10 schools highly regarded in the field of Robotics.

WPI is probably the first university in the country that has a major in robotics, and so that’s kind of excitingColin Angle, CEO of Roomba maker iRobot

He joined WPI in Spring 2014 session and sent us this update that we are happy to share here 🙂 –

I am doing good 🙂
Stayed at NY for a week at my friends’ .. Roamed around the city that never sleeps!-NY.. It was real fun.. NYSE, Subway, Ferry to Staten Island, NY Skyline, Streets of Manhattan, Walking over the Brooklyn Bridge at 11.30 PM, Times Square, Central Park, Rockefeller center, Windows of 5th avenue show, Temples of Flushing Meadows and what not !! 🙂 Really enjoyed it :DThen went to NJ for 2 days to my Brother’s.. Had good food, shopped a lot and then came to Worcester on 5th Jan..Since I was the 1st Robotics student to report at the front office, I was given a liberty to choose my grad advisor- Picked Prof. Taskin Padir (whom I had always wanted to work with !).. Then met him- By god’s grace, he liked my research at RRI.. Now I have been given an opportunity to work at the RiVER lab for the NASA Sample Return Rover challenge-2014 !! 🙂 Prof. Padir said he would give me 3 credits for the work – (called Directed Research) , which would add to my MS degree..It has been a great start Nistha 🙂 Thank you for all the help you gave me…. and Do let me know if something is required of me for Scholar Strategy ! 🙂

Read his full testimonial here.

Common mistakes that applicants make in writing SOP and application essays

How to avoid most common mistakes while writing SOP or other application essays for your MS, MIS and MBA applications? And, what does this Computer Science Professor at UCSB has to say about SOPs? We have already talked about the technical aspects of a SOP in our previous post. Today, we will look into how to avoid some common pitfalls.

Here are some common problems we have observed.

Continue reading

May Diwali bring you success and prosperity

Diwali celebrations at UIUC (courtesy flickr)

Time travels fast.

When I was in USA, I used to miss Diwali festivities in India a lot. After all, you can’t light crackers there (except in some states like North Carolina) and Diwali is incomplete without seeing the fireworks. But, its a different kind of celebration there. I was looking at this blog post that I wrote in Diwali 2008 while living in New York – http://nisthaonweb.com/blog/2008/10/spirit-of-diwali-tamaso-ma-jyotir-gamaya/

So, this is how Diwali was celebrated at UIUC. In the evening, all students gathered in the big Illini Quad (UIUC campus area) and lit thousand of candles on all the walkways. You can see the surreal lighting in the picture above. And its not just Indians but all nationalities who light lamps together. By now, you have already made good friends and in a land far away from your home, they are your new family. You will find many non-Indians asking Indian students about the significance of this festival.

The winter chill just starts building around this time and soon it will rattle the hell out of you. It gets so cold by the night that you don’t even want to take out your gloves to light any more lamps. Fun times indeed. Now that I am back in India and light a lot of crackers (while refraining myself to be environmentally conscious), I do miss those Diwali days as well 🙂

The bottomline – enjoy your present because you will miss it some day. For many of you, it might be last Indian Diwali for a long time – so cherish it and feel blessed. The Indian Students Association (ISA) at all schools takes care of the Indian festival celebrations and you will find garba nights, diwali and holi parties a big part of your school lives.

May Ganesha make your dreams come true and Lakshmi give you the financial wellbeing required to attain those dreams.

A very Happy Diwali to everyone.

How to get more admits in your MS MBA applications

how to ensure success in applications

Although the outcome of our study abroad applications is not entirely in our hands, you can plan to get more admits when applying to MS/MBA programs.

Your mental attitude is important

Psychology is an important factor and a big one when it comes to distinguishing between successful and not so successful people. At the end of the day, skills can be developed. Anyone can tirelessly work towards a goal but what matters for long term success is one’s mental fortitude and mindset of dealing with failures.

When we look at successful people, we wish to be like them, we wish we could get advantages like them. We even think they got things their way, perhaps they were lucky. But do you think they didn’t have to deal with failure? Everyone – every single person – has to deal with failures and its how you deal with it that can make all the difference.

Now, why am I talking about this all of a sudden amidst the application process is simple. You will plan a lot and put your best foot forward while applying to world’s best universities. The fact is you will still get few/many rejects. You play to win and you shall apply to succeed. BUT – yes, there is that big but – sometimes, you will face rejections. Those who can accept failures gracefully without giving in to it will be the ones who will make it bigger in the end.

How can you get more admits?

This is why you should apply to a combination of schools – its like diversifying your portfolio which is the first basic rule of investments. You distribute your eggs in different baskets hoping that at least one basket will remain safe. Usually for MS, you shall apply to 8-12 schools spread between ambitious (high rank, erratic ones), moderate and safe schools. Some people do apply to more but it can get cumbersome managing so many online applications, asking recommenders to fill so many LORs etc.

Apply to good mix of schools

So while you are gearing up to seeking success in all your applications, do take a good look at the list of schools you are applying to. Getting more admits is a matter of applying to right kind and number of universities.

Keep a good mix in there – don’t be too aggressive or defensive. This will also be determined by how desperately you wish to go abroad this year itself (also known as your risk profile). Is this a make or break situation for you or do you have back up options.

What’s your Plan B?

For graduates – do you have a good job offer in hand that you can go to if you don’t get your dream admit? The more desperate you are to succeed in your applications, more defensive you will have to be. And this is why solid school research is necessary. Being aggressive (applying to more than 4 ambitious schools) is okay if you can afford the risk – after all who wouldn’t want to get an admit to a super awesome high ranked school! But just in case you don’t get into those, what’s your Plan B? If you haven’t thought about it, think about it now.

Your school list should be aligned with your risk profile. Make sure it is.

I have seen some super smart students applying very aggressively but then left distraught with rejections. Don’t reach that stage. Know the risk when you apply aggressively and be prepared if things don’t work out in your favor. If admit is so critical for you, do apply to some safe schools as well and be prepared to go there if needed. Nothing is worse than applying to a school but not feeling comfortable in going there (why would you apply to such a school at all?)

Stay prepared for the best

As always, Gita said it best – “do what is in your hands, don’t fret about the outcome”. But yes, what you can do is be emotionally mature and plan accordingly. If you are prepared, you would know what lies ahead of admits as well as rejects. Reject is not the end of this world. You can do something meaningful this year and reapply – perhaps get into much better school anyways (called a blessing in disguise and it had happened with me). Its how you look at things that matters.