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Category: GRE

How Do Universities Evaluate Your Profile

Many students ask us questions such as, “How important are my GRE/TOEFL/IELTS scores? Does Work Experience or Research work increase my chances of admission? Will I get into this University with a 6.3 GPA?” Etc…

To get a better idea of your profile, it’s important to know how Universities evaluate a Student’s profile?

These are different aspects of your profile the Universities consider-

Undergraduate Academic Scores and Research Experience
Work Experience (If there)
GRE and TOEFL/IELTS/PTE Scores
Statement of Purpose, and Letters of Recommendation

The University admissions department, consisting of faculty members of your course, considers all the above factors of your profile, but the weightage given varies.

GPA & Research Experience

This is the most important aspect of your profile! Your faculty gives maximum weightage to your GPA because this directly reflects your expertise in the subject. Universities usually consider grades of your last 3 or 4 semesters, especially grades in the subjects relevant to the course you’re applying to. Any relevant research work, paper publications, Certifications, and final year projects all have a fair impact on the admissions panel.

Work Experience

Your most recent work experience is another major aspect, given that it’s relevant to the course you’re applying to. If you’re someone who has been working for 3+ years, your work experience is usually given more importance than your academics, given your work is in the same field as that of your course. Your internships also count as work experience but they’re not as impactful as a full-time job experience.

Remember that work experience is not mandatory for a student to apply for the majority of Master’s courses. It’s good to have work experience as it will increase your chances of admit but not compulsory. There are a handful of Master’s courses that require work experience, especially a few Management courses, so please check the course website before you apply.

Keep in mind that Universities give maximum weightage to your most recent “learning experience” at the time of application, be it work or study.

GRE Scores

GRE scores in most of the cases, especially for top Universities in the USA and Canada, are mandatory to submit. The Top Universities of other Countries where it’s not mandatory, take GRE to be an added credential! A good GRE score translates into strong Analytical and logical skills, which are important tools to pursue your Graduate courses. In some cases, we have seen students with low academics, getting admits into decent Universities because of good GRE scores.

Statement of Purpose and Letters of Recommendation

Statement of Purpose is a letter you write to the admission panel about yourself, your past experiences, and why you want to pursue a Master’s degree? Some Universities will ask you to answer specific questions regarding yourself. SOP is a great opportunity to express your interest, experiences, and ambitions in your field of study. All the members in the admission panel will go through your SOP, as this is the one way of getting to know you personally (Unless you are asked to give a personal interview, which some Universities do. Please check the University website).

Letters of Recommendation are written by your professors or senior employees under whom you have studied or worked. You’re asked to submit 2 to 3 LORs in your application. Through these letters, the panel will get to know more about your work and performance.

Both SOPs and LORs combined can be pretty strong influencers on the admission decision. Sometimes, those students who don’t have good academics or GRE scores can convince the panel through strong SOPs and LORs.

TOEFL/IELTS/PTE Scores

English-based tests scores are mandatory for all international students who are from countries where English is not a Native language. Every University has a minimum score requirement, using which they screen the applicants. They’re not as important as the above factors for securing admission but the applicants have to cross the Minimum requirement. In some cases, students who do not cross that requirement might be given admission but have to finish Advance English courses at the University. Please check the University’s website for alternatives! But, in case you’re planning to apply for a Research or Teaching assistantship after you get an admit, having high scores on these tests would increase your chances of getting an assistantship offer.

All these above aspects are considered by the panel while making an admit decision and no one aspect is “The important”, given you cross the minimum requirements.

Jayasurya

(M Sc. in Entrepreneurship, Brown University)

GRE

Do you Know about Masters Specializations

As a Student counselor at Dr.Raju’s Edu, I’ve often noticed students attending our classes, without knowing enough about the whole process of pursuing Master’s abroad. So we encourage our students to do good amount of personal research before deciding on a course and country of study.

Specializations:

The most important of all is to decide on a course of study. We had a student who has done BTech. in Civil Engineering, but his interests lay in pursuing managerial courses. He was in a dilemma whether to go for the common Master’s in Civil Engineering or look out for courses that match his interests. In his case, MBA abroad was not an option because he is a fresher with no work experience and Business schools require minimum Work-ex. But, there are many Universities abroad that offer specialized courses for students with diverse interests- This student here can pursue Master’s in Construction Management, which is a good intersection of his B.Tech degree and his Field of interest or completely shift to Management, by opting for Master’s in Engineering Management.

A lot of us don’t know about specializations offered by Universities in a given field and miss out on some exciting courses that fall in line with our interests. One need not stick to the same course as his/her undergraduate degree.

Online Research:

To get to know more about the Specializations you’re eligible for, make sure you Research online. There’s a ton of information on Quora, Graduate Studies dedicated forums, or you can also visit the Graduate School Websites of Top Universities, in the country of your liking.

One easy way is to go to the Graduate school websites of one of the Top Universities in the country you’re planning to study in. Once you’re on the website, look out for different graduate courses that a particular University is offering. You’ll probably notice a long list of courses but just pick the streams you will be eligible to apply to and read about them. The Top University websites have a lot of information regarding specializations and the subjects taught in the courses. This way you can check if the specialization aligns with your interests.

Finally, as an aspirant who is planning to spend good amount of time and resources on Graduate education, it’s important that you pursue those courses that suit your core interests.

GRE

When to write the GRE

Me: What is the best time to write GRE?

Mentor: It depends on a lot of parameters.

Me: Ah! Not the same thing again. I need a small answer.

Mentor: Sadly, no small answers for this one as it is the first step of your master’s journey abroad. So, sit tight and listen.

First, let’s get to know when the University application deadlines are, based on the Intake you’re targeting to Apply to.

Application Deadlines-

Fall or August Intake Deadlines are usually between December-April . Many top programs deadlines are done by December-January. So if you are aiming for them , try to have your tests’ scores by October .

Spring or January intake Deadlines fall between June-October. Plan your test, based on deadlines of universities you’re targeting.

Deadlines for some countries, like Canada, are finished much earlier. So check with a few universities in the particular country you’re applying to as well.

Remember this- depending upon Universities’ application deadlines you need to plan to finish up your GRE test. Many students finish up their test at least a couple months before they start their application process so the earlier the better!

Now, you might be wondering the time you need to dedicate for GRE prep- Let me take you through that as well!

When should you register for the test?

Try to register at least a 5-6 weeks prior, if you’re planning to write it offline, to get slots. Generally July-January tend be busy months so it’s better to book a little early.

The Time you need to dedicate for GRE Preparation depends on:

Vocabulary and English Comprehension skills: High school math is more than enough to tackle GRE Quant. Most of the students find the Verbal part challenging and rightfully so. Good Vocabulary and comprehension skills are essential to sail through the Verbal section. The time for preparation depends heavily on how good you are in vocabulary- there are about a 1000 tough english words that you need to learn, apart from improving your english reading and comprehension speed. It is a time taking process for many and the best way you can judge your ability is by trying a few sample Verbal and Quantitative questions from ETS books (official GRE test makers).
Target Score: Obviously the higher the score the better. But, that doesn’t mean that getting a 330+ will get you into the Ivy league. Remember, GRE score is just one of the factors in your profile. Best way to get a rough estimate of the target score is to look at the university’s previous class profiles. Aim for at least 5-10 points higher than the average GRE score. Here’s a rough estimate based on Universities you want to study in**-

320+ – Management related Master’s in Top Universities

310+ – Top Universities

300+ – High to Moderate ranked Universities

290-300- Moderate ranked Universities

**This is just an estimate based on the student profiles we have guided. Of course, low GRE scorers can also aspire to get into top universities, given other parameters in their profile are good. But make sure you give yourself a high target.

Time you can dedicate: Based on your Target scores the time you need to dedicate varies from 2 -6 Months for preparation. It also depends on how many hours you can dedicate in a day (considering both students and Working Professionals).

Hours/Day Preparation	0-4 Hours	4-8 Hours
Months	3-6 Months	2-3 Months

Bottomline– It’s safe to put aside 3+ months of time for your GRE prep for good scores. This includes coaching time as well, if you’re taking up classes.

Expert Tip- Make sure your Prep is continuous without long breaks at least in the initial two months, as it takes a good amount of practise to get used to the kind of questions appearing on the GRE and to also develop your problem solving speed.

Reach out to our in house GRE experts for more tips regarding the test!

Jayasurya,

MSc Brown University

GRE: 330/340 (Q170,V160)

jayasurya@drrajus.com