Sourabh shares his experience of successfully getting admits from universities in US and Canada: Shiksha Success Stories

Please share your profile and university admits

I applied to seven universities, five in US and two in Canada. I applied to the University of Illinois Chicago, Clemson University, the University at Buffalo (Sunny), the University of Kentucky and the University of Texas Arlington. Also, I applied to Concordia University and the University of Victoria. I received admits from four universities i.e. the University of Texas Arlington, the University of Illinois Chicago, the University of Kentucky and Concordia University.

Please share your journey to study abroad

As I was working for one year, one of my colleagues who has already applied for MS in the same university has guided me to explore the options for masters in industrial engineering. So, I prepared for GRE and IELTS and appeared for both the exams. I scored 310 in GRE and 6.5 in IELTS. After this, I started looking for someone who guides me for shortlisting of universities with the right course structure. I figured out a lot of people can support me in this regard, but as Shiksha’s services were available online, I thought it will be more convenient than visiting the centers.

Did you have any initial apprehensions about non-face-to-face counseling?

Initially, yes it was but these apprehensions were removed by the response of the person or authority you are dealing with. I raised my quires and Shiksha team responded promptly. So, the lesser the time taken by them in answering my queries, faster my apprehensions went off.  My queries were answered quickly and follow-ups were given by the Shiksha team regarding the applications which were pending from my end, as the deadlines were approaching, so, I need to act fast. Irrespective of communicating face to face or communicating online, the only thing that matters is the effectiveness of the process and the response of the counselors, and I think that is brilliant at Shiksha.

How did you approach SOP and LOR’s?

I prepared my initial drafts of the SOP and recommendation letters and shared them with the Shiksha team. The feedback provided by the Shiksha team regarding those drafts were tremendous. I noticed that there was a huge gap between what the university was looking for and what I wrote. With the help of these feedbacks, I got through the universities.

Any advice to study abroad aspirants

Applying for studying abroad itself is a big step and one always prepare for any big exam. In this situation, it is always important to set your objectives. First, plan how you need to move ahead and most importantly what you need to do for applying abroad? When you start applying abroad, consult others and gain more knowledge and identify what you want to do and how you want to achieve it? If these two processes are correct, the whole process will go smoothly and error free.

Sourabh is now going to pursue his MS. Studyabroad.shiksha.com wishes him for all his future endeavors.