MS in US-Basics you need to know!

I obviously do not have like 10-15 years experience in this field but let me share with you stuff that I went through when I decided that this was for sure my line.

Okay the first thing to make sure is that you plan in advance.Let me chart out a lil' schedule.

Also please make sure you apply max for the Fall batch since a lot of schools dont offer many programs in Spring.

Ok the schedule.

Say suppose you are going to apply for the Fall 2013 batch.(The earlier you start the process and start making up your mind the better).

Please decide your specialization(Not ECE or EE ..Stuff like Networks,Databases etc) atleast by 2012 May.

If you require coaching make sure you take and complete the course by 2011 December.

If you are confident enough go ahead and take GRE by March 2012.(The scores are valid for 5 years!So dont worry) and no problem if you goof up! You have enough time to take it even twice.

Okay the next step.Prepare and take TOEFL(About a week should be more than enough if you speak good english).

[Clicking here takes you to an article I wrote about my TOEFL prep and test taking experience]

All that done make sure you are done with all this by July or at the most August.

Now begins the real process.Go through various university websites and check out their programs and which suits you.Read about the research of various professors and see who you'd like to work with.Allow yourself atleast 3-4 weeks for this(If you're in a hurry atleast 2 weeks).

In the meantime start writing your SOP(Statement of Purpose).It should through light on why you are applying for MS?Why this particular field?Why this university?How you got interested in it?What all have you done to prove your interest and passion for this?Other extra curriculars etc.Make atleast 5 or 6 drafts.Ask people around to read it to make sure it sounds good and then prepare a final copy.Take atleast 2-3 weeks for this.

Now also speak to 3 professors in your college/superiors in your workplace for recommendation letters.Sometimes they do it themselves in which case just give them a short summary of your achievements for them to highlight and in the worst case that you have to do it yourself make sure that they sound poles apart and not like they have been written by the same person.

All right , lets get back to the shortlisting.Now that you have done your research,spoken to seniors,seen all those rankings you must be ready to shortlist those univs that you want to apply to.Ideally choose 10(2-Dream,4-You can get into,4-Safe Admits).This done get your univ list approved by some seniors who you know or by other means just to be on the safe side.

Next Step:Start filling out applications.Most of them are online applications and require registration so careful with the username and password!Fill out all the details they ask..

[A typical appln will require the following:

Name,Last name,Contact address and phone no,DOB,College that you studied in and graduation date,GPA,SOP Upload,Recommender contact details,Resume(Optional in some cases) and details about your citizenship and Visa type you require,what course/term you are applying to,Test scores(GRE,TOEFL),Publications,project details(optional),Scanned copy of transcript(optional),Work experience details(optional)]

While sending the application you'll have to pay for it either by credit card or send a DD to them.I'd recommend credit card.You're application processing will begin only after you pay this amount.

Okay now to get your application packet ready.This is the one you'll be couriering to the universities.

And before I forget send your GRE and TOEFL Scores to all these univs by using the ETS Website.(I think it costs 40$ for a GRE+TOEFL Report).Univs accept reports sent to them from ETS and not your xeroxes so it is mandatory that you do this.Again credit card payment is better.

Now back to the packet.First of all see how many univs require a transcript and how many copies.Total all this up and add 2 to it just to be safe for later(Some univs may require after they give admits so its up to you to decide how many you need.Typically I'd suggest atleast 16 or 17 copies initially)

Go to the univ which you studied in and follow the procedure to procure this.Let me tell you the procedure for Anna Univ,Chennai.(Experience is quite harrowing here unless you get everything you need beforehand.)First Get a DD drawn in favour of whatever is mentioned in the website(I think mine was drawn in favour of Controller of Exams,not sure though).Get a copy of 10th and 12th mark sheets,all your degree marksheets and put it in a cloth cover and give it to them.You can collect the transcript in a week(I think there are some revised rules now.Do check the website)

See what else the university requires and put all these in a folder and create an index for them.Now use a A3 or A2 size cover for all these and courier it to the univ.(I used TNT.Edulix members get a discount there.It cost me around 685 Rs./courier but its 704 now I guess).I would not advise speed post.(Friend of mine had little trouble with it)

Now keep checking the status page for the updates and follow up to see all the documents are received and updated.

Wait for the decisions and All the best!

(Steps after getting an admit will be discussed in another post when I am feeling too lazy to touch my books just like today :D)

You can refer to Edulix or Happy Schools Blog.This is just an intro.You can find in-depth information in the above two links.

Cheers!

Gaya. :)

Dashing before dining!

Now I am not exactly proud of this incident.And I am not fairly sure when it happened but should be some time around this January.Now wait,January 4 th I think(How did I remember? Because it was just one glorious day away from the last working day at college) ..Right so why exactly am I not proud of what I did?Well,now that I think about it could have turned out a lot worse and probably could have happened to anyone.

Okay it almost always goes without saying that whenever I got out for dinner with my friends it is always a place atleast one of them has been to before.And I am basically not encouraged during the "suggestions" session much due to the fact that I often end up suggesting an allout Vegetarian place(I do get my way on my Birthday though :D).Okay so yeah I did read about this one place on the newspaper which got like a 4.5/5 and naturally I was intrigued and so naturally I suggested the place and turns out I got that one in the bag and a 30 mins of no-vetos later we decided on that place.

And one thing I do have to mention is that I am in general the last to reach any place and I almost always arrived 20 mins after the agreed upon time + grace time.So you should actually imagine the surprise on my face when I reached the place the first(Well even then I was around 20 mins late :D) but yeah the next part is quite embarrassing.

So I go inside with this friend of mine and around 3 are yet to arrive.The interiors are quite pleasant actually and we walk through and are alloted a table.There was no one there and hence all the eyes were on us,the two poor souls who'd walked in then.

We were handed the menu(which was like around 2 pages I guess) and trust me it was quite a good one except for the prices!We didnt expect a mere starter to cost that much and all of us were pretty much broke(me from my trip and others from their new year splurge) and then began those uncomfortable moments on deciding whether it was worth spending so much on such pretentious food!And obv I had to take responsibility for the fiasco.

And so we made this awesome (!) plan of sneaking out but frankly,it is really difficult to escape unnoticed when you're like the only customers in a restaurant.And what do I do except the usual mobile dance?You know pretend like you're not getting signal inside and running out.(But to save some face I did leave my friend inside) and so I call up the other guy and quickly explain the situation and while he was successfully stalled I went inside to the get the poor dear who was braving the piercing glances of the staff there.

What pretext did I use?The usual.One person is not able to find the way and we had to go get him.Solid plan.We told them we'd be back in a few minutes and made our way through those questioning looks.And we got into the lift we remembered something...

...That we had forgotten to inform the other two! Just as our lift doors closed they came up! and were greeted inside by the staff and it was too late and us going back to get them was stupidity+embarrassment.We first had to clear our head and stall the one guy who didnt report yet.That done we set to work on the other two who by now were seated already and probably were screaming curses under their breath looking at the menu.Finally after about twenty minutes of this nail-biting drama we managed to escape and shamelessly(!) laugh about the whole incident.

P.S-Dinner that day ended up being a huge tub of icecream and cron nuggets with salsa(as put by our rising star Mr.Anu Kapoor-"Enna machan bonda vum thakali chutney um vechutu 100 rs.vangitaan!Eduku namma Taj laye saaptrukalaame") at Sandy's chocolate lab.After effects included heavy fever,cold and missing the last working day of college.

P.P.S-Taj is a very royal thallu-vandi thattu kadai at mogappair apparently with awesome mutta-dosai and biriyaani.

Until the next one,

Gaya :)

Kaaka Pongal

To all those true-blood Tamilians out there Happy pongal!Maatu Pongal!Kaanum Pongal and what not! :)

My Mobile Service Provider has used this golden chance to steal 50 per text for the whole 3 days!Guess they wanted to spend their pongal reveling in curses from the public..To each his own well.

Okay so after watching movies like Its a Boy Girl thing and The proposal and activities like applying mehendi and decorating the rangoli painstakingly drawn by Amma I felt it was enough getting in touch with my feminine side this week(Wait!I think I did a year's worth)..All right so here's a post but sadly its not about that cool tomboy stuff..

The day after pongal is the traditional Kanu-pidi or Kanu Pongal which we fondly refer at home as Kaaka Pongal. See its very simple.In olden days they made loads of pongal and after the younger lot and elder ones were done with it they didnt know what to do with the leftovers next morning since they didnt have fridges see? And who would clear up the mess...Ofcourse the crows..And crows apparently I ve been toldahave this streak of pride so they dont just eat food flung at them and hence to make it presentable it became a traditional thing a.k.a Borth of our Kaaka Pongal.

(All right here's my moms take on the birth of tradition: Apparently elders did not know if the leftovers were safe enough for them to consume the next day and hence they used bhola crows as testers.)

Anyway this is how it goes all the ladies of the household get up early and take this small ginger leaf I guess(Trust me its like playing with the dolls.All miniature portions) and there is some order in which you place seven crow sized bites of various items like :Sakkara pongal,ginger,turmeric,thayir sadam,sugarcane and stuff. and after wards there is one 2 secs pooja and then it all shouting kaaakaaa to glory.And then all us kids huddle behind the door seeing food from whose leaf is consumed the most.

And then starts our Pongal-2 with the variety rice and all that.

Its been a super tradition but this year I missed on accounting of sleeping away to glory(I know!I know! ) ..Anyways happy kaaka pongal to you all and all you crows out there watch out for those dubakoor sakkara pongals and diahorrea thayir saadams.

P.S- As Vivekh rightly put it "Iniku Kaa Kaa nu kooptu saapadu podreenga..Nalaiku vaadam mela ukkanda kallala adikreengle?"

Until the next one,

Gaya :)

Dai Sottai!

Now wait this is not directed at all sottai people..Just those who act like douchebags and instill the urge to kill in even the most demure student..

Today was one of the most trying days ever.I had my semester practical exam and with the amount of preparation I had done and this lab being one of my favorites I was pretty confident that I could finish off within an hour so and walk away happily.So did it happen?NO..I was left all huffy and puffy and my mind was filled with so many expletives that if I had let even one slip that would have been the end.

Anna University has this wonderful habit of updating its syllabus every decade or so.This is one of the reasons I have never been taught a program in the lab more difficult than addition of nos or fibonacci series.While we are on that my college has this again wonderful habit of giving the programs ready made and its surprising how most of them follow this practise unquestioningly.Probably because of the fact that it is the easier way.And most of the externals who sit lethargically eating sojji-bajji does not open any door for development either.

But there is one particular thing that I have never understood.The examiner literally tortures the very few people who make an attempt to answer.Now this can be viewed from a positive angle that they want you to learn more.Wrong! The way they ask you question after question and then some more questions and after what seems like eternity finally say "Ennama!Idhu kood therila!"..Dude! I am human not a humanoid ...My mind can work till maximum the 10 th question thrown at me.And the way you watch my lips move fast trying to comprehend what I say is not helping either and neither does you butler english.

So I hear this guy trying to ask me to do something..He speaks English like he is been transferred to Chennai recently from a place where English is even unheard of(He thought he spoke like a Brit but well to each his own) .So I tell him"I am sorry sir but I am not able to understand what you expect".Next thing I know he says the same thing like a broken record.Word and word with nearly 5 seconds gap between each.Dude!You think I am a cave woman or what?

The worse part was that he asked me to make nearly some 15 changes and after catering all those whims and fancies I finally had enough.The 16th change completely pissed me off and when he kept chuckling it was evident that he was trying to break me.This was not a competition.It was a game that he was playing at my expense.This mark is on my permanent record and he couldnt care less.Finally though I got both the outputs he refused to verify even one because apparently it was not the format he wanted.Loser!

After all this there came the viva.In a time interval of 5 minutes he shot nearly 12 questions at me and I was able to manage some 8 or so.Impressive?No it earned me 5 marks!And then I was told that a lot of them got zero on their viva!

I literally threw the paper when it was being collected and was so glad when it was my chance to leave.

Efforts are being made to trace the Sottai.

P.S-The sottai had an amazing "Gadothgajan" lunch and tortured the afternoon batch with an even greater vigor.

Sottai,I sincerely hope your lips seal shut forever.

25! a.k.a The beginning or the end.

Its been almost 10 months since I started blogging and I am down to a quarter century.Impressive? Definitely not! Am I getting better?That is left for you all to decide.

So what do I write about?But before that let me give you a good reason for the irregularity in posting.I have been held up lately with the application process for my Masters and hence am left with almost no time for even regular gossip( :O)

And apologies for I have nothing remotely fun to write about.It has been a really long time since I posted and I just felt I had to get back.

Okay..let me write about how I sacrificed a first day first show of "Enthiran" for a trip to Rameshwaram.Now,now hold the "ayooo ippove kaasi,rameshwaram nu poriyaa?" thoughts..(yes yes I am only 20) .Far from being a bhakthi trip it was an amazing one as I travelled from north of TamilNadu to an end point of India.

So as I did near one point and it suddenly struck me that I was just an hour away from an end point(Dhanushkodi) I was left wondering the same thing that I did when I was at Kanyakumari(that actual end point) .It was something very simple.So I turn to face the sea and I am walking towards the end(Oh,Common! not the literal end..Its not like I am going to walk into the sea ).But if I just turn around I am walking towards the beginning of a nation.Its just one weird feeling.

Its the same point.But it is the beginning and the end.It all came down to the side you face.So was it the beginning or the end?In the end what struck me was even if you walk towards the end,you'll have to turn right around and face the beginning.The end is always there but so is the the beginning a turn away.It all comes down to the choices you make that decides which side of life you want to see:The optimistic one or the pessimistic one.

All right,all right I'll come up with something better next time :)

My Security Blanket

Realization dawned on me akin to the smell of Sundal announcing the arrival of Navarathri. It has been nearly 6 months since I got my license ,yet,I cannot drive without the L board on my car.It has been in many ways some thing that protected me.

Now I've had some really bad experiences when I started to drive and hence it was put on suspend mode for nearly 2 years.It was under Dad's insistence and the lure of my i10 that I resumed driving.Like Sridevi dancing around Rajinikanth I drove around the same street for nearly a million times until I got my left and right turn right.(That goes without saying that half of those million times my dad's preaching was heard over my panicky-breaths).Of course you do understand how important the L board was during those"stressful"times.

Around February of this year I was allowed to drive alone in and around Anna nagar.The fear did slowly start evaporating but still I needed the L board for reassurance.

There were times when I almost ran into someone and they came to me,looked at my L board and quietly passed me.The countless times when I looked at my rear view mirror and saw

cars standing at a safe distance from me were always accompanied by a sense of reassurance.

As Feb dissolved into march which gave way to April,May,June etc I grew more confident and my radius slowly widened to areas like Nungambakkam,Aminijikarai,Halls road and such.The L board was still there.I was bidding my time thinking"Let it be there for a few more days".

July ,August and mid Sept were pretty busy months and I rarely was seen outside the house let alone the car.

I finally resolved that the day I took my car to Satyam alone I'd get the L board off.

Final Update:I drove to satyam and infact a bit further than that to Express Avenue with the car full of a bunch of noisy friends,blaring music and blinding flash lights but still the L board didn't come off.

It has infact become a part of my car right from the day my driving was graded as "When Gayathri has to drive the road has to be cleared to avoid any casualties " to "Oh!Okay she can drive till Kilpauk in the peak hours".I just hope some day I'll be ready to part with.

Not now maybe but some day I know I can get out of my safety net for sure.Until then Oh!My L board you are my saving grace :)

Until the next one,

Gaya :)

Update:As of 10/10/10 10:10 A.M the 'L' Board has officially come off.No more heads up for the death cab or wait the death i 10..No,wait that sounds lame.

Daddy's little girl

All right guys,before we move further "senti" alert:This post has some waah-waah moments and is not completely random.That clarified,lets get a move on.

Now,dedications.To all the daughters in the world who on the outside are hard headed and independent but on the inside are sissys who still want to be fussed over by their dad.

I recently had to be at Bangalore.I had to travel alone since my parents were caught up with some work here.It was arranged that I stayed with my dad's cousin.I put on my "oh-I-am-so-well-behaved" face helping them out around the house and such.A completely "un-brattish " behavior if you will.I must have overdone it since my aunt called up my mom soon after with a few well chosen words " Chitra,un ponna nanna valathruke.She is so well behaved and quiet.She helps around the house too.I am very pleased to have her here".My mom goofed up by laughing out loud adding an "Yaaru avala?Gayathri patthiya solre?". Aunty was of course surprised.As of me I wasn't but still I was mad at her for giving my game away.

Well why exactly was mom surprised?

Fact 1:I cannot go for more than 2 seconds without speaking.

Fact 2:I speak so fast and so much that asking me to shut up thrice won't do the trick.

Fact 3:I don't lift a finger around the house.

Fact 4:I use the best of tricks to coerce my dad into getting my own way.

Right from when I was little,I have always looked up to my dad and craved his approval.I do get it all the time.I literally swell up with pride every time someone tells me I take after my dad.I do have the guilty pleasure of throwing a lot of tantrums when mom is not around so that dad will let me have my own way.Everytime dad tells me that he is proud of me my feet are lifted a couple of centimeters above the ground in fact.

Dad has always been very patient.He did not care about grades ever.I do remember when I was in primary school when we went for shopping to the biggest supermarket in my area then:Yeses Super market. Me and my sister loved board games.Mom never allowed us to buy them since we already had a lot of games and rarely used them for more than a week.It was an unwritten agreement between us sisters.One had to lure mom away on some pretext and meanwhile the other had to lead dad to those games and get whatever was necessary for both of us.This kept on going until we were caught red handed.Mom was glowering at us until finally dad said " ippo vilayadama eppo vilayada poraa?" which earned few well-chosen swea words from mom and of course a bad dinner.

Whenever I fought with my sister I used to go hide behind dad because he deflected her away.If it were mom she would have slapped me hard first before handing me over to my sister for further slaps.

He loves his work and more than that :cars.The showcase at home is stacked with various miniatures and every navarathri he fights to have a car display with me.Oh wait,I forgot to mention that I am officially incharge of the golu at home.Last year when I put my foot down and refused that random cars here and there do not go with the tone of the golu,he made it a point to make cross roads and told me it was a traffic jam(scroll up for the picture).I had to give in.Every year also sees a display of his cable car zooming up and down which pisses me off to no end.But nothing gives him more pleasure than to work it up and down as all the kids gape with an open-mouth.I remember all those years when he made all my art-projects and I finally ended up scoring full marks when I actually know enough only not to glue my fingers with the fevicol.

He always has chocolates no matter what.I remember going to school with a box full of imported chocolates and all my fighting over who gets how much.The tradition continues till now.My fridge is never devoid of chocolates or Minute Maid. And while we are on food ,he cooks really well and makes sure even after a tiring day at the office,he makes whatever I ask him to.He makes it a point to take us all out for dinner atleast once a week.

He has a wonderful sense of humor.We love the nicknames like (Penang para mundam abb to PPM)he comes up with .Let me give you one example that happened on our Sunday morning drive.

Appa:Car otta kathukardu computer kathukre maari dhan.Evlo nondaromo avlo kathukalam

Me:Epdi solre?Car Innum kashtam pa.Difference iruku.

Appa:Enna di difference? Adula thappu aachu na hang aaydum.Idhula hang pannuvan avlo dhan.

It was not the words but the casual attitude that made me laugh :)

I never did come to the tantrum part did I?I often am a diva and to get my way I do throw a lot of tantrums.And every one of them are directed at dad since I am aware that he is the only one who gives in to my ludicrous demands.It may be something small like something I'd want done or bought to demanding him to say sorry for something he had said by mistake.Being called a wall,hard headed,impassive by my friends all take a back seat as I make it a point to cry at the slight sign of frustration shown by dad.Its just that I have always wanted to not disappoint him.

Anyways why am I reminiscing? Mom and dad have already started talking about me leaving next year and making loads of phone calls to relatives to take care of me and I am not even in the acceptance phase yet.I have never lived alone and I don't know if it'd be good,okay or bad.I haven't even traveled alone until recently.I have never been financially independently.I never thought that the time to say goodbye would come so soon.I always imagined that I'd be ready by that time.I don't think I am yet.

I don't know if I ever will be.

P.S-I gotta run.Dad is making more-appams and the smell is wafting all the way over to my room .Smells like a mini Saravana bhavan heaven.

Until the next one,

Gaya. :)