To the current students of B.Tech/B.E

My dear juniors,

Warm wishes to you on the occasion of this new year 2008. Are you wondering who this guy is who is wishing you for the new year? If so, here’s some lowdown on me: My name is Alla Koteswara Rao. I am from the 1999-2003 batch of VECV. I am currently working at Synopsys, Hyderabad.

I want to take this opportunity to tell you the future options available for engineering graduates today.

First and foremost, whatever you want to do in your life, the fundamentals remain the same: Self-confidence and a positive attitude will take you places. These are qualities which will differentiate you from the rest; so never forget them.

After graduation in Engineering, you have the following options: you can go for M.Tech , M.S/MSc , or MBA or directly move into a job.

Let me explain each of them.

M.Tech: Doing higher studies is always a good option; especially from the IIT’s or IISc.
If you wish to do this, you have to cross the GATE. The simple technique to cross the GATE is to read all prescribed books. If you still have time, read one reference book more. I can assure you good GATE score with this approach. Once you crossing the GATE, you need to find the best masters program for the score you got. Remember that just getting masters degree doesn’t shape your career. The course you opt for must get you enough returns in the future. If you do not get a masters program that aids your career objective, you could be losing two valuable years of your working life!


M.S/M.Sc: Some universities in India also award the M.S and M.Sc degrees. But here I am talking about doing Masters in abroad. For this you have the options of USA, UK, Australia and some more countries like Germany and Canada, among others.

If you wish to do masters from abroad, the first suggestion which I have in my mind is to try and join a highly ranked university. For this you should have good academics and good GRE, TOEFL and IELTS scores; whatever is required for that university. You need to be very careful while choosing your university. Just for the sake of going abroad don’t choose this option. Unless you get admission in a good university, education abroad is not a great plus.

For higher education, the US is certainly one of the best places in the world. As a lot of you are aware about study options in USA, I don’t want to spend much time here about that. If you want to know more details about doing your MS in the US, please refer www.msinus.com which will give most details that you will need to know.

Another important thing you need to consider if you wish to do masters in UK and Australia is that immigration rules are changing frequently. Always check the immigration rules before you apply there.. For example: UK needs 5 million more highly skilled people in the next 5 years. So, they are encouraging immigrants from highly specialized fields which include engineering, management. For example, last year they introduced a program named International Graduate Scheme. The concept of this scheme is that you can stay in UK for one year after you complete your masters in UK. In this year frame, you can search for a job and settle down. The new immigration laws are expected to come to force in March. The speculation is that they might increase this duration to two years. If that happens it will be very good to choose UK for higher education.

Mechanical engineering students can think of Germany also for their higher studies. German universities are very good for mechanical and automobile engineering. Another good thing in Germany is that education is free of cost. However, you need to manage your living expenses.

Once you get admitted to a university, the story does not end there. I suggest that you do some back ground work before you travel. Spend sometime reading the basics of that subject. This is required because after you travel to that place for the first time in your life time, you see the tremendous pressure. You have to work part time, you have to finish assignments (no copying!)… and you need to study hard. So be prepared for that. Any preparation you do before you travel will help in getting a head start.


MBA: In my opinion, MBA definitely needs some job experience (preferably at least 2-3 years). So my advice is to not opt for an MBA right after your graduation.

Directly Going For Job: Your first job is very important. Pay careful attention to your first job domain area, since most probably you may continue in that area. So, be careful while choosing your first company. You should be very clear on where you want to be after 5 years or so. One standard rule is, if you have options, give importance to work rather than salary.

I hope my information will help all my young juniors. If you have any further questions, feel free to contact me at eswar.iisc@gmail.com Last but not the least, I would like to share some principles which I learnt during my job. “Don’t assume anything. Doubt everything. Be crystal clear on things you plan/do. Don’t stop with surface level understanding.

All the very best again.