PhD CS aspirant: Advice on Tier 1 universities

[phd_aspirant2012]

Hi,

I would really appreciate if you could give me some idea about "how to make an application strong in order to get an admit from a Tier 1 university?"

I wish to apply to Tier 1 universities namely UC Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon, UIUC for PhD CS program (Sub Field : Wireless networks)

My profile:

GRE: 1340 (V: 620 Quant: 720)

TOEFL: not yet taken

GPA: 9.39/10

A Paper on wireless mesh networks published in the proceedings of ICNCC 2011(indexed by IEEEXplore)

Projects:

- Developed an e-learning portal

- Developed a software to control the movement of a radio operated toy car

Degree:

Bachelor of Science (Information Technology) - Mumbai University, India

Master of Computer Application - VIT University, Vellore, India

What do top schools look for in a PhD aspirant?

How do I make my profile stronger to be good enough for the Tier 1 universities I listed?

Any help/advice would be appreciated.

Thank you

[OH YEAH]

My GRE wasn't very good, but I imagine 720 math will raise some eyebrows... come on, spend a few hours and at the very least raise that to a 750-770. The average at Princeton is almost 800, I imagine the other schools will be the same. I know MIT doesn't look at the GRE at all, I don't think UIUC looks at it either....

I don't know anything about wireless networking conferences. Is ICNCC a particularly prestigious conference? I can't find much information about it, so I assume it is not. Note that IEEE sponsorship doesn't imply "good", the majority of the conferences they sponsor are complete shit. That doesn't mean that your work isn't good, but I wouldn't hype "IEEE OMG" on your statement of purpose.

What was your level of involvement on the paper? Were you the first author, or just the guy who made pretty figures? More importantly, what do your letters of recommendation have to say about your research experience?

I wouldn't mention "e-learning portal" or "toy car software" in your SoP, this is not research and adcoms won't care.

The most important part of your application is a suite of recommendation letters (ideally from known academics) that can vouch convincingly for your research potential. Therefore, it is also necessary that you have 1) done a lot of research and 2) kept a mentor in the loop with your research. Of course, a (good) publication is very good evidence that you have research potential Your GRE doesn't matter as long as it isn't absolutely terrible, and some may say that it doesn't matter even then, but I would err on the safe side. Same for your GPA. Use your statement of purpose exclusively for discussing your past, present and future research, don't waste space talking about your childhood or your courses or your awards. Be sure to identify specific faculty you want to work with!!!

Good luck.

Edited June 6, 2011 by OH YEAH

[phd_aspirant2012]

What was your level of involvement on the paper? Were you the first author, or just the guy who made pretty figures? More importantly, what do your letters of recommendation have to say about your research experience?

I was the first author, guided by a professor.

Actually, I developed an interest in research late(Last September; Did not have exposure to research early in my academic career; research is not so prevalent in most of the universities in my country). Both my degrees are professional degrees emphasizing on application side rather than on research. Whatever I did was on my personal interest. Thats why I took time to learn and understand research and thus, managed to write one paper.

I really want to get a PhD from a very good university; UCB being my dream university.

The most important part of your application is a suite of recommendation letters (ideally from known academics) that can vouch convincingly for your research potential.

Is it important to get the recommendation letters from known academics. What if i haven't worked under one? What should I do then?

What did you do to get an admit from Princeton?

[nvseal]

Is it important to get the recommendation letters from known academics. What if i haven't worked under one? What should I do then?

If you don't know any, get recommendations from professors who know you, such as the professor who advised you during your research. Getting rec letters from known academics is not a requirement though it is a big plus, especially at the really competitive schools like MIT. At those schools, who you know (or rather who knows you and the adcoms) can help separate one good candidate from the 100 other good candidates in the stack. I came from an unknown school with rec letters from unknown professors and still got some good admits (though that was for an MS, I'm not sure how I would have done had I applied straight to the Phd program), so it's not impossible to get in without famous letter writers. Make sure you have a good fit with the department that you can convincingly lay out in you SOP and your letter writers can echo.

[explorer-c]

Is it important to get the recommendation letters from known academics. What if i haven't worked under one? What should I do then?

It is really important that your recommender is known by people at your target university. If you haven't worked with one yet, find one.

Getting rec letters from known academics is not a requirement though it is a big plus, especially at the really competitive schools like MIT.

For PhD at top schools I would argue that having at least 1 well known recommender is practically a requirement (based on my own experience as well as a few other friends'). Without a rec letter from a well known professor, your chances drop significantly.

[frenzydude]

I would strongly advise you to lower your aims as it will be very difficult for you to get an admit from a top 20 university. Universities like UCB, CMU, UIUC (which are all in the top 5) do not take guys from MU or VIT for PhD programs. However you have a lot of time to build up on your application. Try to do some research in this time - to get you better recommendations, or one more paper. Also, you have the time to write a good customized SOP for every university to apply to (something I couldn't do due to lack of time). You also have the time to look into professor's research work and interests at various universities and find good matches to those of yours, you may

even contact them by email (this can help you a lot - maybe even get an admit in a top university). You can look at seniors from your university with similar profiles and where they are admitted/rejected and apply accordingly. Who are the people recommending you? Will any of them write a glowing letter? Is any of them well-known to US university faculty? If yes, apply at places where your professor knows other professors. All the best.

[newms]

It's really tough to get into top 5 schools. There will likely be hundreds (if not thousands) of applicants with similar or better qualifications as yours. Top universities care about your research experience and potential, so anything (such as more research experience and quality publications) that can help to demonstrate your research ability would be a plus. Your letters of recommendation are important, and it is a big plus if your letter writers are known to the admissions committee. I'm going to a top 20 school in the fall, and I don't think my letter writers were known to the adcomm, but for a top 5 or top 10 school, it's probably best to have at least one letter writer who the admissions committee knows about. Top universities also care a lot about fit, ie how well would you fit in with the research that is already being done there. If your interests aren't a good fit for that school, then they are likely to reject you, even if you have sterling credentials such as first author publications. So do your research well in choosing schools that would be a good fit for you and don't apply to schools solely because of their reputation.

I'll also second what has been said here already - improve your quant GRE score (although it's not important at top schools, about 50% of all CS applicants score an 800 on the quant, so your 720 won't look so good). Also consider other schools beside the top 5. So perhaps you could also look at applying to a few top 20 schools and some top 50 schools that would be good matches for your interests.

Edited June 6, 2011 by newms

[barber5]

I would agree with many others

1) Have more realistic expectations and apply to top 20 / top 50 schools as an admit from some of the places you're talking about does not seem exceedingly likely

2) Get the GRE quant up a bit before you apply

3) Let the letters that you can get guide your choices: If your advisor is an alum of a particular university or is well known to a particular university, consider applying there if it's at all a good fit. I've seen people get rejected across the board with the exception of one ridiculously good school because it's where their letter writers went.

[phd_aspirant2012]

Hi guys,

THANK YOU Everyone for all your inputs and feedbacks. It has been very helpful and I'll definitely work on it.