My international experience - part 1

T

techdude

Broken In
After my engineering in Telecommunication, I had the option of joining a software firm in Bangalore or to go for higher studies. During my 3rd year of engineering I had started researching on different institutes in USA and gave the GRE and TOEFL exams and then applied to some universities during my final year....

So by the time I graduated with my engineering degree, I had a few admits from some universities . I opted for Arizona State University in Phoenix, USA to pursue my masters in engineering degree. The experience at ASU was phenomenal....Amazing professors, great research labs, diverse peer group, very large and beautiful campus. Also, another interesting factor was that I had flexibility to select many courses of my interest area.

As Masters degree students, we could work for 20 hours per week to cover some of our expenses. I got an opportunity to work at STAR (Solar Testing and Research Center), a division of the largest energy producing company of the state. The company used to hire interns from the engineering college of ASU!

And soon in my first semester itself, the company decided to provide me with a scholarship, which provided me tuition fee waivers !!

More about my experiences later.....
 
dreamcatcher

dreamcatcher

Rockin g33k
Excuse me, but which college did you graduate from?? i heard its impossible to get through a good college in the US unless you are from a well know college. What is the basic criterion?? Will a good GRE mark do??
 
OP
T

techdude

Broken In
Thanks compaddict...

Dreamcatcher:
I did my engineering from R.V.C.E. Bangalore..... Its pretty popular engineering college in Karnataka.

I think its a myth that only students from IITs go to US or other countries for higher studies....IITs are very well known there but students from other colleges apply and get admitted too....And gradually with good application and hard work, they make it big !!

Vinod Dham, popularly known as Father of Pentium chip graduated from Delhi College of Engineering and is currently an internationally known personality.

Vani Kola,very successful entrepreneur of the silicon valley, was a graduate of Osmania University if I am not mistaken....Am sure there are many more big role models.

So guess, graduating from a good college is great but in India there is so much good talent and less world class colleges and not everyone gets an opportunity to get into IIT level institutes.... So one should just persist and continue working hard even after graduating from non IIT level colleges...

US univerties look at many factors to give admission:
1. Your acads
2. Your career goals and motivation level which they try to guage via statement of purpose, which is part of the application package.
3. What else you have achieved apart from your acads.
4. If you have graduated, its a bonus which means that you have worked hard from early days to get into a good college.
5. How well you have scored in your GRE/SAT/TOEFL/GMAT as per the requirement of the course...
6. Have you taken special initiatives in your area of interest in which you want to pursue studies....

I may have missed something...will let you know if i realize later..... others can share too...

cheers
 
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Kl@w-24

Kl@w-24

Slideshow Bob
Some very good points there. Thumbs up for this post! If I may ask, what are you doing currently?
 
dreamcatcher

dreamcatcher

Rockin g33k
Is there any special perk for someone who has loads of relatives in the US?? I heard that it mattered somewhat as a gaurantee.
 
OP
T

techdude

Broken In
Having relatives in US is not required and no special points are given for this....but if someone has relatives there they can help and guide....

Before the student visa is issued the embassy needs to ensure that you can pay for your education and living expenses in a foreign country......so help from parents/relatives in India is sufficient.....
 
Plasma_Snake

Plasma_Snake

Indidiot
techdude said:
US univerties look at many factors to give admission:
1. Your acads
2. Your career goals and motivation level which they try to guage via statement of purpose, which is part of the application package.
3. What else you have achieved apart from your acads.
4. If you have graduated, its a bonus which means that you have worked hard from early days to get into a good college.
5. How well you have scored in your GRE/SAT/TOEFL/GMAT as per the requirement of the course...
6. Have you taken special initiatives in your area of interest in which you want to pursue studies....

I may have missed something...will let you know if i realize later..... others can share too...

cheers
Click to expand...
OK, so here my answers to the following queries and then will generate a few of mine as well. ;)

  1. Well till 10th I was good in studies, scored 73% but f'd up my 11th so got only 55% in 12th. :confused:
  2. Career Goal, hmmm Game Dev. by any means necessary! :D
  3. Just some school level competitions, nothing much.
  4. In process of graduating...
  5. Haven't given any yet.
  6. Well I'm doing a 1 year course for Comptia N+ and a 3 year GNIIT from my local NIIT center, if it counts.
So what do u say, if I score good in GRE, can I get into DeVry? They have a Bachelor's level program for Game Dev. Dunno much about any such more good Universities. :(
 
OP
T

techdude

Broken In
sure....Having money helps...but many universities do offer scholarships like teaching assistantships and research assistantships...
 
Abhishek Dwivedi

Abhishek Dwivedi

TechFreakiez.com
techdude said:
sure....Having money helps...but many universities do offer scholarships like teaching assistantships and research assistantships...
Click to expand...

yeah but like if ur course fee is $6000 thn u can get a scholarships wrth $2000 n rest ur on ur own...u can make some frm ur part time job but still not full....isn't thr neways to study on ur own...(dnt tell me loans :p )
 
OP
T

techdude

Broken In
Abhishek: It varies from case to case, kind of scholarships/stipends that you get; kind of your part time job.

In my case, i was lucky (and of course a bit hard-working too I guess) to get good scholarships and good internship/part-time opportunities to not only cover my fees and living expenses but also save some money at the end of my masters degree !

More scholarships are available for Masters and Phd. level programs as compared to bachelor degrees.

One just needs to be focused and persistent with one's dreams and efforts !!

Each one of us have to follow our own path but the following suggestions could help a few:

1. Take your class 10 exams seriously.
2. Take science or commerce or arts based on YOUR interest area..... It is a very critical stage of one's career.
3. Enjoy but study very hard too. Manage your time well in 11 and 12 and then try and graduate from a good college. Doing graduation from overseas could be a more expensive affair....unless of course you are a genius and get an admit from Stanford or MIT.
4. After graduation, one can opt for a job, work for a few years and then think about higer studies or directly go for higher studies. Evaluate your interest areas and think of your family and take their advice too. Talk to people who have been in similar situations. Listen to different people, get different perspectives but in the end do follow your heart!!

MetalheadGautham said:
Can you please provide more info about gre/toefl/sat/gmat ?
Click to expand...

Metal head :

SAT is the exam given during class 11 or 12 for bachelor degree from US universities.

GRE is required for Masters/Phd programs

GMAT is required for MBA in USA. Some Indian universities like ISB, also accept GMAT scores.

TOEFL is an English exam required for both bachelors and masters degree. Not very difficult exam.

cheers
 
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OP
T

techdude

Broken In
Plasma_Snake said:
Oh! Yaar, meri baat ka bhi to answer do!
Click to expand...

Plasma Snake:

If I were you:

1. I would explore Devry game development program details online (am sure you have done this already...).
2. Write to them and ask them the exact admission requirements. I think its a private university and may not even have GRE as a requirement.
3. Try and find someone who has a done a game dev. program from there and take their feedback regarding opportunities after doing the program.
4. Explore what opportunities are available in the same field in India.
5. Which other good Universities in US/Australia offer programs Gaming.

Its worth doing all the research since it will be an important career decision.

Since you are looking for admission in an off-beat and niche program like Game Dev. getting admission might be less competitive...

best of luck...
 
M

mehra.rakesh

Journeyman
Plasma_Snake said:
OK, so here my answers to the following queries and then will generate a few of mine as well. ;)

  1. Well till 10th I was good in studies, scored 73% but f'd up my 11th so got only 55% in 12th. :confused:
  2. Career Goal, hmmm Game Dev. by any means necessary! :D
  3. Just some school level competitions, nothing much.
  4. In process of graduating...
  5. Haven't given any yet.
  6. Well I'm doing a 1 year course for Comptia N+ and a 3 year GNIIT from my local NIIT center, if it counts.
So what do u say, if I score good in GRE, can I get into DeVry? They have a Bachelor's level program for Game Dev. Dunno much about any such more good Universities. :(
Click to expand...


U can't actually piggyback just on a good GRE score ... GRE is more like a formality for most top colleges .They look at other things .SOPs play a big role even in undergrad courses . In GRE u have a section for writing ,, it lets the profs have a sneek prevu of what's in ur mind .Getting a good score in this section certainly helps ... If u fckd up ur acads u must have a solid reason (not excuse) too ..

But if a college is not that big or popular then a good GRE score is more than enuf .... Oh and u have to give another exam TOEFL .....

P.S :: Isn't this college in canada ... ??? If so then no probs at all .. U can get in w'out worrying abt nething
 
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