<p>I am an International PhD student on Applied Mathematics in USA and I have a bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering. I have a couple of questions.</p>
<p>1 - I would like to know how hard would it be for me to get admitted at the PhD program in Mechanical Engineering at MIT after I finish my PhD program in Applied Mathematics with high GPA, teaching experience, experience in parallel programming and numerical methods for PDEs and, say, 4~6 publications on international journals?</p>
<p>2 - How would I be compared to other applicants, since at that time I will have a PhD title and plenty of experience in research? </p>
<p>3 - How hard is to get a fellowship or research assistantship (I cannot afford tuition/fees, housing, etc.)?</p>
<p>I received a Research Assistantiship for my Applied Mathematics PhD program, but my plan always was to finish a PhD program in Mechanical Engineering in a top university in USA. I am still young (23 years) and don't mind to work hard again to get another PhD.</p>
<p>The fact is that my PhD program in Applied Mathematics is in a university with no “prestige”. So, I am not considering a post-doc, because I want to have a diploma from a top university.</p>
<p>This opportunity (receiving a research assistantship) was the port of entry for me to study here in USA. Although I am happy with my program (I’ve been learning a lot of math), I am not happy with having a diploma from a university that does not compare to MIT, Standford, Princeton, etc (I can’t cite its name here, but it is a state university, so it is a fair university, not a small one).</p>
<p>So that is it. I want go to a top university and finish my second PhD. What are my chances for the three questions above? </p>
<p>applying for PhD with PHD degree in hand… I haven’t seen/heard of that happen, but I have heard someone (international student from China) was put on blacklist among all US institutes for hiding his PhD degree when applying for a PhD program in the US…</p>
<p>so there may be a reason why would he want to hide his first PhD degree</p>
<p>OK, but I do not intend to hide my PhD degree. I plan to use this as a way to get admitted to the program and also get a research assistantship.</p>
<p>Many schools will not consider an applicant for a second PhD - I believe MIT is one of them. They do not see a reason for a second PhD and consider it a waste of their time. Those schools that DO accept candidates for a second PhD generally require a very very good reason for pursuing the additional doctorate. This generally requires several years between degrees and a complete change of direction - mathematics to mechanical engineering would probably not be big enough, since you could work in that field with the math degree.</p>
<p>If this is really what you want to do, I would recommend that you look into leaving your current program with a masters and then applying for the PhD program you really want. This is a big gamble, but your second PhD plan has approximately no chance.</p>
<p>OK, let’s fix my idea. Since I have not finish my PhD yet, I can move to the Master program. Now I will have a master and those qualities that I stated above (papers, research and teaching experience, etc).</p>
<p>What are my chances?</p>
<p>Remember, I have a bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering (GPA: ~3.9).</p>
<p>I can understand why is CanonD eager to get a prestigious diploma, a lot of international students are like that</p>
<p>kids in some abroad countries work their entire life to get into MIT/Harvard/Stanford, however kids in the states do not look at the title that huge of a deal. Hard to judge who is right/wrong, it’s just totally different culture/value system</p>
<p>and to CanonD, I think fish’s suggestion is very good. You can stop your school right now and start applying ASAP (since you should already have your master’s degree in hand, or at least very very easy to complete it), you have about 2 months to apply for the next school year.</p>
<p>Where you get your PhD is more important than where you went to undergrad. An engineering PhD from MIT opens career doors that the same degree from a lesser school never will. You should always attend the most prestigious university in your field that you can get into. This doesn’t apply only to international students, although their list of prestigious universities (that is, the ones that their countrymen recognize as the best in the US) is much smaller than ours. In any given field, our top ten may contain only a few that are recognized abroad as the best. </p>
<p>Doctorate prestige is program-specific. You cannot go by university name recognition alone. If you hope to remain in the US, it would behoove you to do the research to discover which universities are in MIT’s peer group for mechanical engineering.</p>
<p>To get back to the original question, apply to MIT and similar schools at the beginning of your second year so you will complete the master’s in applied math but not waste time – either yours or your professors’ – by pretending to research a dissertation. The trick will be not angering your current professors, especially if you don’t get into your chosen schools. Who will you ask for LORs? What will your explanation be? Prestige won’t cut it even though it’s a valid reason for choosing a program. </p>
<p>Some people have indeed earned two PhDs, but, as someone else mentioned, they aren’t usually back to back. And the second PhD is rarely from a top flight university. Programs do not like “professional students” because these individuals are unlikely to have an impact on the field. Professors, particularly at the top programs, expect their students to be their research legacies. Having a former student become the chair of a department or solve a tough problem reflects back on the advisor and the program. Having one who collects degrees or who takes forever to finish does not. If they see any inkling of that tendency, whether it’s an accurate assessment or not, you don’t have a chance of getting in.</p>