ALL ABOUT S

TUDYIN

G

ABROAD IN USA

N I ST H A T

R I PA T H I

SCHOLAR STRATEGY – ONLINE PLATFORM

MOST TRUSTED AND GENUINE STUDY ABROAD GUIDANCE

by GRADS from UIUC, NYU and other TOP schools in USA

We are a community network of Indian students studying abroad and those students who are planning

to study abroad

Our students are going to CMU, Cornell, Duke and UIUC etc this year

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NISTHA TRIPATHI

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AGENDA1. Myths about studying abroad2. Application Process3. Student Profiles – what works? And what doesn’t?4. Summarizing the lessons5. About Scholar Strategy6. More questions – MIS, work ex etc etc7. Q and A

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MYTHS

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WE CANNOT AFFORD A GOOD FOREIGN EDUCATION

Scholarships EASILY available Higher ROI and financial security

40Lac starting basic salary for engineers after MS

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LETS LO

OK AT TH

E

PROCESS

H O W DO E S I T

WO R K ?

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STUDYING ABROAD PROCESSGRE

Take by July/Aug for FallUniversity Selection

Aug-SepVery very imp (reputation, job prospects, location and living conditions)

Application Materials (Oct-Nov) Statement of Purpose (SOP)

What’s your story? Letter of Recommendation (LOR)

Choose right people and help them Resume

Download our free template at www.scholarstrategy.comFill application, pay fee and submit online (Nov-Dec)

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GRE Score valid for 5 years! Take by Aug (in case you need to retake) Use PowerPrep software wisely Do sufficient research to shortlist 4 schools to send 4

FREE score reports Don’t give it more than twice

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UNIVERSITY SELECTION Don’t go by rank alone, look at curriculum related to

your field of interest Look at career prospects FOR INDIANS (visa sponsored

jobs) In times of recession, location becomes critical

SJSU might offer better job prospects than a higher ranked midwest school

Explore whether you like the coursework and research Talk to its students

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WHAT’S YOUR STORY?• Background – Academic, Personal, Professional and

Extracurricular• What are your goals?• How does MS fit into it?• Why are you applying to University XYZ?• Why should the University accept you?

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SECRET OF A SUCCESSFUL APPLICATIONReinforce the story in your SOP and LORs

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SOP MISTAKES Rehashing the resume Hollow claims – SHOW, don’t TELL Lack of confidence Discounting your failures

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STUDENT P

ROFILES

W H AT WO R K S ?

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SURYA SUMUKH – MS CS• BE Computer Science and Engineering from BMS Bangalore• GPA – 9.36• GRE – 301• 2 years of software engineering experience at a global bank and

research internship at CDAC Bangalore• Area of Interest – Network Security and general CS• LORs – 1 academic, 2 professional ones from internship and full-time

work

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SUPREETH RAO – MS EE• BE Electrical Engineering from BMS Bangalore• GPA – 7.76 • GRE – 311• Toefl – 108• Experience – Good internship and 1.5 years solid research

experience from IISc and RRI (2 International journal research publications with him being the 1st author)

• Area of Interest – Computer Vision and Robotics• Applied ambitiously first time and NO ADMITS

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GPA MATTER

S MORE THAN

GRELe

sson # 1

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AKASH GANDOTRA – MS IN MIS• BE Computer Science and Engineering from NIT Allahabad• GPA – 8.55• GRE – 332• 3 years of software engineering experience at Oracle• Laser focused on MIS

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KANCHANA – MEM• BE Computer Science and Engineering from Amrita College,

Bangalore• GPA – 7.88• GRE – 312• One year of software engineering experience at Cognizant• Summer course at Stanford• Laser focused on MEM, Re-applicant

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VIKRANT– MEM AND MS EE• BE EE from College of Engineering, Pune• GPA – 7.23• GRE – 319• One year of consulting experience at Bristlecone• Applied for both MS EE and MEM• Good SOP and Decent LORs (none from work)• No Admits

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KNOW WHAT

YOU WANT

Lesso

n # 2

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REMEMBER THESE

LESSONS

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WHAT MATTERS? GPA Reputation of your undergraduate program Academic background Research/Professional Experience GRE score Extra curricular

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STRENGTHEN YOUR PROFILE Start Early Research Universities extensively Spend enough time on SOP and LORs – Show

your story Do Internships Keep your GPA high Build stuff, develop skills

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CHECK OUT THESE FREE RESOURCES Scholar Strategy – www.scholarstrategy.com

Free resume templates, free process guides, case studies Our newsletter has grown 500% in last 6 months

Edulix forums US News rankings Quora – www.quora.com (can ask insightful

questions) LinkedIn – Use to effectively contact with students

studying abroad

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SCHOLAR ST

RATEGY

I MP R O V I N

G TH E S

T A T E OF T

H I NG S

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BOOK ON MS IN USA• Working with a leading literary agent on a reference

book• Have conducted interviews with multiple successful

engineers in:• Academia• Research Labs• Industry – Amazon, Motorola etc• Pursued MBA later on from Columbia Business School, Chicago

Booth• GOOD NEWS – They think job market is great right now!

Building a comprehensive resource for engineers wanting to study abroad

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WHY SCHOLAR STRATEGY?Lack of genuine advice in the market – Local consultants tend to misleadPersonal experience Have done it myself – twice at TOP universities Admission committee insightsBetter resources and connections Network of students and professionals in US and UK

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OUR MS APPLICATION COUNSELING SERVICECOUNSELOR-Nistha (Me)- MS from UIUC (briefly worked with Adcom, RA)- MBA from NYU (worked as a TA)- Wall Street, Tech Startups in New York- Writing a book on MS in USA for EngineersOther Mentors: - Successful professionals on Wall Street, Consulting, Tech firms,

Startups…Our Network:- Alumni in UIUC, Cornell, CMU, Duke etc

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OUR MS APPLICATION COUNSELING SERVICEHOW WE WORK-Set a time table!Tailored for your profile – School selection is the keyWe guide, you do! –

Build your unique storyReiterate SOP till it is perfect on Google Docs (did 15 iterations with Surya!)Further guidance on how to secure internships and jobs!

No Appointment Needed, Always Available for Students!

Statutory Warning: She is very strict with deadlines. :)!!!! Thank You for the professional guidance with a personal touch.

I was pretty sure that I stand no chance of getting into a good university when I walked out of the GRE centre with a low score. But Scholar Strategy proved me wrong!!

Her valuable advice has helped me explore different dimensions of my “Statement of Purpose” and “Resume”

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PACKAGES1. HIGH LEVEL at Rs 4999

If you need only high level advise and are working with another counselor

2. COMPREHENSIVE at Rs 13999 If you are starting from scratch

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OUR MS APPLICATION COUNSELING SERVICEPROVEN SUCCESS-Guided few students last year. All except one going abroad this year – CMU,

UIUC, Cornell, Duke, UT Dallas, TAMU, WPI, NYU Poly, Utah…

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MORE DOUBTS

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DO YOU HAVE THESE DOUBTS?• MS or MIS for me?• Right time to apply?• Work experience or not?

• How to shortlist right schools?• Job and visa prospects• Reputation• Location

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KEEP IN TOUCHFor our COUNSELING SERVICE, contact at:www.scholarstrategy.com +91-77728-58925scholarstrategy@gmail.comUpdates on our FB page-https://www.facebook.com/

scholarstrategy

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