This was posted by Guru Ramnath Kathiresan on 26 July 2001 9:34 at grewordlist@yahoogroups.com
The contents have been reproduced as is. Users are requested to verify accuracy of the information before use.

Hello group,
I have given my suggestion on how to present the
application to the univ to one of our group member...
i thought i would be nice to share the same info to
other students too...
Ok... here comes the situation ...
one is u have good acads and low GRE
and the
second is you have a low acads and good GRE

For these situations u have to prepare different kinds
of resume, SOP and Reco...
if u have low acads try to give reasons for it...

I feel , u have to prepare the following letters for
u;r admin...
1) Reco from u'r Prof : Ask him to mention
a) U'r conduct and general atitude towards MS and
higher studies...
b) U'r final proj & relate it with the commercial
things  (if u done a antivirus program, ask u'r prof
to say , u'r school is using that program now and it
was accredited as the best proj in the univ and
etc...) I did a lathe in my final proj, it was
something like a CNC... v retrofitted an ordinary
lathe to a CNC by fixing the couple of stepper moter
for the horizontal and vertical movement and do the
machining my our own program written in VC++... its
like, the use has to give the shape of the object to
be machined in the form of a Autocad's DXF format...
v'll process the shape of the object and send signals
to the stepper and there by do the machining with just
the diagram of the object (as opposed to give CNC Code
for describing the Profile of the Object to be
machined...) , it was acredited one of the best
project in my school and it was completely funded by
my school... i must have spent only 300 bucks for the
proj- that too for getting some misc item for the
lathe... so ask u'r profs to highlight these kind of
things in the reco...
c) u'r GRADE with that of the highest grade...ask him
to assign a GPA based on that... or u'r stand in the
whole of the class...

2) Reco from u'r employer (If u are employed): Get a
reco from u'r higher official - This actually carries
lots of weightage !!! belive me.... Normally higher
officials will frown at u when u say u'll leave the
comapany for MS... so play it safe.... if u have a
godfather in the company...approach him and talk to
him about this!!!!
3) Personal SOP : Just say what u intended to do etc
...(from u'r child hood to college days)(if u have
some prof's name and his proj, mention that too and
say,  it interests u... or be general in mentioning
the proj that are carried in that particular school...
- for this check the school's online monthly news
magazine or similar shit...)
4) WORK SOP : Correlate u'r work with u'r urge to do
MS... this also carries more weightage coz,....
they'll appreciate the way u correlate u'r work and
studies !!!! Coz... Most americans do MS only to
enhance their current work status... so lets do it in
the american way :o) ....
5) Resume : Tell more about u'r ablity to mould to a
particular sittuation...U can actually cook lots of
things here... like intern or part time work during
the college days .... they will get more impresed on
the Cing this too....

Apart from this try to stuff u'r application package
with almost all certificate u have (make sure u
mentioned everything in the resume )... even
participation certification of workshop conducted by
Microsoft, SUN . IBM etc will also carry weigtage...

If you think u can read some of the books on latest
software,  please make sure u add those things in the
resume and hightlight it as if u have done some proj
on it or what ever it is...

And a final word on how the selection ppl in the
school actually select candidate....

If u get low acads and high GRE, they'll think...
aleast from writing GRE u have improved...so they'll
give a chance for u... othere wise... if u have got
good acads and low GRE, they'll think, u must have
been good for so long and just in GRE u had some
problems (which might be acceptable), and they'll give
a fair chance for u.... so have these two things in
mind and proceed !!!....

and THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THE APPLICATION IS THE
WAY U PRESENT IT !!!! DONT JUST  FILL IN THE APP WITH
PEN, INSTEAD, GIVE IT TO A TYPIST AND ASK HIM TO MAKE
IMPRESSION FOR U.... AND THE PAPER U ARE USING FOR SOP
AND RESUME SHOULD BE OF HIGH CLASS(That doesnt mean
u'r going to use a local paper...just tellin u...use
the paper with rough on one side and smooth on the
other with high gloss... make sure u choose a light
colored paper!!!) AND THE ENVELOPES...DONT USE
ORDINARY ENVELOPES...TRY GETTING A HIGHT GLOSS
ONE....And finally a good covering letter.... that
will also be good....

after having them, have a check list (prepare a table
using word and have a print out)of items and make sure
u have all of them ..... (u can also say...i have
included such things.. if u dont have any of them ,
ask them to contact u immediatly...)

Well thats all i have to say reg. the app process...
if u have further queries, do write to me!!!
-Regards and Good Luck!!!!,
Guru


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Guru Ramnath Kathiresan
One Woodbridge Center,
Suite 330,WoodBridge,
NJ-07095,USA.
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