It’s a parents’ choice

In India, the selection of engineering college is parents decision. Students don’t decide which college they want to join. At the age of 18, having just finished their 12^th, they don’t have enough maturity to choose a college to study engineering. Nor do they have sufficient financial authority to take independent decisions. So parents take an active role during this time. It is entirely parents’ responsibility to find the right college for their ward. So this article is dedicated to the Indian parents searching colleges for their children.

Know your child

The first and foremost thing you should do as a parent is to analyze the psyche of your son/daughter. Understand what your child expects from an engineering college. Not just in the academic angle but in a general view. Find out where you ward wishes to study. Does he/she prefer an urban environment or sub-urban or rural environment. Can he/she stay without you? Do they prefer to stay with parents or do they prefer to stay away from parents to learn to be independent? Does he/she have any regional or cultural preferences? Students from South india take time to adjust to cultural differences in North India and vice versa. Find out if your ward is comfortable with the food change and climate change.

Is public opinion useful?

Asking your neighbors or friends for opinion is a good thing. But they can only tell you which college suits them, they can’t tell which one suits your ward well. Their opinion is personal to their situation and not to yours. Their children may be smarter or dumber than yours. Their expectations from a college may be different from yours.

Rely Newspaper advertisements?

Don’t trust newspapers alone. Advertisements are meant to be advertisements. The very purpose of an advertisement is promotion. Don’t believe whatever is written in advertisements. Nothing can be a better check than a personal inquiry.

Get the inside story

I advice the parents to at least go to the college 2-3 times before deciding to join their ward in a college. Visit the college campus and observe. Don’t do anything else. Simply observe. God has given human beings a wonderful skills of deduction from observation. If you observe the college environment for half an hour or so, you will get a little idea about the college, how it works and about the students’ level of thinking.

Asking students for opinion inside college is a bad idea. Because students would not give your their frank opinion inside the college campus for the fear of talking against the college that holds the education and future career. You may ask students outside the college campus for a frank opinion. It is also a good idea to talk to the parents of students studying in a particular college. Again, asking teachers may not be a good idea. Teachers can’t voice a frank opinion against the colleges for which they are working.

Careful while paying admission fees

Do not pay the admission fees to unauthorized agents. Be sure to pay only to authorized agents registered with the college. I have known a case where parents of student from Bihar have lost 1 lakh rupees by paying to an unauthorized agent in Bihar.

College that fits your budget

Carefully plan your budget and decide whether or not to join your ward to a college. Think long term. Be sure whether you will be able to pay fees for all the 8 semesters in span of 4 years. I have known parents who had to sell their lands to pay fees of their students owing to the lack of forethought about the fees.

Placement is not everything

Career placement is not the only criterion for selecting a college. You should carefully examine the teaching standards of teachers in the college, facilities provided by college for education, food and health.

Make the best use of what is available

And after joining a particular college, you can’t compare the facilities of a particular college with other colleges. Once committed it’s done. You can do nothing complaning about the facilities in the colleges. Try to make the best use of the facilities given by that college.

About the author: Kanniga is a Professor in Bharath University, Chennai. She has a teaching experience of over 10 years. She holds Masters degree in Engineering and Business Administration.(M.E, M.B.A). Professor loves her work as worship. You can ask education related questions to professor via email kannigatruth@yahoo.com

Happy Schools Blog

I’ve subscribed to their email newsletter, subscribed to their RSS feed, subscribed them on twitter and added their site to my bookmarks. But I just can’t get enough of what the blog offers. It’s a treasure trove of knowledge and advice for Indian students seeking admission in the USA and for Indian professionals seeking work at the USA. Abbreviated as HSB, Happy Schools Blog has over 800+ articles posted in it. I have read testimonials of hundreds of students who have taken value out of this blog since its inception in 2007. In that blog’s comments, there are stories of hundreds of students who made their journey to the US.

Kudos to the authors of Happy Schools Blog(HSB) to have consistently produced quality material that helped aspirants over last two years. I am not looking for admission in US universities. Technically speaking, HSB is a competitor to Interview Mantra — India. But, that fact doesn’t stop me from publicly lauding them for their work.

HappySchoolsBlog specializes at topics:

• GRE, TOEFL, GMAT Test — Tips, News and Stories.
• Statement of Purpose, Letter of Recommendation — Best practices, dos and donts, samples.
• US University Selection and rankings — produces exhaustive list of universities for various specializations. Compares colleges and reviews university rankings.
• Graduate School Application – covers A to Z of University application process.
• MS program in the US –  discusses sub-topics such as scholarships, OPT, PhD, internship
• MBA program in the US — discusses about what US business schools have got to offer.
• Education and Living Expenses –  detailed analysis of student expenses in the US based on city and state.
• H1-B news and updates — gives weekly updates and advice on H1-B status in the US.
• Job Application and Resume — gives valuable tips on sites such as LinkedIn for job search.
• Answers readers questions — asked by readers on comments and via email.
• Polls and surveys — related to graduate school application. Poll and survey results are pretty useful in making decisions.
• Live chat feature — helps aspirants to ask questions related to graduate school application live.

What I love about HappySchoolsBlog:

• The articles are written in a very simple language that is understandable by Indian students. And usually are short enough to be read in 60 seconds.
• HSB gives a real picture of education at the USA. It doesn’t distort any facts or information like the overseas education agents in India. It presents the information in a no nonsense way.
• Busts myths and rumours of students. Doesn’t encourage fake application and other illegal stuff. HSB never advocates shortcuts. It provokes people to challenge themselves to reach new heights.
• Shares plethora of information about education and living in the USA in the perspective of a common Indian Student. For that reason it ‘s very easy for an Indian student  to understand what issues they are talking about in HSB’s articles.
• Not only covers howto information but also speaks of general topics such as email etiquette while addressing a professor, how to plan education and finances in the US.
• Acts like a virtual guide and mentor to young Indian students. I have seen so many readers thanking HSB through blog comments for inspiring them to get a better GRE Score and get admit in better Universities in the US.
• HSB answers email queries of readers as public blog posts. What is astonishing is their attention to detail while answering specific questions related to education in the US.

In one of their posts, one of the authors of HSB explains the reason why HSB was started:

Students want to study in the US and that’s all they care and most of them don’t even know if the information they hear from friends or family members are correct. With so much misguided information, students make incorrect decision and end up at some university, when they could have opted for much better school.

So, HSB aims to help such students make better choices and saves them from getting into a trap of false hopes and misconceptions. I highly recommend HSB and wish their team a great future ahead!

Here are common reasons for rejections divulged by Admission Committee experts. Watch the video with attention, note down the reasons and try to prevent your rejection by following the advice given by the Admission committee members.

I liked this video very much. What caught my attention was the point put by a speaker at 1min 26sec in the video.

If someone does something either in the interview process or in their essays that suggests that they are not a team player, we reject their application.

This is such an important point to ponder. Never write in your statement of purpose suggesting that you were the only person who worked in your team project. Give due credit to your team or whoever helped with your accomplishment. Stealing credit and portraying a self centered picture hurts your chances of selection.

Pranav Mistry’s curriculum vitae

Last bencher dozing off in a class

Hello everyone, I am Shashikanth and am just like the every other guy you find sitting at the back benches of the class idling his time away playing games on mobile phone, praying desperately for the lecture to end. Now, let me introduce you to my not-so-great academic profile. My highest qualification is a bachelor’s degree in computer science and engineering in a JNTU affiliated college in Hyderabad with an aggregate of 63.5% with 8 backlogs. So what am I doing here in this blog meant for “studious types” aspirants, eager to improve their skills for facing the dreaded interview?

Believe it or not, I have been given this opportunity to share my experience with you as to how I could score a respectable 1440 in the GRE Test(verbal 650, quant 790). Yes my friends, shocking it is, but I managed to crack GRE with the help of a few simple tips. I am now going to reveal few of my secret tips to get a great GRE score.

1. Fix the most auspicious appropriate date for taking the GRE test

   Generally, students enroll for GRE coaching during their semester break and take up the GRE Test immediately following the coaching classes. The myth being that their level of concentration is at the peak during and right after the coaching classes.So what is the perfect time to take GRE test? I suggest you to take your classes during a semester break and take the exam in the following semester break. Take my case, I took my GRE classes in the 3rd year 1st semester break and took the GRE test during the semester break of 3rd year 2nd semester.But, the truth is that your mind will be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of vocabulary and formulas that are needed to be memorized for the GRE. You may still want to take the test right after the classes and be satisfied with a mediocre score; which am sure would not get you an admission in the “coveted” college that you wanted.

2. Time management both for preparation as well as the main exam

   Time management is very important in GRE as it’s a timed test. You can master how to manage time with regular practice. Hence, prepare a schedule and set apart ample hours of preparation time for quantitative and verbal so as to train yourself to efficiently manage your time in the GRE test.Set your working hours depending upon your learning ability. You can take a break at times, but refrain from playing the computer games and watching TV. Recreational activities such as listening to music or physical activities such as an outdoor sport(badminton) or a refreshing walk, will help you prepare to take more load.In my case, I was more confident about the verbal section than the quantitative. So, I scheduled my preparation all through my semester break giving at least two hours for the preparation and revision of my word lists and more time for the quantitative.

3. Take the verbal very seriously

   Most of my friends prepared only for the quantitative section with the intention of trying out their luck on the verbal. They are of the notion that guessing the answers will get them at least 300 – 350. Fatal Error!! Mark my words; verbal on GRE is not as hard as you think, if you prepare for it the right way. The only way to boost your scores is to prepare equally well for verbal and quantitative as they carry equal marks(800 each). We Indians are inherently good at math, thanks to our high school math syllabus.There is no such thing as syllabus for GRE verbal section. It simply intends to test your reading comprehension and vocabulary. Practice upon the type of questions that you will be tested on. You need to memorize the word lists to get a good score in verbal section. This task can be tedious. Of course, this can be achieved by repetitive learning, but it’s more fruitful if you can find fun ways to stack the words and their meanings in your memory in a different way – such as a small song with rhyming words to remember meanings.You can even convert the sounds of the difficult words into some odd meanings in your mother tongue to make them easier to memorize. Remember, there are no standard mnemonics to learn the word lists, it’s just what suits you the best. I’m a Hyderabadi, so I try to twist the hard words into something funny in my vernacular. For example, I had problems with the words charlatan and mountebank. So I made a mental note of the sound charlatan as something to do with “chalu”, a fraud. Similarly for mountebank I made up a story: one who steals from a bank and hides it in the mountains. Very awkward revealing it, but it surely works.

4. Make your quantitative preparation intensive not extensive

   Firstly, list down the areas where you would be tested upon and then try to do as many problems as possible on those areas. I was extremely poor at math so I made sure it received that extra attention. The Barron’s is the most recommended book for the GRE. It comprises of topics listed under categories where we are likely to be tested on and special notes called “tactics” for explaining the application and the basics to solve any problem quickly. Make sure you complete the Barron’s before attempting the more complicated Kaplan, Cambridge or Princeton.As a final step, make sure you work out the quant database. For those who don’t know, quant database is a regularly updated set of questions from GRE quantitative test that are compiled from the actual takers of the GRE. This means that they are the questions that actually have appeared in the GRE test. In case you are not able to solve these questions, take help from the most responsive community for the GRE on orkut.I took my test on October 19th and I stumbled upon this database only 2 days before the exam and I could work out only the questions posted for the month of October. Believe me folks, I got 3 questions straight out of the database and that saved me an ample amount of time. If you work through the database completely, I’m sure you’d understand the standard of questions in the GRE (the questions are from the actual GRE) and hopefully get some questions out of the database.

5. Promote your preparation to the next level

   The GRE test has now reached a state of saturation. There are innumerable websites and institutes who recommend their own “tested and proven” strategies. A mnemonic that suits a person may not be equally suitable for another. So it is better to try multiple options at hand and choose the best one which is the most suitable to “you”.For example, I have prepared for the GRE wordlists from the GRE KRUPA’s Pictionary’s which served as a visual aid for learning the endless wordlists. You may give this a try.

6. Don’t take your mock test scores to heart

   This is the most important tip that I would like to share with everyone. Don’t feel at ease or be discouraged looking at your scores in the mock test. The legend has it that the mock test scores reflect the actual score that you will get on the GRE. That is baseless; no one knows how the CAT (computer adaptive test) pattern of the GRE evaluates scores.I hadn’t scored anything beyond 1100 in most of the mock tests that I’d attempted. However, mock tests provided me an excellent platform to improve myself in the areas that I was weak. So, take the tests in an optimistic way, learn from your mistakes and try to improve your scores. There are many real life examples of people scoring well on the mock tests and failing on the GRE and vice-versa. Don’t get carried away by those scores.

7. On the day of the exam

   Stop studying on the day before your exam!!! Take a break; you have worked hard enough(hopefully) to earn yourself a well deserved sleep. Go to bed early and wake up early. Don’t try out any last minute reading. Remember to carry your passport and the printout of confirmation letter of your appointment. Avoid driving to the test center as it could be stressful. Ask your friend to drop you at the test center or take an auto. Reach the place at least half an hour early so as to complete all the formalities and take the test without any unnecessary conflicts.

A reminder to all of the GRE takers:

According to the test center rules, you are NOT allowed to carry anything including your hand kerchief or wallet into the test room. You will be provided a safety locker to secure all your valuables. Two sharp pencils and a booklet of 4 pages (8 sides) are provided for your rough work.

All The Best for exam!! Do let me know through comments if these tips helped you.

Things don’t change much once you get to college. Students are often engulfed in a vicious circle of tests, assignments and semester exams; and in this hectic race to secure a good GPA, the true aim of learning is forgotten. The thing is, almost everyone knows that all the theoretical things they teach you at college will never really help you much besides getting you a good GPA. So you really think that after memorizing a few problems in engineering mechanics, that you have learned something in the subject? No, not a chance. Unless you get ready to experiment, to get down and dirty with your hands, you’re not actually learning anything. You won’t be doing science.

But hold your horses; don’t we have a practical section for exactly that purpose?

Ok, just wait.  An experiment is something you do to determine the nature of the world around us, by patient observation. It requires some degree of curiosity, an inquisitive thirst for knowledge.  Applying knowledge thus gained requires even more experimentation. Agreed? Now look at an ordinary practical session in schools and colleges. You follow the instructions given in the procedure, you take down readings and complete observation and the record notebook (which seems to be most of the work devoted to practicals). Nowhere during the practicals are you actually experimenting. Practicals are another ritual to be performed by today’s students.

Even engineering and science require good creative minds, perhaps at least as much as art does. It’s hard for creativity to flourish in this kind of place where the highest rewards go not to persons of high thinking caliber but to persons who tend to memorize. To repeat what others have said requires no brain at all, to come up something totally new – that requires every bit of brain power you could muster. Many times it had been said that classes will dull your brains. Here the situation is even worse – classes will make you even forget that you have a brain.