So here’s a question - which many would think a little silly, but - How important to your career is going to study at an Ivy League University? Silly because many of you are thinking, of course its important! Ivy League universities are some of the biggest brands in education. These institutions and the brand value which comes along with it - are truly exceptional. These are, however, things that may be missing at other good institutes. So, definitely, you say, its a good idea to go to Ivy League. And i agree. Ivy League univs and others like them (MIT and Stanford are not Ivy League) are a must-have - if your aim is for example to build a …

In this continuation of the previous post on US visa applications, from North Carolina student Anirudh, we learn more about some general and some more specific issues about how to talk to the visa officer among other things. Here is the list of topics from the last time, which we covered till point (d). The following documents are required for the VISA process:
a) I-20 issued by the University you got admit to and plan to get admit to and admission letter (if any).
b) VISA fee receipt
c) SEVIS fee receipt
d) VISA application forms (DS forms, which is filled when applying for the VISA online)
e) Passport
f) Degree Certificate (or Provisional) and Transcripts
g) GRE, TOEFL mark sheets
h) Bank Statements which prove that you …

At kaaledge.com, we are constantly looking for individuals who have worked their way from their home (India or other countries) to come to the US and study and later work. We found Anirudh, who is an engineering Master student at Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Anirudh has written a many articles on his blog about his experience applying to the US. Now, he has agreed to share with our readers and students in India and other countries the details of applying for a US student visa. We will be posting it in parts. Here is part 1 from Anirudh:
This part of the guide is about applying for the VISA and completing the other necessary formalities. The most important thing is …

We have already done a post on helping students decide between MS and other degrees as options for higher studies. We dealth with MIS vs MS. We thought this time we take a shot at MBA vs MS. Now, there are various ways of doing this. But here, we are basically talking about doing an MBA from India (or your country) versus doing an MS. These seem to the be the hot options among a lot of gen-X these days. A lot of students in colleges in India these just want to do an MBA because its what everyone seems to be doing. People have a tendency of following the herd. And the herd at this point in our economy …

For many of the international students who came to the US for higher education, this is the time when they are probably nose deep in studies, with the final exams just round the corner, or already underway. Finals in most US universities for the Fall Semester (or quarter as the system goes in most Californian universities) take place around the second week of December. And winter vacations start from the middle of December usually upto the middle of January. We asked a few first year graduate students and a few second year graduate students as to how they felt at the end of the Fall Semester.
Awantika Manohar, a first year graduate student of Law at Cornell University said - “The …

Many student all over India and other countries are at this time slogging to meet the deadlines for graduate admissions at various US universities. Many have worked for over a year in trying to give the standardized tests, get the statement of purpose ready, get the recommendation letters ready, etc. It requires a lot of planning and thought. And success, in most cases, comes only to those who have been working ahead of time to achieve their goal. If you are in the second or third year of college and thinking about graduate school in the US - it would help to start early.
But you may ask, where do i start? What is required by the US universities? Where …

Recommendation letters from professors are among the most important tools in the hands of admissions committees to evaluate your application. Here is a sample reco letter - written about a good student by his professor.
To Whom It May Concern:
It is a real pleasure to write this letter of recommendation for Vinay Hegde. Vinay is an extremely
gifted student, among the very best I have had the opportunity to teach and work with here at XYZ College.
He has my strongest recommendation for admission into the Stanford Master’s Program.
I first met Vinay as a student in my undergraduate Operating Systems course, CS161, in Spring 2005.
CS161 is widely regarded as one of the most difficult courses in Computer Science (if not at XYZ …

Many people take recommendation letters from their bosses/managers. This can be a good idea, especially if your manager can vouch for your sincerity and technical prowess. The idea is to reflect that you remained committed to excellence at work, and came up with innovative ideas and results. Though academic recommendation letters are also very important, but if you have been working for 1 year or more - then taking a recommendation from your manager/tech lead would not be a bad idea. Here is an example of a sample recommendation letter written by a manager for a prospective candidate. This sample has been crafted from a real recommendation letter for a particular student. So the names of the people and the …

It was officially announced today that the US economy has been in recession since Dec., 2007. Although people already knew about the economic downturn, this was an official statement coming from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). Many people believe that recession is defined by two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth. But that is not correct. NBER looks into many factors such as labor markets, housing markets, retail and other sectors to decide the state of the economy. This also makes it one of the longest recessions since the great depression of the 1930s. However, one thing that is surprising is that even with the state of things as they are presently, many employers in the economy are …