All

 about  studying  abroad  in  USA  

Nistha  Tripathi  
 Nistha  Tripathi  
•  When  I  was  an  engineer,  I  thought  that  I  could  never  manage  to  study  in  
USA,  I  am  from  a  middle-­‐class  family.  Thank  God,  I  did  not  give  up.    
•  I  went  to  Top  10  schools  in  USA  for  my  MS  and  MBA  
•  I  earned  $100K+  seven  years  ago    
•  In  last  one  year,  I  have  helped  50+  students  go  to  Top  40  universiLes  in  
USA.    

 
 
 
So,  I  know  that  studying  abroad  is  for  anyone  and  everyone.  Many  students  
have  built  a  successful  career  by  studying  abroad  and  so  can  YOU.  

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 Agenda  
1. Myths  about  studying  abroad  
2. ApplicaLon  Process  
3. Student  Profiles  –  what  works?  And  what  
doesn’t?  
4. Summarizing  the  lessons  
5. About  Scholar  Strategy  
6. More  quesLons  –  MIS,  work  ex  etc  etc  
7. Q  and  A  
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MYTHS  

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We  cannot  afford  a  good  foreign  
educaLon  

Scholarships  available    
Higher  ROI  and  financial  security  
40Lac  starLng  basic  salary  for  engineers  a`er  MS  
 
Have  covered  the  financial  part  in  MS  Book  in  
detail  

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How  does  it  work?  

LETS  LOOK  AT  THE  PROCESS  

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 STUDYING  ABROAD  process  
•  GRE  (by  July/Aug  for  Fall)  
•  University  SelecLon    (Aug-­‐Sep)  
–  Very  very  imp  (reputaLon,  job  prospects,  locaLon  and  
living  condiLons)  
•  ApplicaLon  Materials  (Oct-­‐Nov)  
–  Statement  of  Purpose  (SOP)      
•  What’s  your  story?  
–  Lejer  of  RecommendaLon  (LOR)      
•  Choose  right  people  and  help  them  
–  Resume      
•  Download  our  free  template  at  www.scholarstrategy.com  
•  Fill  applicaLon,  pay  fee  and  submit  online  (Nov-­‐Dec)  
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 GRE  
§  Score  valid  for  5  years!  
§  Take  by  Aug  (in  case  you  need  to  retake)  
§  Use  PowerPrep  so`ware  wisely  
§  Do  sufficient  research  to  shortlist  4  schools  to  send  4  FREE  score  reports  
§  Don’t  take  it  more  than  twice  

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 University  SelecLon  
§  Don’t  go  by  rank  alone,  look  at  curriculum  related  to  
your  field  of  interest  
§  Look  at  career  prospects  FOR  INDIANS  (visa  sponsored  
jobs)  
§  In  Lmes  of  recession,  locaLon  becomes  criLcal  

SJSU  might  offer  bejer  job  prospects  than  a  higher  

ranked  midwest  school  

§  Explore  whether  you  like  the  coursework  and  research  

§  Talk  to  the  students  

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 What’s  your  story?  
•  Background  –  Academic,  Personal,  
Professional  and  Extracurricular  
•  What  are  your  goals?  
•  How  does  MS  fit  into  it?  
•  Why  are  you  applying  to  University  XYZ?  
•  Why  should  the  University  accept  you?  

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Secret  of  a  successful  applicaLon  

Reinforce  the  story  in  

your  SOP  and  LORs  
 

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 SOP  Mistakes  
§  Rehashing  the  resume  
§  Hollow  claims  –  SHOW,  don’t  TELL  
§  Lack  of  confidence  
§  DiscounLng  your  failures  
 

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What  works?  

STUDENT  PROFILES  

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 Student  1  –  MS  CS  
•  BE  Computer  Science  and  Engineering  from  BMS  
Bangalore  
•  GPA  –  9.36  
•  GRE  –  301  
•  2  years  of  so`ware  engineering  experience  at  a  global  
bank  and  research  internship  at  CDAC  Bangalore  
•  Area  of  Interest  –  Network  Security  and  general  CS  
•  LORs  –  1  academic,  2  professional  ones  from  internship  
and  full-­‐Lme  work  

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Student  2  –  MS  EE  

•  BE  Electrical  Engineering  from  BMS  Bangalore  

•  GPA  –  7.76      
•  GRE  –  311  
•  Toefl  –  108  
•  Experience  –  Good  internship  and  1.5  years  solid  
research  experience  from  IISc  and  RRI  (2  
InternaLonal  journal  research  publicaLons  with  
him  being  the  1st  author)  
•  Area  of  Interest  –  Computer  Vision  and  RoboLcs  
•  Applied  ambiLously  first  Lme  and  NO  ADMITS  
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GPA  MATTERS  
MORE  THAN  
GRE  for  Core  
Engineering  
Programs  
Lesson  #  1  

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 Student  3  –  MS  in  MIS  
•  BE  Computer  Science  and  Engineering  from  
NIT  Allahabad  
•  GPA  –  8.55  
•  GRE  –  332  
•  3  years  of  so`ware  engineering  experience  at  
Oracle  
•  Laser  focused  on  MIS  

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 Student  4  –  MEM  
•  BE  Computer  Science  and  Engineering  from  
Amrita  College,  Bangalore  
•  GPA  –  7.88  
•  GRE  –  312  
•  One  year  of  so`ware  engineering  experience  
at  Cognizant  
•  Summer  course  at  Stanford  
•  Laser  focused  on  MEM,  Re-­‐applicant  
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 Student  5  –  MEM  and  MS  EE  
•  BE  EE  from  College  of  Engineering,  Pune  
•  GPA  –  7.23  
•  GRE  –  319  
•  One  year  of  consulLng  experience  at  
Bristlecone  
•  Applied  for  both  MS  EE  and  MEM  
•  Good  SOP  and  Decent  LORs  (none  from  work)  
•  No  Admits  the  first  Lme,  this  year  going  to  UCSC  by  focusing  on  EE  

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Know  what  you  want  
Lesson  #  2  

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REMEMBER  THESE  LESSONS  

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 What  majers?  
ü GPA  
ü ReputaLon  of  your  undergraduate  program  
ü Academic  background  
ü Research/Professional  Experience  
ü GRE  score  
ü  Extra  curricular  

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 Strengthen  your  profile  
ü Start  Early  
ü Research  UniversiLes  extensively  
ü Spend  enough  Lme  on  SOP  and  LORs  –  Show  
your  story  
ü Do  Internships  
ü Keep  your  GPA  high  
ü Build  stuff,  develop  skills  

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 Check  out  these  free  resources  
ü Scholar  Strategy  –  www.scholarstrategy.com  
ü       Free  resume  templates,  free  process  guides,  case  studies  
ü       Our  newslejer  has  grown  500%  in  last  6  months  
ü Edulix  forums  
ü US  News  rankings    
ü Quora  –  www.quora.com  (can  ask  insighuul  
quesLons)  
ü LinkedIn  –  Use  to  effecLvely  contact  with  
students  studying  abroad  
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Improving  the  state  of  things    

SCHOLAR  STRATEGY  

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 SCHOLAR  STRATEGY  

•  Recently  featured  on  YourStory  for  our  innovaLve  counseling  and  

success  

•  Strategic  one  on  one  guidance  for  students    

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MS  Book:  Smart  Engineer’s  Guide  to  
MS  in  USA  
•  Launched  MS  Book  this  
week  
•  Secret  Lps  for  ApplicaLons  
•  Case  Studies  
•  Interviews  of  Professionals  
•  Sample  SOPs  etc  
•  www.scholarstrategy.com/
smart-­‐engineer-­‐book  

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 Why  Scholar  Strategy?  
•  Lack  of  genuine  advice  in  the  market      
–  No  good  university  has  Le  ups  with  counselors!  
•  Personal  experience  
–  Have  done  it  myself  –  twice  at  TOP  universiLes  
–  Admission  commijee  insights  
•  Bejer  resources  and  connecLons  
–  Network  of  students  and  professionals  in  US  and  
UK  

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 OUR  MS  APPLICATION  COUNSELING  
SERVICE  
COUNSELOR-­‐  
•  Nistha  (Me)  
-­‐  MS  from  UIUC  (briefly  worked  with  Adcom,  RA)  
-­‐  MBA  from  NYU  (worked  as  a  TA)  
-­‐  Wall  Street,  Tech  Startups  in  New  York  
-­‐  Wrote  a  book  on  MS  in  USA  for  Engineers  
•  Other  Mentors:    
-­‐  Successful  professionals  on  Wall  Street,  ConsulLng,  Tech  firms,  
Startups…  
 
Our  Network:  
-  Alumni  in  UIUC,  Cornell,  Columbia,  CMU,  Duke  etc    

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 OUR  MS  APPLICATION  COUNSELING  
SERVICE   Statutory  Warning:  She  is  very  
strict  with  deadlines.  :)!!!!  Thank  
You  for  the  professional  guidance  
HOW  WE  WORK-­‐   with  a  personal  touch.    
•  Set  a  Lme  table!  
•  Tailored  for  your  profile  –  School  selecLon  is  the  key  
•  We  guide,  you  do!  –    
–  Build  your  unique  story  
–  Reiterate  SOP  Lll  it  is  perfect  on  Google  Docs  (did  15  iteraLons  with  
Surya!)  
•    Further  guidance  on  how  to  secure  internships  and  jobs!  

Work  at  Lme  convenient  to  both,  no  Lme  wasted  in  commute  etc  

Her  valuable  advice  has  helped  me   I  was  prejy  sure  that  I  stand  no  
explore  different  dimensions  of  my   chance  of  gexng  into  a  good  
“Statement  of  Purpose”  and   university  when  I  walked  out  of  the  
“Resume”   GRE  centre  with  a  low  score.  But  
Scholar  Strategy  proved  me  wrong!!  
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OUR  STUDENTS  ARE  GOING  TO…  

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PACKAGES  

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MORE  DOUBTS  

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 Do  you  have  these  doubts?  
•  MS  or  MIS  for  me?  
•  Right  Lme  to  apply?  
•  Work  experience  or  not?  
•  How  to  shortlist  right  schools?  
•  Job  and  visa  prospects  
•  ReputaLon  
•  LocaLon  
•  A  lot  of  these  are  covered  in  my  MS  BOOK.  You  
can  download  sample  chapters  on  
hjp://scholarstrategy.com/smart-­‐engineer-­‐book    

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 TO  DO  list  for  YOU  
•  Sign  up  for  updates  on  
www.scholarstrategy.com    
•  Check  out  
hjp://scholarstrategy.com/smart-­‐engineer-­‐
book  (now  is  the  right  Lme)  
•  If  you  need  personal  guidance,  email  at  
scholarstrategy@gmail.com  (Our  counseling  is  
extremely  selecLve,  apply  early  to  be  
considered.)  

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