Engineering- Graduate Study

KIC Planner for Engineering Students: Click Here

Apply Effectively: Because of application costs, time and effort required to prepare applications; you will want to limit the number of schools to which you apply.
It takes time to prepare a solid application, and it can be expensive to apply to many schools. Don’t spread yourself too thin. To help keep applications manageable, narrow your list to five to seven schools that have the curricular strength, culture and program philosophy that will meet your educational and professional needs. Be sure to include at least one school that you believe you are more than qualified to attend on the basis of your work experience, test scores and academic performance. Also include your dream school.
Your best chance of making the right decisions and getting into a good university without drilling a hole in your pocket is to take professional help. Make sure you have a free counseling session with Prof. Ganesh Kohli before you take a final decision.

Your GRE Scores: The GRE measures verbal, quantitative and analytical writing skills that have been developed over a long period of time and are not necessarily related to any particular field of study.
Verbal: 30-minute section (30 questions) — The verbal measure tests your ability to analyze and evaluate written material and synthesize information obtained from it, analyze relationships among component parts of sentences, and recognize relationships between words and concepts.
Quantitative: 45-minute section (28 questions) — The quantitative measure tests your basic mathematical skills and your understanding of elementary mathematical concepts, as well as your ability to reason quantitatively and solve problems in a quantitative setting. The content areas included in the quantitative sections of the test are arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and data analysis. These are content areas usually studied in high school.
Analytical: 75-minute section — The analytical section consists of two writing tasks: a 45-minute "Present Your Perspective on an Issue" task and a 30-minute "Analyze an Argument" task. The "Issue" task states an opinion on an issue of general interest and asks test takers to address the issue from any perspective they wish, as long as they provide relevant reasons and examples to explain and support their views. The "Argument" task presents a different challenge: it requires test takers to critique an argument by discussing how well reasoned they find it.
For more details on the GRE test, click here.

Academic Records: MS programs in Engineering require applicants to have sixteen years of education and will expect you to provide transcripts from all the post-secondary colleges and universities you attended. Do yourself a favor and contact your institutions early in the application process so you will know how to get a transcript and how long it takes. You wouldn’t want the lack of a transcript to hold up processing of your application.
Admissions professionals will review your academic record to help them predict your performance in graduate engineering school. When they assess your academic performance, admissions staff will consider your graduate work, including course work that took place outside a college/university program. Be sure to provide transcripts of all course work as part of your application. Admissions staff may weigh your most recent work more heavily as a measure of your aptitude and maturity as a prospective student.

Essays: Most schools require at least one essay with each application. The essay is your opportunity to present a clear picture of yourself, your motivations and your abilities. It also offers an important example of your written communication skills. The best application essays not only answer the question as asked, they also reflect your “voice.”

Your essay should articulate how attributes of the school to which you are applying fit with your abilities and interests. This will show that you have done thorough research and self-assessment. You should also explain your interest in a particular course of study, as well as its relevance to your post - MS career plans.

Essays should:
-always answer the questions asked
-be reasonably specific
-be concise (stay within the word limit if one is given)
-reinforce the other parts of your application
-address the particular school and program in question
An essay enables you to articulate your viewpoints, goals and experience and helps tie together your application as a coherent representation of who you are, what you have to offer, and what you hope to gain from a graduate Engineering program.
At KIC, this is the key area where you have help available. Often the essay is more important than your test scores.

Work Experience:
Work experiences provide rich subject matter for an MS program. It is much easier to teach concepts and approaches to students who have had some experience in the real world. The more experience you have, the more you will be able to contribute. In measuring the value of your experience, admissions professionals will look carefully for evidence of results and accomplishments. Make sure the resume or work summary you provide in your application focuses on results rather than the activities themselves.

Letters of Recommendation: Recommendations are important to:
-confirm or elaborate on your credentials, strengths, and aspirations
-help schools develop a consistent overall impression of a candidate
Recommendations from employers and work colleagues for an MS program can provide specific information about your work experience, which can be a major factor in admissions decisions. Each program requires a specific number of recommendation letters, usually two or three. Do not exceed that number without prior agreement from the admissions staff. More is not considered better. Admission staffs appreciate it when applicants follow instructions and supply only the information requested.

Interviews: Interview policies vary from school to school. Some programs require one. Others grant interviews by invitation only, while still others do not offer interviews at all. Be sure you understand interview requirements and how your interview will be used in the application process.
Even if an interview is not required, it can be a great way to gain firsthand information about the school’s environment, facilities, students and faculty. That knowledge can help you make an informed decision later on.
An interview is also an excellent opportunity for you to demonstrate your interpersonal skills to admissions staff

Extracurricular Activities: Your ability to lead and work with others and your interest in life outside professional pursuits provide valuable insights into who you are. Extracurricular activities can be great places to showcase yourself.
Emphasize activities that show multitasking, well-roundedness and leadership. A person with a reasonable academic performance who accomplished a lot outside of class may be viewed as well as (or more favorably than) someone with a perfect academic performance and nothing else to show for his or her time. This is also a great way for a candidate with less work experience to demonstrate skills that were developed in a university but have not been fully utilized in the workplace yet. Schools want to know not only how well you do in school but also how successful you are in the “real world”.