I am just wondering does the undergraduate research you do have to relate in some way to what you want to do in grad school? I have read online that the applicant should have research experience, some stating that the applicant should get research experience in their area of interest. How relevant is this?
I’ll give an example from my background.
I did a bachelor’s in electrical engineering (EE). There are several distinct subfields in EE, for example power systems, communication systems, and microelectronic systems, three very different areas. I have a few questions about how applicants are considered, which are outlined below.
If one were to, say, do 2 undergraduate research projects, 1 on power systems design and 1 on microelectronic systems design, and the applicant chooses to study communication theory, how will that affect admission chances? Or is it more about just having that research experience in general and your LORs?
If the applicant doesn't have sufficient background knowledge from coursework in their desired subfield, how will what affect admission chances? If the applicant is lacking background knowledge from courses usually taken from the senior level, or maybe even junior level, how will that affect admission chances?
I am asking these questions because, at my university, nobody did research or offered advanced courses in a particular subfield that I’m interested in and would like to pursue in grad school.
Has anyone here (preferably from a STEM background) been in a similar situation? If you applied and you were admitted into a particular subfield, but you lacked the research experience and fundamentals in that subfield, how did you catch up?
In EE, and engineering more generally, the real decisive criterion as to whether the entire enterprise of getting into a PhD program is worthwhile or not is the presence or absence of research experience. Often people get into these programs with past research experience that do not line up with what they want to do once in the PhD program.
Often literature review will be useful to catch up and some professors can even ask you to commence lit review while you still have courses to take, if lit review supplements the coursework.
The topic of your undergraduate research makes no difference. It is the quality of the research experience that matters most. Your research mentor will know you well and be able to write a personalized letter of reference which will make a big difference in graduate admission.
Thanks for the responses. I just have two more questions.
My first question is how much will insufficient research experience and/or background coursework in one’s chosen subfield affect admission to that subfield though? Some people may get in as you two stated, but do they often get in as long as they have a good profile in general? Or is it hard to get in if you have never worked on that subfield?
My other question revolves from the fact that I hear people often say that it is advantageous to look at the profiles of professors who work in the subfield of your interest, read their research papers, and comment on them on the SoP. How important is this? If one has insufficient research experience and/or background knowledge in that particular subfield, they would likely obtain a very rudimentary understanding of the research described in a particular paper at best. They would only be able to gain a “big picture” understanding of the research done by a professor from background descriptions and relevant videos in that area generally targeted towards the general audience. This is basically what I have done, but if I were to look at a specific research paper from a specific professor, I would most likely not be able to understand it. How important is this?
OK, your bachelor’s degree is likely ABET accredited. That means that you have a broad knowledge of the field and this will qualify you to move into any subfield as a graduate student. At the most, you will have a concentration in your B.S. degree but that is not going to limit you at all. the same goes for research. The experience is what counts. You will get into the subfield as a graduate student. Consequently, if you have a strong GPA, good GRE scores and strong letters of reference, you have an excellent chance of being admitted.
It is useful to customize your personal statement for different universities. There is no need to comment on specific papers but if you can at least find out the names and the general areas of research of the professors who work in your chosen sub-field, you can honestly identify them as the ones you would like to work with.