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ShadowFairy

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ShadowFairy last won the day on September 5 2015

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  1. The bolded is an entirely separate matter of which the main cause was beyond your power and actually had very little if anything to do at all with your standing (based on what you told us). In fact, I'm pretty sure you can also come up with more compelling reasons other than 'my advisor was rejected from tenure'! 'I needed a change in environment because I initially thought this would be good for me.' 'Your program struck me as the exact perfect fit and I could not pass up the opportunity to try and apply.' You can briefly say why you decided to apply to XXX, because your advisor was rejected tenure but don't expand it beyond that. Professors understand it happens, so a couple of sentences should suffice. Mention it in a separate essay or another response survey or even when they decide to contact you about it, but your SOP should not be the place where you want to explain yourself.
  2. Two books I highly recommend: 1. Princeton Review's Cracking the GRE with 4 Practice Tests 2. Manhattan's 5 lb of GRE questions In addition to EST's GRE Powerprep program (2 actual previous GRE tests). The first book for learning how to tackle the GRE in a proper manner, the second book for practice problems in every category. In addition, six practice tests in total is plenty enough IMO. If you thoroughly review all the material in here (and there is plenty, depending on your willingness to do so), then you should be pretty set. These were the resources I used when preparing for the GRE. Hope that also helps!
  3. I don't think so, your professor not getting tenure means that his track record didn't meet the standards for that particular institution over the course of his (seven?) years on probational period. Since you're currently only a Master's student, I would suggest to writing your SOP in the most pragmatic manner as possible - your SOP focuses on your research and future career goals, after all. If your PI's tenure dismissal didn't affect your grades/research aside from leaving you advisor-less, no need to mention it unless otherwise, am I right?
  4. I think you're smart enough to already know that your chances are pretty strong and make you a competitive applicant. You can definitely bump up those GRE scores a little higher though, or so long as you score around 80% percentile!
  5. Then you're off to a good start. Yeah, I hate it when a professor doesn't reply back within the next 6 hours or so especially when you're in his lab, but hey they receive a crap ton of email anyways so that's deterring. I feel like writing an abstract always helps me generate ideas and methods on how to write the rest of the content, such as procedure, logical order/categorization, and details. It's like your thesis statement, after all!
  6. Hye, those are exactly the scores I got for the GRE (5.5 in analytical writing)! And I got into Stanford's Masters program in mechanical engineering which is consistently ranked #1 (or 2). Would that give you some perspective as to how relatively important GRE's are compared to the rest of your application?
  7. Remember this: getting a PhD simply entails to becoming an 'expert' in your field, so to speak. It's a common stereotype that people who want to get their PhD also want to go into academia. The reason being because that's an essential phase for if you want to get into the dwellings of higher education, whereas the same for if you want to become a lawyer is usually a JD, for a doctor an MD, etc. But honestly it really depends on what you plan doing with your career, which of course is the whole purpose of your SOP.
  8. The same case is with me, i.e. the professor I want to do graduate research with was a recent hire. If you want to catch the attention of this professor, you would definitely want to contact her and let her know that you've applied so she can at least recall your name. There is nothing wrong with mentioning an assistant professor in your SOP if the research fits because that is EXACTLY one of the qualities that the department looks for in an applicant - research fit. And I would think that an assistant professor is actively looking for students to take under his/her group. There are many pros and cons with choosing an assistant vs. tenured or associate professor, such as funding and communication, but as far as research fit goes and whether you should contact her because of that, don't hesitate.
  9. Yes, definitely broaden your interests when it comes to that, e.g. instead of talking about solar energy you can talk about renewable energy and how you would like to make a difference in providing cleaner, affordable technology to other countries. Of course, you should emphasize solar energy as your main focus. I would definitely try to bring up my verbal and analytical writing scores. Score AT LEAST a 70% rank in verbal and a 4 in writing. Your TOEFL scores seem fine, but I would aim for at least a 25 in all categories if you want to get into the higher ranked mechanical engineering schools. Not urgent. By the way, are any of your publications related to your specific field of interest? Are they published in international journals, where coverage and exposure is greater? Your answers to these questions could count for a lot too. For example, a publication in an American or European journal sometimes holds more value than that of a Middle Eastern journal where researchers do not often search the literature database.
  10. Not every professor who reads your SOP will assume you want to remain in academia after obtaining your PhD. It is a very tight job market, after all. In fact, most students after they get their PhD don't. So as long as you don't make a big deal out of it, you should articulate what you plan on doing after graduate studies especially if it's government-related stuff. Try to tie in how your graduate research could assist you for your future career goals, if anything.
  11. I just want to what <ian> said, though, that contacting potential advisors and letting them know of your application can possibly help by making yours stand out from the rest. It shouldn't hurt you as long as you are polite and sincere about it. Regarding your last question: As an undergraduate applying directly PhD programs (Master's for Stanford), I had no publications under my belt. And I still got into a few very good schools (including Stanford too, actually). You might be gauged a little more due to your Master's degree and because you are an international student, but from my discussions with various graduate students and professors, you are generally not expected to publish prior to your admission to wherever you apply. So, my answer would be zero. Publications basically translate to research experience, and if you can describe yours well enough to make an impression, then having accepted publications should only be an extra plus. If you are being rejected from every school you apply to, then like the others said, take another look at your SOP, personal statement, LOR's, and standardized test scores. Those count for a lot more than what you might be giving credit to publications.
  12. Just wanted to say I will be reviewing your SOP, but will not get back to you until this weekend. Cheers!
  13. First and foremost, retake the GRE; even though you might not be an English native speaker, there is still a benchmark for applicants to achieve in terms of standardized testing for some of the schools you're applying to. With your recommendations, a strong SOP, and if your papers contribute well to a specific issue in your field, I'd say you have a decent chance to make it into your list.
  14. What kind of engineering are you planning to get into? What field of expertise? And by 'top,' do you mean those consistently ranked at the top of the US rankings? All it takes is one high-quality publication in the relevant field to make a difference, international or not. You're asking a very vague question here.
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