A little advice

Graduate School
1

<p>Hi there,</p>

<p>So here is the deal. It looks like I didn't get in anywhere to any of the grad schools I applied to. Ok, I only applied to 5, and I was motivated in part by prestige, I admit. It turns out I never really had a chance, many of the programs I applied to had very few places (about on average 2) for international students without their own funding, and a large bulk of their applicants were international. In a pool of 100 candidates for 2 places, I can't really compete. My application was good: I have a good degree from a good university, good LORs, the good GREs, some research experience. But I cannot compete with people several years older than me with years of research experience and many publications. </p>

<p>So my options are now PhDs in Europe (where as a domestic applicant, it is much easier for me to get it), I currently have an offer in Amsterdam (AMOLF), and I will hopefully have a few offers from the UK (Imperial and maybe Cambridge). My initial plan was to go to Europe if the US didn't work out. But some part of me does still want to go to the US, simply because I have the impression that the education is better and that I will have better career options afterwards. Research wise, some of the PIs in the US fitted my interests slightly better, but what I have found in Europe is still pretty interesting.</p>

<p>So, I have several questions:
1) Are the American programs so much better? Am I justified in thinking they are better than their European counterparts? (Obviously those successful applicants may be biased, but please try to stay objective). The PhD lifestyle in Europe seems less stressful, shorter. Are the benefits conferred by the American programs significant enough for me to try again in a year? </p>

<p>2) If the answer to 1) was yes, I should try again, what can I do? I have been taking short projects at various academic labs since I graduated last summer, and I'm not sure if I can keep doing this nomad scientist thing for another year. I don't want to do a Master's either since I have a type of masters already. Industrial labs? Is that a possibility?</p>

<p>3) To the successful international applicants, who out competed me (hats off to you), how did you get so many publications and experience? If you are in your late 20s, how did you get to this stage without having undertaken a PhD already?</p>

<p>So, can anyone give me some helpful advice?
It's a little verbose, so thank you, спасибо, arigato, dank u wel to any replies.</p>

2

<p>In my experience w/ international students (studenst from Asia,the Middle East, and Africa) they apply to only the big name schools because they are the most visable programs in their fields; however, this is a flawed approach to choosing graduate schools. You should only choose schools where research is being performed that fit your interest. For example, if you are interested in Electrical Engineering and want to study power systems, every school where interesting research in power systems should be on your list for review. Some of those schools may be the big names (Harvard, Yale, CalTech, MIT, etc), while some of the other schools are not as well known (Auburn University, LSU, Kent State, etc). You pick the schools based upon the research, not the prestige. Secondly, they kinds of scores and grades you need to get into pretty much all of these pretigeous universities are off of the charts. You will need near perfect GRE scores, near perfect GPA, and near perfect GRE subject scores, and steller LORs. These schools only accept the best applicants throughout the world. Harvard has no problem accepting international students, as long as they are the most qualified students for the designated spots for international students.</p>

<p>Secondly, the schools are on par with many, if not most, schools in the US. Don’t sweat not getting into a US school. </p>

<p>But to answer your questions.</p>

<p>1) Not necessarly. It all depends on what you want. Some Americans leave the states to get graduate degrees abroad (Europe). It is true, the PhD process in Europe is about 2 years shorter than in the US. Some of the best schools are on par with some of the best schools in Europe (Cambridge is comprable to Harvard & Yale, etc).</p>

<p>2) If you have an offer for a graduate program, go ahead and take it. So what if the US didn’t work out. Don’t abandon your dreams yet. You still have schools in Europe to apply to. Just apply to the European schools and see what happens. But, take the best offer to the school that is doing research that you are interested in. </p>

<p>3) I am not an international student, but this is how I see it. Sometimes you land in the right situations to get publications. I was supposed to get published at the end of my second year, but my experiments did not work, and I did not get published. But there are many ways to get research experience: take a position with a lab, get a job at a research facility. You don’t really need publications to get into grad schools, because most domestic applicants don’t have them, but they still get accepted based upon scores, grades, and LORs</p>

3

<p>I think it depends on where you want to work. If you want to work and teach in the U.S., then an American degree will be more beneficial to you - but there are plenty of U.S. professors who have PhDs from European universities, especially top ones from the UK. A Cambridge PhD will put you amongst the top PhD students/job candidates in the U.S., and an Imperial degree would also be impressive.</p>

<p>The other question is, what are you planning to do between now and next fall to make yourself more competitive? If the field is already fierce for international students you may be better served by staying in Europe.</p>

<p>I think that if you are satisified with the research fit and the funding of the programs you get into in Europe, then you should attend.</p>

<p>I agree with scaleupchem that publications are often about being in the right place at the right time. Some students get lucky and the data is in a place that they can get a publication or two in the 2-3 years they spend in a lab during undergrad or a master’s program. Others stay on with a lab and a particular project beyond their undergrad years, and that’s how they hammer out the publication. It takes some time and effort and a little bit of luck.</p>