Undergrad Institution (approx. rank/reputation in STEM): Top 20 in Materials Science
Major(s): Materials Science and Engineering Minor(s): Artificial Intelligence, Computer Science, Physics, Philosophy GPA in Major: 3.85/4.00 (highest % score in every course except for one) Overall GPA: 3.55/4.00 Demographics/Background: International
GRE Scores: Q: 166 (90%) V: 159 (83%) W: 3.0 (17%)
LOR:
1 Strong from my Research Advisor (Full Professor) - pretty well known in his field
1 Strong from the Department Chair (Full Professor) - I work in the department as a Supplemental Instructor for some courses
1 Standard from my Academic Advisor (Full Professor) - I've also taken a few high-level MS courses with him Research Experience:
I've been quite active. I've done research before coming to the US and it allowed me to start almost as soon as I started my Freshman year. Over 4 years, I worked on 9 different projects with two advisors, most of them related to either electrochemistry or machine learning applied to material/process design.
Publications/Abstracts/Presentations:
- MRS Fall 2018 (poster, first author and presenter)
- MS&T 2018 (two related projects in one oral presentation, first author and presenter)
- 3 large papers in late stages of preparation (would be published/under review by now if not for a medical emergency that halted my work for three months, first author in all)
- 1 large paper in preparation (to be submitted early May, first author)
- 3 small publications in preparation (fully individual pet-projects)
Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
- Dean's Honor List, Dean's High Honor List, etc.
- one small scholarship from a department alumnus
- I have won $80k scholarship after some anonymous faculty nominated me, but I couldn't take it because I'm not a US citizen. International student life...
Fellowships/Funding:
Not eligible for any NSF related fellowship...
Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
For the last 5 years, I have a summer job (1month/year) that involves a lot of leadership skills and high responsibility
Other Miscellaneous Accomplishments:
I have quite a few things that are on my resume and can be considered impressive
Anything else in your application that might matter (faculty connections, etc.):
I have personally met almost every first-choice POI at some conference or another event. About half of my them knows at least one of my LOR writers.
Research Interests:
- Computational Materials Science
- Nanostructured Materials
- Magnetic Nanomaterials
- Additive Manufacturing
Institutions/Programs:
Materials Science PhD everywhere:
(US)
Northwestern University
University of California Santa Barbara
Carnegie Mellon
MIT
Penn State
CalTech
Harvard
(UK)
University of Oxford
University of Cambridge
(Singapore)
Nanyang Technological University
National University of Singapore
Comments:
Good luck to all of you!
