Re: thoughts and suggestions?

[Mechanician2015]

I would like to ask for your opinion and/or suggestions for a new application, Fall 2016.

 

Just to be clear, I already have an idea of my approach for next year, and this is certainly not the "Q145 V141, what are my chances?" post.

 

Preamble: I applied to 5 programs this year. Rejections=3, Admissions=2. I am not sure I will be able to secure funding at the two programs that accepted me.

 

My profile:

International student.

~Alma Mater: Best national school in engineering, but certainly not in the top 500 worldwide.

~Major: Mechanical engineering

~GPA: 3.43 out of 4.00( Cum laude, if it's any worth) 

~1.5 years of experience as research/lab assistant, no publications.

~Research-focused undergrad thesis 

~2 years of experience in the industry(nothing related to research)

 

GRE: Q161 V163 AWA: 4

 

TOEFL: R:30 L:30 S:27 W:28 Total: 115.

 

Recommenders:

1 strong( in the sense that it's a working PhD in applied math)

2 weak( one from industry, one from a PhD candidate that is research leader of a project I worked for)

 

Research interests:

Dynamics and vibrations

Nonlinear dynamics

Computational Fluid Dynamics (I think my first step will be to remove this ambiguity).

 

Comments:

 

I applied to two types of programs: the standard PhD in mechanical engineering and a PhD in a more obscure field tightly related to applied math and mechanics. My 3 rejections are from the later type of programs(that happen to be from the top 15, one ivy and two "new" ivies). The two admissions are from PhD in Mechanical engineering, roughly ranked #23 and #24.

 

I think I didn't refine my research interests as deeply as I could have(I'm thinking on writing something more similar to a research proposal than a personal statement). Also, my background and GPA might be a limitation at the top 10. I will retake the GRE, since I think I can get into the quant 90th percentile without much effort( same for AWA ).

 

I am also thinking on finding new recommenders(at least 1 new). 

 

At this point, I am not sure if I should keep trying into the top 10, or just try to maximize my chances applying to the 20-40 range, contact faculty earlier to try to secure funding, or a combination of both. In fact, my position at this point is to ask for an admission deferral, but I am not very sure this will help me with funding. 

 

Edited April 7, 2015 by Mechanician2015

[madbiochemist]

You need 3 very strong letters and cannot have two weak ones if you want to have a funded PhD program. Is there any way you'll get a publication before next December? It's not necessary, but you have less research experience (in terms of years) than many of the other applicants I saw who ended up being accepted. Would it be possible to secure some sort of funding to study in the US from your home country? You're also quite right that you need to have a very tight idea of what you want to do in graduate school and how your undergraduate coursework and research have prepared you. I hate to say this, but your GPA is rather low and you should really try to make the rest of your application flawless in order to get into top 10 schools. The US has cut a lot of STEM funding for research and funding for international students is unfortunately quite scarce these days. I think getting more research experience is necessary, unless you decide to set your sights a little lower as far as rankings go.

Edited April 11, 2015 by madbiochemist

[Mechanician2015]

You need 3 very strong letters and cannot have two weak ones if you want to have a funded PhD program. Is there any way you'll get a publication before next December? It's not necessary, but you have less research experience (in terms of years) than many of the other applicants I saw who ended up being accepted. Would it be possible to secure some sort of funding to study in the US from your home country? You're also quite right that you need to have a very tight idea of what you want to do in graduate school and how your undergraduate coursework and research have prepared you. I hate to say this, but your GPA is rather low and you should really try to make the rest of your application flawless in order to get into top 10 schools. The US has cut a lot of STEM funding for research and funding for international students is unfortunately quite scarce these days. I think getting more research experience is necessary, unless you decide to set your sights a little lower as far as rankings go.

 

 

- I might get something published by next December, namely my undergrad thesis with some new details on the system dynamics(things I've learned after graduation). It would be hard, but I think I have a chance( one of my recommenders is actively publishing on high impact journals, but she is an applied mathematician).

 

- It would be relatively easy to secure funding from my country for a MSc.(like, full funding, even living expenses). However, that funding comes with a 2-year compromise of working in my home country. This would be a major delay on my plans to pursuit a PhD.

 

- My GPA is indeed low as compared to other applicants(don't feel bad for pointing it out, how can I improve if I don't recognize my weaknesses first?) As I said, I could compensate that partially with a higher GRE. This would be relatively easy for me(I realized too late that I could have improved my score a lot by taking a couple more practice tests).

 

- After a deep analysis on the main journals that I read, I've come to the conclusion that I don't necessarily need a top 10 program. I was amazed to see how programs below top 10 had a high publishing frequency(in my area of interest, often higher than some top 10 for the last couple years).

 

Appreciate your suggestions.