The [[http://floatingsun.net/articles/apping-for-dummies|Apping for Dummies]] article that I wrote several years ago has remained one of the most visited articles on my website and over the years many people have told me that they found the article useful. I’m happy to announce that a much updated and enhanced version of the article is now [[http://pothi.com/pothi/book/diwaker-gupta-applying-american-graduate-schools-engineering-and-fine-arts|available as a small handbook]] over at [[http://pothi.com|Pothi.com]].

[[http://floatingsun.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/front.jpg|{{http://floatingsun.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/front-212x300.jpg}}]]

I’ve always thought about writing a book, so this is definitely very exciting for me. Even though it is not really a full-fledged “book”, it is a start nonetheless. The handbook is priced at **Rs. 99** (excluding shipping). So if you or any one you know is applying for graduate school in the US, specially in engineering and fine arts, do check it out. You can [[http://pothi.com/pothi/preview?pFile=132|preview the first ten pages]].

Note that the article is (and will always be) still available. Of course the book has a lot of extra (and more up to date) information that is not there in the article. The article is also fairly narrow in its scope — it was basically written for Computer Science students at the IITs. The book, however, is much broader — it should be useful to applicants in engineering //and// **fine arts**. As far as I know there is hardly any published information out there for graduate applicants in fine arts, so I really hope that this handbook will be of some use to the budding artists in India.

This whole thing is very much an experiment for me. At some point I might even make the handbook available online as a (paid or unpaid) eBook, but for now you have to order your copy from Pothi.com.