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Study abroad in Chemistry
As a student of chemistry I know a bit about your routes to abroad. Before reading the following discussions be sure you really want to fly.
Study abroad,specially in US is a prety easy job. But you have to be ready for it right from the first year of your graduation years in Indian Universities.Why? coz' a first class bachelor's degree carry a lot for your future. That's the first part of this game.Try to learn the basics because you can not crack a single competitive exam just by memorizing your notebooks.
Next is choosing a proper institution for the master's level. Calcutta University is a big no no, simply because it will suck out all your time for the MSc degree.
So,keep eye on those competitive exams conducted by IIT's, IISC Bangalore, Hydrabad Central University, University of Pune, JNU and BHU ,etc. A good point about the education in these institution is that you can get some time to look at your preparation for those two big tests....GRE and TOEFL.
Study in MSc is not a big deal. Most of the stuffs what you read in a MSc class is just the extrapolation of your knowledge you acquired in your BSc classes. Just keep attention on your basics. Choice of your special paper in master's level not necessarily dictates your future direction. As for me, I had to work with bioinorganic chemistry in masters but now I am in molecular biology. The educational pattern for the PhD in US is such that you can switch to any field you want at any time ( off course there is some time restriction).
Once you are in MSc start your preparation for the GRE and TOEFL. If you are from a bengali medium school,start reading american novels, listen to CNN or Voice of America. Because the verbal portion in GRE is the most troublesome portion and you have to memorize unknown words without any fail. So just try to learn it naturally...as much as you can from the Statesman and all those novels.
If you want to join a university in Fall,2004 you should have to apply for the passport before January,2003 for a smooth life. Passport is necessary for you to write up GRE and TOEFL. Once you get your passport,apply for a date in one of the examination centers. The peak season for writing up GRE and TOEFL is October to December. So apply early to get a date before that time interval or apply in January to March to get your dates during the peak times. Its totally your choice which exam you want to take first,but I suggest taking TOEFL once you finished your fight with GRE.
Preapartion for the GRE