How to plan your application season?
I have tried to consolidate the entries made by my fellow Edulixians into a single post here. I will try my best to consolidate the data as I possibly can. I am after all the messenger and my only intent is to spread the information as far and wide as I can J
The thread links and information posted below refer to the methodologies for the planning of the exams, subsequent procedures that are needed to be followed for a successful application season and subsequent admit season.
Read this to understand how Edulix is a store house of information.
For some of the UG Students in India, the thought of planning their process for their Masters Study is itself a daunting task or at least it is perceived to be so. Sadly what they miss out is how to prepare for their exams, take up GRE, TOEFL, IELTS etc, short listing Univ’s for their profile, manage applications themselves and the post admit scenarios.
The following time frame for planning can help to serve as a pointer for those who have just joined Edulix and are already worried about the entire scheme of things.
1) Start your GRE preparation around 1.5 years ahead of your intended term of enrollment. i.e If you are targeting fall 2013, start preparing for your GRE from the month of March/April of the previous year(2012). Preparation is solely based on your discretion and if you feel that you are an able student with a good grasp of your vocabulary and a strong foundation in mathematics, then you can manage on your own. For initial pointers you can look into Revised GRE Preparations. You may also check the GRE/TOEFL/GMAT/IELTS Mega Sticky. For others if you feel you need that little bit of coaching to enhance your traits in these domains, you can take up classes.
2) Once you start your preparation, give a minimum of 3-4 months before you book your exam date. After all, GRE is not just an important exam but also you are spending 10K INR from your pocket. So, act responsibly and think that there is NO second chance. Only by thinking this way, you will have that inner sense to give your best shot that will hit the bull’s eye in the first attempt.
3) So, once you are confident enough about your preparation ( I am NOT going to talk in detail about your preparation as you will find plenty of threads that will help you in Edulix ) you can start to hunt for dates for GRE and TOEFL/IELTS around June, July and August ( Not beyond that )
1) You can send your GRE Scores to 4 free recipients after your exam and the same procedure is followed for TOEFL but is before your Exam.
2) Hence, what we suggest you to do is to create a Profile evaluation thread as soon as you get your GRE Score and start getting your profile evaluated.
3) Assuming you will be writing TOEFL after your GRE, after your initial round of evaluations, you can select the 4 Universities for which you are going to definitely apply and send your TOEFL scores to them.
4) This will help you save money in case you send your scores to some Univ and you decide that you are not going to apply there due to some reasons or the other.
1) Applying early has its own share of positives and you will get to know when you get your scores delivered to the respective Univ’s in 3 to 4 days whereas during the Business time of the season ( November and December ) it will take close to 15 working days.
2) To make sure that this delay doesn’t panic you due to approaching deadlines, it is always recommended sending your scores immediately after you have decided to apply to a University.
3) Many commit the mistake of sending the score along with or after their application has been submitted which isn’t recommended as it cause inevitable delays in delivering and subsequent processing.
1) As you have completed your GRE and TOEFL/IELTS by August end ( For profile building use threads in Edulix-There are many for that), you will be knowing your scores (TOEFL and AWA ) before the 1st week of September. If you are an MIS aspirant, don't miss out on reading the MIS Mega Sticky that will be an eye opener for you.
2) Now comes the profile evaluation part. Create an infobank and get your profile evaluated at Edulix by the seniors in your domain by referring PE Guide. While searching the Univ's for your criteria, you can also check about the Deadlines and Intakes for them. See the Initial University Selection for all streams to get an idea.
3) By the time you do research on the Univ’s in the forum on various topics, your programs, cost of attendance, Location for Jobs, intern, financial aids/waiver, TA, RA etc the time line would be closing in on you. The Engg and Sciences aspirants can look into the E&S Sticky to explore in details about some generic queries.
4) This entire process of finding out the Univ’s also includes your interactions with the current seniors in the respective Univ’s and getting first hand opinion about the places that you want to invest your career in.
5) This, along with the documents in the form of SOP’s for each University, Prof. Letting ( If needed ),LOR's and other basic paperwork in the form of getting Transcripts will easily consume roughly a month and a half. So, by the time you are ready with the places that you want to apply with all supporting documents, it is going to be October mid.
6) Once you have everything ready, its just the click of your mouse button. (Don’t assume that its going to be as simple as that ) You will be facing many hurdles en-route to seeing your Application status completed and you need to spend time on the forum clearing your doubts in your application specific queries thread
7) Some Universities have a completely online procedure that must be followed whereas others ask you to submit the online application and also send supporting documents to them. You can get the best deals by using Edulix Express service for your packets. To know about the application packets for various see the Application Packets thread.
8) So try to submit all the applications by October End. Believe me that will put you in a place that will really help in getting a positive decision being an early bird with your apps in even some AMBI shots.
9) Applying early has got lots of advantages and you will get to know them once your peers start posting queries on “Status Pendings “ during Thanksgiving and the following Christmas/new year breaks. After you get exhausted with this application process, take a well deserved break from Dec-Feb (where there is a lull in the decisions- rolling admits are an exception to this.
10) Once, you start getting your admits, the subsequent concerns will automatically lead you to managing your finances and visa preparations for which there are numerous threads in Edulix to guide u.