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You are welcome annona....

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Thank you for your kind wishes annona. Yes the POI is the Dr I mentioned in the application. If u mentioned 3, I think the one who'd find ur application most interesting or the one who's area of research befits ur area of interest would contact u for interview. In American universities, I believe it is futile but as far as Europe or the Middle east are concerned it is better to contact the POI first and acquire their consent. The POIs advocate / recommend ur application at the adcomm meetings after all. So it is a matter of 'should' and not that of a 'must'. So if u did not it should be totally fine as many profs decide to interview candidates on the face of application. Hope this answers...

Hi I wanted to start this thread for Optics & Photonics applicants to CREOL, Uni Central Florida, to share their profile and progress in their applications. Let me begin this discussion with mine. 1) PhD application submitted on 1st January. 2) International applicant with non-US MS degree. 3) Undergrad CGPA 3.82 / 4.00; Major 4.00 / 4.00. 4) Grad CGPA 3.80 / 4.00 5) GRE V155, Q161, AW3.5 6) TOEFL iBT 100 7) Two years post-masters relevant research experience with one publication. 8) one international award in the relevant field. STATUS: Application review not started yet. Would love to have more applicants participate. Thanks

Don't worry about the status on your VIP page, since it's been more than a month since you submitted your application, I would recommend you to email your POI (if he/she gave you a green signal to apply and mention him/her in your application). I received an email from my POI that he wanted to have a conversation with me on Skype and we set a time for that. The conversation lasted for precisely 30 minutes. He introduced himself and his lab (obviously things which were not mentioned on the website), he mentioned what he was doing and what he'd want me to do if accepted, he asked me about what I had been doing in my research and whether that was simulation or experiments etc. The level of interview was not very technical however that was not a piece of cake as well. At least you should be able to understand the project your POI is trying to recruit you on. You should be able to comment on that and on its applications. I believe they are not expecting you to be a champion of the field but at least you should be able to understand what they are talking about and make a general sense of it. Mine interview went very well but at the end of our conversation my POI told me that competition is very fierce at KAUST, nevertheless he'd recommend my application. I do not know the exact reason for my rejection however I found it wise to apply for the Fall semester again.

Back drop

Marks sheet

Double check

Double game

due consideration

Hi annona What details do you want to know? I had a technical interview for Spring 2015 intake but eventually could not make it to the personal interview. Which one are you talking about? I can share with you about the first one but no idea about the second. Could you please share: 1) whether you have been invited for an interview or you are having it on Skype? 2) Who is going to take it? (professor alone or a committee) 3) How did you come to know that you have an interview? (email from KAUST / from Prof / VIP page) Thank you.

Dear boogy and eng.able My application has been deferred to Fall 2015 admissions for the same reason as given to boogy. I thought I had a good chance here... I guess my five years search is still not over... ;-) Dear Umar5 welcome to the forum. Please share your profile. Thanks

Dear mahira khan Kaust spring admissions have become irrelevant now. If you haven't received any offer till now you should start looking for other options more seriously. Regards

you are welcome... Thanks

World University Ranking - Subject: Civil and Structural Engineering (http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/university-subject-rankings/2014/engineering-civil-structural#sorting=rank+region=+country=+faculty=+stars=false+search=) USM ranks 89 in world's top civil engineering schools. While UKM, UPM and UTM rank in top 150. UM is in top 200. I believe, to be in top 400 list of QS ranking is a big deal as there are thousand of universities and research institutes in North American and Europe alone. Being in the list means these universities have surpassed most of the european and north american universities. Besides at PhD level what matter are your professor and the facilities you have at the lab. Hope this helps Regards

eng.abla you must not get disappointed as this is part of life. Just to encourage you, I have been trying to get admission in PhD since 2010. And if luckily I get admission in MI it would be an end to my five years pursuit. I had got many admissions in the past even in US but my limitation was similar to yours that I needed funding. If I get unlucky this time, I will have to continue trying my luck again. BTW this is my first attempt at MI as they recently started PhD program. I would suggest you to get some research position at a relevant lab and try to publish a couple of good papers (scopus/ISI indexed conferences will do). With relevant research experience and publications your profile gets many plus points. As I have experience with Malaysia I would recommend you applying to Universiti Malaya (UM), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) or UKM. These are well reputable universities and have sound research infrastructure. These universities try to attract international students with lucrative fellowships/scholarships. I know USM has very good reputation as far as Chemical and Civil Engg go. Prof. Dr. Meor Othman Hamzah (http://civil.eng.usm.my/v3/index.php/staff/academic/114-professor-dr-meor-othman-hamzah) is a well known figure in civil engineering. He has joint appointment with some european university. USM also offers a lucrative fellowship called USM Global Fellowship (http://www.ips.usm.my/index.php/financialAssistance/uSMGlobalFellowship) to attract talented international students. I guess one who gets waitlisted at MI has enough potential to secure the USM Global Fellowship. Similarly, UM has a similar program called Bright Sparks program (http://brightsparks.um.edu.my/?modul=Programme&pilihan=Criteria%28s%29). This one is a little more competitive. P.S. both are for PhD studies. Hope this helps All the Best to you and boogy.

TakeruK thanks for your detailed response. I too think that honesty is the best policy. My friend's program is a pure research based with no coursework involved. In this case he cannot ask his current university to send any transcript. The only way the US program would know about his association with the current program is if someone from his current uni discloses it. In fact he has nothing to send to the US university from his current program except the papers he published. Any thoughts on this please.

Hi! A friend of mine called me last night to ask a very tough question regarding his intention to apply for a PhD while he is already pursuing one. I need your input before replying him so I asked him sometime. Scenario: He started his PhD a couple of years ago but is not satisfied with the behavior of his supervisor (not rude but unprofessional and unhelpful, he says) or even the facilities available at the university. He told me that his supervisor recruited him after discussing the project with him telling that the university has all the required fabrication and measurements facilities. However, when he reached he realized that he can only do simulations and nothing more. He did simulations and published few papers but this is not what he was looking for so he contacted few professors abroad in the US who gave him a positive response given his CV. His current supervisor does not support him even logistically expecting him to complete his project "somehow" because it was "his idea". Problem: He did not tell the professors in the US that he is already pursuing a PhD which he actually wanted to quit for the quality of work he can perform. Questions: What should he do? Should he mention the whole story in his personal statement? or should he omit this and try his luck and if offered the admission say good bye to his current university? Would mentioning this affect his PhD application? Thanks.

Thanks boogy. Congrats to you too because what I believe is that whoever gets accepted by the committee is not given a direct offer letter but is asked to fill the form and submit the documents etc. This is because in past Masdar used to give offer letters after a month or so of shortlisting and selection but when the candidates accepted the offer many were rejected by Masdar's (Abu Dhabi's) international (immigration) office after several weeks of accepting the offer causing bad reputation to Masdar. I believe Masdar now first evaluates you suitable for admission and then they gets approval from the relevant office before making any offer. This is my understanding. May be wrong. Thanks

Hi! I applied to few universities for PhD. I want to specialize in Optical Sciences and Engineering (Photonics) I got admission offer from a Malaysian University (Universiti Sains Malaysia) and I am quite positive about getting an offer from Masdar Institute of Science and Technology. I need your suggestion about pros and cons of each university / country's research culture. Please help me choose between the two. Thanks.

Thanks eng.abla you were really helpful.

Thanks eng.abla. I shall let you know about my result. By the way, do anyone know about the amount of stipend MASDAR pays to a PhD student? Does being with family or being alone makes any difference on amount of stipend? Please share if you have any credible information as this affects my decision. Sure! it says: "Your application has been positively reviewed and was shortlisted for admission"

A couple of days ago I asked the admissions office about the status of my application but they did not reply. Engl.abla try your luck by asking the admissions office and please let us know what they said. Could you please share what kind of additional information Masdar asked for. In my case, they asked to fill a couple of forms and submit a few academic documents and copy of passport.

You are welcome...