SELECTING US UNIVERSITIES

Some important criteria for selecting universities:

First refer EDULIX or some good forum/site and get a list of universities that is good in your area of study(VLSI/signals/instrumentation etc.). You may apply the following filters on that list(priority in the order of listing):

1.Affordability and the chances of getting research/teaching assistant-ships:
You should not face monetary constraint once you get an admit. The maximum loan that you can take from a bank is 20Lakhs. So consider this factor carefully. Decide with your parents as to how much you will be able to spend, apart from the loan. Many people make this mistake of applying and then worrying about finance after the admits come.Very difficult situation. Also don't go for European universities unless you are confident of getting proper food and affordable residence(vegetarian food and rice is generally costly in Europe than in US).

2.The chances of getting a job after you finish your course:
This is very important because it decides your loan repayment. You can repay the loan comfortably only if you work there. Look for proximity of RELATED Industries to the university.

3.Whether the university has research related to your area:
Refer EDULIX for this. Then visit and explore each univ site and find out the research areas. (This step will take a lot of time so start it as early as possible).

4.Whether the university matches your GPA level:
This is not very strict except for the top universities which look for 85% and above. Study the statistics of each university- how the admits have been in the past years, study the pattern. EDULIX and some other sites help. Also subscribe to happy schools blog for nice info and guidance.

5.Climate:
Make sure the climate is not very extreme. Having lived in tropical climate for 20 yrs, it'll be a bit difficult to manage in harsh conditions.


This will shorten your list a lot. All the very best:) Write your GRE and TOEFL as soon as you can. The scores could take up to 4 weeks to reach the universities. So write early. And send scores to 4 universities that you are sure of applying to.