1st Make up your mind about the courses, streams you wish to pursue abroad.
Coursera EdX are best places to have a micro view of what you could be learning abroad later in better ways.
2nd Plan for your finances. Scholarships, Family Support, Loan Support intent also.
3rd Speak to Top Folks in target Career from Abroad (VR Consultant are your platform)
4th If still confused, then take up skill assessment tests and narrow down your career options.
5th Read about each of the suggested career choices you wish to pursue and then Pick up introductory courses in each of the shortlisted ones.
6th Prepare for High GPA. It matters for Top Colleges & Good Scholarships
7th Build your profile according to your target stream & course. Dont do irrelevant things in career.
8th Focus on projects, publications (led by good projects), academic internships, or top industrial internships.
9th Build good rapo with named Professors with whom you are working or going to work with or your dept Profs also. A good recommendation, goes a long way.
10th Give GRE/GMAT in 3rd yr ideally or by late in 4th yr (Ideal time before July) for Fall. Try scoring as much as possible but don’t over do on it. for CSE 320+ is good. For Others 310+ is decent.
11th Give IELTS or TOEFL in 3rd of 4th yr. 7.5+/9 or 110+/120 is good in each respectively.
12th Spend time in researching about courses and countries based on industrial development. Don’t be blinded by ranks on FT or QS, there is much more they don’t cover and thus a lot of good & even top universities don’t take part in these rankings.
13th Spend time on your Essays, SoPs, LoRs, Resume. Make SoP stand out.
14th By Nov-Dec Apply in All target ones in US, UK or Canada; By Jan apply in Germany, Australia – Fall intake. (This is slightly shifted & delayed due to Covid Impact)
15th. Once done with Application via VR Consultant. speak with consultant for further process like offer letter, scholarships, finance, loan, pre & post visa filings, flight bookings accommodation (for best deals)