Guidance For Pursuing M.S.
in
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Comprehensive Information on
Application Procedure This information is
extracted from http://groups.yahoo.com/groups/i20feverhyderabad This article was authored by
Mr. Yogeshwar D. Suryawanshi ( B.Tech NIT(REC), Calicut), which is modified
to a greater extent by S.N.S.Vikram, a passed out student of GRIET |
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GRE & TOEFL: The
Standardized Tests GRE: Graduate Record
Examination The official website for GRE
is http://www.gre.org TOEFL: Test of English as a
Foreign Language The official website for TOEFL
is http://www.toefl.org |
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If you are an aspirant who want
to pursue his higher education that is Post Graduation /Masters Degree
program or PhD in USA or Canada you need to appear for GRE. Also if You are a
person who’s native language is not English you need to appear for TOEFL
irrespective of whether you had your undergraduate / post graduate study in
English medium. Hence all Indians must have to appear these two examinations
if they want to go for MS ( Master of Science ) / PhD program in any
discipline. Hence here is a brief description of these two examinations and
other useful information which you need to know before you opt for MS/ PhD.
It is a long, meticulous and often painful process but is definitely worth it
if you want a good graduate education in the engineering sciences. I will now
detail the steps to be followed, in chronological order. |
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Graduate Record Examination:
General Test Description of the General
Test The General Test measures analytical writing, verbal, and quantitative
skills that have been acquired over a long period of time and that are not
related to any specific field of study. The analytical writing section tests your critical thinking and
analytical writing skills. It assesses your ability to articulate and support
complex ideas, analyze an argument, and sustain a focused and coherent
discussion. It does not assess specific content knowledge. The verbal section measures your ability to analyze and evaluate
written material and synthesize information obtained from it, to analyze
relationships among component parts of sentences, to recognize relationships
between words and concepts, and to reason with words in solving problems.
There is a balance of passages across different subject matter areas:
humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. The quantitative section measures your basic mathematical
skills, your understanding of elementary mathematical concepts, and your
ability to reason quantitatively and solve problems in a quantitative
setting. There is a balance of questions requiring arithmetic, algebra,
geometry, and data analysis. These are content areas usually studied in high
school. |
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Preparation Material for GRE Generally widely used books for GRE are BARRON’s GRE , ARCO , Princeton
Review ( Also the CD provided with this book is supposed to be very good) ,
KAPLAN etc. ETS also provides a Free Preparation CD after you register for
GRE. You may try out a google search . Yet there are many sites for its preparation. The stuff is available on
its official website http://www.gre.org There is a separate question pool for
the topics of Analytical Writing on this site. Also one site
http://www.number2.com is a very good site for online preparation of GRE. It
is beneficial for the students who get free internet facility from the
institution. NOTE FROM VIKRAM: I found a book called WORDS FOR SMART
TEST TAKERS BY ARCOS Found it to be really cool. BUY IT FOR SURE. Its a great
book for GRE. |
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TOEFL Testing Program The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) measures the
ability of nonnative speakers of English to use and understand North American
English as it is used in college and university settings. Scores on the test
are required by more than 4,300 two- and four-year colleges and universities,
professional schools, and sponsoring institutions. The test is offered on computer throughout most regions of the world.
In areas where access to computer-based testing is limited, a supplemental
paper-and-pencil version of the test is administered The other information regarding GRE ( CBT & PBT ) and other queries
is given on the website http://www.gre.org So please
visit the site if you have any queries. Similarly the information regarding TOEFL ( CBT & PBT ) and the
other queries is given on the website http://www.toefl.org so please
visit the site if you have any queries. Below I have discussed about the application procedures and not much
about the examination pattern. These are basic steps in general to be
followed by the aspirants. |
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Preparation Material for
TOEFL TOEFL is a very cool examination and needs no special preparation
almost. But still to mention a few books BARRON’S TOEFL , CLIFFS etc. ETS
also provides a Free Preparation CD after you register for TOEFL. For additional stuff visit the official site http://www.toefl.org NOTE: With Barrons today you get 5 CDs with I think 13 Tests. And with
ARCOS you get 3 CDs with over 5 Tests. These are most then enough. |
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Basic Steps Towards GRE First of all decide whether to go for MS in USA , CANADA where GRE /
TOEFL or both are required. Since there are steps to follow only if you are
determinant. If yes then decide the field of interest. That is whether to opt
MS in the same field of your graduation or any other field. Accordingly decide
your projects in that particular field. 1. Get your passport since you have to give your Passport number as
your identification number in the GRE application form. 2.. That is get your Industrial Training done if necessary in that
field. 3. Then do your mini project & Final year project in that field
only. 4. Also try for the final seminar in that particular topic. 5. Get some research papers in this field published in international
magazines or at least present it in inter college technical festivals. In
this case the students should note one thing that the research work done
should be an original piece of work . Then only it is of importance. The first step is mandatory for all who want to apply for GRE and
TOEFL. It is not necessary for you to get an admission for MS to follow all
the remaining fields but if you are planning for and AID this is must. Also
for getting admission this plays crucial role in the process. Try to do as
many as things possible of these. |
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Choosing Field of Interest Hopefully by the time the Prof Letting ( Discussed Later ) process
starts you will have decided which sub-field of your department interests you
enough for you to pursue your graduate education in it. It need not be too
narrow, but there should be some choice made. Second fact of life - people
working in some fields get scholarships easier than people in others. But it
should not be the only factor in deciding which field you are going to
work/apply in -otherwise you may end up doing an MS in something you do not
like. Applying in the field in which you did your final-year project and the
maximum things mentioned above will improve your chances, but that does not
mean that your MS should be constrained by what you did in your Final year
project. If you are planning for MS/PhD in a different field than your
graduation then it important that you get maximum of this stuff done in order
to substantiate yourself in the Statement of Purpose and make your resume
look more impressive. These are initial basic things that one should know before deciding to
go for MS. Then comes the GRE and TOEFL in vision. |
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GRE Procedure: General Test 1.First of all request the Bulletin for GRE from the site www.gre.org
This is the official site for GRE. Also you can request the bulletin from www.ipem.org
2.you have two options either you request the bulletin if you have time
before you appear for GRE or get the form downloaded from this website. 3.Then fill up the form and make a draft of required Dollars in the
name of ETS-GRE . Presently the
application fee is $140. Do not send the cash. It should be in Dollars only. 4.If you have credit card ; you can send the money directly through the
card. The information for this procedure is given in GRE bulletin. 5.In the application form for GRE there are options for giving GRE test
centre and Dates of test. You give it as per your convenience. The
information for filling out this form is provided in the bulletin. 6.Send this form along with application fee to your country ETS centre.
For India it is in Delhi. The address is given in the bulletin. 7.After this you will get the acknowledgement letter from the GRE. Also
your date & time for test will be mentioned in that. That is supposed to
be your hall ticket. So keep it safely for appearing the GRE exam. Also other
instructions will be mentioned in that letter which are mandatory for all
students to appear for GRE. You must do take your Passport , Hall Ticket and
Secondary Identification with you for your test. You can not take other
things with you. Follow the instructions in the hall ticket and bulletin. 8.After you finish the exam your official score is to be sent to the
universities where you want to apply for MS. Since ETS send your official GRE
score to four universities free of cost. Since that fee is included in your
GRE application fee ( $ 140). So select the universities carefully. Since
these are the places where you can save your money. |