Inline...

Well not really... if you think you are a dummy then stop right here and read no further. "Apping for Dummies" is just a catchy title and this is my blog, so go figure. Oops wait, we didn't define what "Apping" was did we? Apping is jargon for applying for higher studies. This post will focus on lessons I had learnt when I applied for higher education in the USA. Hopefully this will help you get some much needed 'gyan'. Before we start, I hope you are reading this well before you have started your App process. Time is necesssary to tune your profile. Time is essential for identifying your target universities. Time is all you need to ensure a happy app season!

Some of the first steps before you start your App process is to ask yourself a few questions:

• Why do you want to go in for higher studies?
  Why a masters or a Ph.D. in the US? Is it for you to enter the job market in the US? Is it for the additional pay? Do you want to take a teaching job? Do you want the additional time to decide what you want to do with your life? Is it for the exposure to multiple cultures and academic environments?
• What is your area of interest?
  This is an especially hard question to answer. I had no idea what I wanted to do when I was in the 3^rd year of my undergrad! But it will do you a load of good if you actually invest some quality time thinking of what is the general area you want to concentrate on. This will help you when you have to choose your university, your advisor and so on. Also, it will help you write a most clear Statement of Purpose!
• What are your future plans?
  Do you want to turn Entrepreneurial? Do you want to take up a technical job? Go into the management ladder? Go in for even higher education? Take up a teaching job?
• What is your financial dependance?
  Can you fund yourself for the first quarter? Many students get some kind of TA or RA financial aid after their first quarter at the university. Most Ph.D. students get funded right from the first quarter, however it is much harder to get a Ph.D. admit as compared to a masters admit.
• M.S. or Ph.D.?
  The application is quite different for either. While MS prepares you mostly for working in the industry, a Ph.D. trains you in conducting individual research which will gears you towards a job in the acaedmia or an industrial research lab.

This will be a series of posts rather than one big monolithic post. So gear up for more in the next post.

Tags: Education, MS, PhD, Higher Education, Graduate, Engineering