Snapshots
Name : Ankit Pathak
Graduation College : DJ Sanghvi College of Engineering, Mumbai University
Graduation Stream : B.E in Chemical Engineering
Graduation Aggregate : 60%
GRE Score : 1480 (Quant: 790; Verbal: 690)
TOEFL Score: 111
University for Masters: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virigina Tech)
Course Details : Environmental Engineering (ECE)
Term: Fall 2012
Applications & Admits
Universities & Courses applied to :
Applied for Environmental Engineering program in the following universities:
- Georgia Institute of Technology (GaTech)
- University of California, Berkeley
- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech)
- University of Texas - Austin
- University of Wisconsin Madison
- Arizona State University (ASU)
- North Carolina State University (NCSU)
Admits from:
- Georgia Institute of Technology (GaTech)
- North Carolina State University (NCSU)
- Arizona State University (ASU)
- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech)
Minutia
Projects:
My final year project was a great idea that could not be completely executed. However, it was appreciated and was chosen as the best from my department. A plus point was that this paper dealt with biodiesel, an emerging biofuel. The fact that it was an environmental - related topic might have helped.
Letter of Recommendations :
- Professor and former HOD (MTech - IIT Delhi, PhD - UDCT)
- Professor (PhD - IIT Bombay)
- Professor and Head of Chemistry Dept (PhD)
Extracurriculars:
None
Work Experience/Internship:
- 2 projects at Sandoz (Novartis, Mahad) of which one was environmental related.
- Research project at the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute
Financial Aid :
None
Preparation:
I gave the old form of the GRE. However, the new format looks pretty straightforward as well. I had concentrated on the vocabulary part and made sure i knew all the words. If you do not understand the question, you're pretty much bound to get that question wrong. Devote time to solving and understanding the approach to comprehensions. It's not easy and requires quite some time to get acquainted with.
The quant section is pretty much sorted. You have to have a really bad day to screw up bad. But in nutshell, work on verbal and develop speed for quant. You do not want to be shooting off a few blind answers at the end just because you're out of time. A little bit of prep can fetch you an awesome score.
I took the exam in march. The ideal time I believe is October. I had booked a date in October but postponed it to March as I believed I was under prepared.
SOP Advice:
I wrote my own SOP. I had to make several drafts to get it right. In the end, however, I was able to come up with a decent one. I encourage all applicants to write their own statements. make sure you're being honest and do not make it verbose and tedious.
A good SOP can fetch you an admit that might be above the reach of your profile. It is the single most important piece of your application. Spend good time on it. DO NOT advertise your achievements and accomplishments. Your resume is meant to do that. Rather, concentrate on how you developed an interest in the field and what you intend to do. You MUST offer solid justification with regard to your choice of country, university and course.
An ideal SOP must convey passion for the field without sounding overly dramatic. It should touch upon your future plans rather than fixating on the "stellar" points of your profile.
If you are unsure about how well you can write this statement, just scribble down a rough draft. You can always approach your friends / relatives who are good at creative writing to help you with the articulation and presentation part of it. The best i'd suggest is to contact your seniors (people who are in the states already). No one can help you better than them. I had my SOP reviewed by 4-5 seniors who had just gone over to the US. They were more than willing to help.
Counselling opinion:
Absolutely unnecessary. I became a member at the United States - India Education foundation (USIEF - costs just Rs. 2500). They provided me a lot of resources. They've got great advisors and will guide you on how to apply rather than spoon feed you. Unlike most counsellors, they let you choose your universities and prepare your application for the universities you choose. Go through the application process yourself. It's quite an experience.
Reasons to choose Current University:
Virginia Tech. Loved the program. Also it's cheaper than GTech and equally good for my field. An added bonus is the possibility of getting TA / RA. I'm currently "being evaluated" as a TA. Usually students get some support in the second semester.
Advice to Juniors:
Apply to the best. Period. If you do not take a shot, you are not gonna hit the target.
You will pay a good amount of money to get your degree, so you might as well get it from a good institute. Don't keep more than 2 safe universities. In my case I had 2 safe universities, and got into both of them. Plus, I got 2 admits from universities that are the best for my field, and I'm heading to one of them.
Secondly and importantly, do not try to judge your profile. Believe me, even you do not know what your profile can fetch. The admission decisions are not based on one or two factors. Unlike in India, where we see one "cutoff" score and nobody below this score stands a chance, the universities there actually look at the whole package, and I've seen some "average" profiles by Indian standards making it to some wonderful universities.
Also, please do not wait for your friends. People tend to apply "together". That's pointless and serves no purpose. Apply as early as you can. The early bird catches the worm :)