Exchange Diaries
Aditya Sawant | Computer Science and Engineering
University of Texas at Austin, USA
From where did you get the motivation? How did it all start? How did you handle your preparation along with your academics?
I was in manufacturing engineering initially and I changed my department to CS. Once you understand the grind it becomes easy to work harder for your goals. In the first year, maintaining a decent CGPA is easier compared to later years. I was interested in my new field and just worked hard. I always wanted to go for higher studies abroad and hadn’t applied to dual degree programs for Department Change. I would suggest getting done with the GRE and TOEFL examinations as early as possible. This helps in easing the load in the final year when you need to manage your academics, placements, and grad applications simultaneously.
Did you apply to multiple universities? If yes, can you please elaborate on the differences in the selection process of the universities? In universities in which you were not selected can you please share what you felt you lacked, what could you have done better.
I applied to 11 universities. They were generally the top tier in my field. As for differences, most of the universities had a similar selection procedure. That is the usual - GRE score, TOEFL score & SOP. Out of those 11, 9 were in the US while 2 of them were in Canada. The reason why I couldn’t crack the top universities might be because I had limited research papers and work experiences in my field.
How are you planning to manage your finances? Have you applied for any scholarships? What were their procedures?
No, I have not applied for any scholarships, and for the finances part, I have taken an educational loan and plan to utilize personal funds as well. Apart from that once you reach there, there are alternate ways to earn money. You can apply for research assistantships or various TAships that might help lighten the burden.
Role of your CGPA?
Some universities are pretty hard on the CGPA. CGPA is definitely an important element of the selection process. It basically separates the more competent students from the others. And also, when the competition gets higher that definitely works. Students must be having a CGPA above 8 to even expect to get into any school outside India. 8.5 is to be safe. For students with >=9 CGPA, they are pretty well off in their CGPA aspect and need to be working and looking into other aspects of foreign university selections i.e., experience, publications, and projects.
How is your university going to manage everything in this confusion of COVID-19?
I am not fully aware of this. But I’ve heard that they take 2 COVID tests on a weekly basis. Other things I’m aware of are in-person classes that might happen there.
How did IIT Kharagpur benefit you in your journey?
First of all, it’s the brand value, the IIT brand is very famous across the United States and Kharagpur itself is famous across the nation and other parts of the world so that is definitely helpful. Plus, Kharagpur provides you an amazing opportunity to interact with the top professors, study with the best brains of the country, and lastly, and most importantly form some very useful connections.
What difficulties do you think the pandemic will bring (or has brought already) in the process?
Visa processing has been a HUGE problem now. Very few visa slots are opening.
What are the opportunities after the Master’s course?
I will probably not do a Ph.D. But I would like to keep my options open. Right now, I am inclined towards entering the industry after my master’s degree.
What message do you want to give the juniors today who are interested in pursuing similar courses?
PhDs are usually fully funded and if you are worried about your finances, I suggest applying for Ph.D. programs. In order to become a global citizen, you need to experience how things work outside your nation and hence I think that foreign universities provide that exposure to you and help get you out of your comfort zone.