The objective of this post is to inspire the undergraduate students, who has a brim thought of doing higher studies, and having no money to fund it. I am using the first person, so that it would be easy for me to draft, and moreover it is just a writing on what exactly happened.
I had no thought of higher studies, when I completed my BE in Mechanical Engineering. My only aim was to fulfil the family commitments by enrolling in a job and that is what I exactly did. But within 2 years, the job sounded very monotonous and I started thinking on how long to stick to the job. The pay was good, the team was good, but still, I could not convince myself from the search for aspirations. I decided to take up higher studies. But I didnt have any money. So decided to apply for the courses which are only fully funded. First I applied for the fulbright scholarships. I was more optimistic and overconfident over my past performances and was sure of getting a place there. But there is always someone to curb our ego at times and that exactly happened to me. I failed miserably. Then I applied to Erasmus Mundus Programmes with great care. I faced a different kind of treatment, of rejection due to administrative reasons!! My transcript from college was not accepted, though our college was autonomous. I only lost few bucks trying to convince the admission team while trying to explain them the truth. They asked to apply for the next year!! I was completely broken.
I took some part time courses from the IISC in the mean time, and I learned about composite materials. My seniors and other senior persons in the mechanical engineering field discussed more on the explorations of composites and scarcity of qualified professionals in our country. So I decided to take up the field and explore more. At the same time I was also interested in computational mechanics. Fortunately or unfortunately I could not crack any application in the computation field. I got admitted to the Composites course at Imperial College London, the costliest college! The best thing what I could do was to defer the offer for next year and see if anything will happen.
I was very much frustrated about the admission, on missing all the computational mechanics courses and with only an offer at a college which I could never imagine how to pay. It was costing 32000 GBP (close to 23 L) and with my bank balance of only 2L, with a need to send money to support parents and no properties for surety to avail a bank loan. I had almost given up the whole concept of higher studies abroad and started concentrating on what could be done next to move forward. Here is where the turning point came, you may call fate, luck or whatever, I happened to go for a very unlikely pilgrim tour with bachelor friends!!! That was a temple of Shri Sharadha, Goddess of studies. I was discussing with my friend what has happened and he gave me a thought on trying it again. That was Nov, and all the applications to good univ abroad were closed already and I was left with trying to fund for Imperial. I started searching for scholarships. Edulix is a forum which greatly helped to decide what to do next in the application process. Scholarshipsinindia is another invaluable resource. I started applying to each and every scholarship that I see. JN Tata Endowment, KC Mahindra Scholarships, Debesh Kamal Scholarships, BPCL scholarship, Paras Education Foundation, Credila Education Loans, Aga Khan Foundation, British Chevening, Inlakh Shivdasani Foundation, Narotam Sekhsaria Foundation, Manekji & Shirinbhai Neterwala Scholarships and few more smaller trusts were on my list. It was a painful task. It is not easy asking money to someone. But it paid off. I got interview calls from JN Tata Endowment and Mahindra Scholarships and could grab both of them. Still I had no sufficient money. Five years of work experience did some monetary support. I was eligible for gratuity and PF also had been accrued. But those amount were not available immediately and could not be used for Visa purposes. I had to go for a bank loan.
I chose SBI, as I had an account already there. But I prefer people to try out different bank, where the process is easy and quick. We meet people daily, but a few impact our life, we dont know until we realise the impact. Likewise, a gentleman whom I had met during my school days and who had no obligations of helping me surprisingly came for my rescue. He knew people in the bank and helped a lot to move the application and process it faster. I was totally unhappy with the slow process until I met a person on the last day at the bank to disburse loan, who had to wait for 4 months!! I suddenly realized how lucky I was!!
In the mean time, the Visa Process was tougher and I had to show the evidence of money. Though I was selected for the JN Tata schols, I was not revealed the amount, putting me in a tougher situation. I had to face the Visa application without using the credit of JN Tata schols. But again god sent me help through friends. I used their money and credit cards to pay the college fee in advance and got cleared for the Visa!! Though it was not so easy as it is written here!!
Finally I am now at the Imperial College!! It was all due to my friends who helped me throughout, say for accommodation at mumbai during schols interviews, at chennai during transcript collection, monetary support whenever required, mental support from my parents and help from my colleagues. I understood, if I work sincerely on what I want, there are always people who will help!! If I am here, it is not only because I wanted to, it is because they (my fellow people) wanted to. For future applicants I would say, never lose hope. Knock the door until it opens, but do it logically!!
I had no thought of higher studies, when I completed my BE in Mechanical Engineering. My only aim was to fulfil the family commitments by enrolling in a job and that is what I exactly did. But within 2 years, the job sounded very monotonous and I started thinking on how long to stick to the job. The pay was good, the team was good, but still, I could not convince myself from the search for aspirations. I decided to take up higher studies. But I didnt have any money. So decided to apply for the courses which are only fully funded. First I applied for the fulbright scholarships. I was more optimistic and overconfident over my past performances and was sure of getting a place there. But there is always someone to curb our ego at times and that exactly happened to me. I failed miserably. Then I applied to Erasmus Mundus Programmes with great care. I faced a different kind of treatment, of rejection due to administrative reasons!! My transcript from college was not accepted, though our college was autonomous. I only lost few bucks trying to convince the admission team while trying to explain them the truth. They asked to apply for the next year!! I was completely broken.
I took some part time courses from the IISC in the mean time, and I learned about composite materials. My seniors and other senior persons in the mechanical engineering field discussed more on the explorations of composites and scarcity of qualified professionals in our country. So I decided to take up the field and explore more. At the same time I was also interested in computational mechanics. Fortunately or unfortunately I could not crack any application in the computation field. I got admitted to the Composites course at Imperial College London, the costliest college! The best thing what I could do was to defer the offer for next year and see if anything will happen.
I was very much frustrated about the admission, on missing all the computational mechanics courses and with only an offer at a college which I could never imagine how to pay. It was costing 32000 GBP (close to 23 L) and with my bank balance of only 2L, with a need to send money to support parents and no properties for surety to avail a bank loan. I had almost given up the whole concept of higher studies abroad and started concentrating on what could be done next to move forward. Here is where the turning point came, you may call fate, luck or whatever, I happened to go for a very unlikely pilgrim tour with bachelor friends!!! That was a temple of Shri Sharadha, Goddess of studies. I was discussing with my friend what has happened and he gave me a thought on trying it again. That was Nov, and all the applications to good univ abroad were closed already and I was left with trying to fund for Imperial. I started searching for scholarships. Edulix is a forum which greatly helped to decide what to do next in the application process. Scholarshipsinindia is another invaluable resource. I started applying to each and every scholarship that I see. JN Tata Endowment, KC Mahindra Scholarships, Debesh Kamal Scholarships, BPCL scholarship, Paras Education Foundation, Credila Education Loans, Aga Khan Foundation, British Chevening, Inlakh Shivdasani Foundation, Narotam Sekhsaria Foundation, Manekji & Shirinbhai Neterwala Scholarships and few more smaller trusts were on my list. It was a painful task. It is not easy asking money to someone. But it paid off. I got interview calls from JN Tata Endowment and Mahindra Scholarships and could grab both of them. Still I had no sufficient money. Five years of work experience did some monetary support. I was eligible for gratuity and PF also had been accrued. But those amount were not available immediately and could not be used for Visa purposes. I had to go for a bank loan.
I chose SBI, as I had an account already there. But I prefer people to try out different bank, where the process is easy and quick. We meet people daily, but a few impact our life, we dont know until we realise the impact. Likewise, a gentleman whom I had met during my school days and who had no obligations of helping me surprisingly came for my rescue. He knew people in the bank and helped a lot to move the application and process it faster. I was totally unhappy with the slow process until I met a person on the last day at the bank to disburse loan, who had to wait for 4 months!! I suddenly realized how lucky I was!!
In the mean time, the Visa Process was tougher and I had to show the evidence of money. Though I was selected for the JN Tata schols, I was not revealed the amount, putting me in a tougher situation. I had to face the Visa application without using the credit of JN Tata schols. But again god sent me help through friends. I used their money and credit cards to pay the college fee in advance and got cleared for the Visa!! Though it was not so easy as it is written here!!
Finally I am now at the Imperial College!! It was all due to my friends who helped me throughout, say for accommodation at mumbai during schols interviews, at chennai during transcript collection, monetary support whenever required, mental support from my parents and help from my colleagues. I understood, if I work sincerely on what I want, there are always people who will help!! If I am here, it is not only because I wanted to, it is because they (my fellow people) wanted to. For future applicants I would say, never lose hope. Knock the door until it opens, but do it logically!!
