Pursuing your higher studies abroad is one of the very good options after completing you under-graduation. The infrastructure, exposure, environment, freedom of choosing your field and financial support are the advantages of doing higher education abroad.

    Many students don�t know how and where to start the process of application. This section has been written to clear almost all doubts a person faces in the process of applying abroad. The approximate time required from the starting of the process till landing in your desired country is around 18 months. The topics in this section are arranged in sequence so that one can understand easily.

There are four seasons in which students are taken.

1. Fall (Aug-Sep): Maximum number of admissions
2. Spring (Nov-Dec)
3. Winter (Jan-Feb)
4. Summer (Apr-May)

    It would be wise to continue your higher studies soon after completion of your course. Hence Fall would be the right season. If you finish your course by June, then you can carry out all the necessary steps comfortably.

    Internet has made the application process very easy. Now applications can be submitted online. So no postal delays and no fear of application reaching the wrong place. Application forms are available in the net; they can be either downloaded or filled up online and sent immediately. The following are the things to be done using the internet.

     The appropriate time to do the following would be the end of 4th semester or the beginning of 5th semester.

1. Open an Email Account:

    There many email service providers. Open an email account in any of the services. Yahoo, Hotmail and Rediffmail are some of the famous email services. This plays a vital role in your admission process. All the correspondence is done only on the net as it is a very fast medium. You will have to contact the professors and friends using emails.

2. Find out Universities Offering Computer Related Courses:

There are many websites for this purpose, a few of which are listed below.

• www.intstudy.com
• www.studyabroad.com
• www.universities.com
• www.usnews.com
• www.gradschools.com (check this one out: its cool)

For additional websites that give information about higher studies click on this link: Additional Websites

3. Browse the websites of the selected universities:

    After knowing the universities offering computer related courses, just enter the website of the university and choose �Academic Departments or any other related topic listed. Choose computer science if you are interested in computer science. If you are interested in say electronics engineering program, choose �Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering.

    Find out whether there are any funded research projects going on (which may listed under the heading �research?or in the department page or in the faculty interest page. If there are funded research projects, then your chances of getting financial aid is very good.

Also see the faculty list and their research interest. If you are interested in any one of them, you can contact them.

Collect all possible details about the university.

University Listing:

    The universities offering computer related courses can be found out using the website www.gradschools.com . The following is the procedure.

1. Go into gradshcools.com
2. Choose �listing by graduate program
3. Choose your program of interest
4. Choose the country

    The graduate record examination is one of the two exams you have to take in order to seek admission and financial aid in the universities abroad (mainly US). This exam tests in three sections:

• Verbal (English)
• Quantitative (Mathematics)
• Analytical (Reasoning and Logical thinking)

    The total score is 2400. A score of 2000 and above is a good score. There are also chances of securing admission even with a score of 1600, but the chances of getting financial aid is very less.

    TOEFL is also an important exam deciding you admission, assistantship and visa. This exam tests your English (grammar, listening ability, reading ability and writing ability). The total score is 300 and anything above 250 is a good score.

Registering to take GRE and TOEFL:

    The appropriate time for taking GRE is around august i.e. in the sixth semester and for TOEFL it is September or October. Get the GRE/TOEFL information bulletin (www.ipem.org). It contains all details regarding the test. Fill up the International Test Scheduling Form. You can either send by post or fax it to the Regional Registration Center (Delhi). In the latter case you need to have an International Credit card. You can also book your date through phone. Here again you need a Credit card. If your date is confirmed you will receive a confirmation letter in a weeks time. The contact details are provided in the information bulletin. In case of any problems like your credit card getting rejected, take a US Demand Draft and send it directly to the Educational Testing Services (ETS), Princeton, USA.

Note:     Remember that you need to have your passport in hand before sitting for exam with the name in passport coinciding with that in the confirmation letter obtained for taking TOEFL/GRE. Also it is better to get a driving license before taking exam (as identity). So apply for passport and driving license at least 3 months before taking the exam.

Score Reporting:

    Your scores can be reported to the Universities only by ETS. Photocopies you send are not accepted. To report your scores to Universites (apart from the universities you mentioned at the end of GRE or TOEFL examination) you need to send a Additional Score Report Request Form (ASR). To download ASR for GRE/TOEFL, Test Registration Forms GRE/TOEFL, Departmental Codes for GRE/TOEFL and Institution Codes please click this link. Please note that the departmental codes differ from GRE ASR and TOEFL ASR but the Institution Codes are the same for both.

Preparing for GRE and TOEFL:

    This is not a short term work. You will have to plan your studies very well. There many books dealing in detail about the preparation. Some of the standard books are Barron�s, Powerprep, Princeton Review, Cambridge, Arco, etc. Some of the books and CDs are also available in the library at Agricultural Processing Department. Practicing on a computer using CDs will help. Also consult your seniors regarding preparation. They are the best source of information at any stage of the process.

GRE:  Vocabulary, Regular reading of newspaper (esp. editorial section of the Hindu), Basic mathematics (up to 12th standard) and logical thinking (this develops only by practice).

TOEFL:   Watch English movies and try to understand the conversation and learn basic grammar. Reading is easier when compared to the reading section in GRE. Hence it will not be a tough job for those who have taken GRE.

    It is imperative that you apply for your passport at least three months before. You need to have your passport before sitting for exam. But registering date to take TOEFL/GRE does not need a passport in hand; you can just write �applied?the passport column. A passport application can be got from the head post office. The details to fill up the form are given clearly in the application form. The following are the list of items to be kept in hand before getting an application for passport:

• Recently taken passport photos, preferably color and with tie and blazer ?at least 10 numbers.
• Ration card/Appointment letter of reputed companies on letter head/Water tax/Telephone bill/Electricity bill/Running bank account
• Proof of Date of Birth: School certificates/10th and 12th standard mark sheets
• Hostel Residence certificate
• Bonafide certificate from the college

Confusion over name:

    It is one of the greatest confusions one may come across during the application process. Your name should be written as follows. Though many universities accept documents in different names (my TOEFL score sheet showed my name with words misplaced, but universities accepted it. But date of birth plays a major role; take care in writing your date of birth in the American format i.e. mm/dd/yy), it is always better to have same name on all the documents. During visa processing names are considered with care.

    Surname or family name or last name is the family name or your father�s name. First name is the name given to you. Generally Indians do not have a middle name.

Example: My name is Vishal Upadhyay. My father�s name is J.P.Upadhyay. So it should be
Last name/Surname: Upadhyay
First name: Vishal Upadhyay

    Some universities require you to fill up and send a pre-application (can be downloaded from the university website). If you are eligible you will be sent an application packet for admission. On-application forms are available in university websites which can either be downloaded, filled and sent through post or filled and sent online, the latter being a better method. The right time to send the pre-applications is by June. If you send it by June you will start to receive the application packets by July.

How many universities to pre-apply?

    If you are aping by e-mail, then there is no upper limit (around 75 would be better). If you are applying by post, then 30 would be fine. But most of the universities require you to fill and send applications on-line.

How to pre-app?

    Try to send all the pre-apps through e-mail as it might save some unnecessary postage costs. The standard pre-app format is given below. Send the mail requests at least twice to each university. The email ids where the pre-apps have to be sent can be got from the department/university websites.

Pre-Application Format:

Sincerely yours
Vishal Upadhyay

When to start prof contacts?

    The ideal time for contacting professors in some time in September when you have GRE scores in hand. You can even contact even without GRE scores, but a good score may increase the chance of immediate and encouraging reply.

Whom to contact?

    The professor you are contacting should be working in the same area in which you are interested. If there is more than one prof. in the same department who are working in your area, do not send mails to all of them simultaneously. Choose one prof and contact him. Wait for his response and if it is not favorable, then contact others. Do not expect the profs to reply to your mail immediately. Give them some time to reply and if you don�t get any reply for a week, then send the same mail again. Each prof will be getting hundreds of mails everyday and hence some of them won�t reply at all. The profs cannot say whether you can get admission in that university or not. They usually comment only on your chances of getting RA (Research Assistantship) under him. If you want to know about your admission chances, write either to the Graduate chairperson in that department or to the admissions office. The prof addresses and their interests can be downloaded from the web. Some university brochures gives the profs areas of interests clearly and also their Email addresses.

What should you send to the professors?

    A covering letter and a brief resume should be sent. Stress more on your research interests and why he should take you in his work group. The ideal way would be start off by asking some doubts in the papers that he has done, then proceeding to develop a good contact and when you are sure, ask the professor about assistantship (�cos most profs don�t reply if you directly ask him for an assistantship in the first mail. But if you are, like most guardians ?lazy, then ask him for an assistantship in the first mail. But at least be polished in your approach. Ask for something like ?your chances of getting research assistantship in his group. The format for the prof contact letter is attached. If you have gone through some of the research papers of these profs, then mention them clearly and tell them what you liked about that paper and also ask some doubts on them. This usually prompts the prof to reply to your mails immediately. But, there is no use in just mentioning the title of the paper and tell them that you were impressed by it.

See this topic also: Financial Aid