Two years ago, Minal Khodani was one of many students from Mumbai University who thought of going abroad for higher education and making it big. But Minal was one of the few who actually dared to dream big and worked towards it and lived it! Minal came to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for a MS in Wireless Networking. After doing well there, she was offered a job at Oracle Inc in Redwood Shores, California. We took the time to speak to Minal about her decision to pursue MS and how she went about the preparation. Minal gives a detailed outlook on things and mentions important pieces in the application process that people should take care of. Here is Minal her self…

1. Can you tell us about your background in India - undergrad education, etc.?

Minal: I pursued BE from D.J.Sanghvi COE in Mumbai , in the field of electronic and telecommunication.

2. Which program did you pursue and at which university in the US?

Minal: I pursued , Computers and systems engineering at Rensellaer Polytechnic Institute(RPI) in the ECSE dept and mastered in wireless Networking.

3. Why did you chose this program?

Minal: I choose this program as there is very interesting research going on in this filed and also this program is favorable from industry point of view. Also with everything going wireless in todays world from wireless networks setup at your home to iphone , wireless Networking has a very bright future.

4. How would an MS degree be beneficial to your career?

Minal: In BE we do not get an opportunity to specialize in any one paticular subject we are most interested in. But Ms gives you this opportunity , BE lays a background to help us to get in depth of understanding. Also MS provides you the opportunity to work very closely with your advisor and wirte your own thesis , think out the box. For someone interested in publishing a paper MS or cont with PHD MS will help you to know is PHD what you are looking up for. From Industry point of view doing an MS will help to get a job of your interest and also get some quality work. RPI has some very good advisors, to help you in your academic career and encourage you to get the best out of you.
I worked under Alhussein Abouzeid (http://www.ecse.rpi.edu/Homepages/abouzeid/). For me I had only done course work in BE.
Masters help me to think out of the box , develop a research attitude and end it with a thesis.in my arear of interest.

5. Whats the profile required to get an admit from RPI for MS in ECCS?

Minal: Anyone with a good academic career, a very good SOP(RPI really reads your SOP) and a GRE score of 1300 onwardsshRPIould be able to make it. RPI is not a commercial school . So if you are planning for Masters to get a good job in USA. This is not a school you should be looking for. Most of the coarse work here are also not commercial at masters level but meant to help you with your research topic.
The key to RPI is your adviser. So before applying to this school I would advise go through the advisors in RPI , their research areas
and see if they match with yours. Start talking to them through emails, once you apply and talk abt what area you are interested in.
If your adviser is convinced with your interest , show him if you have some work done related, then get an admit is no big deal.
Also not many people in India know abt this school as it is not very commercial. But it has been around from 1824 and thus has developed very good industry relations.

6. What job opportunities are available to MS graduates after their degree completion?

Minal: Like I mentioned above RPI has very good industry relations. Anyone with a good thesis done is able to get job in thier field of interest.
For CS majors and computers and systems majors, CIsco has a coarse in RPI in which you give CCNA, RPi has very good relations with CISCO. If thts the company you are looking for then this is the place to be. For most of the students from rpi to get in cisco is a walk.
Also situated to NY state , most of the wall street banks tend to recruits RPI grads for their technology center. Banks like Bank of America, Goldman Sachs , Deutsche are major recruiters.

7. What is the funding scenario like at RPI?

Minal: Funding scenario varies from yr to yr. But most of the time everyone gets Teaching assistantship(TA) 2 out of 3 semesters. TA covers your entire tuition and gives you a stipend of 1400$ a month. But the catch here is RPI is tht you can get only 2 semesters of TA thats the rule.
for the 3rd semester to pay your tuition you have to get an RA( very difficult to get in MS) or save from first two semesters and internship.
with this you can easily pay your 3rd sem fees .

8. What is the internship market like there?

Minal: The key to get a job is internship. If you get a good internship and give your 100% there,
you dont have to look for full time jobs then . Internship market is good, mostly everyone gets internship.
Its a choice of an individual weather to do an internship or do a summer RA under a prof.
Sometimes there have been scenes where students want to do internship but their anternship let your advisors have RA planned for summer. So if you plan to do internship let your advisers know beforehand.

9. What advise would you give to people in India applying for MS?

Minal: Please remember a good SOP is as imp as a good gre score. spend a lot of time on your SOP. Package your application well.
After all presentation really matter. While doing MS, many times in the Masters coursework we have to make decision weather to keep a good GPA or to take a tough course (where all seniors have said , its a def B or C). Dont even consider to let go some interesting course coz you might not get a good grade in it. Even if your GPA goes down you will get a job if you have the right course on your resume. WE are here in USA for a challenge, make use of your masters. Last but not the least , All the best