Towards an International Career
Fellow NIEPians, Environment Professionals and
Nature lovers,
My name is Soumitri
Das. I am a doctoral student in the Department of Forestry
at Virginia Tech. Prior to coming to the
States, I worked as a research associate under Prof. Anil K. Gupta at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad
and also volunteered in SRISTI.
I completed my Bachelors in Physics from Hindu College, University of Delhi. I switched fields after my
bachelors and joined the post-graduate diploma in forestry management (PGDFM)
programme offered by the Indian Institute of
Forest Management, Bhopal. IIFM is the premier institute in South-east Asia
offering a graduate level programme in forest management. The PGDFM programme
at IIFM enthused me to think in terms of a doctoral degree in forestry,
especially in the field of applications of remote sensing and geographic
information systems.
When I recall the time spent searching for
universities to apply to and the whole process of applying to universities and
waiting for the I-20, it seems so long-drawn. Anyway, once I had decided on the
field of study, the next step in the search for universities was the United States Education
Foundation in India (USEFI). They provided the basic run-down on the entire
process from selection of universities to visa application.
A couple of years back, you had to write to the
universities to have them send you the application packet. That used to take
some time. These days you can apply to universities online, download the
application package, or e-mail the university to have them send you the package
by snail mail. Anyway, the first step is to find about universities that offer
the programme that you are interested in. One could find a listing of universities
in the Peterson’s Guide. While I was
searching for universities offering programmes in forestry, I came across the Natural Resources Research
Information Pages (NRRIPS). This site has a very good compilation of
universities offering programs in the field of natural resources.
Visit the home pages of the universities to know
more about the university, its departments, and the professors. Get in touch
with the professors and let them know of your academic background and
interests. It pays to have the professors know you (even though through
e-mail), especially when applying for the doctoral programmes. Many a times they are the best source of
information and clarifications. You could also e-mail the students of the
department and many universities have an Indian Students’ Association whom you
could contact for directing your queries to the right party.
Most of the universities require the GRE and TOEFL
scores. The application packages for these tests are available from ETS. Check out the Prometric website to find the testing
center closest to your city.
Most of us who apply to the universities abroad wish
for funding. It is advisable to apply well in advance to be eligible for
consideration for all funding opportunities at the university. Most of the
funding is available for the Fall semester and to be considered for that apply
by December of the previous year. Though the deadlines for receiving completed
applications differ among universities, it is better to apply as early as
possible.
“Network of Indian Environment Professionals” is a very good source of exchange of
information. Many of the participants are in various universities here in the
States. You can email them for clarifications and advice. This write-up is too
small to cover all the aspects of applying to the universities. Become a member
of our forum at www.envindia.com and start writing to all
of us .
Here’s a link for research on Studying Abroad in USA .
Wish you all the best.
Soumitri Das
