May 26, 2003 06:19 AM
3680 Views
(Updated May 26, 2003 06:21 AM)
Yes, it is quite difficult these days to get an offer from a foreign university that includes a financial aid package. From what I've observed here, it's primarily only the IIT/BITS guys that get such offers - or else you should have considerable (2+ years) of work experience in a good concern related to your field.
If you don't have such an offer, don't lose hope. Try these:
1) Get in touch with a couple of professors from the school you wish to go to - you can get their email addresses off their homepages. Write to them a nice letter expressing interest in their work. If possible, read up a couple of their publications - they might be impressed by your depth of research into their work. Include a plain-text resume at the bottom of the message highlighting your achievements in relevant areas. Do not, I repeat, do not send your resumes as Word attachments. You might also want to get in touch with some of their PhD students to check on the funding status of the professor. Most people are helpful and reply quickly.
2) There are many funding sources in India itself that many people do not know about. Scholarships such as the JN Tata Endowment, BD Bangur Endowment, and Sahu Jain Trust offer gift/loan scholarships at very low interest rates for studies abroad. JN Tata is probably the most generous (they gave me Rs. 90,000 gift and Rs. 110,000 loan scholarship). Watch out for these advertisements, they usually appear in Education Times (TOI publication) sometime in Dec-Mar. These trusts usually have some kind of screening interview (some may include technical questions). Yes, when you think $1 = Rs. 50, these amounts seem insignificant, but they sure are better than nothing!
3) If all else fails, try and muster up the money to come here, then approach the professors and talk to them, see how it works out. Even if you don't get anything immediately, work really crazy the first semester, do really well and impress the prof. If you have the time, volunteer to assist with the profs' work (without pay!). If he/she's impressed with you, well, who knows!
Steps (2) and (3) worked for me, there's no reason they won't for you!
Good luck
