Right now I am in a tough spot, but because I am spoiled for choices! When I got that selection letter from Bharat Petroleum Company Ltd (BPCL) and its ~8LPA govt job, I was thrilled because it ended a series of rejects by other companies who were mostly insecure that I, with my 9 pointer, would end up continuing my studies. But at that time all I wanted to do was get a good job and start earning for myself. All this was till sept 19, 2008.
On Sept 8, 2008 I wrote the GRE with less-than-average preparation and got the less-than-average score of 1270/1600 which I later learnt was pretty good for that year. At this time, after listening and observing the fervour with which my classmates wanted to go abroad for M.S/PhD, I was beginning to feel the bug a little bit. So I decided to go the full monty and apply to a grand total of 5 universities. The TOEFL score of 113/120 added to the confusion and well there I was- sending 5 application packets: Stanford (PhD), Cornell (PhD), NCSU (MS), RICE (PhD) and SUNY-Albany (MS).
On Feb 18 I get the following mail from Stanford:-
DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
STAUFFER III- ROOM 113, 381 NORTH SOUTH MALL
STANFORD UNIVERSITY
STANFORD, CALIFORNIA 94305-5025
February 16, 2009
Dear Mr. Varun Shenoy Gangoli:
Our admission committee appreciates the significant time and effort that you and your recommenders made to submit your application for admission to our Ph.D. Program.
Our committee members carefully reviewed your application. Each year, the number of applicants seeking admission to the Ph.D. program in Chemical Engineering far exceeds the number of available openings, with the result that the competition for admission is very high. We regret that the department is unable to offer you a place in our entering Ph.D. class of 2009-2010.
Thank you for your interest in Stanford University. We wish you the best of luck in your pursuit of Ph.D. studies elsewhere. However, if you wish to be considered for our separate, terminal M.S. degree program, please contact Ms. Cosby using the subject line: APP-MS-[your last name].
Sincerely yours,
[signed]
Stacey F. Bent
Chair, Graduate Admission Committee
Professor of Chemical Engineering
Strike 1! Of course I had no illusions of getting an admit here, its simply that good a university that nearly all IIT students get rejected. So I took it in with a shrug and waited for more news. 3 days later comes in the reject from NCSU. Stike 2!
Now this was a shocker as I had easily expected an admit here. For reasons unknown, NCSU has rejected every applicant from NITK and I may be justified in believing that this is because of their funding program. So here I was 0-2 and beginning to mope a little as news of other people getting admits came in. At this point BPCL was my future! Then on March 6, it came- my first admit! Although a secondary programme, I was nonetheless pretty pleased:-
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Cornell University
School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
120 Olin Hall
Ithaca, New York 14853‐5201
t. 607.255.8656
f. 607.255.9166
March 6, 2009
Varun Shenoy Gangoli
Vasudha, Ashraya Nagar,
Kadambodi, Surathkal
Mangalore, Karnataka, 575014
INDIA
Dear Varun Shenoy:
On behalf of the Graduate Professional Programs Committee, I am pleased to inform you that you have been admitted to the Engineering Division of the Graduate School for the Fall 2009 term as a candidate for the Master of Engineering (Chemical) Degree. Your admission is contingent upon certification of adequate financial resources for this nine-month academic program. We are unable to send you the Certificate of Eligibility (Form I-20) until we are certain that you have the necessary funds to pursue graduate work at Cornell and we receive a photocopy (or scanned copy) of your passport. Please find attached the Financial Responsibility Form for 2009-2010. Please complete this form (or have your sponsor complete it) and return to Shelby Clark-Shevalier by mail (or send an electronic version to Barbara Edinger at the Cornell Graduate School at: bae2@cornell.edu).
Although your application has been acted upon at this time, final admission is contingent upon satisfactory completion of your baccalaureate program with academic performance comparable to that completed to date and receipt in this office of a transcript containing certification of your degree.
We very much hope that it will be possible for you to join us this fall. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me or Shelby. Shelby can best help you with administrative questions (housing, travel, etc.), while I can help you with questions concerning the educational aspects of the program. Please visit the Cornell Graduate School Response Form 2009 as soon as possible, but no later than April 15th, to let us know your decision: https://apply.embark.com/grad/cornell/response/24/ Also, feel free to contact our International Students and Scholars office which is an excellent source of information. They can be contacted at: International Students and Scholars Office, B50 Caldwell Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853; (phone: 607-255-5243; or fax: 607-255-2778). You can also access their website for more information: http://www.isso.cornell.edu/
We will be pleased to have you in the Master of Engineering Program and will try to make your graduate experience at Cornell as educationally rich as possible.
Sincerely,
William Olbricht
Professor & Master of Engineering Representative
Enc.
______________________________________________________________________________________
Hmmm! Not that I would have given up on BPCL yet but I was actually talking to a senior about getting research assistantships to help sponsor this course "in case I took it up". BPCL was looking bleak with every passing hour now.
I suppose the big break came on March 15 when I heard from RICE U:-
Dear Varun Shenoyg,
Congratulations! We are pleased to offer you readmission to Rice University's Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (CHBE) PhD program. You will be receiving a formal letter with details in the mail soon. The graduate admission committee enjoyed reading your personal statement and was impressed with your accomplishments. Your research interests in nanotechnology will fit well with many of the research interests of our faculty and I have no doubt that you will find several interesting research opportunities.
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact myself or Ms. Christine Hughes, our department coordinator, at chbe@rice.edu.
Warm regards,
Chair of Graduate Admissions
Assistant Professor
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Rice University MS 362
6100 Main Street
Houston, TX 77005
Phone: 713-348-6055
This was big all right! RICE has always taken the cream of NITK and with Prabha already getting an admit into the Bioengg dept, I was also thrilled to learn Deepti had got into the same program as I. With the full tuition waiver + $24,000 per year atleast I am now apprehensive of what to tell BPCL. I have till the 30th of March to let them know of my confirmation to the medical test on June 2nd and thus have been procrastinating in this decision till the very last minute. Like I said before: Too many choices is just as bad as too few :(
Oh and did I mention I have yet to hear from Albany??
