<p>@satmaster9 - If your financial situation was so bad, then yes the colleges will accept it as a valid reason. And if you are really such a whizkid as to do a project about relativity and inertial confinement at an international level in class 8, then you’re good MIT material. </p>
<p>But again, what have you done since then?? You haven’t said anything about yourself at all really. Vague gap years are not the point. How bad was your financial situation? Crushing poverty??? If so, how come you’re suddenly ready to go to the US?? If you were a normal middle class kid, then why didn’t you write SAT normally in 12th and apply for financial aid??</p>
<p>You want replies, but you really have to explain properly. And one more thing - you really need to start working on your grammar if you want to write SAT/TOEFL. I don’t mean to be rude/arrogant, but at this rate, your SAT score won’t cross 1500. (I repeat, don’t take offense. Just a small piece of advice).</p>
<p>Ani, did you get the real meaning behind that post of mine or do you still think I was disagreeing with you? That post goes along with what you said.</p>
<p>RohanG,
I personally know many BITS Pilani graduates. They are all doing very well here in the USA. BITS has a very good reputation here.</p>
<p>Getting a graduate degree from US will definitely mask Indian undergraduate educations unless it is IIT, IISc, BITS or some of the better known NITs.</p>
<p>Getting a good job after graduate degree is not too difficult. It all depends on the field of study, location etc.</p>
<p>Getting FA for graduate study is not that difficult. It is not easy either. It depends on a number of factors. I will make a few quick statements on this topic and PM me if you want to discuss this further.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>FA could be in the form of teaching assistantship (TA), research assistantship (RA) or grants. You could also get a combination of these. Funds provided via TA and RA are generally sufficient to cover living expenses and tuition. </p></li>
<li><p>Easier to get TA than RA. Getting grants before you get admitted is very rare.</p></li>
<li><p>It is easier to get FA in big state universities than private universities. Public universities get more funding for research.</p></li>
<li><p>Competition for FA at top schools is severe. </p></li>
<li><p>Easier to get admission for MS than PhD. People who get admitted to PhD almost always get FA. Profs generally don’t want to hire MS students to help their research work. They need people who can make a longer term commitment. </p></li>
<li><p>For many, FA play a key role in getting student visa to come to US. Those who don’t get FA have two options - a) show personal funds and/or b) have some relative residing (PR or citizen) in the US offer full financial support on paper. I am sure there are a few more avenues …</p></li>
<li><p>It is not that difficult to get FA after 1 or 2 quarters/semesters if you do well in your course work AND you are good at shmoozing.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>I’d advice you to take a gap year to improve your grammar and spelling–Harvard and other Ivies won’t take you if you can’t properly conjugate your adjectives.</p>
<p>And also, please learn what run-on sentences are.</p>
<p>I took a Gap Year due to financial reasons too. But I have been doing something very productive during my time. I believe that the Gap Year has made me a stronger applicant than I was before. I suggest you do something on the same line. From what I know, colleges like people with unique experiences.</p>
<p>OP, what pixie and the others said may seem very harsh but it’s also very true. You have to show you did something productive in those 2.5 years. Yes you had financial difficulties, but how bad were they exactly? So bad that you had to work and fend for yourself? If not, then did you volunteer at an NGO (as pixie said), do an internship, become an activist or do anything of the sort that significantly enriched your experiences and would therefore strengthen your application? You have to convince the adcoms that you weren’t slacking off all the while. I completely agree with rsaxena’s second post, your case has a lot of contradictions and this can really hurt your chances of admission with FA anywhere.</p>
<p>Also, why are you so opposed to studying in India? India’s not that bad. And like most people have mentioned, research opportunities are limited at Undergrad level. Graduate level teaching is a lot more research oriented (correct me if I’m wrong). With whatever we know of your situation right now, the ideal course of action would’ve been doing undergrad in India and PG in the States. But like Anirrudh said, to each his own.</p>
<p>A lot of people have mentioned this but I felt I must bring this up as well- please do work on your written English and syntax. It is quite simply appalling (I’m sorry, there isn’t a milder way to put this) and it will reflect very badly on your application when you write your essay. The essay’s vital in reflecting your passion, and it’s obvious you’re passionate about research (and good at it too, judging by your 8th Std award) but if you can’t express that in standard and proper English, you’re not helping your cause.</p>
<p>Harsh advice and we may seem very negative to you, but it’s the reality, bad as it sounds.</p>