How To Get Into An Ivy League Masters Program (Cornell Engineering Management) - w/ Unnati

I got admits from Cornell car melon foru and University of Illinois USC and nor Eastern the biggest scan of worms when it comes to that from what I hear is of course you know the statement of purpose your sop should be really very fancy it should have a lot of buzzword did you leverage generative AI for your Sops can you touch on the G versus GMAT study enough won help you really need to mock test analyze your test scores again and again and it increases your chances to getting into your dream University 15 minutes before before my interview started I received a case study from my interviewer through mail what is that golden number of hours you put in for the G welcome to the ready said do podcast where we learn from journeys of not experts who are just two steps ahead of

experts who are just two steps ahead of us I'm Naman Pand and in this episode featured not expert is unati desw unati is a fresh Engineering Management student at Cordell University which is of course an Ivy League school at the risk of trivial life una's experience and profile I always thought it was borderline impossible to get into an ivil league program unless you have some freak top 1% profile and or the best work experience from the best companies in the world however as it turns out to my surprise even if you have a rather academic profile you can still get into an ivil League school provided you play to your strengths now if that is Wake to you that is exactly what unati walks us through in this episode from preparing for the GRE to crafting a solid

for the GRE to crafting a solid statement of purpose to short listing universities indeed this one episode is a complete master class for master's degree applications to US schools in keeping with our theme of learning from somebody that's just two steps ahead of us instead of an expert my goal with this episode is to highlight una's unique experience that led her to Cornell and what you can learn from it to get your own admit this is The Ready Set do podcast and to support it please subscribe to the channel and or leave me up to a five star rating on Spotify and now without any further ado my friends here's un if a year ago from now somebody had told you that you will have admits to all of your potentially all of your dream universities in the US what

your dream universities in the US what would you have told that it was really um a surprise I could say that what all universities I applied I got in of course I did had my set of rejects but still the number was much more than I ever anticipated so I'm really happy with the overall results talk me through a little bit about what was going on a year ago so what your profile was what you were doing for work and just you know kind of a very quick and dirty snapshot of your profile um you know that you leverage to get all of these really cool and amazing ads so I had a pretty normal profile I would say I did my btech from a normal

would say I did my btech from a normal private college in computer science engineering with specialization in big data analytics I always wanted to have a bit of Edge from other peers and also um that is um that's why I took big dat analytics because that time it was a big boom then uh after that I got um some chance has to hold positions like chairperson at Association for computing machinery for women I mean basic Student Chapter and School uh College clubs wanted to try my handon leadership as well so um yeah that then I got an opportunity to work with Dell I was selected as a software engineer as a summer intern and from there on I got my

summer intern and from there on I got my poo convert and I worked for almost two years at Dell so that has been my basic um you know Journey till now as a fresher that's very interesting for a couple you know different reasons the biggest being that um I know like including myself a lot of people that have a very similar experience to to yourself find it very difficult to not only navigate the entire application process but also obviously to you know get those admits so I kind of want to Deep dive into your entire process and you know really help anybody that's out there they're you know looking to walk the path that you walk um successfully or not is not in their hands the best they can do is apply but hopefully apply

they can do is apply but hopefully apply in a way that you know maximizes their chances for um approval or acceptance so can you start with what was the first thing you did so let's start at the point where you decided you wanted to do a masters in the US what how did you go about doing things from that point I I assume you maybe figured what you wanted to study or did that come yeah so I think uh first of all um I decided what course I want to pursue I always wanted to um not let go of my engineering routes although I was interested in the management sector but I didn't wanted to let go of my engineering RS I wanted to be in the technical sector and I wanted a bit of

technical sector and I wanted a bit of visibility to other functional teams as well while being in the technical domain so uh I decided mm was was the perfect course for me with the eligibility of 0 to two years of workex of course you can have much more than that as well but you know the perfect timeline is there so I thought that this course would really hit me through so uh that is the first point point where I decided that mm is the right course for me I can get it through I have the right workex I have the right technical aspects I want to Deep dive into a bit more into the technical thing but also learn more about the you know

but also learn more about the you know business Acumen get some managerial skills and all so that was the first thing afterwards I think uh afterwards I decided which universities I really want to apply to so there were three domains on which I I actually uh segregated my list of universities first was my dream University I uh chose three dream universities and I had put them aside then I took three medium universities and three safe universities so I in total I applied to nine universities based on you know it can people can have different um you know ways to compare universities whether it be their dream medium or safe universities my personal aspect was uh regarding the course um ranking university ranking the curriculum that they were offering what all uh placements sell and what are the

all uh placements sell and what are the other um aspects to after I complete the course so that is how I segregated the universities and uh finally I got six admits from the total nine universities I applied to so U that was in basic like the overline of it that makes sense can you so real quick U sorry to interrupt can can you walk me through the resources that you use to figure out you know the specs that you mentioned for each of these universities are they just available online is it as simple as just Googling or are there any specific resources that you found particularly helpful around yes yes definitely you can Google it you can see a lot of uh YouTube videos you can also talk to your seniors who are already in some

seniors who are already in some universities that you are planning to go to I personally talk to some of my seniors who were already placed there and were working for some quite some time now and after I have figured out what course I am interested in what universities I want to apply to the next thing was figuring out what is the basic requirements that the university ask so whether they require any kind of exams to you know go about it for now in general the universities have made gr exam as optional but some universities do require it as a as compulsory so I plan to for first of all take all my exams so I can keep it aside and can move forward with the the application

move forward with the the application process the preparation of the artifacts and all of the other things so first of all I think being organized is you know the really key to it you need you really need to plan your time beforeand when you are going to give your exam you need to have some buffer time as well if you don't score that much in the exam then if you want to retake the exam or you want you know enough time to prepare the artifact and all of that stuff so you you really need to plan your time out I think that that really makes a so um I

think that that really makes a so um I plan to take a GRE exam because two of the University my targeted University had it required and also for the University that had it optional I thought it will actually reflect my genuine interest for the University so I thought I'll provide with a score I'll I'll give the exam I'll take that kind that pain and I'll do that so I gave the exam and and uh if you talk about exam what resources or anything that I used um I would say Greg matat is the best thing so it's like a $5 subscription per month yes so uh there are different um ways you can actually use that you can use monthly you can uh

use that you can use monthly you can uh you can take two month subscription you can do it self-based as well I personally took a two month course which was $5 per month which is I mean a decent amount to spend for a quality like that they are offering Greg Matt in general I mean people who are preparing for the G and all must be knowing he's a well-known name in the G Community he prepares all the materials and everything himself so it was it was a good thing for me it really helped me so I'll suggest that to you know the all the prospective students yeah that sounds good and is it just unlimited can you attempt or practice an unlimited number of questions each month or is there a cap to how much you can access

there a cap to how much you can access each I mean there is a cap he has designed the course like that that for each day he has defined these numbers these uh this portion you have to complete yes so you don't really have to worry how much portion I have to complete in a day if I'm going to slow if I'm going too fast you really have to just follow whatever is designed for a day you have I did not know this existed yeah that sounds so yes so it's very easy you do not have to put a lot of brain to it you just have to do what is assigned for a day you have to you know

assigned for a day you have to you know see the videos attempt the course materials mock test and all that apart from that I used OG as well which is the official guide by ETS for GR it has a lot of question Mar that's ever yes I used that also yeah yes so I think those question sets are really amazing and I cannot stress enough on the fact that study enough won't help I mean alone studying won't help you really need to do mock test you really need to analyze your test scores again and again really check through that you know in which direction you are going which section you need to you know really improve and I think yeah that that will be that'll do the how many hours were you yeah how

do the how many hours were you yeah how many hours were you spending studying because I'm assuming at the time you must have had your job as well so what's the good number of hours to spend for those two months that's one is you know going about preparing yes so uh as a um as a full-time uh as a full-time employe at De so that time uh it was a bit difficult to manage studies uh with a full-time job so what I really used to do was that after my work hours I used to put in three to four hours to study every day Bo yeah I mean you have to really you know take that kind of

to really you know take that kind of pain if you really want that score and during Saturdays and Sundays I used to stretch even a bit more because weekends were off so that is how I used to do I would say consistency is the key honestly not every day you are you will be able to put in 3 to four hours some days it will be two hours some days it will be 1 hour some days it will be more than but you really don't have to you know lose your contact with the material you have to see the verbal andab every day absolutely and yeah I can relate to that in terms of that's I went about it in a similar way I was also employed

in a similar way I was also employed when preparing what I'm trying to get at unati is um what is that golden number of hours that we can maybe come to together to recommend to students that if you put in these number of really dedicated focused hours you will likely be good for the GRE so you said you doing three to four hours on the weekday so for two months so that would be let's do some I guess quick math here 5 * 8 is 40 40 * let's say 4 is 160 and then you said how many every weekend it will be like um I mean uh 5 to 6 hours I think yeah okay let's just take five and there's eight weekend days so 40 so

there's eight weekend days so 40 so you're saying a total of 200 hours give or take would be closed for somebody to feel start feeling comfortable in for the gr is that is that right or not really I think I think it really depends on uh where at which stage you are so I really recommend uh my friends and peers also who had asked me for text for the exam that before even starting preparing for the exam just take a mock test see where you stand right so you you just do not yeah yeah do not start preparing for the exam just on day Zero you take exam you see where you stand you analyze the

you see where you stand you analyze the score where you really need to work hard I think my uh verbal I thought that you know at one point of time there was I was feeling it was getting diluted so you know I wasn't able to score a bit more than so I had to put in a bit more efforts then point was pretty decent for me but it can be different for you know different people so you really need to analyze your test scores that way and see where you stand how much hours do you need to put in so it depends for every person I see especially around the verbal section do you have any particular tips or tricks that you remember that really helped or was it mostly just as you said before

was it mostly just as you said before following along with the plan that the you know Greg map course had and just really doing that because I know a lot of students specifically struggle with the verbal section so I personally found that there were definitely ways to hack it you know I used to study those flash cards that you have an app for that I think back in the day at least you used to so I used to look at those and I I would find that the same words would appear you know later in the tests and whever so any verbal specific tips that you can share for us I think the only main reason I actually to break my

main reason I actually to break my classes was because his wble was really strong I mean the tricks that that were in the course like you know as you have said flash cards and there are different tricks and tips that he shares to really remember those kind of vocabulary because G vocabulary is really difficult Quant is still pretty easy for you know us Indians it's it's still you know easier to crack but verbal somehow it becomes a bit you know uh to work on so I think uh yeah I mean if you follow what he really says and all you'll be able to you know get a good score I would say makes sense and can you touch on the G versus GMAT aspect just a little bit is that something you

little bit is that something you considered or is it the still the gold standard for anything related to engineering Masters you do G anything that's more business related you do GMAT I know for mm it's tricky because it's posos so did you at all spend any time around picking which test to so no no actually I already researched about what university you know ask for you know for exams and everything it was mostly gr only so I decided upon taking G exam only mostly mem mism all these uh you know Engineering Management courses they ask for a gr course only and I think most of the business courses also nowadays are switching to that exact so I think G is always a safe option to give I see yeah so thanks for that

give I see yeah so thanks for that amazing Deep dive around the G I think that was really helpful hopefully for you know anybody listening and considering taking the test I now kind of want to jump forward just a little bit around the aspect of the actual applications the biggest can of worms when it comes to that from what I hear is of course you know the statement of purpose so what can you tell us about your process of writing your statement of purpose clearly um and I guess for those uninitiated it is an extremely you know probably the one of the most important aspects of your application and a lot of your admits will straight up come down to how good or bad your statement of purpose is so I feel like there's a lot of misinformation a lot of

there's a lot of misinformation a lot of people don't exactly understand what you have to do like am I just boasting on it about all the stuff that I've done in my entire life am I just know writing flashy flowery English words um so yeah what's your process for you know a good s so so I think the first and most important point about a good sop it shouldn't be generic at all so a lot of people what they do is they prepare one sop and they copy paste it and just submit it for every other university but that is now how how it should it should be tailored according to the university prompts or ask for requirements that the

prompts or ask for requirements that the university has asked in their application process so whenever you are you know submitting your application or creating your application page and all so there is always some kind of proms given by the university regarding the ask or you know some some information which will help you with your s so right what they are really asking for also again important point it should be tailored according to the university do your thorough research about the university what really excites you about the university how you can can add value to it how the every University is different in their own way so try to inculcate that in your sop show your genuine and true interest when you are applying when you are creating the SOP that you are genuinely interested to apply to the

genuinely interested to apply to the university and you really want to you know just get the admission you really want to do the course for so it should reflect that so I think one point is that and I think one another thing that people misinterpret a lot is that your sop should be really very fancy it should have a lot of buzzword but it's not like that I think the main purpose of sop is to uh you know get some points cleared like why you want to do your master's degree from that University it should clear those points why that particular course how you are going to contribute to the university so all these major points it should just you know it should be a Simple Story it shouldn't be very fancy and all it can be a simple and pris story and it can

be a simple and pris story and it can show your yeah can you walk us through exactly what your like how you chose to go about answering that question around why you want to study Engineering Management because the the thing I the problem that I personally ran into with that was and so I was working in Tech also I wanted to not write code and I wanted to start managing other Engineers so that was my true reason for wanting to do mm what I did not know was how to translate that to writing so if you give us an example of how you kind of did that for yourself I think that would be really helpful for the I think I really did try to explain my life journey and

did try to explain my life journey and what was exactly the turning point where I felt this course would really help me take it to the next level right so you can really start with the most basic thing that why did you even start you know why did you even want to pursue an engineering degree let's start with so start with the basic try to inculcate your thoughts make a story line out of it try to think why did you even at the first point wanted to do an engineering degree then go about what was your experience what was your life Journey where did you work what I don't know for example like what student Club really probably hit that point that you really thought that you have those skills which the course

you have those skills which the course really requires which the program really requires so I mean go about like that you have to just explain your original Self like what was the turning point if if your original Self says that you know you didn't want to code and some engineering managers what they do really excites you try to say that in as simple as I see so authenticity is really what you're saying is what one should focus on and really owning up to their them like you know their very specific requirements on why they want to do a certain thing and stick to that avoid gener ISM speaking of generic writing did you leverage generative AI at all for your Sops and is that something you would recommend no no I don't think I would recommend that at all again like

would recommend that at all again like I've said before your sop shouldn't like you know if you think your sop should have really fancy words a lot of Buzz words should be really perfect no nothing like that I think authenticity originality is something they are looking for they really want to look what you as a person are what is really your purpose what are your personal and professional goals and how do they really align with the university so these are some key factors which the university is really looking in the candidate and try to you know put that so I don't think anyi can really help to tell your original story to anyone only you can do that so yeah that's fair I guess the way I was thinking about it is

guess the way I was thinking about it is so say I have all that information in my head and for whatever reason I'm not maybe the best at writing in English or you know haven't been exposed to the most highest level of literature there is so would it like would it be so bad if I use you know chat GPT to just translate what I want to convey into sentences that I want to you know submit later or do you think even that runs into the risk of being generic you know just I I would just be found out so to I mean if in your in your head you want to get some you know influenced or uh you want to get some kind of um you know I

want to get some kind of um you know I mean if you want to get some kind of an idea I mean you can do that but don't try to you know submit that kind of uh content with the university because that is high risk I would say so I wouldn't recommend yes makes sense um and then were there any I guess similar to the last question were there um any resources that you use that you found helpful maybe any sample that you found online that are available for public usage that helped or you know were you mostly just working off of your own accord um so I think online I really used to just see that what really a university is looking in a candidate when you when they are looking at an sop

when you when they are looking at an sop what are they really looking for so I think I really used to you know jot on those points I really used to uh keep my head straight and really uh look on what the university has provided for prompts and all so that that way I try to form an outline for my um sop I mean it's a it's a lot of work see I'll tell you I was just going to say once you'll start but once you'll start after writing rewriting and again and again I think you will get it track it's not a big work if you really want to put your thoughts I remember when I was you know

thoughts I remember when I was you know working on my sop I used to spend so this is after my GRE everything was done I need I was very dangerously close to the deadlines and I was applying for spring so I only had like one deadline to work with and I remember spending a couple hours straight for a couple weeks without any progress I would just stare at you know a blank Google doc and then when like I really do understand yeah and it was just so funny exactly yeah so after doing that for 2 weeks one night at randomly at 2: a.m. I was like this is it this is now and never and I wrote the whole thing which had revisions like it had a decent amount of revisions after that but that

amount of revisions after that but that was my you know first and only major progress that I made so yeah you you just got me reminiscing just a little bit yes having you know gone over the SOP aspect of it I know there's other stuff as with the application process such as tracking deadlines maybe LS and I know some of some universities have specifically technical letters or other random ad hog things that they want so what can you tell us about all of the other things that you did outside of the so letter of recommendations really is very important I think you really need to uh keep again I've said that you have to be a very organized you have to keep your time and really talk to people who

your time and really talk to people who can really vouch for you so if you're working professional I would really say that you know out of the three um uh uh three LS two of them can be from you know from where you are working it can be from you know interfunctional teams or it can be your own manager or you know someone who can really have seen you working those L talk to the people ask them tell them about your personal professional goals what you're really planning to do and ask them if you know they can write a letter of recommendation for you so you really need to have that kind of time in your hand to talk and uh just ask them to

hand to talk and uh just ask them to give you a letter of recommendation for your work for whatever work you have done and so because they are the uh live witness for you know who have seen you work and everything so it really plays an important role from whom you're getting your letter of recommendation this is one of the most important factors in the uh application process as well um the other thing uh I I forgot what you were saying yeah the the like so some universities have specific outside of Sops you know technical letters or any other ad hoc requirements so if you could speak to yes so uh if I specifically talk about garnell so they were asking about technical statement technical statement if I'll tell you

technical statement if I'll tell you it's just they really want to see as as a person how you can easily describe any technical topic or a concept to a person who really doesn't have any knowledge to so it doesn't have to be like you know very uh very technical or it has to be something really you know out of the world or something you have to write about machine learning or something like that latest technology or something nothing they just want to judge your ability to explain any technical uh statement or you know any technical uh concept to any person who really doesn't have any knowledge about it so how easily you can explain any new technology any any all of that to a normal person so that is the whole point

normal person so that is the whole point of you given yes yes definitely you are given a prompt um I mean they really ask you what they are looking for in the technical statement I'll also say that really attend University's um sessions I mean before even their application process starts I mean their deadlines are about to come they do uh have some Q&A sessions and all do plan to join them so because they really do speak about all these these documents that they're looking for what they really looking for in a candidate I mean these points also really help a lot when you are drafting your um statement absolutely and um just for just so I have more context on this uh what exactly was the prompt that gell so uh I really don't remember um very specifically but it was just that

very specifically but it was just that um I think they were yeah I mean asking for a technical statement there was a word limit given and in general The Prompt can be they have told that it can be any uh you know research paper that you have written or any technical concept that you have explained or anything I mean I mean they really just want to judge how easily you can showcase your technical abilities you can talk about all that um and then so from there can you talk a little bit about interviews because I know some univ universities have interviews for mem admissions specifically so what is the best way to prepare for those what are some questions one can expect and uh what your experience was like with those

what your experience was like with those yes so some universities will uh you know um ask in their application process only to give a video interview so that is part of the application process it's like a video interview that will be recorded through your laptop screen and once you hit the record button there will be two to three questions that will prompt on your screen and you have to talk about them in a stipulated time so that that is yes yes yes Duke does this and uh it was uh Illinois as well this time who has done it so there were a couple of universities who uh did this otherwise for universities who don't do this in their application process itself what really happens is that after you submit the application and has been selected

the application and has been selected you'll get an interview mail so um what really happens in the interview is that um it's a set of basic behavioral questions that are asked questions like it's like it'll only last for 15 to 20 minutes it's a very KN and how kind of an interview it's not like an interview you'll feel it's just a basic KN and how they'll ask you about why you want to pursue this particular course or program in this University what really excites you what what kind of contributions can you make to the university what are your personal professional goals questions like what are the roles that you're seeking after you complete the course from the University I mean basic

from the University I mean basic questions like uh you know what are they really want to understand you as a person honestly so uh at least for puru these were the questions and for Cornell as well but Cornell from this year they started uh with a case study interview as well um I mean yes 15 minutes before my interview started I received a case study from my interviewer through mail and uh I had 15 minutes to basically read all the um I mean the case study it was a basic um case study material from a fores article I think it was um on it development plan so it can be anything I mean it was just an article at the end of the day so I had to really I mean you can easily read it in

really I mean you can easily read it in 10 minutes it won't even take you 15 minutes easily it'll it it'll be over it was a small article only and then uh after my interview started after those 15 minutes reading time was over there were a set of questions uh for five to seven minutes um uh on based on the um the the the based on the case study yes so yeah based on the case study there were um uh questions five for five to seven minutes basic questions it can be qualitative questions it can be quantitative questions basic set of questions what you have learned from that case study so you know that is that and then it was some um basic set of

and then it was some um basic set of Behavioral question so again why Corell yeah what really excites you to join Cornell so I think those were some basic questions asked it's a very easy interview process I did you okay yeah so that that was just just going to be my question did you go about specifically preparing for that case study or is it something that if you're you know confident and smart and can apply yourself you will probably not have too much too many issues with clearing yeah I mean it's not a big deal honestly but if you really want to go through you can you can go through online you can see I mean any content regarding how to deal with a case study what kind of questions can be asked and

what kind of questions can be asked and all there are a lot of materials online to you know go through go about it but for for me personally it was the first time so I really didn't know what to go about what to study and all in general uh what all I prepared for my campus interviews during my time as an undergraduate I had gone through that kind of training that kind of revision only but in general it's it's very normal it's it's very easy nothing to worry about and you'll be able to crack it very easy that is good to know so um I know we've covered a very decent amount of material around the entire application process itself and um before we move to the next you know segment of

we move to the next you know segment of this at least this podcast um what did you have any call outs about that process that maybe we did not touch on but you would like to highlight um any just want to kind of give leave the floor open in case there's anything we missed missed I think uh one important thing would be I mean I'll just extend that organization know being organized uh thing only first of all it's very important to make a list of the universities that you're applying to after that I mean you really need to figure out what will be the deadlines right I mean I really recommend applying to first round of deadlines only I mean it increases your chances to getting into your dream University andely yes so I I think you should really plan your time accordingly if you want to apply to the first round of deadlines and be very

the first round of deadlines and be very organized regarding what the University's ask is so every university has a different task different materials that they're asking for some might require a combination of sop personal history statement resume other technical statements and all and some might ask one or two of it so really be prepared to you know make that kind of chart or you just note it down somewhere when is the deadline which university and yeah all of that I think that's a great call out onti I feel like even somebody if they can have like a rough project plan going on Excel literally just four five columns you know University name deadline and what stage of the application they're currently at like

application they're currently at like sop submitted gr scores submitted Etc yeah I think you're that's a great call out in that it will go long preparing for 8 to nine universities I mean that time you really need to you know see everything cool love that um so next I want to jump into so prepare or like let's pretend that somebody's in your shoes we apply to a few bunch of places got admits from a bunch of places hopefully and what what are some factors that you looked at while deciding where you're deciding to go which is Cornell and admittedly that question feels a bit flat because obviously a coral admit kind of helps you know not too much confusion but maybe if we were to just kind of pretend for this thought exercise that you hadn't gotten Cornell and had just you know a few very

and had just you know a few very obviously very decent very good universities what are some factors that you were looking at in terms of deciding where you want to end I think uh one of the important factors to really look up to is uh what kind of force or curriculum you are going to study for that program or course some universities offer a very Quant heavy program so do you really want to Deep dive into Quant or you want it more in the managerial so you really need to check the University's website I I cannot stress this enough that you really need to check University's website you really need to do your own research and see what the university has to offer you for the course for the program that you're applying to if the course really sets right with your personal and professional goals

professional goals so for Cornell I mean apart from being a brand and everything of course there were some factors like make your own track there like you know there are a lot of specializations that are offered in the Corell curriculum where I can choose from a set of different specializations like uh business analytics like uh strategy like product management like um you know other Tech consultancy I mean there are a lot of things to choose from so I really knew that you know I can choose two to three tracks from this and I know where I really want to head to and I wanted that kind of customization to my program where I can build my own track so I

where I can build my own track so I think that is one of the uh key factors so you you really need to check the what the course has to offer to you so I think that will be one uh one point the other point will be location definitely where you want to really you know based out of because there are universities that are based in college town some are based out in cities so where you are really looking to you know spend that time and also if you're applying for jobs and all after your course is done so you know you'll be based out somewhere around that location so you really need to take that point into account as well um and the weather probably right also uh given we come

probably right also uh given we come from India because obviously I went to Indiana which is really cold and it you know I don't think I'll ever actually get used to the the cold of the Midwest because I've lived in Indiana and then in Chicago which is arguably worse in terms of weather so but yeah love both of those call outs is the duration of course at all a factor you consider yeah yeah I mean definitely that also matters a lot again it depends what are your personal and professional goals I mean most of the universities you'll see um has a program duration for 1 to 1.5 years if I'm not wrong right for 15 months and all but for Cornell the course is really short uh so it's 9 Monon program of course you can extend it to 12 months as well but then it it's

it to 12 months as well but then it it's not very pocket friendly I can say so mostly students choose the 9 month track the N9 month track really means that it's going to be you know academically very hectic so it's it's going to be really hectic so if you're really looking for that you are okay to juggle your academics and other things yeah it's that but one thing to you know look forward is again you can go into the job market much earlier than other students so it really just just depends like you know what are your personal professional roles after the course is over or what you're really looking in the course for Cornell Cornell specifically um you have a course you know curriculum kind of in mind that you're at least interested in from the

you're at least interested in from the outside I know that can change once you're and once you see things in person but I'm just curious to understand what in your head is kind of some of the courses that you're looking forward to taking or you know that really appeal to you so um I am really looking forward for product management and uh strategy I think that really excites me so I'm really looking forward to you know a deep dive into these kind of subjects I mean of course I am really open to other things as well I'm not making my head up that you know I'll be doing this only it can change over time but yeah I mean when you have so many choices to choose

when you have so many choices to choose from it really is a good thing you know where you you know you can explore a lot and it's a good thing only so yeah I mean those choices have given and I guess just to tie the loop on this particular segment uh do you mind going over all the places that you had admits from I'm just trying to see yeah so I got admits from Cor then it was car melon for the mism program then I had admits from Purdue then University of illino USC and noreas so there were six I see and did you so I guess if you had to rank them in terms of if not Corell I'm very curious to understand

Corell I'm very curious to understand where you would have G it's not okay so I think I was really inclined towards uh pdue because the coop program is really strong so as a university and the course offering and of course the coop program is one of the strongest offering from puru so it was really a great choice and uh also I mean in terms of finances as well it's it's really easy to manage Forum as compared to you know other universities interesting that that's actually really you know fascinating the way you thought about that because yeah Roi is obviously probably the biggest you know consideration that a person makes but yeah you know it just depends St for international student it it

St for international student it it really is important for you know the ROI because not everyone will be going on their own there are other finances and things to be taken care of so yeah definitely and um just out of curiosity I'm sure you've been keeping up with the you know potential or alleged economic slowdown the US in terms of jobs not being available to that you know booming extent as they areally so did you I'm sure you're aware so um did you spend any time worrying about that or I'm just curious to understand your mindset around um you know how you're planning to deal with all of that uncertainty I mean I really do understand even I'm uncertain about what is going to happen after I graduate but I'm not really you know getting that on my head for now this is like you know um this this is my

this is like you know um this this is my first international trip you can say so I'm really excited about that I'm really excited to learn I'm going to a university where many people dream to go off so I mean I'm really looking forward to that till now I don't want to worry a lot about what is going to happen in the future so let's just hope things go right yes and I think Cornell has a really good lm9 Network as well hopefully I'll make some great connections let's see I'm sure you will there is no doubt in my mind that you will and just you know as a last question um how are you going about preparing for your potentially the biggest move of your life that you will ever make you know uprooting your entire

ever make you know uprooting your entire life you know live having lived in India your entire life now you will be living somewhere else probably not knowing anybody in the whole city state even who knows um what are some you know items on your checklist that are particularly you know curious so um I mean the place where I'm going to itka New York um when it's cold it's really cold we have four seasons there so I'm taking uh you know a lot of clothes for Summers but of course for Winters I'm going to you know buy there only some set of utensils where you know as as Indian student you really have to cook and you and as vegetarians as well you don't really get good food so you have to be prepared for

good food so you have to be prepared for cooking so you know some basic say New York is the best place you can be as a vegetarian so at least you have that is it okay okay yeah yeah compared to yeah because it's such a you know Metropolitan City compared to some other places like the Midwest or student town you will find way more vegetarian options there so you have that going for you for sure fingers crossed everything falls into place yeah but yeah as students you know you have some budget issues and tip finances and all so definitely I'm ready to cook and also basic utensils and stuff and medicines of course because you know what will happen there so some basic medicine checklist and all I mean yeah these basic stuff makes sense do you have housing figured out already yeah yeah

housing figured out already yeah yeah yeah so after I got admit from Cornell uh a seniors at Corell only made a group and we were able to connect with other students who were in our city and you know with whom we can actually sink our flights and go about you you really don't have to go do that alone so it was a good thing so yeah and once those groups were set and uh you know based on your preferences and everything people made smaller groups and decided to you know go about house hunting so everything happened online only and it was a really easy process yeah we talked to our seniors and also it was easy pretty decent process yeah that that's so great I mean yeah that just what what great seniors to have you know I never had of this out

to have you know I never had of this out there on Facebook groups work thinking about is this person real is this a scam you know what is does this building even exist I understand I mean I have nice to have seniors yeah I mean I mean even even if you don't have seniors go on LinkedIn see you know who is where and just write a you know cold probably put a cold email or just text them and you will you will hear from them they are really they will hear from them they are really helpful and you'll hear from them definitely I think this was what I also opted for yeah again I wish I had known that at the time but if if I ever speak with

the time but if if I ever speak with somebody or hopefully for everybody watching guys please please reach out to people you don't have to figure everything out yourself more people are willing to help you than you can even imagine so yeah as they say close mouths don't get fed so always always ask for help and you will most likely you know get it um with that un I really want to thank you for taking the time today and walking us through your entire you know Journey up until this point and I'm sure you get this a lot and please don't be mad but I'm sure you will do a lot of once you're here in the states and even even Beyond you know and in your entire career so really really looking forward

career so really really looking forward to staying connected um and watching you grow and you're you know following your journey stage thanks a lot n for having me that brings us to the end of episode 26 of the ready said do podcast thank you all for sharing these episodes with those that continue to benefit from them if you would like to support me the easiest way to do that is by subscribing to the channel and or leaving me up to a five star rating on Spotify for any feedback and or guest suggestions to the podcast please comment on the YouTube video and well really also if you just want to share anything that you liked or didn't like from the episode please please do comment I read every comment

please do comment I read every comment it makes my day and it makes doing this all worth it catch you all in the next one new episodes every Wednesday