Indian Student-Applying for M.S. in U.S.A.

[dbp_patel1994]

Hi,

I am from the indian sub-continent. I wanted to know that if i have 8 CGPA(currently I am in my 2nd year of B.Tech in Electrical Engineering) what will be the converted GPA in USA. Also what GPA is required for the cutoff list in case of the Ivy Leagues and other universities that are in the top 100 or 150. And if I apply for the M.S. in Physics program then is a research paper expected?What do they normally expect in SOPs?

[DeleteMePlease]

I recommend asking in the Physics section

[TakeruK]

Hi,

I am from the indian sub-continent. I wanted to know that if i have 8 CGPA(currently I am in my 2nd year of B.Tech in Electrical Engineering) what will be the converted GPA in USA. Also what GPA is required for the cutoff list in case of the Ivy Leagues and other universities that are in the top 100 or 150. And if I apply for the M.S. in Physics program then is a research paper expected?What do they normally expect in SOPs?

 

Sorry that this is almost a month later.

 

The GPA conversion is pretty complicated and can vary for each school. It's not that helpful/useful to try to guess how your school will do it. Instead, if you want to gauge your ability, one thing you could do is consider how you rank compared to your classmates. Typically, the best US PhD programs will want students who are at the top of their class in undergrad (probably top 5% to 10%). In North America, I would say that grad students at all schools generally were in the top 30% of their undergrad classes. But the standards for an international student would be much tougher. I don't have concrete numbers, but you would probably want to be in the top 15% of your class for most places, and much higher for the top schools. GPA cutoffs are not very commonly published (or even used I think), because the entire application is generally judged as a whole (lots of focus on research experience at the top schools). Cutoffs for (unfunded) MS programs may be lower but I don't really know what they would be.

 

When you apply to MS Physics programs, no research paper (or "writing sample") is usually required in North America. In many forms, there will still be a place for you to upload one but there is usually an instruction to ignore it for Physics programs. 

 

In the SOP, they will expect you to describe your fit and preparation for the PhD program as well as your future research/career plans (which is closely tied in with program fit). You should write about your experience in Physics and Physics research. You should discuss why you want to get a Physics PhD, and in particular, why you want to do so in the field you are applying to. This is generally related to "future career plans" too--you should say what you hope to get out of the PhD programs. You should talk about your research goals and interests. Make sure you give careful thought in explaining why this particular department will help you meet these goals (the people? the equipment? the labs? etc.) In your particular case, you say you are getting an engineering degree. Most people go into Physics PhD programs with Physics undergraduate degrees, but I have heard that in many countries, the closest thing you can do is an engineering degree. You should prepare to use a small part of your SOP to explain why you will be ready for a Physics PhD program that expects you to have 4 years of undergraduate Physics courses, but don't focus on this too much!