Yet Another Profile Evaluation

[hdev]

Hi,

 

I am a final year undergraduate student from Asia (Neither Chinese nor Indian).

 

My school is the top most school in my country. Every year a good portion of our students attend graduate schools. Some of them get accepted to good schools including UIUC (2-3 per year), UTEXAS (1-2 per year), PURDUE (1-2 per year) etc. However, I would like to try the top four schools (Stanford, MIT, CMU, UCB) along with UIUC and some other mid tier schools.

 

(i) Can you suggest me whether my profile is good enough to try the top four schools.

(ii) What can I do to maximize my chances to get into these schools?

 

 

CGPA: 3.88/4.0 (Among top 5%)

 

Publications:

 

(i) 1 tier-2 database conference

(ii) 1 student research competition in a tier-1 HCI conference (Extended Abstract)

(iii) 2 workshop publications (One of them is pretty good. I received 6-7 citations for the paper. The other one is a decent one.)

(iv) 3 national workshops (I believe, they won't help much)

 

All my publications are first author. I have worked under 3 faculties for 2 years in the field of big data. All of them will write very good LORs for me. 

 

GRE and TOEFL: I will take them by September. I am expecting around 320 in GRE and I will need at least 113 in TOEFL to apply for Stanford.

 

Additional Information:

 

I have worked in a research project for 2 years under a faculty who received his degree from MIT. However, he is not from my discipline (He is in transportation engineering). He can also write LOR for me.

 

By the time I apply (this December), I am hopeful about having a couple more tier-2 publications, some workshop publications and student research competitions in prestigious venues. I will attempt the tier-1s, but I am not sure whether I will make it. 

 

 

[pl1]

Quick clarification: Stanford's 113 for TOEFL is not a hard cut-off, i.e., you can get in with less than that.

[hdev]

Quick clarification: Stanford's 113 for TOEFL is not a hard cut-off, i.e., you can get in with less than that.

 

That's a relief to some extent. 113 is pretty high for an international student. Is it official? Has anyone tried with a lower score and got admitted?

[cicada2014]

i think if you have a tier-1 publication you will be a strong contender. I've heard that they give MUCH less weight to lesser conferences/workshops (of course, it's better than nothing). You are also at a disadvantage because your LoR will come from professors who are not likely to be known.

 

Having said that, I would throw a couple of apps at the top 4 anyway.

[DeleteMePlease]

Your profile looks very good to me.

I wouldn't focus on top schools though. 

[pl1]

That's a relief to some extent. 113 is pretty high for an international student. Is it official? Has anyone tried with a lower score and got admitted?

 

Yes, I was admitted with a lower score (not much lower though).

[hdev]

i think if you have a tier-1 publication you will be a strong contender. I've heard that they give MUCH less weight to lesser conferences/workshops (of course, it's better than nothing). You are also at a disadvantage because your LoR will come from professors who are not likely to be known.

 

Having said that, I would throw a couple of apps at the top 4 anyway.

 

I heard the same. My supervisor always encourages me to try the top venues. I have a couple of submissions in top tiers. Lets see, how that goes. 

 

And regarding LORs, you are right. They are less likely to be known. However, they have good credentials. I just hope that the admission committee search for their profiles.

 

 

Your profile looks very good to me.

I wouldn't focus on top schools though. 

 

Thank you. I am hopeful about UIUC as many of my seniors went there and they have good reputation. But I always wanted to go to Stanford. I know its tough, but I would still like to give it a shot.

 

 

Yes, I was admitted with a lower score (not much lower though).

 

Oh, that's great news. Congratulations for getting into Stanford. I guess, I will have to score close to 113 then. I have two more questions for you, if you don't mind.

 

(i) Any clue on GRE scores? 

 

(ii) Can you suggest me any area that I should focus to maximize my chances to get into Stanford. e.g., SOP/LOR/Publication .

[Icydubloon]

(i) Any clue on GRE scores? 

 

(ii) Can you suggest me any area that I should focus to maximize my chances to get into Stanford. e.g., SOP/LOR/Publication .

Aim for a verbal above 155, a quant above 165, and writing 4.0 or higher. I would focus on publications and your statement of purpose. Do NOT say "I first started developing an interest in computers when I was in elementary school when my father gave me..."

[hdev]

Aim for a verbal above 155, a quant above 165, and writing 4.0 or higher. I would focus on publications and your statement of purpose. Do NOT say "I first started developing an interest in computers when I was in elementary school when my father gave me..."

 

Thanks for the clues. And yes, I will make sure that I avoid saying irrelevant things (e.g., "When my father first brought me a computer and all that") along with any quotes. Thanks again.

[DeleteMePlease]

Thank you. I am hopeful about UIUC as many of my seniors went there and they have good reputation. But I always wanted to go to Stanford. I know its tough, but I would still like to give it a shot.

 

Don't get me wrong. I do think you have a chance to get in.

But there are many other good schools besides the top five (or even 20). Just google a little. Look for the professors that do awesome research, research you would love to do. You will only excell at your studies if you love what you do. 

[hdev]

Don't get me wrong. I do think you have a chance to get in.

But there are many other good schools besides the top five (or even 20). Just google a little. Look for the professors that do awesome research, research you would love to do. You will only excell at your studies if you love what you do. 

 

I really appreciate your suggestion. I strongly agree with you that many schools are doing terrific research, not only the top 4 or 5. However, I am familiar with the works of UIUC and Stanford in particular.

 

My fascination for Stanford is not out of its ranking. I have been highly motivated by the works of Jure Leskovec and SNAP group. I have cited at least 15 Stanford papers (specially from Infolab) within the very short span of my career. A lot of motivation comes from that.

 

I will definitely apply in a wide range of schools matching my research field. Stanford or UIUC are just a couple of them. I still need to find the other members of the list. I am still an amateur in my field. I will keep your suggestion in mind when searching for schools. Thanks again.