a word of cheer for ppl from nonCS backgrounds

[KayKay]

Hey All

I am happy to inform you guys that I have got admission offer and full financial aid from columbia university. I am looking forward to join the university in Fall 2006 term.

I just wanted to drop a mail in this forum because I am one of those guys who are not from computer science background and who are interested in pursuing MS/PhD in computer science and want to take subject GRE for this purpose. I have seen and experienced how challenging a task this is, and how helpless a person can be during the preparation for subject GRE. So I wanted to share my experiences with other people who are in the same situation, as I was in.. a couple of months ago...and I would like to put a word of encouragement for all those Earthlings who have taken this mammoth task of wandering into an mostly unknown zone and are struggling with it.

When I started preparing for subject GRE, it was not an easy task. The amount of the course material (which I would be reading for the first time !!), the immense syllabus and competition with the guys who already had good knowledge of the subject... simply overwhelmed me. Many a times I felt like giving up. During initial periods, when I saw Earthlings discussing advanced topics and I couldn't understand much of it, I used to have a sinking feeling. I had no idea if I would be able to finish up the study material ever and would be able to take the exam confidently. But I kept studing at a steady pace. I picked up the Brilliant Tutorial's GATE study material along with other books (another post from me... -> (study material for a person with a Non-CS background !!)). It helped me a lot as it covers most of the topics for subject GRE and has good amount of question and answer sections. By the time the test date arrived, I had not been able to cover all of the topics and was mostly unprepared. But I took the test confidently.

After the exam was over, I carefully selected the universities and applied to some 10 universities. I have got admission offers from 4 universities and full funding from two universities (Florida and Columbia). I have accepted the offer from Columbia University now and would be joining it in August.

It seems this post has become too lengthy.... but I am sure it will give hope and encouragement to many Earthlings on this forum, who are struggling to realize their dreams.

At the end, I would like to suggest all those people who have taken a decision to take this exam, inspite of the odds against them, that never give up... focus on the study material... be confident... and read DS, algo and Automata Theory once more...

kaykay.

[gautam88]

Congrats !! KayKay,

You're all set then.. Nice to hear that. It's amazing how a NON CS person has managed an Ivy League univ.

Would you be so kind to give us advice about admissions too, and also what you did to manage full fin. aid. It would be helpful.

Thanks Bud

[sivashankar]

Hi,
Congrats on thy admit.I am preparing for subject test.So am looking for brilliant tutorial to prep for the exam.But i am not able to find one.I am living in Mumbai.So please lend me that if u have.Even if u can find it near thy house, inform me.I will pay u the courier charges and material charges.Looking forward to hear from u.

[KayKay]

thanks gautam...

About the admissions... I would suggest that go through the admission and FAQ pages of various unievrsities... choose those universities which do not put too much emphasis on the undergrad computer science degree... many universites have a preset requirement that the applicant should have a undergrad degree in computer science... but there are many universities which consider students from varied background... one good example is Stanford... each year they admit students from various backgrounds apart from CS background (ofcourse they check for CS knowledge and aptitude)... and if you score good in subject gre, it would be a very very positive point in your application... other universities are Columbia university, Penn State University, Florida international university, North Carolina university etc...

About the financial aid, which comes after you have got admission offer from the university... you will have to put considerable amount of time and effort on it... you will have to email the professors in the department... try to convince them that you will be able to do productive work under him... don't give up if you don't get funding from the CS dept itself... you can approach the profs of other depts also... in such a case, you need to follow these steps..
step1 : introspect... find out your expertise areas...
step2: find a suitable dept where you can apply your expertise in a productive manner...
step3: look into that dept's web pages and research pages and try to locate the projects/profs who are doing such projects where you can contribute significantly...
step4: write to those profs, telling them how you can be useful to them if they take you as a RA...

in above process, the thing which will help you most is your past research experience (may be a project which you did during thy undergrad degree), relevent courses you did, publications etc....

and my best and sincere advice... be focussed and don't give up...
wish you all best of luck...

PS: Shivashankar, I am unable to help you out regarding brilliant's study material, as I am no longer in delhi... see if you can find any friends/relatives in delhi who can buy it for you....

kaykay

[CalmLogic]

in above process, the thing which will help you most is your past research experience (may be a project which you did during ur undergrad degree), relevent courses you did, publications etc....

This confirms what I have read elsewhere. Thank you.

[powerslave]

Hey KayKay, that's a mammoth achievement! Hearty congrats. Such success is inspiring.