My Journey to the United States 🇺🇸

In my previous article, I shared my Amazon interview experience and mentioned I’m not accepting my amazon offer, in this article I going to share the reason for the same. First, If you haven’t read it, go and read it first. I write articles on my different technical interview experiences and on the latest technologies. Link

Origin: One of my close friends and I, having a discussion about life in California as a software engineer, and my brain cells start making high levels of dopamine and asking me for a try. Fast forward, after a year of making myself sweat for a full year during the application process, exam preparations, corporate work, and whatnot…Iam pursuing my higher education in the USA.

In this article, I will take you on my journey from working professionally at a corporation to pursuing my master’s degree in the United States. There’s no doubt this article will be interesting but do not be fooled by its size.

Starting with a small Introduction: My name is Akash Kumar, I’m 22 years old and living in a small popular city called “Meerut” in India. I completed my bachelor’s in 2021 in Computer Science and after that, I became a software engineer, which provided me with a great deal of professional development and empowered me to make decisions on my own.

I know, it might be getting boring for you, So let's start-

Process:

1. Exam: GRE and TOEFL (Aug 2021 - Sept 2021)

Most the university required GRE as a credibility test and TOEFL/IELTS is for English proficiency tests. It will take around 2–5 months to prepare for exams depending on the credibility of the individual.

2. Applications (Oct 2021 - Feb 2021)

Yes, the application process is started around 1 year before for good universities and closes within a few months like of UCs, and Ivy league Uni. In their application, you need to give your bachelor's and high school transcript, SOP (an admission essay, According to Uni in the USA, the Common Application essay is intended as a chance to describe “things that are unique, interesting and informative about yourself), and 3 — 5 recommendation letters (you better start connecting old nodes with your professor, as its time to beg), and last but not the least Exam results.

Which Universities have I applied to?

I applied to a total of 15 Universities in the USA and I have a total of 8 admits and 7 rejects (mostly tier-1 universities ) but I am including only those university which is worth sharing with you all and along with their status.

PS: I applied for a Master in Computer Science in all universities, starting Fall 2022.

Application Cost: In general, university applications cost around $80, depending on the region; for example, Florida’s university applications cost only $40, whereas California’s university applications cost $150.

University I finally decided to pursue: University of Florida

Here is some ranking: QS ranking — 173, US ranking — 35 and it is under TOP 5 public university in USA plus University classified as “R1”. Read more about R1 category universities: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_research_universities_in_the_United_States

You can read about my university from here: https://www.ufl.edu/

In last, here are some glimpses of my stay so far in the USA:

Go Gators 🐊

If you want to connect with me :

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akash-kumar916

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/akashkumar_916/

Next: Recently, I have given a few online coding rounds here, so rest assured that the Next Article will cover OA coding questions. Stay Tuned!!

By the time, Read my previous Interview Experience articles: https://akash-kumar916.medium.com/