Opinions about my profile

[iwantphd]

Hi all, I am from Singapore. I actually have strong interest in research and I want to be a professor in future. I would like to do my PhD in US/Canada but my profile does not seem that good. People around have been telling me that I am thinking too much but mmm... I don't know, would love to listen to your opinions. I understand that there is no guarantee, just want to get a rough sense of where I stand now...

Attached below is summary of my profile:

University: Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (Anyone knows this school? Haha...)

Bachelor: Mechanical Engineering (Specialized in Mechatronics)

Not under GPA system (my rough calculation: overall 3.3+, last 2 years 3.7), top 15% of the cohort (my guess), out of 800 people.

Master: Computer Engineering (Research: Computer Vision)

GPA (3 subjects): 4/5 or 3.3+/4. Possible letter of top 10-15% from my boss, my boss is quite famous in this area I think, he has overall citations of more than 500 times.

Work experience

Research staff in university, area: computer vision, 1 year. Two attempts to rank 1 conference, but no publication yet.

Planning to apply to robotics/computer vision (mechanical/ee/cs faculty). Maybe apply to Texas Austin/Georgia Tech/Harvard/CMU/Toronto/Mcgill/UBC...

Thanks.

[joro]

In all honesty, I don't think you'll be able to get into most of the top schools you listed. If you're going from MS to PhD then you need to have publications, at least that is what is expected of you. Don't be discouraged though, but don't expect to be a competitive candidate.

I thought my Professor taught there, but he taught at the National University of Singapore.

Edited January 9, 2010 by joro

[iwantphd]

Thanks Joro.

I am not applying this year, in fact the deadlines are almost over. I am working on a paper to top tier conference in my field. Would one or two publications at top tier conferences make my application look great? I am just concerned if my bachelor and master results have already killed me.

I guess these conferences are comparable to journal with impact factor of 2.+. We actually submitted twice, first rejected and second is under review, both top tier. But I think I won't get much weight from it since I will be the third author only at most. Now planning for my own submission.

I just wonder how people would see my school, its does very well in many global rankings but mm... 30+ in Times technology part. How would you all living far far away from Singapore see it?

Any idea of chances if I go europe (excluding UK, very hard for funding now) like ETH/EPFL/TU DELFT? ETH my friend told me if I am in the top 20% of the cohort in my school (they recognize it as top one) then should not be a problem.

Thanks a lot for your help.

[joro]

Thanks Joro.

I am not applying this year, in fact the deadlines are almost over. I am working on a paper to top tier conference in my field. Would one or two publications at top tier conferences make my application look great? I am just concerned if my bachelor and master results have already killed me.

I guess these conferences are comparable to journal with impact factor of 2.+. We actually submitted twice, first rejected and second is under review, both top tier. But I think I won't get much weight from it since I will be the third author only at most. Now planning for my own submission.

I just wonder how people would see my school, its does very well in many global rankings but mm... 30+ in Times technology part. How would you all living far far away from Singapore see it?

Any idea of chances if I go europe (excluding UK, very hard for funding now) like ETH/EPFL/TU DELFT? ETH my friend told me if I am in the top 20% of the cohort in my school (they recognize it as top one) then should not be a problem.

Thanks a lot for your help.

I recommend getting those publications in. Don't worry too much about your results from your BS or MS since they'll be paying more attention to your research.

I'm not too familiar with your school, but I do know you guys are ranked at least in the top 50 I think in the world.

I don't know anything about getting into ETH, but it is such a good school and they do really awesome research in areas I'm interested in. I just don't have the qualifications to apply to such a place.

Since you aren't applying yet, I do hope you successfully strengthen your application by the time you submit your own applications. Good luck!

[iwantphd]

Would appreciate more comments on my profile...