Got Admit in NTU and 3 other Universities overseas :)

Hi friends,

   I am happy to let you all know that I have been granted admit at the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore for a PhD in the School of Computer Engineering. NTU is ranked the 26th best University in the QS International University rankings 2011. I can not thank enough for the support provided by my parents and especially my mentor Asst. Prof. Rajesh Kannan who was instrumental in all my achievements.

     Earlier, I applied for 3 other Universities as well and with God's grace I got admits in all of them. I applied in University of Eindhoven, Netherlands, University of Cincinnati, USA and TUMunich, Germany.

    I chose NTU as it was the best option for me. NTU is the best among the 4. I have been offered full scholarship and a monthly stipend of S$ 2000. I was particularly not very interested in USA for various reasons though I was offered Graduate Research Scolarship at Cincinnati. The next best option was the University of Eindhoven that I obtained through a program called ERASMUS IDEAS which is sponsored by the European Union. Its a Masters program in Embedded Systems and offers complete tuition fee waiver and a one-time round trip traveling expense and a monthly stipend of 1000 euros.

   I have a lot of people to thank for whatever I have had in my life so far. Especially my parents and my mentor for the extreme belief in me and my abilities. Then my friends, the PICInc. who have stood by my through all the good and bad times. All my teachers whose dedication has provided the base for me to grow and be bold enough to dream. And finally God, for answering my prayers.

Where can I find my ETS ID?

I was asked to provide my ETS ID in order to complete my application process for the TOEFL Scholarship. However, I could not find it anywhere in my score sheet or TOEFL iBT account.  Finally, I contacted the TOEFL support center by email. They responded within 24 hours and I got my ETS ID. If you are also facing the same problem, then I advise you to send an email to the TOEFL support center mentioning your problem. You also need to provide the following personal details to help the support center people quickly locate your profile:

Name:
Address (include country):
Date of birth:
Test Date:
Format of TOEFL (Paper based or iBT):
Registration Number:
Email ID:

for test takers in India, support center email id is: TOEFLSupport4India@ets.org
others please refer to the TOEFL website: www.ets.org/toefl/contact 

I hope this helps.

TOEFL Scholarship: Here’s your chance to bag $10k to $5k as scholarships

I recently received an email from the ETS (Educational Testing Service) informing me about the TOEFL Scholarships.  There are 10 scholarships in all to compete for.  There is no application fee for the same. You would have to start your graduate or undergraduate studies in 2012 to apply for these scholarships.

Four scholarships worth USD 10,000: One each for studies in United Kingdom, United States of America, Australia and Canada.  Then there are six scholarships worth USD 5,000 for higher education in any other location.

GRE Help

Hello friends,

As I am planning to prepare for the GRE, I thought that sharing whatever new info I get through this blog will be a really good idea as it would not only help me log it up for future reference but will also be a service to my fellow test takers.

I was going through Barron's ( recommended GRE preparatory text ) and I came across the Analytical writing section. It said that GRE official website ( www.ets.org/gre ) provides a pool of Issue topics for the Analytical writing section. Let me share the link with you : http://www.ets.org/gre/general/prepare/sample_questions/analytical/issues

I have a plan for those who are really interested. Why not take up a topic every few days and write an essay. This will not only make us more prepared and confident but also help us in analysing where we stand. I would be posting my write-ups on this blog. I request you to come up with your reviews and critique. This will not only help me improve myself but also let you know how you can be better at it.

I would recommend all aspirants to start a blog of their own as this will be very helpful in nourishing your scores in the verbal section. I would be really glad if I could help in any way.

regards,
Vinu