Feb 13, 2019 was perhaps one of the greatest moments of my life. Getting acceptance in the MS Information Technology Management program of one of the top Business Schools was a dream come true after all.
It was a no-brainer and I did not think twice before I accepted the offer.
I had always wanted to complete a Masters degree ever since my undergraduate classmates flew out of the country to pursue higher studies and few enrolling into top Management Schools back in India. I started my journey in 2011 by enrolling into Princeton Review’s GRE classes. I did pretty good in the class assignments, however my GRE score was average. So barring me, I believe most applied & took admission into Universities across the world(notably in the US, Canada and Finland).
In 2014 I flew to the States on work assignment and planned to take GRE and TOEFL and then apply to universities while working full time.
It was easier said than done as I was working full time those days as an onshore Lead, maintaining a conjugal life and researching universities all at the same time.
It took me another 3-4 years before I was completely settled in my work and was able to prepare for the GRE and then IELTS. In 2018 I took IELTS Academic and scored a decent Band 8.0(L-8.0,R-8.0,W-7.5,S-7.5). I had taken GRE one more time the previous year and was ready to apply to universities.
But again, nothing came easily for me. This time my H1 visa extension was rejected. I received the news on Oct 12 and moved out of the States by Oct 20. I did not lose heart and kept researching programs from decent universities with flexible classes under my budget(after having worked for 4.5 years I had saved some money for my education).
Here is a glimpse of the ambitious list of universities I had shortlisted that time.
I was contemplating both MBA and MS in IT or Computer Science at that time & was in touch with several graduate Program Advisors – from UMass Dartmouth/Lowell & Florida Tech on the East Coast to University of Illinois at Chicago/Urbana-Champaign on MidWest and from CU Boulder, Arizona State University on the South to CSU Fullerton on the West Coast. Some of the universities or their programs did not work out for me because I was not eligible for not having the required undergrad background or I had to take additional courses to meet their program criteria. However, I kept looking for online MS and MBA programs offered by top MOOCs platforms Edx and Coursera. In Nov 13, 2018, I expressed my interest in Kelley’s recently launched MS in IT Management through EdX platform and started preparing for Personal Statement, Letter of Reference, Resume and transcripts.
It felt like a herculean task to complete a university application( from collecting transcripts from my undergrad university which had recently moved to a remote campus that is atleast 50km away to reaching out to past supervisors or customers requesting them to provide me reference letters). I also decided to apply for iMBA by UIUC, Chicago via Coursera. By Jan 22, I submitted my application for admission into Kelley. I was rejected at UIUC but eventually received admission at Kelley.
Finally, my Kelley journey started on May 14,2019.
If you ask me what I learnt from my experience, it would be relentless persistence and focus. My journey started in 2011 and finally after 10 years I am going to finally graduate with a MS degree in 2021. May be it is not a big deal for those who make it early or get there easily, but there are many like me for whom getting an American education was a privilege and a matter of great personal accomplishment.
Tech Talks with Indraneil 