Working professionals share their back-to-school experiences. We profile a database management analyst, who gave up his job in Mumbai to study abroad. He now earns five times more!
Name: Sameer Gokhale
Age: 27
What I do: I am a database management analyst.
Where I studied: I did a Master's degree at the University of Texas.
Location: Houston in Texas, USA
Why study more?
After completing my Bachelor of Pharmaceutical Sciences degree from University of Mumbai in May 2000, I began working in the pharmaceutical sector. I was fortunate to get a versatile experience in market research from companies like Novartis India, Wockhardt, and Nicholas Piramal India.
As a pharmacy graduate, I was equipped with adequate knowledge of pharmacy, but my statistics skills weren't very polished. I wanted to get into pharmaceutical market research, which needs a blend of pharmaceutical and statistical knowledge. This hindered my growth in the field. In 2003, I decided to pursue a Master’s degree, abroad.
Applying to universities is expensive!
I shortlisted programmes in the USA, based on factors like overall ranking, the cost associated with it, available projects and funding options at the university. After factoring in all this I decided to apply to four different university programmes including the University of Texas School of Public Health (UTSPH).
Initial expenses for preparing and applying to US universities were considerably high and included exam fees, study material fees, application expenses, professional coaching for preparation and consultation charges for short listing universities.
Most students apply for around 10 to 12 programmes. Applying to number of programmes can be expensive. In addition, to the GRE and TOEFL fees (GRE cost me about Rs 6,400 and the TOEFL Rs 6,000), each application costs around Rs 3,000-Rs 3,500.
Each application packet included, the application fee of Rs 1,800-Rs 2,400 approximately, preparation cost for all supporting documents like recommendation letters, attested copies of marksheets/transcripts/bank statements, credential evaluations report etc came to Rs 600, approximately and the courier charges were Rs 500 approximately.
Smart tips:
1. If you shortlist your programmes well, you can apply to say five or six universities and get positive replies for at least two. Applying to a few, focused programmes saved me some money. For evaluating credentials (the universities I applied to, required students to have their credentials evaluated from evaluating agencies in the US) I approached World Education Services.
Basically, each university specifies the type of official records it requires to document past education. In American terms, these are called transcripts or credentials and include a list of courses that students have taken, when they were taken, and grades received for each course.
Usually, the university will require your entire scholastic record from secondary
school and/or university sources in a similar manner.Credentials are an important part of the admission procedure in any university in the US.
2. I did not spend a bomb on professional coaching or consultation, but did my own homework.
3. I applied for loan-based scholarships to different trusts and missionaries in India. Keeping an eye on major newspapers for scholarship opportunities and their deadlines, was a part of my daily schedule all year long.
These trusts can help a prospective student with amounts ranging from Rs 30,000 to Rs 1,00,000. I got Rs 30,000 as a travel award from JN Tata trust and Rs 75,000 as a loan scholarship from BD Bangur Trust.
My bank savings also helped me bear a part of the expenses.
Photograph on homepage: Getty Images
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