MSinUS: Part 0 — From confusion to clarity

A complete guide to pursue Masters in abroad (irrespective of country)

If you are in STEM and are

1. Planning to pursue Masters and have no clue on where to start (or)
2. In the middle of your voyage and got struck/have queries

Please let me walk through my journey. All the opinions presented in this series of blog are based on my experience and it might or might not be useful. So, my first suggestion is

“Listen to everything, but act on your own”

In short, read this series with a “pinch of salt”. If there are any discrepancies, do let me know so I will edit it. You can connect via LinkedIn. Also, check my personal blog to know more about me.

Some details about me before delving further:

Credentials at the time of my university application.

List of universities I’ve applied. Green →Accepted, Red →Rejected for applied courses

My MS timeline. This timeline is not optimal and has few setbacks I’ve faced which I hope might help you to plan your journey accordingly. Fun Fact: I prepared this timeline before 2nd wave :) So, my visa interview which was initially scheduled for May was cancelled and was rescheduled in August (~20 days from my travel date)

A rough timeline for someone who’s planning for fall intake. If it’s spring, just shift everything 6 months backward. Use the timeline only for reference and feel free to tweak based on your needs

Useful links to understand more about planning the timeline:

1. https://magoosh.com/toefl/the-us-admissions-timeline/

Note: Just remember that you are not the first person in this journey. There’re a lot who went before you and a lot will come after you. So, there’s already lots of documented data and I’m just putting some useful resources here for easy reference (refer Part4 in series for YouTube channels). My suggestion is to take away points that are helpful and once you achieved whatever you need, help others.

Q. Fall intake (vs) Spring intake ?

If your program starts around August/September, then it’ll be Fall intake. If your program starts around January, then it’ll be Spring intake.

Note: Few universities offer Summer intake as well

Which one is better? Though there’s no perfect answer, I personally prefer Fall (because it’s kinda default). If you have no other good reason to chose Spring over Fall, simply go for Fall. Read this blog by GreEdge to understand more about fall vs spring.

Step 0 — Decide what you are expecting from MS

In most of the universities, there are 2 types of Masters

1. Traditional Masters/Research Masters/Thesis Masters
2. Professional Masters/Non Thesis Masters (PMP)

Now ask yourself, “What do you want from MS?”

If your answer is “Job”, then it’s best to choose Professional MS. If you are clear on doing “Research/PhD”, then go for Research Masters. Though it is a general advice, there are instances where thesis students end up with direct job (or) non-thesis students might go for PhD.

When to decide?

Whenever you can. Because your entire life depends on this one question. And trust me, it’s very difficult to come up with a satisfactory answer. So, take your time.

How to decide?

Question yourself “What you want to do in the long run?” If you want to be a professor, then Thesis MS is the one.

Another (less) important criteria is how you consider funding. Most of the assistanceships (RAs, TAs) will be given to thesis students over non thesis students (atleast for S1, because thesis MS students help Profs for publications)

Useful links:

1. https://uwf.edu/hmcse/blog/help-should-i-pursue-a-thesis-or-non-thesis-masters-degree.html
2. https://www.topuniversities.com/student-info/admissions-advice/professional-masters-vs-research-masters-what-you-need-know
3. Journey of a PhD student: https://maithraraghu.com/blog/2020/Reflections_on_my_Machine_Learning_PhD_Journey/#expectations-going-into-the-phd
4. Collection of blogs on advice: http://csrankings.org/advice.html

Step 1 — Make a list of universities on ballpark (i.e country level estimate)

Note: If you have less time, skip this step (Refer to above timeline pic)

When you are planning for Masters and if someone says “Prepare for GRE” as their initial piece of advice, it might be a mistake. Because not all universities require GRE. There is no need to make a FINAL LIST but at least start making a list of universities you want to apply for. Some advice on this is:

Look into the rankings websites such as QS, Times Higher Education (THE). Be careful to check subject wise rankings and not overall rankings.

My advice is not to give too much weight on ranks while selecting universities because these rankings are computed by a committee which takes lots of factors while computing the rank and research/job opportunities is just one among them (though, this is the most important factor for us)

Note: If you are into Research MS in CS related program, then (csrankings.org) offers a good source about how research is going in each university based on publications.

Though the blog series is titled as MSinUS, I’ve applied to several countries and each country has their own deadlines. Some pointers are:

1. If you are planning to apply only for US, then just give GRE.
2. For Masters from Japan, it is highly advisable to apply via Government scholarships (this blog by Nora Joby will be very helpful)
3. Though few German universities ask prior knowledge of German (TU Munich), there are many which teach the courses in English. And the beauty is, once you get an admit in Germany, there won’t be any tuition fee (or a very nominal fee)
4. Most of the European Universities doesn’t have a mandatory GRE and prefer IELTS over TOEFL (though in my case TOEFL sufficed)

So, it is important to get the rough list of universities even before starting your GRE/TOEFL/IELTS preparation.

Next in series

MSinUS: Part 1 — GRE, TOEFL, IELTS

MSinUS Part 2: MSinUS: Part 2 — SOP, LORs and applications

MSinUS: Part 3 — I20, Scholarships, Loans & Visa

MSinUS: Part 4 — Get ready to fly