Admitted: The Missing Guide To Craft A Winning Application & Study Abroad

Soundarya Balasubramani

Sep 2020 · PractiSc Labs

About this ebook

Are you a study abroad aspirant? You've come to the right place!

The journey to getting into your dream university and studying abroad is a long, overwhelming one, consisting of many steps: shortlisting universities, writing essays, crafting a resume, getting LORs, securing loans, getting the visa approved, and much more.

Admitted is the only all-in-one proven guide in the market — read by thousands of students — that covers every single step in this journey to help you get your dream admit and be prepared to study abroad.

Admitted is the brainchild of Soundarya Balasubramani, an Ivy League graduate from Columbia University, New York, and a Gold Medalist from NIT, Trichy. Soundarya wrote the book with contributions from two more Ivy League graduates, Saikishore Raju (Dartmouth College) and Rishabh Singh (Brown University).

When you purchase Admitted, you get the following:

- 18 chapters that walk you through every single step of the journey — shortlisting universities, writing an SOP, preparing for interviews, getting scholarships, networking, and much more!

- A private Slack community with 1,100+ aspirants like you, so you're never alone on this journey. You also have a dedicated community manager to answer all your questions.

- A Google Drive folder filled with resources: SOPs & resumes of Ivy League grads, a list of 30 scholarships, an admissions tracking tool, 500+ useful links, and more.

- Insights from 10+ past graduates sharing tips and tricks on the application process.

- Lifetime access to future webinars conducted by the author and Admitted team.

Save yourself thousands of rupees spent on consultancies and countless hours spent finding the right resource by purchasing the book and begin your journey, today!

Ratings and reviews

I preordered Admitted on the suggestion of a friend who used to follow Soundarya on LinkedIn. Admitted is a really excellent book for helping you through the admits season. I see many people have praised the tone / research /work that has gone into the book, so let me keep this review a bit different and give you absolute concrete reasons for buying the book- 1. The section on SoPs. SoPs are the most important section of your application. This was stressed so well in the book and the sample SoPs on the shared resources link were of such a high quality, that I realised I needed to get started on mine ASAP and work on it for a long time. 2. The section stressing on making a video if possible. I was applying to universities requiring videos and wasn't going to make a video since it was optional. The book advised me to take every opportunity to make a mark on the Admissions Committee and I did. Had a blast making the video, picked up some basic editing skills, and got an admit too! 3. The section on i20s, F1 visas and STEM extensions. I was absolutely clueless about these things. Thankfully the book has given me a rudimentary idea about them, and now I can step into uncertain waters with atleast some idea about what to expect. These were just some of my reasons. Your reasons will be different. But what I want to stress is that the book is absolutely practical and will hold your hand through all stages. I cannot tell you how it will be beneficial to you, but am confident that it will be! That's how impressed I am with this attempt to fill a gap on knowledge about admission procedures where it was existing and being sorely noticed.

I ordered Admitted just to get acquainted with the account of what's it really like for an Indian student to pursue a master's overseas; sacrificing everything they had till now and starting from the scratch! Am I the only one afraid of loneliness here ? I hope not! Honestly I ordered this with the thought that I'd rather spend just lumpsum $10 to potentially avoid wasting a couple of years of my youth and thousands of dollars pursuing education in an alien land. I didn't have high hopes with this book either, for I knew that the author, contrary to the likes of full time authors like Neil Strauss or Yuval Noah Harari was also keeping up with a full time job and this was her first work. However, I must admit that the good old saying " A pessimist gets nothing but pleasant surprises" turned out to be true this time. I loved how Soundarya depicted not only the strategies and the skill sets required to pursue higher education efficiently, but also the vulnerabilities and the dilemmas in doing so. I found the personal anecdotes really lively and sometimes chilling. The honesty with which all of it was penned really stood out and is indeed the USP of Admitted. There's just something about books that just isn't there with the videos I guess! Does anybody else feel this way too ? Admitted can also be interpreted as an excellent resource for getting started with the habit of reading. I as an avid reader, loved all the references that Soundarya incorporated from many of my favorite books. Moreover, the quotes are potentially life changing! Trust me! I'm in awe of the amazing story telling. It's probably the most relevant book that I've found that gives actionable takeaways and phenomenal advice on how to go ahead with your plans and make them manifest when it comes to higher education. I recently got done with Cal Newport's HOW TO BE A STRAIGHT A STUDENT and I'd still vouch for Admitted over that. Now don't get started with the apples and oranges philosophy. All I'm saying that Admitted is way more relevant and applicable in my case and has way lesser of " selling the content and ideas" than any traditional How-To/Self Help Books. And lastly, what I can be really thankful to this book for is "to get me out of this fear based mindset, this tunnel vision governed by scarcity and ambiguity", especially when President Trump was in office , and assure me that it generally works out in the end! Phew! Deep breaths, throw anxiety out of the window, get down to work and make it happen!

If you are a person dreaming to study abroad, admitted is indeed a milestone on your incredible journey. Grab the book, fasten your imaginary seat belts and fly to your destination. Take aways from the book 1. Self analysis to know if you genuinely aspire to study abroad with all the required materials intact. 2. Guidance to discover your true passion, find an appropriate program for you if you are an undergraduate specifically. 3. Know the tricks to choose the right university for you. 4. Understand the functional part of all the language proficiency tests and choose the best for you. Book doesnt stop there. Perhaps it gives you enough support for your preparations as well. 5. Get well informed about most of the popular and applicable scholarships to make your journey smooth. 6. All the other aspects of abroad studies that I have missed. My apologies for not listing all of them 7. Stay motivated through out the process and eventually secure a funded studentship in a prestigious instit

About the author

Soundarya is currently an Associate Product Manager at Salesforce and a graduate from Columbia University, New York. She graduated in 2019 with a master’s in Management Science & Engineering. Prior to that, she graduated as a Gold Medalist from NIT Trichy, India in 2017. She has been the recipient of more than a dozen scholarships & awards including S.N.Bose, DAAD, MITACS, J.N.Tata Endowment, K.C.Mahindra Education Trust, Cargill Global Scholarship, and more.

She has published more than 100 articles on the topics of education, technology, career, and life experiences. Her guides on internships, scholarships, and graduate school admissions have been viewed over 50,000 times. Her YouTube videos on life as a graduate student have been viewed over 900,000 times. Soundarya is also the founder of AIESEC at NIT Trichy, has served as the Chief Editor of The NIT Trichy Chronicle, and as Vice President of the Consulting Club at Columbia University.