Post by mypassion on Feb 3, 2008 22:04:50 GMT 5.5
How do I decide which universities to apply to ?
This is one of the most frequently asked questions and the answer is
not as straightforward as you would like it to be. This is one of the
highly subjective questions that you will be encountering as your proceed
through the application process.
Some Facts
• US News Rankings: Every year, the periodical US News & World
Report comes out with their rankings of US Graduate Schools categorized
by the various disciplines. These rankings are based on
factors such as the number of graduating PhD students, the number
of permanent faculty members, and the amount obtained by
the faculty in research grants etc. It is important to note that these
rankings are not the only rankings out there. These are just relatively
more comprehensive and more trusted rankings than the
other ones. Only the general rankings are usually available for free.
If you want detailed rankings in your own discipline, they are usually
just a google-search away. If you cannot find them, email me
and I will try and get themfor you3.
• PhDs.org: This is a very useful website based on the graduate
school statistics provided by the National Research Council .
The one really good thing about this website is that you can actually
use the interactive rankings formto generate rankings according
to your own criteria. This comes in handy when you want to
weight things like financial aid much higher than other factors.
• USEFI Centers: USEFI(United States Education Foundation in India)
, also known as the Fulbright Commission, is an organization
that was started in 1950 for the purpose of promoting academic
exchanges between India and the United States. They are
headquartered in Connaught Place in New Delhi and have offices
in the other 3 metropolitan cities aswell. They have detailed guides
about all USUniversities and also hold various seminars about finding
fellowships and scholarships for your graduate study in the US.
I would definitely recommend doing some serious research in their
offices for coming up with a preliminary list of the universities.
OK, nowthatwe have resources for you to find out information about all
the universities, let’s talk about what all should factor in your thinking:
• Research interests: It is important to understand that the programs
of graduate study in the US thatwe are talking about here - M.S and
Ph.D. - entail research. You should have a clear idea of the areas in
your discipline that intrigue you and that you are interested in exploring
further. If the only reason you want to do an M.S. is to get
a more lucrative software engineering or programming, this might
not turn out to be important for you during your M.S but you will
certainly need it to get admitted. Your statement of research (also
known as the statement of purpose) should be very well focused
3Not each discipline is ranked every year. For example, Computer Science was last ranked in
2002 and has not been ranked again since then.
8
and plainly describe your reasons for pursuing graduate study. You
might be able to secure an admission with aweak SOP, but certainly
not financial aid.
Once you have your research interests decided, find the universities
that do good research in these areas, get lots of grants for the
same and also hire a lot of students in these labs. Use the above resources
and also try and contact other students from your college
that have gone to the US, since they may have a better idea about
these things.
• Test Scores: Test scores are not the sole deciding factor in your admission,
as most people think. They are certainly important as
they indicate your aptitude for graduate study, but that’s all they
are - an indication. If you get too low of a score, you will certainly
have problems getting into the relatively higher-ranked universities.
Getting an extremely good score will help. However, If you
are in the relatively upper percentile range of, say 1400-1500, your
exact score does not matter. Yes, that’s right. Once you are in that
range, it is all the same.
The only part TOEFL scores play is to determine your English speaking
and comprehension skills. If you test in the right range, their
work is over. If you test too low, however, universities may admit
you only on the condition that youwill attend some English classes
once you get to the U.S.
• Alumni: I would suggest that you strongly consider universities
where students fromprevious batches of your college have secured
admission and financial aid. Chances are that if they have admitted
students from the past and have been generally satisfied with
their quality, they will almost certainly admit you as well.
• Geographic factors: Sometimes it is also important to consider the
location of the university that you are considering applying to. Industries
concentrated in particular states tend to hire heavily from
the universities around them. For example, Dell - which is based in
Austin, Texas, hires a lot of engineers from Texas A&M University,
University of Texas at Austin and University of Texas at Arlington.
If you are interested in automotive engineering, consider applying
close to Detroit, where the Big Three (Ford, General Motors and
Chrysler) are based. Similarly, Maxtor - a hard-drive and storage
appliance corporation based in Denver - hires engineers from University
of Colorado at Boulder.
This is one of the most frequently asked questions and the answer is
not as straightforward as you would like it to be. This is one of the
highly subjective questions that you will be encountering as your proceed
through the application process.
Some Facts
• US News Rankings: Every year, the periodical US News & World
Report comes out with their rankings of US Graduate Schools categorized
by the various disciplines. These rankings are based on
factors such as the number of graduating PhD students, the number
of permanent faculty members, and the amount obtained by
the faculty in research grants etc. It is important to note that these
rankings are not the only rankings out there. These are just relatively
more comprehensive and more trusted rankings than the
other ones. Only the general rankings are usually available for free.
If you want detailed rankings in your own discipline, they are usually
just a google-search away. If you cannot find them, email me
and I will try and get themfor you3.
• PhDs.org: This is a very useful website based on the graduate
school statistics provided by the National Research Council .
The one really good thing about this website is that you can actually
use the interactive rankings formto generate rankings according
to your own criteria. This comes in handy when you want to
weight things like financial aid much higher than other factors.
• USEFI Centers: USEFI(United States Education Foundation in India)
, also known as the Fulbright Commission, is an organization
that was started in 1950 for the purpose of promoting academic
exchanges between India and the United States. They are
headquartered in Connaught Place in New Delhi and have offices
in the other 3 metropolitan cities aswell. They have detailed guides
about all USUniversities and also hold various seminars about finding
fellowships and scholarships for your graduate study in the US.
I would definitely recommend doing some serious research in their
offices for coming up with a preliminary list of the universities.
OK, nowthatwe have resources for you to find out information about all
the universities, let’s talk about what all should factor in your thinking:
• Research interests: It is important to understand that the programs
of graduate study in the US thatwe are talking about here - M.S and
Ph.D. - entail research. You should have a clear idea of the areas in
your discipline that intrigue you and that you are interested in exploring
further. If the only reason you want to do an M.S. is to get
a more lucrative software engineering or programming, this might
not turn out to be important for you during your M.S but you will
certainly need it to get admitted. Your statement of research (also
known as the statement of purpose) should be very well focused
3Not each discipline is ranked every year. For example, Computer Science was last ranked in
2002 and has not been ranked again since then.
8
and plainly describe your reasons for pursuing graduate study. You
might be able to secure an admission with aweak SOP, but certainly
not financial aid.
Once you have your research interests decided, find the universities
that do good research in these areas, get lots of grants for the
same and also hire a lot of students in these labs. Use the above resources
and also try and contact other students from your college
that have gone to the US, since they may have a better idea about
these things.
• Test Scores: Test scores are not the sole deciding factor in your admission,
as most people think. They are certainly important as
they indicate your aptitude for graduate study, but that’s all they
are - an indication. If you get too low of a score, you will certainly
have problems getting into the relatively higher-ranked universities.
Getting an extremely good score will help. However, If you
are in the relatively upper percentile range of, say 1400-1500, your
exact score does not matter. Yes, that’s right. Once you are in that
range, it is all the same.
The only part TOEFL scores play is to determine your English speaking
and comprehension skills. If you test in the right range, their
work is over. If you test too low, however, universities may admit
you only on the condition that youwill attend some English classes
once you get to the U.S.
• Alumni: I would suggest that you strongly consider universities
where students fromprevious batches of your college have secured
admission and financial aid. Chances are that if they have admitted
students from the past and have been generally satisfied with
their quality, they will almost certainly admit you as well.
• Geographic factors: Sometimes it is also important to consider the
location of the university that you are considering applying to. Industries
concentrated in particular states tend to hire heavily from
the universities around them. For example, Dell - which is based in
Austin, Texas, hires a lot of engineers from Texas A&M University,
University of Texas at Austin and University of Texas at Arlington.
If you are interested in automotive engineering, consider applying
close to Detroit, where the Big Three (Ford, General Motors and
Chrysler) are based. Similarly, Maxtor - a hard-drive and storage
appliance corporation based in Denver - hires engineers from University
of Colorado at Boulder.