KUET Alumni News

This article is forwarded by -

Raihan Masud

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Make your SOP perfect

So now you have your statement of purpose. After correct it grammatically, you should read it and correct it several times to make it a coherent and unique essay that get you the admission offer.

Put your Statement of Purpose away for a while. Then, put yourself in an admissions committee’s place and start to read it in about 30 seconds. Be aware that you are going through a few hundred applications and classifying them into `accepted’, `maybe’ and `not accepted’ groups. Think of how you would look at SOPs and try to read yours through a stranger’s eyes.

Use this check-list to be sure that you have mentioned all critical information in your SOP in an honest and interesting manner. Your SOP should contain information that demonstrates:

· Interesting commence.

· Areas that you are interested in.

· The reasons of your interest to those areas.

· These interests are based on academic or job experience that the school may find useful.

· How these interests related to your anticipated future career.

· How do you think further studies will help you?

· Additional experiences that may help

· Your college and work projects were instrumental in confirming your interest in the field.

· Your teamwork ability that is very important in North America.

· The essay has been written about your personality. It should look like that it cannot be about anybody.

· The reasons that you have applied particular school. Talk about these reasons in a manner that demonstrate you have searched
about the school. Show the officer that you have applied to  the school wisely.

Your essay should flow smoothly. You should go through paragraphs coherently. The SOP should be grammatically correct and end well to leave the officer with a sense of completion.

This self-checks will yield a few ideas for improvement. We recommends you to use it at least 3-4 times during this last stage of making your SOP more perfect. After these checks you may have some people to review your SOP. Experienced and professional people may help you a lot. For the last time check your essay for a spelling and grammar error. Try to type your SOP and use appropriate margins, font, and size. Avoid underlining, boldface and italics. Do not use special letterhead. Finally print your SOP on a good quality white paper.

As we mentioned before, do not tell your advantages, show them. That is, do not say how dedicated or committed you are. Show it by describing your accomplishments. Use positive language and avoid the passive voice.

Here is the listing for Top US Engineering Program(Graduate[MS &PhD]) published by US News & Report for the year 2008.

Civil Engineering

Computer Engineering
Computer Science

Mechanical Engineering

Hope this would help the current students seeking opportunities for Higher Studies. Best Luck.

Monbukagakusho (Japanese Government Scholarship) is the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and technology (MEXT) of Japan. International students are usually selected for Monbukagakusho scholarship either through Japanese Embassy or Japanese universities.

The system of getting scholarship through Japanese Embassy are as follows:

   1. Ministry of Education, Bangladesh advertises in the newspapers inviting applications for Monbukagakusho scholarship (for both undergraduate and post graduate studies).
   2. Applicants have to apply to the Ministry of Education, Bangladesh within the deadline.
   3. Ministry of Education selects about 175 applicants (may be change) on the basis of their past academic records and sends the list to the Japanese Embassy in Bangladesh and also notifies the primarily selected applicants.
   4. Japanese Embassy in Bangladesh sends the primarily selected applicants necessary forms and requests them to submit necessary documents to them. During this period, each applicant is asked to contact any professor in any Japanese University to get letter of acceptance from him. This letter of acceptance is also important.
   5. They make an schedule for the interviews of the applicants.
   6. The Japanese Embassy sends all the documents to Monbukagakusho.
   7. Monbukagakusho has the final say. The finally selected applicants (near about 30 person) will be notified through Japanese Embassy.

The system of getting scholarship through Japanese Universities are as follows:

   1. Contact one professor in any Japanese University under whom you want to conduct research. Your field of interest must match with the field of research of that professor. When you contact one professor for the first time, don’t forget to      send your elegant resume that highlights your current research activities, academic achievements, etc.
   2. Write to the professor clearly that you want to continue research under him and want to be selected for Monbukagakusho scholarship. You have to make the professor convinced that you are the eligible person to continue his research.
   3. If the professor is convinced, he may respond.
   4. If the professor responds, request him to send you application forms for scholarship. Note here that many Japanese professor does not know well about Monbukagakusho scholarship.
   5. Professor would send you application forms, you fill it up and return it to the professor with necessary documents.
   6. Professor will submit your application to Monbukagakusho through his university.
   7. Mobukagakusho will decide whether to accept you or not.

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Dr. Masud Rahman, ME Alumni, KUET, Batch-90
Director, TokyoTech Australia Pty Ltd
Former Researcher, Australian National University(ANU)
Email: masudbitk@hotmail.com
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I would like to add few words about who are interested for higher study with lower grades.

1. If you don’t think about scholarship, don’t look back at your CGPA. You just need a KUET certificate. That’s it.
   Most of the foreign universities (more than 75%) only look at your cgpa, if you ask about scholarship. Otherwise,
   they are NOT. This works on the same policy, they have to cut 99% of the applicant. For scholarship, CGPA has a
   great value!  Let say, someone applies from a private university with cgpa 3.90 and someone from BUET with cgpa
   3.30, the private one will be picked up in the most cases. Strange!!!
2. In fact, Canadian university support a lot for foreign students. Australia is the worst here. However, if you can
   complete your degree from Australia, it is likely to get a good job.
3. In my experience, the best job available in Japan now. if you can manage your Master deg there somehow, you will
   get your job before a year!!!
4. For Australian immi, if you have enough job experience, you are simply qualified. if so, apply for residentship.
   If you get residenship, scholarship is more than available. They will not look at your cgpa then. When I was
   teaching at ANU, I could not find any local student for the scholarships. Can you believe that?

DON’T WASTE YOUR TIME, APPLY NOW. EU COUNTRIES ARE ALSO OFFERING MANY SCHOLARSHIP. PLEASE KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN.

1. How to apply for Graduate Study in Canada?

Ans: To apply for Graduate study the first step is to convince a Professor (see article-4). It will make your next  steps very very simple. Now-a-days the admission forms of all universities are available in online. To get in admission webpage click on “admission” then”admission form”. For Ryerson Unversity the page is http://www.ryerson.ca/graduate/admissions/admforms.html

All Canadian Universities have a Admission fee ($80 to $90). If you have a “Credit card” then its very easy for you to pay the fee. You can also make a “Bank Draft” from “Standard Chartered Bank, Bangladesh”. It’s better if you have your own Bank account. You can also make it from other accounts. Before submission check all of your documents & informations.

2. How to plan for Immigration for Canada?

Ans: To apply for immigration in Canada, you need at least 1 year continuous work experience. It doesn’t matter from where you were working. For details information log on following link: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/index.asp 

Also you need a minimum pass mark 67. You can take a self assesment from following link:  http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/assess/Education.asp

3. How to face Visa Interview?

Ans: To study in Canada you need a “Study Permit”. First you have to apply for it in “Canadian High Visa Application Center”.
Its located in Gulsan-1, Dhaka. Normally they don’t ask for interview. If you have sufficient funds (or scholarship) you don’t need to show any sponsorship or “High bank Solvency”. For details and application forms logon following link:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/study/index.asp

4. How to mail to Professors/Researchers for grant/Funding

Ans: For Canada/ USA/ UK/ Australia: – in google type – “Canadian / USA/ UK/ Australian universities” or go to Universities list in KUET Alumni site
- You will see a list of universities. Click first one- you will enter that university web page.
- Click on Departments/ Faculties- you will see the list of departments/ Faculties.
- Click on department/ faculty same as your department/ which department you are looking for.
- Click Faculty staff/ teachers- you will find a list of teachers with their contact informations.
- Copy the email addresses one by one and paste on your compose page (on your own mail) and  write message(you may save/ make draft a message and send same message to everyone).
- If you fail to find out contact address go to search option and type “teachers of the department (me/ eee / cse.. .) ”

What you have to write on message? There is no specific formality writing to the professors?
In subject: You may write: “from Bangladesh”, “want to be a member of your research team” or any things that you think best.
On mail : Start with My dear sir/ Dr / Sensie (only for Japaniese) and then write about you i.e your name, country, name of your university including CGPA and current year of study.

Then write I am strongly wish to be a researcher(you may include your undergraduate research topics) and please give me a chance to work with you. I am pleased about your research area…….. .. as much as you can write smartly to convince him. AT last don’t forget to write “if you can manage any RA/ TA for me it will be better for me” and Thank you. You may attach your RESUME (be sure that you wrote it as international format).

5.  How to start your BSc Thesis?

Ans: Its better if you start to think about your BSc thesis from 5th Semester (Level # 3, semester # 1). Ask your senior brothers who are now doing thesis about their topics and their activities. If you have a plan to higher study, its better to discuss with seniors who are now in Higher studies level. Also take in mind that the course credit is only 4.50. So if you waste too many time in it, it will affect on your overall results. So always try to make a balance in between thesis & courses.

6. How to write Papers?

Ans: (I am in ME department so I have no idea about another department). Following are the websites for the paper formats of “American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)”:

http://www.asme.org/Publications/ConfProceedings/Author/Author_Templates.cfm

http://www.asme.org/Publications/ConfProceedings/Author/Formatting_Paper.cfm

Also if you are a Mechanical Engineering student, you need to know about ASME. Following is the website of ASME:

http://www.asmeconferences.org/Congress08/index.cfm

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Sikder Ali Ahasan, 
EEE Alumni, Batch-88, KUET
M.Sc., Information & Communication Systems
Hamburg University of Technology, Germany

Present status: SAP HR Senior Analyst,in A Global Chemical Company, UK
Email: nil6@yahoo.com
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Study in Germany has never been easy specially prior to 1997. But due to a significant shortage of IT professionals and growth of IT industries, many German Universities have started offering M.Sc. programs in Information & Communication Systems, Technology related Management subjects and good news is most of these programs are offered entirely in English which wasn’t the case earlier.

Germany has two different kinds of Universities offering these M.Sc. programs – University of Applied Science (Fachhochschule) & Technical University (Techenische Universitaet). Studying in Technical Universities will be the best choice and if you have above average grade points and good TOEFL/IELTS score (at least 5.5), please have a look in different universities offering subject of your choice. Please note, some universities also require a standard GRE. But to be honest, it’s worth to have a look and explore this possibility.

There are several websites where you can find information about different universities and their M.Sc. programs. Some good sites are: www.daad.de  Use `course search’ option, then `International Programmes’. There are three options to choose from – Bachelors, Masters, Doctoral and you can also filter/narrow your search using your preferred subject or field of subject.

Study cost: Most Universities will charge a semester fee of approx. € 500 per semester which will give you a free transport ticket, access to University Fitness facilities, Swimming Pool Access, Free allowance to print and/or copy documents (some universities has limit), discounted food in Mensa (Cafeteria), etc. Apart from this, you will have to count for your monthly expenses of € 300 to €600. But this depends as how you arrange your living and maintain costs. Some students even manage this with €250 and some even go above €600 per month with a shared house & food.

Part Time Jobs: In most cases there are possibility of getting part time jobs at local shops (pizza hut, McDonalds, Superstores – but only if you already speak a good level of German). Technical Universities have many faculties and many PhD students, projects. Most Professors & Ph.D. students have part time jobs for students which is called `HIWI’ job. Normally you can work up to 72 hours per month and can expect around €8.65 per hour. Number of Ph.D. students and number of international student ratio is good. There is also a job office called `Arbietsamt’ where you can also find some part time jobs as most companies, restaurants and other organizations advertise here who look for part time people. It’s also worth to apply to different companies who has part time jobs for students, but you need to have at least some skills like web design & programming, database programming, network engineering knowledge, telecommunication experience, software engineering, etc. Some students are very proactive to use their web design experience to make some money within the Asian communities. There are many Asian grocery shops, restaurants who are very interested to build their websites but don’t want to spend much money to it. So students making these are one of their best choices.

Language: Learning German language is not necessary while studying in Germany but you will really be step ahead if you do learn this language. Universities offer free language classes and if you don’t miss it, you can easily speak and understand Deutsch language within couple of months. Watching German TV and trying to speak to local people is the most effective way to enhance your proficiency.

Medical Insurance: You will have to pay around € 50 for health insurance and you will have access to all health services including dental. This cost is included in the monthly expenses I have outlined above.

Good luck and let me know if you have any specific question. Above information is based on my experience during 1999 to 2001. During the last couple of years some rules may have changed but certainly now you have more universities offering M.Sc. programs.

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Sheikh Mahbub Habib
M.Sc. Student,
Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden.

Lecturer(On Leave), USTC, Bangladesh.
E-mail: rony2k2001@yahoo.com , mahbub@ustc.edu.bd
Web: www.ustc.edu.bd
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First of all, higher education(B.Sc. and M.Sc.) is still free. Hope fully, it will be free up to next year until further notice given. So, be prepare to apply in Sweden this year for the Fall Semester 2008 or Spring 2008. Secondly, there are some world class universities in Sweden from which you can choose one. Chalmers University of Technology( www.chalmers.se ), KTH(www.kth.se ), Linköping University(www.liu.se ), Lund University (www.lu.se ), Uppsala University (www.uu.se ) and Umeå University (www.umu.se ) are the best universities among Sweden. Currently, Chalmers, Lund, Linköping,KTH, Uppsala are in best 100 univs of the world.

Now, I am giving some specific subjects for which the univs are famous. Now a days, in terms of funding and research in Engineering Chalmers Univ of Technology is pioneer in Sweden. You can choose any courses of your interest and it will be well admired by any univ in the world. Then comes the KTH. Wireless Systems of KTH is one of the best in the world. Also, Software Engineering for Distributed Systems, Internetworking(badiul-CSE 98),SOC(Barkat-CSE 2k), are one of the famous courses in KTH. Lund is famous for its SOC programme. Intel funded the highest amount for research here in SOC. Linköping is famous for Computer System Engineering. Uppsala and Umeå university is very good in Computer Science. I hope this list willl help u a lot choosing the courses.

Next come to the scholarship matter- In Sweden, it is very sad to say that CSE students didnt get any scholarship up to this year so far i know cos swedish scholarships doesnt cover in those areas. But, EEE students can get scholarships In Electric Power Engineering field which you can choose from KTH or Chalmers. Already, some students from CUET got scholarships
here in Chalmers. For Civil students, there is oppurtunity to get scholarship in Sustainable development programme or Environmental Engineering programme.

For part time job, Gothenburg will be best for you where Chalmers situated. Next will be Stockholm where KTH is situated. In other cities, it is almost impossible to get part time jobs, mind it. But, in anywhere you can complete your Masters programme within 5 lakhs BDT if you can afford that. There are ofcourse some negative things in Sweden. Language is a main barrier in Europe and its remain in Sweden also. It is possible to get research grant in Sweden but difficult to get job after Masters if u dont know Swedish.

Those who wants to do PhD after Masters pls select Chalmers cos highest number of International Students are doing PhD in Chalmers. In Sweden, PhD is kind of job its not scholarship like USA, Australia or Canada. You have to spend 6 years to finish PhD here.

I think, these all informations will be very much helpful for the students who will apply next.

Thats for all today…….
If anyone wants to know more they can contact me or chek the website www.studyinsweden.se