Got questions?

[peiann]

Hi everybody,

I recently went through the whole graduate school application process and am now free and eager to help or give advice to future applicants, whether for grad app preparation, statement of purpose, test taking, getting letters of recommendations, interviews, and inevitably turning down acceptances. If anyone has any questions feel free to private message me or post questions here. I’m more geared toward the engineering/hard sciences. I’ve been through both MS and PhD app processes so I can answer questions for both types of programs.

Field: bioinformatics

Applied to: Duke, WUSTL, Stanford, Columbia, University of Pennsylvania, MIT/Harvard

[Othello]

So I need three recommendations (four if I apply to the Hertz fellowship) for all my grad schoool (PhD in materials science) and fellowship applications. Two recommenders are already known, and one or two more must be sought out. I'll give a list of potential people, and you tell me who you'd pick for the two recommenders. Here we go...

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Prof. L: I took one of the two most difficult classes in my major with him. I made a good first impression when I rocked the 1st exam getting the only A in the class (out of 50 students, a number of them grad students. His exams are notoriously brutal). Went on to do well on everything else. Never talked during his class. I've come in to his office a few times to discuss life and ask for professional advice. Graduate of Stanford (my top choice).

Prof. M: I took the other most difficult class in my major with him. I completely dominated his course, easily having the highest grade by far. He speaks/writes very eloquently. Never talked much outside of class, but he seems curious about my plans, asking me sometimes when we pass by.

Prof. C: I took a graduate course with him last semester as a junior. I was the only undergrad in the class. I got the highest grade on each assignment (a midterm and a paper). He gave me a perfect score on my paper, called it "outstanding" when I went to retrieve it from him, and will be using it as an example or something for all future classes. Only talked to him a bit outside of class, but nothing much. He's in a different department (chemistry) and went to a no-name school.

Prof. B: Head of my department. He was my advisor for my senior project (took it as a junior). Didn't see him much, unfortunately, during this whole project, so he doesn't know me well. I will be taking a graduate course with him in the fall. Very busy guy, but similar research interests.

Prof. R: I only took a summer class with him (mandatory for people going into my major). I stood out to him because I was the only rising junior in the group of 60 who had already taken (and gotten straight A's) in all the junior level major classes. I also received the highest grade on every test/exam he gave us. We've spoken a couple times, and he seems to take an interest in me. Back when I was unsure of what to do with my future, he said I "seem like the PhD type". Graduate of Cornell, Berkeley, and UCSB.

Prof. T: He is my advisor, but I almost never speak to him. I took a class with him and made a top grade. I also did some work with him as a sophomore, but nothing substantial. He wrote me a recommendation for an REU my summer going into junior year. He seems to think highly of me, but I haven't updated him on my life in about a year. He has all his degrees from my school, so I don't feel he has the experience to give me sound advice regarding grad school and whatnot.

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My fate is in your hands. Which two professors should I approach for a letter of recommendation?

[peiann]

Heh, well that’s a good first question. Pressure is on. So I’m assuming you want to aim for tier one schools. Personally, my train of thought is as follows. The most important thing is a rec showing that you have research potential. Not only that, but that you have done good research. Second should be a professor that remembers you. It seems like you got good grades in all your classes which is awesome, but who remembers you. The worst kind of rec is something like “He got an A in my class. He’s a good student…blahblah

 

Applied to: Duke, WUSTL, Stanford, Columbia, University of Pennsylvania, MIT/Harvard

[Othello]

Thanks, Peiann. I agree with asking Prof. R. He actually came up to me in the hall once and asked me about my grad school plans. He then said I'm more than welcome to come and discuss it with him later (which I did). It was during that subsequent visit that he told me I seemed like the PhD type, and he recommended that I apply to all the top schools. I was pretty flattered. He also was in charge of this big exam given to all the seniors in my department which covered topics from all our classes. I'm not sure exactly what rank I got, but I got one of the top scores (and I got a $20 gift certificate, hooray!). So yeah...I'll definitely ask Prof. R.

What is wrong with Prof. C being in a different department? Chemistry is very related to materials engineering. He also can speak of my ability to perform in graduate level courses. The two recommenders I have lined up for sure will speak of my research abilities/potential. I'm not saying he's my first choice, but just testing your reasons.

I think it's too late too impress any more professors. I plan on sending out all my applications in November, and the fellowship applications will need to be turned in before that even. Assuming I give a professor a month to write a letter, there really isn't much time to wow a professor in the classroom. So I guess Prof. B is out of the running.

Where did you end up going to grad school?

[peiann]

There's nothing wrong with a professor not being in your department or your phd program. I assumed all of your other professors were in Material engineering so it would be "more" relevant. That was the only real reason I chose the rest over C. If he can write about your potential then by all means! If I was faced with a similar situation that being whether or not I should get a rec from someone in bioinformatics or from computer science even though I did good in a cs grad class, I would probably choose the guy from bioinformatics. One, there might be an off chance that a person from the adcom will know the guy from bioinformatics rather than computer science (in my case it's a very small group of people who do this stuff). Two, the bioinformatics guy can talk about much more relevant things in the rec letter than a cs person. I actually did this now that you reminded me. I could've gotten a rec from an algorithms professor, database professor, or my biodatabase systems prof. I did well in all the classes, all grad level but I chose the biodatabase systems prof. You're right, chemistry is definitely a big player in material engineering - I didn't even consider that actually. I'm not sure really sure about how disjoint or connected the two are honestly. In my case CS is close..but not close enough to bioinformatics. Couple of questions: Does professor C remember who you are? Can he write a recommendation that takes into consideration something other than the fact that you can do graduate work and something that might focus on the type of program you want to get into? If you're applying to top program they'll know you can handle graduate work. This fall I'll be attending Stanford actually.

 

Applied to: Duke, WUSTL, Stanford, Columbia, University of Pennsylvania, MIT/Harvard

[Othello]

Prof. C will basically be able to say I was able to outperform all the other grad students in an advanced course and that I can write well. This course was actually very related to my research interest and is cross-listed in both chemistry and materials science. Just to clarify, metallurgical & materials engineering (my major) is offered to undergraduates. However, at the graduate level at my school, met. & mat. eng. AND materials science are offered. Materials science is very interdisciplinary, with courses and professors coming from physics, chemE, and chemistry. Though the Prof. C is in the chemistry department, he is active in the materials science program, if this makes a difference. I would be fairly surprised if he did not recognize me... Stanford - nice. I'll likely be applying to four schools in CA (two of which are my top three choices); I've had my fill of crappy weather.

[peiann]

Well lol you changed my mind! prof c sounds like a good rec writer then. Make sure he writes something else other than the fact that you kick @$$ in difficult classes. It's cool that your research interests are like his..maybe he can write about that as well? I'm a big proponent, if you can't tell, that making the case that you can do research is of utmost importance (especially for good schools). Yeah, tell me about nice weather. Originally from Los Angeles - on the east coast now at a fellowship - cannot handle the weather, cannot wait to get back to Cali ? Good luck with your schools!!

 

Applied to: Duke, WUSTL, Stanford, Columbia, University of Pennsylvania, MIT/Harvard

[Othello]

So given this new information about Prof. C., how do you rank him with Prof's R, M, and L? By the way, I'd say Prof. L knows me much better than Prof. M.

Oh, another question: Is it more typical for an incoming grad students (like yourself) to work during this summer before the semester begins or to spend it doing something enjoyable? Do you consider it unwise to take that summer off?

[peiann]

That's hard... I would ask professor L over professor M - did well in both difficult classes. L knows you more than M. I don't think M's writing ability trumps that. L should be able to get the point across. C becomes more difficult. I think that it's important to have someone put that you can write well in their recommendation. Can L say that you write well? Did the classes you took with L or C involve a class project of any sort? How does C know you write well? Is it just from written exams? Does C know that your research interests match his? I'm leaning towards C more. He can say you write well and you did well in a grad class. If he knows your interests he can perhaps expound on that and about your curiosity in that particular field. That trumps L's PhD at Stanford...unless of course L knows someone from the adcom at Stanford ?

For that second question: from my perspective I think incoming PhD students should take the summer off unless you fall into a category I list below. First off, it won't hurt you because you already got in a program. Secondly, you're about to spend the next 5-6 years of your life working. Taking a vacation prevents burnout. And plus after all the grad apps and interviews, etc. you deserve to take a break.

Caveats:

1) you need money. If you need money or would like to make money then get a job - preferably not just any job but a job in your field that you can write on a future resume

2) if you really like resume boosters and are able to land an internship. An internship usually lasts around 10 weeks. That gives you half a month to a month of vacation time depending on when your grad program starts.

3) you get a job that's exciting to you. If you find a job that you're really interested in I would take it.

If you do decide to get a job try to make sure it's relevant. Looks better on a future resume for post-grad/industry work.

Personally, I would've taken my summer off. However, I'm stuck in a year long fellowship which ends at the end of August lol. At least I have three weeks to relax...though driving across country isn't really all that relaxing ?

 

Applied to: Duke, WUSTL, Stanford, Columbia, University of Pennsylvania, MIT/Harvard

 

[Othello]

Prof. M. knows nothing about my writing ability. The course I took with Prof. L. had weekly lab reports, but I don't think those really count. However, Prof. C. assigned us a rather open-ended research paper assignment. I chose to write about a subject related to my research interests. It was this paper I wrote for his class for which he gave me a perfect score, called it "outstanding" to my face, and asked if he could use it to show to future classes. Apart from this assignment, the only other grade we had before the final was a midterm exam on which I got the high score. Hmmm...thinking about and typing that makes him sound like a good choice... The problem is he is in chemistry and doesn't know me as well as I'd like.

It's certainly good to hear you think that last summer should be taken off. That'd be nice.. I'd just be tempted to do some full-time research to gain the extra experience and maybe add a publication to my resume. I was considering applying to do research in a national lab; I am thinking about perhaps working for one when I graduate. Then again, I really don't need it, but the money I could make with an industry internship is also tempting... These REU's pay about as well as if I flipped burgers at McDonald's all summer.

[peiann]

lol, yeah tell me about it. at least it looks awesome on a resume and you can get publications. I'm not sure if a summer program would be enough to get a journal paper. Probably wind up doing a conference paper if anything. Nonetheless good experience and resume booster. Good luck with everything!

 

Applied to: Duke, WUSTL, Stanford, Columbia, University of Pennsylvania, MIT/Harvard