Valmiki's Ramayana: the inexplicable

After reading the Ramayana everybody asks how Rama could kill Vali hiding from him and how he could renounce his loving wife Sita after taking all the effort to save her. While I am trying to figure out the answer to these questions (I doubt if anyone can convince me that Rama was correct), I realized I had a couple of more questions besides these:

1. Sugriva complained to Rama that his elder brother Vali had illegally taken Sugriva’s wife Ruma as his own. This was one of the main reasons Rama killed Vali (To correct the ‘adharma’ that Vali had done.) How then could Sugriva take Vali’s wife Tara as his own after his brother’s death? Isn’t that unrighteous too? After all, in Indian culture, your elder brother’s wife is equal to your mother…

2. How can one justify Ravana’s brother Vibhishana betraying his brother to join Rama in battle. Clearly he had the selfish gain of obtaining Lanka. When Rama is close to death after Indrajit’s attack, Vibhishana laments that he may never be able to rule over Lanka, rather than worrying about Rama’s health. On the other hand, in the Mahabharatha, Karna stays with the Kauravas even though he knows that they have wronged and will be on the losing side. Isn’t he a truer brother?

Final Episode: The universities I applied to...

Duke University: This was the first university that I applied to. I applied to Master of Engineering Management after a lot of research about the program. The webpage for the Master of Engineering Management page can be found at: http://memp.pratt.duke.edu/ Was one of my middle-range universities. Got an admit early February.

Stanford: Applied to MS in Management Science and Engineering. I felt there was a perfect fit between what I wanted and what was offered at Stanford. Did a lot of work on the Statement of Purpose and resume. Was fortunate to get very good recommendations. They do give a good weightage to GRE score. Was no. 1 choice of admit. Highly ambitious. Got a positive result early March. http://www.stanford.edu/dept/MSandE/

Columbia University: Was attracted to the Industrial Engineering and Operations Research Department. Realized pure Master of Engineering Management degrees like those in Duke are not much valued. So decided on solid MS programs. Applied to MS in Engineering Management Systems. http://www.ieor.columbia.edu/. Admitted.

University of Southern California: Middle range. Many Indian applicants do get in. So applied to EM again. http://www.usc.edu/dept/ise/. Industrial and Systems Engineering Department. Admitted.

Georgia Tech: Boasts of the no. 1 ranked program for Industrial Engineering. Was an ambitious application. Managed to get in. But I find that the MS&E program of Stanford gives a broader range of subject choices compared to GAtech. http://www.isye.gatech.edu/

Purdue: An optimistic application from my side. But, the program seems very narrow in scope and more of a traditional Industrial Engineering degree. So decided not to take it up. https://engineering.purdue.edu/IE/

Highly ranked Industrial Engineering Department. But the Industrial Engineering department’s handling of my application was very poor. They did not give me my result for more than 6 months. I finally mailed them asking them to cancel my application. http://www.ise.vt.edu/main/index.php

A safe bet. The Industrial Engineering department has a modest ranking of 13^th in USA. Got an admit with partial fee waiver.http://www.ise.ufl.edu/

MEng. in Engineering Management. Comes under the Civil Engineering Department at Cornell. MEng. Can be very limiting if you want to get into research at later stages. Too short a duration. 9 months. Before you can really dig in to the courses, I guess you’ll have to get out of the university! http://www.cee.cornell.edu/graduate-programs/meng-in-engineering-management.cfm

University of Michigan at Ann Arbor: My only reject. Very good Industrial Engineering program. But their website s not too informative. A must-apply if you are serious about hard-core Industrial Engineering. http://ioe.engin.umich.edu/

Well that’s it! I have finally got through with detailing my applications procedure. Something I always wanted to pen down. Being from Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani – Goa Campus was a huge advantage. The brand name certainly helped. I mentioned Goa Campus as much as I could in the applications. Proud to be a BITS Goan! I will have surely missed a few points here and there. Hope you gain something out of these posts. Do mail me if you have other queries.

Episode 5: Final steps

You will have to mail hard copies of your academic transcripts (if they do not accept soft copies) to the university you applied to. Ensure that you also send your resume with the transcripts. Write a polite covering letter detailing the contents of the package you are couriering.

Submit the GRE and TOEFL scores to each university. The total cost of applying to a single university will be close to $100-$120. Yes, applying is an expensive process.

Now, you can't just sit back and relax for too long. Follow up on the application. See that all the documents have reached and that you application is fully complete. Mail the department if you have any queries.

The admission results for fall admissions start coming in earliest by February beginning. Start saying you prayers and hoping for the best. When you do get your results, don't accept immediately. Wait for the other results to come in. It will be very nice of you to thank your recommenders and tell them of your results. They will appreciate it. If you are sure to reject a particular university, let them know by mailing them or following the procedures they expect.

Episode 4: Statement of Purpose and Recommendation Letters

Quick points on SOP

• It has to be original and completely yours. You can copy formats of others, but never the contents.
• It is statement trying to convince the admissions committee why you 'fit-in' to their department. For this, you should know about their department inside out, know the research, the labs, the professors and be able to mention some of these in the SOP.
• Do not repeat your resume (Oh Yes! You should have an academic resume created for yourself) on the SOP.
• Refer some websites on Statement of Purpose. Ask seniors for their SOPs and get ideas from them. statementofpurpose.com is where I got my first ideas from.
• Do review the SOP many times. Ask your parents and friends to do so. No grammatical errors, no smileys, be professional and convincing.

Quick points on recommendation letters:

• Take recommendation letters from faculty members who know you well and can describe you on a personal level.
• The rank of the professor is not important if he is going to give you a standard 'He/She is a good student' recommendation.
• There is no binding rule that your recommenders should be from the same department that you studied in. If your mathematics faculty member knows you well, but you are a CS major, doesn't matter!
• Have at least 4 options for recommenders. Approach them early. Usually 3 recommenders are needed. Mix and match and ensure that 1 recommender is not common in all the universities recommendation.
• If your recommender wants to keep his/her recommendation confidential, you do no have a choice. Respect their sentiments.
• If your recommender gives you a choice of drafting a rough copy, brilliant! Put in immense effort, use polished language and great adjectives and hope that at least some of the points are taken
• It is better if the recommender holds a doctorate degree.
• Always thank the recommender profusely for recommending you.

The SOP and recommendation letters are the two major factors that can make or break your application. Do spend considerable time and effort on them. It will make all the difference in the end.

Episode 3: Selecting the universities you would like to be in

This is perhaps the most critical stage of the MS application. Usually, students select 8-10 universities. Take 2-3 ambitious ones (where you believe getting in would be a miracle), 3-4 moderate ones (where you have even chances) and 2-3 safe bets (sure admits).

Before selecting though, you need to figure out what subject you want to do graduate study in. If you are a Computer Science major, it is not necessary that you do graduate study in CS, unless you really like the field. Remember, you will be spending lot of time and money on the program, and your decision here could shape your career. So, go through the university pages, talk to people. Make sure you study what you like. Soul-searching is a term I’d like to use here. This is something very important.

Think about the subjects you like and explore. I was clear I did not want to continue Electrical Engineering, but wanted something focused towards Management and Economics. I first considered Engineering Management, then realized it limited scope and shifted towards Industrial Engineering. Doing this search requires lot of patience, hours of poring through websites for rankings, university websites for course structures, mailing some of the professors based on their research interests that match with yours, mailing people doing courses at universities etc. Professors usually do not reply back to students, but the process of mailing might in itself clear some doubts you may have! So, I would still suggest trying to mail some of them.

All this effort is worth it. Because the more you are excited and convinced about your choice of subject in graduate study, the more you can convince the admissions committee about you deserving admission to their program.

Episode 2: The standardized tests: GRE and TOEFL

The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is required by every university you apply to. So you might as well get through with it and have a monkey off your back. The GRE has 3 components. An Analytical Writing Ability section where you write 2 essays, a Verbal section (30 questions, 30 minutes) and a Quantitative Ability Section (28 questions, 45 minutes). Any preparation book can give you more details. Remember, the GRE is an important exam. Getting a great score will give you an advantage over another applicant irrespective of how good the university is. Here are some tips to crack the exam:

1. Remember, the GRE is a computer adaptive test, where the questions become tougher as you answer them right.
2. If you are an Engineering student, you must ensure that the Quant score is 800. 10^th standard maths is tested and it is a crime if you don’t get almost all questions right. A couple of day’s preparation and practise tests can get you there.
3. The AWA section is neglected by many people. This section (writing 2 essays) is important too. Your essay score matters apart from your score out of 1600. Practise typing in an essay or two from the list of topics in the ETS website (that is the list from which they take questions. And I got the same one I practised!!!). See that you can manage the time of 45 minutes and 30 minutes for the 2 essays.
4. For the verbal section, the key is knowing a lot of vocabulary words. Keep improving your vocabulary by learning wordlists.
5. Practise full-length tests from CDs with the time limits (mainly the Verbal section). This will give you a feel of the computer adaptive test.
6. Remember that the GRE is a computer adaptive test. It is a must that you are more attentive for the first few questions (10-15) and get them all correct. Also, ensure you answer all the questions as the negatives for not answering are more than for answering wrong.
7. Some books I' suggest are:
1. Barrons for GRE (Must. Do all the wordlists at least once.)
2. The BIG book. (This is out of print now. It has some old published GRE questions. Try and get an online copy.)
3. If you have more time, Kaplan GRE will be good.
4. Princeton review is largely a waste of time and money.
5. Use the accompanying CDs or download tests online.
8. Join some of these communities on Orkut and go through some of the sample questions. This will help.

• http://www.orkut.co.in/Main#Community.aspx?cmm=27913614
• http://www.orkut.co.in/Main#CommTopics.aspx?cmm=27575457
• http://www.orkut.co.in/Main#CommTopics.aspx?cmm=28459806
• http://www.orkut.co.in/Main#Community.aspx?cmm=170660

9. ETS (Educational testing Service) the organization that conducts the GRE) hands out a cd-rom called Powerprep, which has a couple of tests. Make sure you practice these towards the end. Because the software used in these cds is the same as the one that runs in the test center. So it is as if you have taken 2 GREs before the one you are going to take!

How much time does preparation take? Depends. If your vocabulary is really good, then I’d say in a month you can get more than 1500. If you have an average vocabulary, it will take more time. It does help to read good English material (like in this blog) and assimilate words from them. The key to success in GRE is practise, practise and more practise.

Next, the Test Of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). This is best taken within a month from the GRE. The scores are currently valid for just about one and a half years, so you better be sure you are going to apply before you register for this exam. GRE scores are valid for 5 years.

TOEFL is very easy. It has 4 sections: Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking. Taking a full-length test (maybe two at the max) should get you well prepared. The Kaplan CD for TOEFL preparation is very good.

Episode 1: Deciding to apply

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a first step.”

-Lao-tzu, ancient Chinese philosopher and founder of Taoism

The fact is the application process does not need you to take even a single step. Everything can be done seated on your computer!

Now, getting to the applications story. Deciding to apply is great. But ask yourself why you want to apply. At least 2 grueling years of hard work, more years to study, more expenses. Do you want to go through all that? Some reasons for higher studies in USA could be:

• Interests: Perhaps the best reason. If you have a burning desire to learn more, explore your chance subjects, then bingo! You must apply!
• Career: Obvious. A higher degree will get you higher up the career ladder. Faster promotions, higher pay etc.
• Want to go to USA: Well you really, really want to actually see what you see in the Hollywood movies. The places, the people, the cars, the casinos etc. The babes. You can do that on a holiday. But you want to do that while studying. That’s ok. I’ve always believed that the heights of the results are proportional to the intensity of the desire to attain them.
• Nothing else to do: Fine. But ponder a little more.
• I have even heard that some people go for an MS because it increases their prospects of getting good brides to wed when they are back. That wasn’t my main reason, but it does feel good, doesn’t it?

The clearer you are on why you want to go on to study further, the easier it is for you to apply. For me, it was a mix of the first three options, plus the belief that I was too young and not really ready to start wearing formal clothes and going to those big imposing buildings.

If you are just entering college and don’t know whether you want to do an MBA or an MS or go on to work, I’d suggest you do the following things to figure out:

1. Electives: Take electives unrelated to your core subject. That will give you a feel of different subjects and whether you like them. I did an elective on ‘Principles of Economics’ and discovered my liking for the subject. One of my friends, a Computer Science major, took an elective on Advertising and decided that he wanted a career in that field
2. Internships: Internships give you great perspective. If you do some research work under professors, you get a feel of what research is like. If you do work in an organization, you get to understand the kind of field you want to work in. Either way, you get to write something in your SOPs and resumes.
3. Projects: If you college allows you to do projects under faculty members, do so! It can again be in anything from humanities to robotics. The sooner you realize you interest, the better!

Once you are convinced that you want to pursue graduate study, you can proceed to the next step. The GRE.

The MS/Phd application Saga

I have just completed the entire process of applying to universities in the USA for masters (MS) programs. It was a wonderful experience which I thought had to be penned down. Perhaps, I am saying the experience was wonderful because of the results (I got in to 9 of the 10 universities I applied to). The fact is that the more your enjoy the application process, the more enjoyable the results will be. I had great fun applying and in the next few posts I’ll tell you how you can do so too…