Can you tell us about your background? Your undergrad institute and what you are doing now?

I have graduated from IIIT Allahabad in Information Technology. Before that, I did my schooling from my home town and secured a rank in IIT JEE in 2002. But that is an old story and I don’t think anybody is interested in those details.

After graduation I took a job in CSC India as a Windows System Administrator. Since 26 June 2006, I am bruising my ankles in CSC only.

Why did you think of applying to US universities?

I never thought of doing MS in my college. In fact I was surrounded by many talented technical geeks (whose life style scared me) and I used to think that research and all higher studies are for these type of people only who would squeeze every second of their life to write some more line of codes J. I had just decent CGPI in my college didn’t plan anything seriously for future. I got a job in CSC and started my professional life. Like everybody, I started preparing for CAT without thinking whether I have genuine interest in MBA or not.

However I am a voracious reader and used to read a lot of novels in my college. I am a regular reader of Scientific American and few articles really triggered my interest in research. I have deep interest in Physics. I read one article on Quantum computing and wondered about technology and started to explore the option of research. I did some Googling and read about quantum physics, quantum computing. I also read about distributed/parallel computing and other interesting articles. I kept reading Scientific American, novels, articles and other relevant non relevant material. I then wrote to one of my batch mate about my job, my dissatisfaction with my current profile and things which really interests me. He encouraged me to build a career in research and development. MS/PhD always seem to be too big for me J. Then probably first time in my life I decided on my own (without parents, peer pressure) to chose my career and started to search about available programs and enrolment process. I didn’t choose MS for a dream job or because of any influence. I chose because I want to build a career in research and it is too difficult to get admission directly in PhD J.

What program are you applying for?

I am applying in MS in Computer Science. I am looking for quantum computing but that is available at few places. I have put distributed, parallel computing and system architecture as my research interest (in SOP and application).

When did you start preparing for this?

I started to prepare in April/May 2008 and took GRE on 28 August. It is very difficult to prepare when you are in a job. I used to study 2 – 3 hours in week days and 4-5 hours in weekends. Those months were really hard on me J. However I managed to get a good score in GRE. I didn’t do any preparation for TOEFL. I guess 3-5 months are sufficient for GRE depending on how much time you give for preparation.

What are your apprehensions as you start sending out your applications?

Cost of course is really a deciding factor for choosing a university. I apply to only those universities which are cheap and provide assisstantship to most of the students.

My apprehensions are as follows (in order)

How much I would have to spend from my pocket?

How difficult is it to get a TA/RA?

Will TA/RA be enough to take care of my tuition and living expense?

How much I would have to show in financial document?

Would I be able to get admission in PhD program of my choice after completion of MS?

Will I get a R&D oriented job of my interest?

Will my girl friend’s parents wait for completion of my degree (I am not able to do anything to suppress this anxiety J )?

How are you dividing time on the various aspects of an app - like SOP, Recos, score reporting, etc.?

I started the process quite early so I got sufficient for everything. I went step by step. I took only one step at time. 4-5 months for GRE preparation (April to August) 1 month for university search (September) , 1 month for SOP and Recos (October). 2 weeks for application (November). I am still waiting for my TOEFL score and as soon as I get it, I will start reporting. I still have enough time in hand.

Any advice for your peers who are applying this year?

Since I am on same boat, I think I am not eligible to make any suggestive comments to my peers. However I would suggest to not compare your profile with anybody else. Some sites have profile record of candidates who were selected/rejected from particular university. That data can really baffle any serious candidate. I would recommend to not to be over conscious about your profile and keep applying.

At last I would sincerely thanks my batch mates and friends who always encouraged me and kept reminding me that they also went through all these processes and apprehensions at their time.