Project Grad School PGS Guru answers your queries

As you may recall, “Project Grad School” (PGS) was launched with the idea of providing practical information with respect to the graduate school admission process. Here, the PGS Guru answers some of the queries we have received over the last week or so..Dear Sir,.I am a final year law student from UPES, Dehradun. I am looking forward to a Masters (LLM) in IT Laws from NUS, Singapore next year. I have few questions regarding the same in hand to ask for, which are as follows:.1. How to write a SOP and what to include and exclude from the same. My question is pertaining to whether one should include his Internship, Summer school and paper presentation or not. If yes, then in what manner ?.2. And what about the TOEFL exam for Indian Students, as NUS has mentioned on their website that student can waive the TOEFL Exam if they have completed their Under Graduation(UG) in English..3. Moreover, being from not a great college what should be the credential that should be taken into consideration while writing a SOP..Kindly provide with the possible or reasonable answer to my query..SS.PGS Guru replies..Dear SS,.Good luck on the application to NUS – they have a great IT program. SOPs in general are meant to answer certain clear questions. This is what I’d recommend you do, if you don’t have a draft yet: take a piece of paper and ask yourself (a) why you want to do this program, (b) what makes YOU someone they should consider seriously. Think of it like a story – you are crafting a line of reasoning for why your admission is a good fit for both the school and you. So, yes, to that end, include relevant internships, summer programs and papers. But at the same time, remember that the SOP is not meant to be a CV – this is the only part of the application where you have some leeway to convince the admissions committee why you are a good match for the program over and above your credentials: so use it to your advantage..Re: your school, note that schools are only as important as the way in which you describe them to your admissions committee. Unless it’s a school that they know immediately, it is your responsibility to introduce it to them in a way that makes it seem relevant. For instance, does your program have a strong IT focus? Did you have classes that were IT relevant taught by senior professors in IT? There must be a spin that distinguishes your school from others. Credential is something you can carve out – especially if it is a SOP..Re: the TOEFL, you can waive it if you establish proficiency in English. Usually, a letter to the school explaining that you have been educated completely in English and attend law school in English now, should suffice..Hope this is reasonable and/or possible,. Sir..-x-x-x-.Respected Sir,.I wanted to know the importance of Marks/CGPA with regard to application for LLM Programs abroad?.Thank You.SS.PGS Guru replies:.Respected SS,.Marks and CGPA are important, but not the only things that matter. It is probably true to say that somoene with a high CGPA but little else is more likely to get into a program than someone with a low CGPA and no other redeeming bits (e.g. research interests, publications, presentations, etc). But, presumably, that’s not the comparison. If you don’t have a high CGPA (what is a “high” CGPA anyway? It changes every three months), I’d recommend you mention other things that matter to your application – maybe a high grade in a class that matters to your specialization? Highlight the bits that are in your favor. It’s a bit like crafting a statement of facts : you need to state the facts that matter, in a way that showcases your case. Good luck!.Sir.. -x-x-x-.Hey,.I came across your contact on your website & I do need some real help for masters..I am civil engineering graduate from IIT Delhi (grade 7.58/10) currently working since past 2 months in a consulting analytics firm in Bombay. I am interested in working for government ministries of finance, planning or environment & hence planning for a masters that takes me on that career path..From the literature on masters that I have gone through, I believe a masters related to politics or policy making / financial planning should suffice. But beyond this, I have absolutely no idea to go about it. Websites gives you this much lead only..Just want to inquire a couple of things :.1. is my search for masters for the field that I am in appropriate ?.2. Do you mind suggesting any website containing additional info to assess the quality of courses taught in various univ ?.3. Any website with some info on scholarship relating to my GPA will be evry helpul too..Looking forward to your in-depth reply. Any lead/help shall be appreciated..MP.PGS Guru replies: .Hey back,.It’s a little unclear what finance, planning and enivornment has in common in terms of a graduate law degree (I am assuming you are interested in a graduate degree in law since you are writing to us at Bar and Bench) – were you thinking of a specialized LL.M (of which, there are certainly finance and environment concentrations)? But since you did not mention a legal backgroudn, I am guessing not..Depends on what you want to do. You say a career in government is what you want to do – does that even require a masters? And if you do plan on applying for graduate study, do you want to do it in India or aborad? You’d have to figure out what you want to study before being able to compare and contrast programs. Websites with scholarship information often don’t concern only your GPA. While GPA is no dount important, it is not always sufficient for admission and scholarships. You might want to check out the scholarshipstimes.com website (a general resource) to see whats out there to begin your search: it’s a great preliminary resource..This might not be indepth or real help, but I hope this is a useful start..B. .-x-x-x-.Sir.At present i am pursuing LL.M in Business Law from National Law Institute University, Bhopal. I am interested in pursuing LL.M from U.S.A or U.K. but I don’t know the procedure.I have no idea how to apply? where to apply?when to apply?fees structure?. My area of interest is Corporate Law. I am also interested in International commercial Arbitration.I am in dark and hoping that u will show me the light..My queries are as follows:-.– What is the procedure to apply in foreign universities?.– Where can i check the notifications related to admission?.– What is the scholarship in which i can appear for?.– Where will i get the details of the various relevant scholarship?.– What is the general fee structure of the foreign universities?.– Are there any student exchange programs to which i can apply?.– Which universities provide degree that are recognised by the University Grant Commission?.– Various other details that i might be missing and that are important for my knowledge.Thanking you in advance.regards.PD.PGS Guru replies:.PD,.Most schools have deadlines in the preceding Nov/Dec (U.S.) or Jan (U.K) for LL.M admissions (usually with classes starting in Sep/Oct) and procedure for applications (usually, an application form, 2/3 reference letters, a statement of purpose, a writing sample and a CV) is available on the website of the school you are interested in applying to. School websites will also have general financial aid / scholarship application information and in addition to these school specific aid assistance, you might want to consider checking this site. For British scholarship sources, this site is a great resource and for law scholarships specifically. Also visit this site (its also a great LL.M resource in general)..Depending on whether you go to the UK or the US, fees can be anywhere between 20-40 lakhs (depending on the school you go to, whether public/private, the city it is in, incidental expenses, etc) with the U.K being generally cheaper than the U.S. Student exchanges are generally constucted at the level of the university – so you should check with your school if they have exchanges you can apply for. When you mean the relevance of this degree for the UGC, I assume you mean the validity of the LL.M for teaching on return to India in an Indian law school? Schools (especially private, elite law schools) are increasingly requiring doctoral qualifications for admission to academia. However, for a list of schools recognized by the UGC for the NET, See this page as well. .Regards, .Sir..Thank you for the overwhelming response and apologies for those queries which could not be answered. Please do continue to send in your questions to pgs [at] barandbench [dot] com.