How to go abroad for higher studies?

How do I prepare to go for higher studies in the field of cryptography?

• I am final year undergrad Computer Science student from IIT. I am quite interested in the field of Cryptography. I had done academic courses of it but not any projects. Now I am passing out from institute and want to go abroad for higher studies in this field. Since I won't end up in decent institution now so I have decided to give one year for preparation alongside job. Please guide me how should I prepare?

• Answer:

  Firstly, try to narrow down your area of interest. Looking for probable universities and the courses they offer will help. Most of them clearly state prerequisites for a particular course. Also, you could go through professors's research work to get an idea about the topics and even contact if required. I suggest you start with something simple like this online course on https://www.coursera.org/course/crypto (which just started). There you get a chance to learn in a structured way and a platform to interact with other students which can be of great help. And with regular assignments, it would help to maintain discipline. Additionally, revise / learn basics of related subjects like number theory, information theory, abstract algebra. You can start reading text books for these topics, follow blogs, topic on Quora etc. An important thing to remember, preparation alongside job isn't as simple as it sounds. There are more challenges than in college and requires lots of dedication. So it's necessary to be mentally prepared for it. Try to utilize most of you current college time. Note: Programming is an important skill in this area. Try to learn at least one language, Python / C++ / Java.