Introducing America Ahoy!

When I applied to graduate school in Fall 2002, I got a lot of help from seniors from my college. Nearly all were only a couple of years older than I was. I was never able to get in touch with anyone older than that, who may have even better advice, having lived through the entire graduate school phase and then joining the industry or academia. I think the perspective of someone who went through the whole graduate school process is probably interesting and different from someone just starting out on graduate school himself.

To students who are looking to apply to graduate school, I'd like to be that person. This blog is my attempt at sharing what I learnt along the way, and hopefully help readers like you avoid some of the common mistakes, and in many ways improve your chances of making it to the graduate school of your dreams.

A quick introduction is in order. I attended the College of Engineering, Pune from 1998 to 2002 and earned my Bachelor's degree in Electronics and Telecommunication. I had a GRE score of 2310 (Verbal=710, Analytical=800, Quantitative=800),a TOEFL score of 297/300, and decent academics (Average percentage through 4 years of Engineering around 69%). I got admitted to 5 universities, but eventually attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison from Fall 2002 to Fall 2004 and earned my MS in Electrical and Computer Engineering. I got a job with a Silicon Valley semiconductor firm thereafter, where I have been working for the last 3 years. Over the years many of friends and classmates followed me to the USA, to the point that now nearly all of them outside India.

Through this blog, I want to share my thoughts about everything that goes into a graduate school application: transcripts, recommendation letters, grades, Statements of Purpose (SOP), Rankings, and so on. I will also talk about writing to Professors, talking to seniors, creating your own personal database, and all the exams you need to ace... GRE, TOEFL, TSE. So please keep visiting this space for more information and soon you'll be on your way to the land of stars and stripes.