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.