How to Think and Function as a Scientist

In several articles about Phd, we have stated that PhD is about interest towards research and not about financial aid and money. It requires dedication and determination to complete PhD and Post Doc. Read more

Got Reply from Professor – Disappointing!

Getting in touch with Professors before applying to Universities should be part of your Graduate School Admission strategy. You can use the sample email template to contact professors. One of the blog reader used the email template contact a professors and got reply, but he feels disappointed with the reply

I contacted a professor in XXXXXXX. But his response isn’t very encouraging. What should I reply him? Did I go wrong anywhere in the mail I sent him?

Email to Professor

Following was the email sent to the professor.

Dear Dr.XXXXXX,

I, XXXXXX, am pursuing bachelor’s degree in electrical  engineering at Anna University, Chennai, India. I am applying for MS(EE)  program offered by XXXXX  in Fall 2010. I am interested in joining your research group at the Multimedia and Networking Lab.

I studied your article “Hand Gesture-based Computing for Hearing and Speech Impaired,” which appeared in the IEEE Multimedia Magazine. I am currently working on a voice controlled robot for physically challenged persons. I am very much interested in the part that deals with generation of gestures from  speech input. I would like to contribute to your work in that area.

Will you be accepting students into your lab for the year 2010? I would be glad if you could direct me to few other related publications.

Thanks for your time. I look forward to hearing back from you soon.

Reply from Professor

You can touch base after you arrive here. However, I do not have any funding for Masters’ students.

MS or PhD

What do you expect a professor to say to you? Getting financial aid is not as easy as you think, you have to prove to them, your ability, skills and problem solving skills when work is assigned to you. You can do that by working for a professor for 1 or 2 semesters.  You said 3 lines about your project, with that you cannot expect to get financial  aid.

We have said many time about very high chances of getting admission to PhD with financial aid along with admission in numerous blog posts. Above reply makes things very clear about financial aid.

You approcah is right and not many professors usually respond to prospective students applying to Masters degree. If you have stated thta you are interested in Phd, response will be very different ( positive according to you). Feel happy that you got reply and they have funding for PhD, so consider applying for PhD to the same University.

PhD after M.Tech – Do I need to take GRE Exam?

Question from Ramesh

Dear Sir,

I have a query and i would be grateful if you reply me..I am pursuing M.Tech in Computer science in India.I have completed my B.Tech(4 year programe) this year. I want to do my Phd after completing M.Tech from US university. What should i do. Should i appear in GRE  or can i apply directly.

Option 1 – PhD After M.Tech

For PhD admission in Us University, you definitely need to take GRE Exam. There are universities that offer admission to Masters degree without GRE, but for PD GRE is mandatory.

You should have another 1.5 years left in M.Tech, which gives enough time to prepare for GRE and apply for PhD.

Option 2 – Apply for PhD, Aug 2010

This option is not recommended, but if you are definitely going to study PhD, then you can take GRE by Jan 2010 and apply for Graduate School for Fall 2010 semester. In this way you will save 1 year of your time. There are many studen who apply for PhD directly after completing Bachelors degree.

GRE General Test or GRE Subject Test?

Question -

I have completed my Masters in Biotechnology and now want to pursue Doctorate in Biochemistry form US. Which will be better to give GRE general test or GRE subjective test?

Read more

Universities for PhD in Computer Science with GRE 1240

Hi,

I am a Computer Science PhD applicant for Fall 2010. My aggregate is 85 and GRE – 1240 (730 quant + 510 verbal). Please help me with the list of schools I could apply for where I could expect to be funded. Do let me know if it would be helpful to give GRE one more time.

Kindly Advice.

Thanks!

PhD in Computer Science

Not many students visiting this blog are applying for PhD. Most of the visitors are applying for Masters Degree in US Universities. But, students applying for PhD posting questions asking for list of Universities shows that have lot to learn about University Selection. First you have to understand that studying PhD is much different that studying Masters.

Same applies to selecting universities for PhD. You are going to spend 4 to 6 years studying PhD. If you asking someone to select Universities for you, be willing to take a huge risk of losing money, maybe you might get frustrated while in school. You might not like to college, course, research, …

Students applying for PhD, please don’t select universities like a student applying for Masters program. There are so many other factors that have to be considered before selecting universities. Studying doctorate degree requires lot of effort and dedication. Some, students apply to PhD without having any clue and not knowing what to expect during PhD research work.

1240 is good GRE score to get admission for PhD in Computer Science at US University. You have enough time to select university and apply before Nov end.  Consider joining Premium Membership to learn about PhD University Selection process and how to find schools where you cam maximize the chances to get admission with some form of Scholarship or financial aid.

PSM or PhD in Biotechnology US or MBA in India?

In Orkut MS in Biotechnology Community, there is an interesting discussion going on about PSM in Biotechnology and job opportunities available after Graduation with PSM in Biotechnology. Here’ s how the discussion with Shohini went

Shohini

I have completed my MSc in Biochemistry last year and i have an admit for MS in biotech from northeastern university. It is a PSM course. Could u please tell is it worth going to the US for another masters…and will it help me n my future in anyway…R PSM graduates getting hired.

It’s not even worth comparing Masters in US to MSc in India. You may want to prepare for this question for Visa- You already have Masters degree, why are you going for another Masters program.

Other than that you can do PSM. It will be whole new experience.

Shohini

The thing is i had applied for PhDs in the US..unfortunately din get thru…and just applied for masters (PSM) in two places NEU was one of them…I am currently working as a lecturer… cud u please tell me that is it better to do a Phd or MBA in India or is the PSM masters better..secondly ppl at neu wid the same course r rite ne jobless..is it only cause of recession or its cause of PSM and cause of the course work and is the scenario this way just in NEU or in other campuses too… please let me noe..

PhD Admission Denied

The process of applying for PhD is very much different from applying for Masters degree. Most of the students do the same kind of application preparation and University selection and end up getting admission denial.

Read this article that will explain what to expect during course of PhD  in US Universities.

PhD or MBA in India

Looks like you are not certain on what you want to achieve in career. With Masters degree you can be bit relaxed to make decision. But for second Masters or PhD,you must have lot of interest and focused aim. You just cannot do PhD for 4 to 6 years for sake of coming to US.

MBA in India is different and its 2 years you will be done. Anyone giving advise in such situation are in no position to know your exact situation. So, you have to analyze and find out which would work out best for your future.

PSM Biotechnology Masters better?

You have 3 options

1. PSM in biotechnology at NEU
2. Apply for PhD for next semester
3. MBA in India.

I would think bit further and suggest the fourth option

Go for Visa for NEU for PSM Biotechnology. After you come to the University, it will be much easier to move to PhD or transfer to different course or get dual degree PSM + MBA. In this way you are not going spend another 1 year applying for PhD.

But, you have prepare for Visa. They will ask you for sure about second Masters degree. If you have right answer, you will be on your way to US.

Job for PSM Biotechnology Graduates

You have teaching experience, so there should be some opportunity to get TA while doing PSM. Start networking as soon as you goto US. I’m going to publish Q&A with a student doing Masters in Keck Graduate Institute. It will be an lengthy interview ( 2 Part Post). Finding job in this economy is tough, but it’s not impossible.

PhD – Admisison, Scholarship & Semester

Happy Schools Blog - Premium Membership Club

Shuvro from Bangladesh

Hi!
This site is much informative I think.

I completed M.Sc. in Electrical & Electronic Engineering.  My CGPA in B.Sc. is 3.34 @ scale 4 and in M.Sc. is 3.25.
I have a paper publication.  No GRE/TOEFL yet. Have plan but I think the score will not be more than average.  I want to do PhD from any reputed US University on Electromagnetics.

• Is it possible to get admission for PhD?
• Any possibility to get scholarship?
• What will be the right semester for 2010?

Please help me.

Admision for PhD?

You can certainly get admission for PhD, but GRE and TOEFL Scores alone will not get  admission. It has lot to do with your interests, Letter of Recommendation, Statement of purpose, research interests. Your paper publication will be an added advantage.

PhD with Scholarship

Having strong academic profile is one thing, but you must know how to express yourself in the PhD application. Basically, you will need to market yourself as strong candidate for research. We are actually going to teach exactly how to market your skills while applying for Graduate School through Happy Schools Blog – Premium Membership Club.You chances of getting admission with scholarship increases by presenting high value documents.

Which Semester 2010

That option largely depend son your personal situation and other things. To apply for Spring 2010, you should have GRE and TOEFL by Mid July for PhD. It will take another 2-3 months to find the right schools. For Fall 2010 semester, it’s better to submit the application by end of November 2009.

Suggestions

When asking questions in forums and blogs like this, try to be give more detailed information. For instance you said

Have plan but I think the score will not be more than average.

Average GRE Scores for you might be 950 and I might conside Average GRE Score to be 1300. There is no way to give a definitive answer for generalized question.

GRE Score 880; PhD Admit $20,000 Financial Aid; F1 Visa Chances?

This question was asked by Shreya through email about her chances of getting f1 Visa with Low GRE Score and admission with Financial Aid. Read more

How to Find US University Giving Scholarship?

In today’s Q&A section Tia asks about scholarship, university and how to find the schools that gives scholarship for international students. Read more

Q&A: I Need 5 Universities That Give Funding for PhD in US

I’m answering to a question posted in Orkut Scrap book by a student who is currently doing MS in Electrical Engineering and wants to do PhD. I was surprised to see such a question by a student who is currently doing Masters. Read more

Q&A: Can I Get Admision to PhD without Research Experience?

Interesting question from a student with very good academic profile. He’s applying for PhD in U.S.

Dear Sir/Madam,
Allow me to introduce myself as xxxxxx. I have applied for the PhD Program offered by many US Universities for Fall 2009. The following details may help you to evaluate my profile:

• Class 10 Percentage : 90% (CBSE)
• Class 12 Percentage: 92.7% (Andhra Pradesh State Board)
• Undergraduation: BTech Mechanical Engineering- xxxxxxxxxxxx  (Tamil Nadu)..It is a decent college
• CGPA: 9.51/10.0 (RANK 7 OUT OF 200 STUDENTS)
• Awarded Scholarship twice for good academic performance
• GRE General Test: 1480/1600   Quant: 790 Verbal : 690 AWA: 5.0
• TOEFL: 113/120
• No Paper Presentations, no Research Experience, no Work Experience, not many extra curricular activities.
• Projects: 2 Decent Projects (Not Research Projects)
• Recommendations: 2 Senior Lecturers and 1 Professor (Dean of my School)
• Sop: Decent
• Program Applied: PhD Aerospace engineering
• Objective:  To get admitted in any of the top 20 Universities in US

My Question is will my lack of research experience and paper presentations affect my application for the PhD Programs.
I would be very grateful if you can answer my query. Thank you for your time, effort and patience in reading this mail.

Dear xxxx,

Majority of students applying for U.S Universities for PhD don’t have research experience. You certainly know the amount of research exposure students from India get in engineering colleges. Not having research experience doesn’t mean you dont have research potential.

US Universities give admission to student directly yo PhD program based on your academic background, letter of recommendation, GRE Score, TOEFL score, SOP, Resume.

From your profile, you will not have any issues getting admission into PhD program in US. You might get admission with some form of scholarship. Top 20 universities will be tough, but with GRE Score 1480 you might get you in based on your SOPs and Reco. But you have better chance if you have applied for schools that suit your research interests. Applying to PhD is not same as applying to Masters program. Most of the students from India do that mistake.

I have visited your college couple of times. Can you pass the information about my blog to your friends and juniors. I remember crossing the railway bridge and walking to the hostel.