Applying to US Universities : Stage 2 : Filling forms

So we continue where we left off with me having given my GRE and TOEFL ( there is nothing worth writing about this exam; so I have left it out).
Selecting a college to apply is a tricky process. While your GRE score and acads are the most important parameters which determine which university you should apply to; several other factors come into play
1. The probability of getting financial aid once out there
2. The willingness of the university to accept students from other countries
3. On-campus safety
4. The facilities for research
and blah blah blah; the list is quite long
Anyway by discussing with several seniors and consulting websites and reading through forums me and Rohit finally finalised on 9 Universities ( And no I am not repeating them again!!)
Proud of this significant milestone; we decided to start filling up the forms for these universities.

Problems associated with filling up forms

PROBLEM NO 1
God has been unkind to us South Indians. We dont have a surname and for some wierd reason the world seems better off with one. Now in all the forms the surname field is a compulsory one and the form cannot be submitted without filling in a surname! The problem was eventually solved by submitting our father's names as surnames but this led to inconsistencies between our names on the passport and names on the application form. We are still waiting for the consequence of this action

PROBLEM NO 2
The education terminology in US is very different from India. So basically after completing my graduate course in India I would be applying for a graduate program in the US. So basically I am a graduate hoping to become a graduate after slogging for 2 years in the US. Mind-blasting!! The conversion from Indian courses to US courses in the SOP and LOR's is quite frankly a pain-in-the-ass!!

PROBLEM NO 343o493840
Online recommendations; easy and convenient my left foot. The days I spent on sentry duty outside my professor's cabins waiting for a glimpse, a nod, a kind word or some indication that my work had been done before the due date. Though our professors were kind enough to finally finish the work; we still had to endure 3 weeks of madness before the work was completed

Filling up the forms is no easy business I tell you; the amount of details required is quite mind boggling. Certain universities wanted my complete academic record from L.K.G to engg. I still have not found any correlation between my academic performance in LKG ( alphabets, colours and numbers) to my suitability for a Master's education

So all said and done my advice for all those planning to pursue your Master's (you poor poor fools!!) is to be prepared for more than a month of serious mind-fuck as you go around filling forms and getting recommendations done. Its God's way of punishing us for our sins in previous lives and our only option is to grin and bear it

( Stage 3 involves the procedures after getting an admit and I will be more than happy to enlighten you all as and when I get one! :P)