Month: October 2013

Ratan Tata: Part 1 –The Gentleman Industrialist

Dilip Oak's Academy

This is the first of a three-part series on Ratan Tata, who on 28th Ratan TataDecember 2012, stepped down from his position as fifth Chief Managing Director (CMD) of the 144-year old Tata Group. This article focuses on the surprising humility of Ratan Tata, one of India’s most eminent business personalities, a man who in his tenure of over 20 years as CMD (from 1991-2012) led the Tata Group to international prominence.

Based on a translation of an article by Girish Kuber in the Sunday edition of Loksatta dated 23 Dec 2012

 

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The employees at Bombay House, Tata Group’s corporate headquarters at Mumbai, will tell you that when Ratan Tata, head of India’s largest industrial conglomerate, enters the building to begin the day’s work… nothing extraordinary occurs!

There is no flurry of activity, no hushed tones. There is nothing to indicate that “the boss is on the way.” The only excitement is among a band of happy dogs who crowd around Ratan Tata’s car as soon as it enters the gate. This is not surprising because, when he steps down from the car, Ratan Tata habitually pets a few of the dogs, and indulges them a bit. The Tata’s have a long history of being dog lovers, so he gives no thought to ‘what will people say’ about this nor, will you ever find him making statements about “These Indian dogs…” etc.. And then, just like an ordinary employee, he joins the queue to enter the lift. There is no separate ‘reserved’ entrance for Ratan Tata.

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What to Do When You Get Admission

Dilip Oak's Academy

Congrats! Now you have the admission message or letter you were waiting for. After all the celebrations though, it is the beginning of yet another round of many things to be done before you reach your ultimate aim: enrolling for the program you desire. So, what things come next? Well, you have to get the I-20 form and the visa. The approximate sequence of what you have to do to get these two crucial documents is as follows:

Admission in US for MS1. Read the letter or email carefully. If you have to send an acceptance of the offer do it promptly. Even if you have multiple offers it makes sense to accept more than one when there is no offer of funding.

2. If you have received the I-20 form along with the offer of admission you can straightaway start the preparations for visa.

3. More likely, however, the university will ask you to send affidavits of support from your sponsors as well as the bank statements of your sponsors showing that you have sufficient funds for meeting the I-20 form amount (that is, the total cost of the first year which, includes tuition, other fees and living expenses.)

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Should I Do a PhD?

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PhD for Me?

That’s the big question facing some of you. There are also some other related ones: “Will I be able put in the intensive work that a PhD requires?” “Is it going to be worth it?” – and perhaps, most important of all: “What scope is there for me after I get my doctoral degree?”

In her article entitled ‘Applying to Ph.D. Programs in Computer Science’ Dr. Harchol-Balter (an associate professor of computer science at CMU who has been involved in the Ph.D. admissions process at CMU, U.C. Berkeley, and MIT) answers these questions in-depth and with a great deal of insight. What is more she does so in a clear, concise, straight forward manner that allows her to cover a lot of ground in one brief, easy-to-read document.

Though she writes with a focus on doctoral programs in Computer Science, students applying for almost any program can read it with profit. In fact all students whether they are applying to master’s or doctoral programs in an American university should read her comments on the ‘Application Process’. They give invaluable tips (especially for top-notch students) on the recommendation letter and the statement of purpose.

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We Are Now On Facebook & Twitter! (Read: Getting Important News Updates Just Got Easier)

Dilip Oak's Academy

OK, let’s get to the point. We are now on Facebook, and Twitter!

 

We monitor news and trends coming from American Universities, and ETS. So just follow us on Facebook or Twitter and you will get all the important blog updates, new product launch information, latest trends and news directly delivered into your favorite social stream.

Note, we hate spam just as much as you do so we’re not going email you every time we post something new. There is better way to follow all the latest news and trends, and the general consensus is it’s Facebook or Twitter!

So don’t wait. Start following now!

Thanks,

Team Social @ Dilip Oaks Academy

All About the I-20

Dilip Oak's Academy

I-20The I-20: What It Is and What It Contains

Once you have been admitted by an American university, your university will send you an I-20 to enable you to enter the U.S. on an F-1 (student) visa. The I-20 is a certificate of non-immigrant eligibility i.e. it certifies that you are eligible to travel to the United States as a student and are not traveling as an immigrant. This document, sometimes referred to as a DS-2019, is usually sent to you by the admissions office in your university.

The I-20 certifies that you have enough financial resources to attend school and pay for your living expenses while attending school without resorting to illegal employment or relying on public funds. For this reason, the I-20 states:

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Analytical Writing in the Revised General GRE

Dilip Oak's Academy

Here are some important facts about the Analytical Writing (AW) section of the Revised General GRE that test-takers should know. AW is always the first section in the exam and consists of the same two essay tasks

  • the issue essay task
  • the argument essay task

Both essays have to be typed out in a simple word-processor that has cut, copy and paste functions. So, you need to have a typing speed of at least 40 words per minute. If you haven’t, start learning/ practicing now.

As indicated in our earlier blog on AW (“Why 6 and 8 are Important Numbers for the New GRE Analytical Writing Section“) some things make this section, just a little bit demanding – read it and find out. The overview below will tell you what this section is like as a whole.

GRE Prep: Verbal Study Plan Overview

Dilip Oak's Academy

Here from Dilip Oak’s Academy are the GRE Prep highlights. As the graphic above indicates the basic plan for verbal preparation for the GRE is as follows:

  • at least 3-5 months before your GRE, begin vocabulary preparation and preliminary reading practice
  • 2 months before your GRE, begin going through the practice material
  • 1 month before your GRE, begin your practice on the Computer-Based Tests (CBTS)

This is explained below: As you can see there are four aspects of preparation that you have to cover:

  1. Vocabulary Learning and Revision
  2. Preliminary Reading Practice
  3. Covering the Practice Material
  4. Practice on the Computer-Based Tests (CBTs)

Each of the sections below gives you a brief idea of how to handle one aspect of preparation. Each section also contains links (in red) which give you further important details about the aspect of preparation that it deals with. Before you read through the sections below read through the post on ‘some principles’ for GRE Preparation. This will give you important guidelines on how to work through the material described in each of the sections.

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