Planning a trip abroad

 Planning a trip abroad

 Test schedule that we feel is optimal:

GRE            - End of June/ beginning of July

TOEFL       - August

TSE             - October

AGRE         - December

Days of preps required:

 Obviously the more the better. The following is just an approximate number of days required to do well in the exam.

GRE - Anals/quants : 2 months solid preps

                    - Verbal :    5-6 months

TOEFL       - 5 days

TSE             - 2 days

AGRE         - 1 month

Good scores / bad scores:

GRE -         2200+         : excellent

                    2000+         : ok

                    1800+         : rewrite if applying to top universities

                    1800- : definitely rewrite the exam

TOEFL -     most colleges require a minimum of 550 or 600. Average score for Anna university is around 630.

TSE - requirements of colleges range from 45 to 55. Generally easy to get 50 even after doing badly.

AGRE - Needed (for computer science) is applying to top colleges. Report to colleges saying "agre strongly recommended" if your percentile is above 80.

Schedule for the year:

Jan end:

Start preps with rotaract club's mock tests :)

Feb:

Prepare flash cards, start with word lists(do about 4 wordlists a week), apply for GRE.

Mar:

 revise verbal, take section by section tests

April:

College exams... take a break

May/June:

Solid preps... take CBT's, full length tests,revise words, Start looking at colleges(you get to report your GRE scores to 4 colleges for free... if you choose wisely you dont have to waste money(additonal $13) later on)

July:

Continue looking for colleges. Send out your pre-applications online(some colleges have only paper application).

August:

write toefl, make a shortlist of about 20-25 colleges that look promising and that you are interested in.

September:

reduce list of colleges to about 10-12, write statement of purpose, catch up on college work.

October:

take the tse, get letters of recommendation, get transcripts,fill out application forms.

November:

College exams, after the exams send out the applications, send out your additional score reports.

December:

prepare for AGRE, pester the colleges to confirm  that they have received the application packet.

January:

Relax... you have just got past the first stage.

February:

Begin next stage of work... getting visas, looking for aid, contacting profs etc.