{"id":619,"date":"2015-05-01T12:42:00","date_gmt":"2015-05-01T12:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ydblog.yourdost.com\/index.php\/2015\/05\/01\/graduating-soon-what-next-job-ms-mba-or-ias\/"},"modified":"2016-05-27T21:39:34","modified_gmt":"2016-05-27T16:09:34","slug":"graduating-soon-what-next-job-ms-mba-or-ias","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yourdost.com\/blog\/2015\/05\/graduating-soon-what-next-job-ms-mba-or-ias.html","title":{"rendered":"How I Chose The Right Career Path For Me"},"content":{"rendered":"

Making the right career choice after graduation is a tough task. This is my story of how I finally pursued my MS.<\/p>\n

Confusion \u2013 a lot of it!<\/h3>\n

During my first year, there was so much confusion \u2013 be it scoring higher grades for a good placement or the classic MS vs MBA vs IAS.\u00a0Some folks said CAT\/ IIM was the way to go!\u00a0Some would insist on IAS being the combination of power and fame. How do you know which one is for you?\u00a0I knew I had to choose one field soon and focus on achieving it. I asked myself what do I want to do – I loved robotics and always wanted to learn more about it. So, I researched where can I learn that the best and set my eye to do MS in Robotics from USA. I actively worked on my projects, participated in seminars, took a\u00a0keen interest in journal articles, organized workshops. After my 2nd year, I realized that for MS in Robotics, grades, GRE and TOEFL scores were very important.<\/p>\n

\n

Coming from a small town my English wasn’t good. I engaged myself in\u00a0English\u00a0movies and\u00a0TV\u00a0series. This also helped me to find out why my friend would laugh at jokes which I never understood!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Fight for grades<\/h3>\n
\n

My grades were not satisfactory for getting an MS with financial aid. I never thought grades were important \u2013 building things, organizing events and having practical learning is what I liked. <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I remember, while doing my internship at Bhabha Atomic Research Center(BARC), I got to know my 4th-semester results – 7.09 SPI and more than half of\u00a0the class had performed better than me. I wasn’t happy at all! One of my very close friend Nayan Jain encouraged me to only focus on what I wanted and if I wanted good grades, I should just focus on it. His undying belief gave me the\u00a0strength\u00a0to get highest marks in the next semester.\u00a0I started sitting in front row, started taking notes and revising them. I pretty much followed what I wrote in my earlier blog:\u00a0I am not able to concentrate<\/a>. I got much better grades in the remaining semesters and graduated with a proud CPI.<\/p>\n

It was the 7th semester of my engineering \u2013<\/em> placements time. My dream of chasing liberty was still on but I needed some security first. The first few companies had taken the students who had a lesser score than i did. Many people in my lobby were placed.<\/p>\n

\n

I felt dejected \u2013 8 companies had come for placements and I wasn’t placed. However I kept saying myself \u2013 I can do it<\/strong> and that’s when D.E.Shaw Software landed <\/em>in our campus. I cracked the written and was shortlisted for the interview.<\/strong> Finally, I got the offer and bagged one of the best offers in the campus. <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

That when I\u00a0learned my first lesson:<\/p>\n

\n

“Sometimes when you hit a failure and don’t get something, maybe God has a better plan”.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

GRE and TOEFL<\/h3>\n

Being occupied with my final exams and projects, I never worked hard for GRE preparation and scored 1700 out of 2400.\u00a0 I felt, I probably will not be able to go to the\u00a0US for Masters. To my dismay, my passport was also stolen at the railway station when I first appeared\u00a0for my TOEFL exam in Kolkata. After these two incidents, I decided to wait and work for one year and then appear for a re-exam<\/p>\n

\n

I joined DE Shaw in Hyderabad. The dream of flying to the\u00a0US was living in me and I realized that with my busy job, I cannot crack good score in GRE. I decided to take time out to study for GRE and\u00a0 joined a coaching institute (this time I could afford one!) and got a much better score.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Unable to find the right dates for TOEFL \u00a0in India, I thought outside the box and decided to appear for the entrance in Nepal as it doesn’t have any visa requirement. There was a curfew prevailing, I reached my exam center 30 mins late. They didn’t allow me to appear for the exam and I was dejected but I stayed in Nepal for 2 more days to take the exam. I thought I was too close to give up on my dream.<\/p>\n

Texas University<\/h3>\n
\n

I was very particular about the universities I was applying to<\/strong>. I emailed the professors from Stanford, UC Berkeley, UPenn, UMich, GATech, TAMU, NCSU and got promising replies from them. Some of them promised Research assistantship and scholarships. <\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I was rejoicing and that’s when 9\/11 bombing \u00a0in the\u00a0US happened and I lost on major scholarships!\u00a0Finally, I got the admission letter from TAMU (Texas A&M University, College Station) and accepted it.<\/p>\n

Fight for a\u00a0loan\u00a0\u2013 bank to bank, city to city.<\/h3>\n

Due to funding cut after 9\/11, TAMU professors agreed to give me the fund only after my arrival. So I had to get a student loan. I thought after crossing all the hurdles of grades, GRE, TOEFL, and application process, this would be the easiest step. It turned out to be the toughest!<\/p>\n

My elder brother and my dad started going from bank to bank and ask them for loans. We didn’t have any land or any property which we can give for security. They just turned me down. There was corruption and bad behaviors everywhere and I was disheartened.<\/p>\n

\n

Finally after a lot of hassle, Allahabad bank gave me a loan of 4 lakhs. I learned if you\u00a0don’t\u00a0give up and\u00a0keep\u00a0trying someday you will get success.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Got 4\u00a0lakhs, but I needed 6\u00a0lakhs\u00a0for the flight ticket and\u00a0living\u00a0expenses. I went to another bank and put part of an\u00a0earlier loan as cash security to get 6\u00a0 lakhs\u00a0loan. This out of box thinking helped me accomplish my goal.<\/p>\n

\n

After few weeks, I was on the flight to <\/em>US. I asked for tea, the lady asked, \u201cwith cream or sugar<\/strong>?\u201d I understood that she didn’t have it. I asked if she had coffee. She asked, \u201cwith cream or sugar<\/strong>?\u201d I said that’s OK, give me water. The guy next to me got his tea!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Lessons learned:<\/h2>\n