Graduate Special Status Application: Fill & Download for Free

Always have conversations with graduate admissions personnel to find out specifics about your chances for entry into a graduate program.Most are concerned with your ability to do graduate work. An overall 3.0 GPA is a good indicator plus the GPA in your major.You can always take a graduate course or two as a special student, earn a couple of A’s and then apply to graduate school including your special student transcript along with the other application materials.If you decide to pursue the special student route, then take a required course in your program of interest…FYI - there is usually no financial aid and/or scholarship assistance for special student status…something to consider.

The first thing I'd do if I were to drop out of college again is throw away all my textbooks, notes and mental baggage I picked up along the way.I dropped out after one year at The University of British Columbia and I've been trying to unlearn everything that 16 years of formal education taught me. Here are some examples:On riskIn college risk prevents you from making good decisions. Want to take a really hard, but interesting AI class? Think again, that 4.0 GPA is at stake. Want to write a term paper unlike anything anyone has ever written? You'd be better off shooting for something "above average" and scoring that A.Colleges encourage students to optimize for good grades. And many students listen to the advice and make terrible decisions because of it.In real life risk is rewarded. Entrepreneurs that pursue high risk ventures make billions. Writers that reject the status quo sell the rights to their book for $10M.When I shut down my last company I was congratulated because I tried. Then I was offered about a half dozen jobs (without ever sending a resume). Doing something risky and learning applicable skills looked better than those 4.0 GPAs from Harvard.On differentiationWhen I was growing up, I was always told that college was a place where you can find yourself. The liberal arts schools that I imagined were full of frisbee games and late night conversations contemplating spirituality. But when I arrived at school it was anything but.UBC is an extremely competitive school. The average high school GPA of new students at the business school was 93% (Canadian system) the year I attended classes. And so the type of people that are selected are the ones that learned how to follow instructions and take tests better than their peers. They are the type of people that studied harder than anyone else.The college system rewards this.In the real world the most successful people are the ones that question whether the instructions at hand are the right ones. They rewrite the rules. They are better because they are different.There was a quote next to my ex-girlfriend's dorm room that changed my perspective on what it means to live a successful life:In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different- Coco ChanelIf you're a cog you are a replaceable and therefore you aren't valuable. Conversely, if you're great at what you do and the only person in the world that can do it, you are incredibly valuable (assuming their is demand).On careersToday, college works like this:Year 1: Take a diverse set of classes and discover what you enjoy (unless you're an engineer in which case you take 80% math and science classes)Year 2: Start to specializeYear 3: Specialize.Year 4: Specialize even moreSo you've really got one year to explore your interests. If you switch from Biology to Computer Science like my friend did you are another $50k in the hole because you have to take another 2 years of classes. So there is a financial incentive to choose quickly rather than develop a broad skill-set and experiment with a lot of potential paths.The reality is that there is no better time in your life to try out lots of things. Try being a writer one year and a businessman the next. Study biology and if you don't like it switch over to computer science. If none of them work try something new because you're young and you can! Unlearn the idea that you have to choose a path now and stick to it for the rest of your life.My advice to all dropouts and wanna-dropouts is to unlearn everything college taught you. Take big risks, be different and try lifestyles until you find one that you enjoy.Here's what I wouldn't do:Don't write a resume. You'll always lose this game. Do something completely unique and interesting that gets you in the room. That's your goal if you're looking for a job.Don't work for big companies. They won't respect you like a small startup will. At IBM you might feel bad about not having a college degree. At a startup you'll have the opportunity to prove that the degree doesn't matter anyway.Don't feel weaker than the HBS graduate. A degree doesn't mean anything. Results, work ethic and character are the only currency that matters in today's world.

This is a description of my IIM-A interview, which happened in the first week of February this year. My profile is as follows:Xth Standard - 91.57% aggregateXIIth Standard - 90.43% aggregateGraduation CGPA - 8.95 (equivalent to 82%)Work experience as of Jan, 2015 - 5 months (EXL Service)The panel consisted of an elderly woman and an elderly gentleman, both professors of IIM-A I'm assuming. For the purpose of this answer, I'll refer to them henceforth as P1 and P2. And any side comments or actions are highlighted in italic.P2: Hi Nikhil, please have a seat.I take my seatP2: So tell us something about yourselfMe: I start with my personal details, schooling, college, rattle on about how I took Computer Science with Science at high school and realized very quickly how wrong a decision I'd made. I decided to take up Industrial Engineering and Management in order to right that wrong as I knew already that commerce and management was the way ahead for me. Then spoke a little about how I was very shy at school and this prohibited me to grab the many opportunities at school and how I had to change that from the first day at college, which I did. Went on to my love for designing and how I picked it up on my own in school and still practice it as a hobby. Ended with telling them where I'm working.P1: So you're working in the field of data analytics. Tell us more about your work.Me: Ramble on about work, data analytics field in general, and cloud analytics (what I had been working on) in detail - and how it's the way to go for small and medium enterprises specially. Described its pros and cons over traditional analytics systems.Interrupted by P2P2: What kind of industries have traditionally been using data analytics?Me: Insurance, Finance, Healthcare are some industry verticals which have traditionally been known to make use of data analytics very heavily.Interrupted by P2 againP2: Can you be more specific? Give us a few examples of the applications?Me: Sure, the Insurance industry, analytics is used for designing insurance products and customizing insurance plans for existing and potential customers, also helping in targeting potential customers.In Finance, it can be used for detecting credit card frauds, designing products again and targeted marketing.P2 looks pretty satisfied. Interrupted by P1P1: So you've studied IEM. What were your favourite subjects?Me: I described my course, how the first year was a mish-mash of all engineering subjects, the second year had mostly Mechanical subjects and 3rd and 4th years had only management subjects. I said I liked Operations Management and Operations Research a lot, and also loved Ergonomics and have done a project on it as a hobby.P1: Since you mention you liked Ergonomics, you must've heard about this term called 'occupational hazards'.Me: I smile and nod my head, expecting a question.P1: What do you know about the status of occupational hazards in India? Is it relevant at a place like EXL?I begin to process the question but am interrupted by P2P2: Nikhil, do you know about Hypothesis testing?Me: Yes sir, I've studied it in college.P2: Can you tell me what are Type I and Type II errors?Me: I smile for a bit, thinking in my head that he's tried the classic trick question from stats. I regain my composure and answer confidently which one is which.P2 satisfied, smiles and asks me to get back to P1's questionMe: I talk a little on what OHHs are and how they're relevant to both service industries and manufacturing industries in different ways. I then talk about how the focus on OHH in MNCs in India is improving but we're still lagging behind when it comes to smaller enterprises, specially in the unorganized sectors. I take an anecdote out of my friend's business, recollecting how a factory worker lost his fingers through a cutting machine because of a lack of focus on OHH. Then I also said that this could be looked at from another perspective, that enough training and education isn't given to these workers to prevent such accidents. I end by saying how MNCs have to put a lot of focus on OHHs because of their reputations and such accidents can dent their reputations globally because of the globalized world we live in.P1 and P2 seem very impressed, continuously nodding their heads and smiling.P2: So all this is done, tell us what you like to do in your free time?P1: I tell them about my love for music, movies, football and Manchester United.P2 catches on to Manchester UnitedP2: So I heard that United got a new manager recently. How do you rate him?P2: Get started with the longest rant on LVG and David Moyes and everything Manchester United. Speak for a good 3-4 minutes non-stop.P2 interrupts me as he knows I can keep going on and on.P2: Why do you think the Brazilian national team isn't doing so well?Me: I'm a little taken aback from the question. Compose myself and start by saying it might look like they aren't because the previous generation has set a tremendously high standard. However, it's true they've been having problems playing as a team and blah blah. Give gyaan and end answer.P2: Do you think it's fair to the other countries that European countries get such a high representation in the Football World Cup?Me: I say that it's the fairest way to go as Football is played by almost all the countries in the world and this kind of a representation is fair to everybody as it is based on merit. Explain the points system but he stops me.P2: Why isn't the same applied to Cricket?Me: Firstly, because not as many countries play Cricket at that level!Everyone laughsMe: Also, what is more important in Cricket is for the so-called minnow countries to play more domestic tournaments against the established Test sides so that they can raise their game and do justice to the World Cup.P2 looks really impressed with the extra thought put into the answer.P2: Alright Nikhil, I think we're done now. Would you like a toffee?I notice the plate full of toffies for the first time kept in front of me.Me: Yes, I'll take one, thanks. My throat has been rough all day.I smile and silently leave the room, exuding confidence.To sum it up, it was a very pleasant interview which felt more like a tea-time conversation between old friends. Without me realizing, they astutely asked me about all the different aspects of my life - personal, work, education and hobbies. I was grateful I got to speak so much on football, a sport I passionately follow and have been following for the past 10+ years.Final result? Just got my confirmation today. :)