Read on Twitter
Break it down into small steps, first think about the field, decide on the field based on your interest and the career prospects in US, don't just choose any field, if there are less jobs in that field its a bad decision to come here for Masters 1/n https://twitter.com/sadigalisabzi/status/1361014432621494275
Step two: Look for the best programs in that field, check rankings(although they don't matter much but it gives a rough idea of good programs), for each program talk to few alumni on LinkedIn, check the requirements for every program(make an excel sheet) 2/n
Step three: For each program, compare your profile to previously admitted students(Yocket & LinkedIn), put your profile into admit predictors(again only for a rough idea) and make a list of ambitious, moderate and safe programs. The categorization here is based on your chances3/n
Step 4: Once you have trimmed down the list of programs a bit, see which programs prohibit you from taking assitantships(these are cash cow programs) remove those, you should have a final list of about 10-12 programs at the end, you don't have to apply to all 4/n
Step 5: At this point you have the list of 10-12 programs in an excel sheet with requirements, find the common ones like GRE and Toefl, if you are applying for Fall 2022 for example, I recommend give GRE around Aug 2021 and Toefl around October 2021
Step 6: Book your GRE date and give yourself 2 months to prepare for it, DO NOT SPEND MONEY on GRE prep, so many resources are freely available on libgen, take a free test on any of the prep sites(Kaplan, Manhattan etc) to gauge your current level, prepare for vocab the most
Step 7: After one month of prep, do a practice test every week, again free tests from ETS and other prep sites should be enough. For Toefl you wont need much but still give yourself one month to prepare after GRE
Step 8: Contact professors for LOR to make sure you have 3 professors finalized before they are actually needed just to avoid any hassles later and start writing your SOP, write a rough draft of whatever you think makes you a good candidate
Step 9: Trim down your SOP, read it again and again and adjust, get feedback from others(someone who has done it before), you dont have to use all the feedback as at the end its your SOP, write what makes you confident in your application, obviously check grammar and spellings
Step 10: for each uni you apply to, you will have to adjust your SOP, keep a Master SOP and make adjustments as per the specific requirements of any program, at this point it should be around Nov 2021, time to start applying
Step 11: Applications are mostly straightforward stuff so should not be an issue, always apply atleast two weeks before deadline, if a uni has early decision deadline make sure you adhere to it
Step 12: For LOR, some unis will need the profs to log in to the system and fill the recommendation there and some unis will just require a letter
Step 13: Wait for the decisions, once you get an admit, you can start the visa process, for that you will need to request the I20 from University, some Unis will need you to show enough financial assets to cover one year of expense before they send you I20
Loan sanction letter or bank statements should be enough
Step 14: Once you get the I20, you can start the Visa application, note that for VISA you will need to show atleast 1.5xone year expense available to you, different from what the uni needs, details about Visa have been expanded enough already so you will find many resources
This is it tbh, if you have specific questions, ask n/n
