<p>I am currently a 3rd (out of 6) Semester B.Sc. EE student at TU Darmstadt, and am trying to find as much information on graduate studies in the states as possible.
I initiatlly wanted to do my undergraduate studies in America but it financial crisis made in impossible, so this is my second try.</p>
<p>My problem: Although I am academically at the top of my class, I can already say that I won't have a lot of research experience by the time I graduate and probably won't have any publications. I already am TA for logic design and will obviously try to get more insight on our research, but our (German) system just doesnt work like that.
Being able to do the bachelor's in 6 semesters alone is an achievement and "real" research and publications are only done by research assistants (so called Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiter, students who have already finished their master's and are working towards their Dr-Ing degree (phd)).
Will this seriously hurt my chances for admission at the top universities for EE? I am interested in doing a PhD.
Another problem: I will also need financial aid (some sort of fellowship or TA / RA position). Is that possible right from the beginning? I would probably be able to fund my first year with the help of my parents, but then it would seem to be some kind of gamble to get a RA position later on...</p>
<p>Thanks in advance and sorry for my long post!</p>
<p>I don’t think you need publications for entrance into good universities, so don’t worry. That being said, ,international admissions are very competitive. </p>
<p>It is also harder for international students to get funding. Apply and if you don’t get any sort of funding from the start, you can do some projects at a professors lab during your first year and maybe try to get funding from them, for the next.</p>
<p>First, you have to see if your three-year BSc is the equivalent of a four-year BS in the US. Some international students have to get a Master’s degree in their country first to qualify to apply to US programs, simply because of their educational system. I’m guessing that you’ll be okay if it normally takes four years to get your particular degree. Still, you should research that point.</p>
<p>Second, apply directly to PhD programs in the US to get any hope of full funding. Don’t just apply to the usual suspects, because their admissions is tough for both US and international students. Do online research to determine slightly less competitive programs that will match your research interests.</p>
<p>Third, look at international student numbers at your intended programs. Make sure that you have a few programs with at least 10% internationals. This indicates a willingness/ability of the program to support international students.</p>
<p>Fourth, programs understand that research isn’t as available to some international students as it is to domestic ones. Your TA-ship will be important, but your letters will be even more so. You might consider asking one of your letter writers to address the issue that research is not available to students at your level. Make sure that all your writers understand that US programs want to hear about research potential, not just good academics.</p>
<p>If you get into a PhD program, you should get full funding, plus health insurance and a stipend to live on, upon entry into the program. Unless you can pay for most of your education, I don’t recommend applying to master’s degree programs.</p>
<p>Thanks for your of your answers! They have been really helpful.
I’ve done my “homework”, Stanford and many other schools accept the 3-year “bologna conform” Bachelor’s degree as equivalent to the US Bachelor.
Especially the part about the recommendation letters is very interesting and helpful. I am lucky to already have contact to two very friendly professors who have recommended me for a national scholarship.</p>
<p>About the PhD program, do internationals often receive funding from the beginning? From the things I read about Stanford, they are really reluctant to give any sort of help prior to the quals.</p>
<p>Thanks again, Im looking forward to every single piece of advice you can give :)</p>
<p>Let’s break this up into different funding practices. There are schools that fund everyone or almost everyone (e.g. MIT, Berkeley) and these are usually programs that only offer PhD-track admissions. Then there are those that don’t fund most people (this is rare among top-ranked programs, Stanford is a strong exception).</p>
<p>In BOTH cases, (1) terminal MS students (if they exist) almost never get aid and (2) fellowships largely go to Americans. For the first kind of program, the internationals then get stuck with RA/TA, but they will not be denied funding just because they’re international. In the second kind, they get nothing until they can find a source on their own. But let me note that a lot of Americans will get nothing either, and some top internationals will manage to get fellowships. Still, Americans are a whole lot better off than internationals.</p>
<p>You’re uncompetitive for PhD admission to top schools without substantial research experience (competition is stiff; there are almost no exceptions). Find it somehow even if you have to get internships outside Germany. But I find it hard to believe that Germany doesn’t provide research opportunities to its own students when it welcomes (and pays) foreign undergraduate students to do research there. I managed to go to TU Darmstadt for full-time research (through UIUC’s partnership) and I know that there’s a large DAAD program for foreigners to intern at many other German universities as well.</p>
<p>Ah, interesting to see. I’ve already thought about doing an internship in the states, but it will be difficult due to timing problems. I know that my university and many of the top German universities offer research internship and UROP programs for internationals. For us, it is a somehow more difficult, as we write all of our exams during our summer and winter vacations. This semester, I will have three days of vacation prior to my first exam and four days after my last exam. Thats not enough time for a research internship anywhere…
Im going to get a HiWi poisition soon, but neither bachelor’s nor master’s students usually get a lot of access to real research. I’ve also talked to professors about research opportunities and publications, one of them told me that a bachelor’s thesis was once used as part of a publication, nothing else.</p>
<p>Oh, and UIUC is such a great school In case I don’t get admission to a good PhD program, I am going to do my master’s here and do a year abroad at UIUC. Will definitely have more research opportunities then and might even be able to find a professor to work with :)</p>
<p>So, does anyone else have an advice for me or some more information?
Im also currently drying to decide, which specialisation to choose. Robotics, Computer Engineering, and nano technology are all equally interesting and seem to be good choices for my future. However, most of the robotics research seems to be happening in Japan… :-/</p>
<p>Oh, and yet another question:
As has been said, my profile appears to be pretty weak for top programs. However, I am not interested in lower tier universities, as I know that getting into research later on is very difficult, more so with a mediocre degree.
As a top student of my univesity, I have several things I could do.
Instead of doing my bachelor’s in the regular time of 6 semesters, I could also take a semester off and do a research internship with a major German company (BMW, Siemens and Bosch come to mind) or do some undergraduate research. Would that be to my advantage?
On the other hand, if I don’t get accepted after receiving my Bachelor’s degree, I could also continue to pursue my Master’s at TU Darmstadt and do a year abroad at UIUC, OR get a Master’s degree from Imperial College London.
Out of those three possibilities, which one seems to be best to get acceptance into a top US program? I am hesistant to take a semester off because I am one of the few who would be able to do the bachelor’s degree within the 6 semesters time frame…</p>
Japan has commercialized robotics but the United States dominates research in all areas of EE (and just about every other technological field). Take advanced elective courses and pick based on your interests. There are no areas of EE that are dying such that you need to be concerned about future prospects.</p>
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What does the year at UIUC involve? It’s unusual to be in a US graduate program after already earning master’s but not pursuing a PhD. Also what’s your cutoff for an acceptable program (give a rank)?</p>
<p>Hi GShine, thanks for your answer
Well, the master’s takes two years, one of those could be spent at UIUC. If I choose my second year, it would involve doing my master’s thesis with a professor in Illinois.
And I think there is some sort of misunderstanding, I would like to pursue a PHD and not a Master’s degree…!</p>
<p>Oh, and I forgot to answer the question regarding rankings.
To be honest, I probably won’t want to attend a university below the top10-15, except those that are excellent in the speciality I choose.
Its been my dream to live in America for quite a while, and from what I’ve heared, German engineers are also very welcome. Having to spend another year in Germany after my Bachelor’s would make me pretty sad, but I don’t think a “low” ranked PhD program would be beneficial to me, especially since the doors of europe’s best universities are open.</p>
<p>There are many, many universities below the “top 10 or 15” that offer excellent doctoral programs. If you’re going to limit yourself to that criterion, you’re ignoring a number of quality opportunities for no good reason at all.</p>
Yes! Your 3-year degree may be an acceptable alternative to a 4-year U.S. bachelor’s degree, but it leaves you little opportunity to get experience doing research. Although Ph.D. students do take courses, the bulk of the work toward the degree is research. Graduate programs in the U.S. want evidence that you understand what research entails and have aptitude for it. Some students do very well in coursework, but do not thrive in a research lab where questions are open-ended. Taking the time to get involved in research will show the graduate programs that you have what it takes to earn a Ph.D.</p>
<p>Well, my reason is that the universities below the top 10-15 probably don’t offer a better program than European universities such as Imperial or TU Delft, where admission is very easy for me. I also am at the top of my class and don’t really want to aim below of what I’m worth.</p>
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<p>Thanks, I figured it would probably be that way. Do you think doing a master’s degree in europe before applying to a PHD would also increase my chances? For example, I could do an internship with Siemens and then do a one year tought master’s at Imperial…</p>
<p>Alright, then I have one last question.
I have difficulties with the meaning of the word research. What counts as research experience? Is it only fundamental research, or does working in an R&D Department automatically mean research experience? I am unsure, because I have seen people mention things like programming as research experience.</p>
I’d really appretiate your help.</p>