FOLLOW MY TIPS AND WIN THE GAME

All you need to do is to gather up a spoon of confidence and cup of efforts. Start with the biggest headache GRE.
Once you clear the exam the only burden that remains is the packet. Timings are given on the proceeding pages, as to
when to plan out things. For GRE all u need is a barrons, and Arcos or the BIG book. For boosting your score you
refer Princeton review at USEFI, this will give you the tactics to eliminate unwanted choices, etc... People generally go
on reading wordlists only, but it is equally important to put efforts on Anal and Quant too. Finish of 3 sections and
take the date fast, since its always a rush hour.

Toefl is very easy to prepare, so dont worry at this point. Dont worry if u get hanged up at 1600s in your gre, still its
possible to get admissions in an avg. college. Dont loose your heart, I have myself seen people going states at just
1400 in gre and 200 in toefl. LORs put a approx. weight of 20% on your entire application so do not prepare lors in
haste.

How to make your LOR

Tips on making your lor more attractive is given in usefi books, but what I prefer is a bhel puri of MDs stuff, previous 2
years and from duniyas. All you have to do is to make a masala bhel by cutting descent lines from samples and
pasting it into yours, but be CAREFUL, I strongly emphasize on CHANGE THE VOICE, univ people are very smart,
they have scanning softwares which entirely scans your lor and then compares it with there records of previous 5 years
record and all those lines which are same automatically get highlighted, so they can easily point out that this lor is a
CUT PASTE one. Avoid using fundu words like esteemed, and fortes etc. since they make us look smarter, which we
are not. I have seen people getting GRE verbal score as 400 and making their lor and sop full of barron words, this
make a negative impression on univ. People, since they are smart and they are professional in their jobs.
Stick to your abilities and do not give more raag ratan. Do not start with TO WHOMSOEVER ...
Let it be descent. Generally people make 2 from degree colleges, and 1 from the work area where they have never
worked, though this trend is old but it works well, but see to it that what you elaborate in the lor is true, I mean, you
know all that you have written in the lor. Do not hesitate to write your weak entities since a lot of good qualities rules
over those little bad ones, and believe me, it makes your lor looks a genuine one. Once your lor is ready get it verified
with some experts, since an ideal lor should not have any grammatical mistake

HOW TO MAKE YOUR SOP

Usually people write atmakatha in their sop but thats wrong, heres a sample of sop that is an ideal one. Its from a guy
who got admitted at RPI.

I am a creative, industrious, and ambitious individual, interested in analysis and synthesis of engineering systems. I
love to learn how things work and to build new ones myself. Throughout my school and undergraduate college
education I have been highly motivated by the twin challenges of understanding concepts and then applying such
understanding to practical outcomes. It was quite easy for me to select the field of electrical and electronic engineering
for my diploma and B.E. degree courses, owing to an early realization that this field provides a foundation for
engineering in the information age. Even so, I could not have anticipated the extent of fun and learning that came from
my studies and diploma and degree projects. These have reinforced my desire to continue
my education into graduate school and seek out greater challenges. I believe that engineering and the sciences that
support it come alive at the cusp of new applications. It is immensely enjoyable for me to take a problem that appears
to be at the threshold of a solution and proceed to actually solve it; more so when such endeavour uncovers other
latent problems that demand ingenuity in their solution as well. There have been other tangible rewards from my
passion for engineering. I earned the second rank among students from the entire state of Maharashtra in my diploma
course, and was therefore automatically admitted to the degree course. In the degree course itself, my standing
is currently in the top ten at my Institute. I have consistently secured first class in all my semesters. My course project
for the final year in the diploma course drew second prize at my institute's project demonstration tech-fest. My current
project in the final year of the degree course is funded by Larsen and Toubro Limited, which underscores a recognition
of its practical application. On the personal side, I am a very amiable, confident person with a broad
range of interests. I have very good interpersonal and communication skills. I have organized several inter-collegiate
activities at my college, and have participated in such extra-curricular activities as theater and debating. I am a
founding member of my school's IEEE student branch and have remained an active member since its inception.
I aspire to a career of lifelong learning, research and new applications. I dream of creating a business that is centered
on new products or innovation. In this new economy that is propelled by knowledge engineering, I understand that
continuous expansion of one's personal horizons is the best guarantee of a fulfilling career. I want
to contiune this journey of merging my vocation and my avocation, with graduate education in Computer Sciences and
Engineering at .....[name of school]...., having studied your curriculum and faculty research interests.

Please note this sample is to fundu so do cut down it drastically, what I mean to express is the theme that you should
follow and not the matter.
Anyway a few outlines on preparing the SOP is

objective and experiences

Hold attention of the reader
Limited in length, no more than 1 A4 pages
why continue as student
what do you promise as a student
candidates personality
Giving atihasik eg. Rather than writing I m this. I m that ...
Make a link, do not jump here and there
career goals
make commitment
indicate reasons for ATKT if u want to be too much of harishchandra
th
DO NOT write autobiography like In 10 I got 90% ,and then I went to ruia where I scored 96 , then to vivekanand
etc
Be prcis and stick to truth only

What I suggest for dummies is get there sop ready from a professional in a co. Or by paying 2000 to MD Since sop
puts 25% of weight on the application packet, no doubt your acads are equally important , but still sops and lors cover
up your weakness in studies.

HOW TO MAKE A PACKET

Generally people use green khadiwala cover, doesnt matter, it works. See to it that all your lors and college transcripts
are sealed in pure white envelopes. Generally the app form is stapled with the draft, then comes the Bank statement
and affidavit statement, followed by the SOP page, exp and synopsis if any, preceding the Xeroxed copies of your
TOEFL and GRE marksheets, read the univ brochure carefully, some univ like ASU ask for 2 separate packet, and
some lit IIT strongly says that in ur packet there should me only 2 lors. Put all the stuff along with sealed envelopes, in
a polythene type flat bag, so that ur precious packet is safe. Put this whole gravy in a huge A3 sized envelope. What I
prefer is send the apps by TNT courier service, they charge somewhere round 500 for each packet and its safe. They
deliver the packet in 2 days, and see to it that u send them on Monday and not on Saturday, since its a holiday on
weekends there. TNT also provides online checking of ur app status on net.

Since I cant elaborate each and every things, what you can do is rite me at globalsoftwares@usa.net
if u need any kind of assistance or if u r stucked in between.

PLEASE NOTE THE SCHEDULE WHICH I HAVE GIVEN IS AN APPROX. ONE PLEASE DO CROSS CHECK IT
WITH YOUR CLASS MATES IN ORDER TO BE IN RHYTHM.

Typical schedule for planning your application if u r departing for FALL (August) 2002

Timed Shot To be Done

Before Jan 2001 Make a Valid Passport
Jan 2001 Start reading GRE
Feb 2001 Send preapps to all univ from ww.quickapps.com
Mar 2001 Receive apps from univ, start compiling them, shorlist
them to 25, send personal mails to univ profs regarding
aid, facilities etc
April 2001 Register for GRE in Aug 2001 and Toefl in Sep 2001
May 2001 Start getting your certificates, and marksheets attested
true copies from their respective colleges
July 2001 Give your sem 6 exams comfortably
Aug 2001 Give your GRE
Aug 2001 Prepare your shortlist more precisely to 15
Sep 2001 Give the TOEFL
Sep 2001 Prepare 3 LORs and a SOP
Sep 2001 Send the GRE ASR to 10 - 15 univ by phone as it is fast
and Toefl asr by fax, since it takes years for ets people to
process it
Oct 2001 Make a perfect packet, see below for what to include
Nov 2001 Send the packet via courier service, do not rely on Speed
post, in order to avoid the Christmas rush
Dec 2001 Get the acknowledgment from the univ people
Jan 2002 Start contacting the univ profs for aids, yeah I mean it
Feb 2002 Start preparinf the VISA documents ,contact your CAs,
they are good at this business
Mar 2002 Receive I - 20s from the univ fools
Apr 2002 to May 2002 Run for VISA
June 2002 Explore the univ profs, and beg literally for research aid
Aug 2002 F O to states

A PERFECT PACKET

Application Form (see to it that it is original, not Xeroxed)

Application Processing Fee (Make drafts drawn on US banks, or use credit cards)
Official Bank Statement ( Make atleast 30000 US$ beg from your relatives)
Affidavit Statement signed by the sponsors (contact your local CA)
Diploma Transcripts or HSC transcripts ( 2 transcripts, for each univ , 1 for univ, and 1 for department)
Degree Transcripts / Marksheets :
Misc. Transcripts if any
Letters of Recommendation (3 Letters)
Statement Of Purpose
TOEFL Score Copy (xeroxed copy, if ets delays then this works to some extent)
GRE Score copy (xeroxed copy)
Experience and Project Synopsis if any

- Rajeev Sheth....