Hi folks. I’m a student outside of US, about to graduate with an Electrical Engineering degree. I’m considering graduate school in the US possibly next year (so I have to apply towards the end of this year if I’m not mistaken). However, I’m not in a good position and am at a complete loss on what to do.
The area I’m currently most interested in is micro/nano electronics. I see lots of active research activity in this area, as well as many applications for this area. However the problem is this is the one area my particular department lacked. My department covered many areas of EE in general, it’s just this particular area that was lacking. I can get 2 LORs from 2 faculty members whom I have had the pleasure of doing research for, but they are in different areas.
What can I do in this instance? Do graduate departments still accept students who want to focus on areas that theyhave covered little of, and do they offer graduate courses covering these specific content for students like me? Will I be able to do a year or so Masters covering specific content (as well as doing some research), if they won’t offer PhD positions immediately? Furthermore, I still need 1 LOR and am at a complete loss on where to get one.
Any help and advice is appreciated.
You are correct about when you need to apply. Many programs has a deadline of December 31 with some earlier and some later.
It isn’t a problem f you want to alter the focus of your research. no one expects that you continue the research you are doing as an undergraduate all the way through the Ph.D. Most students do change their focus. You will have to take a set of core courses and if you end up in a highly interdisciplinary research field, you will have to take additional elective courses.
Thanks for your reply. That does sound positive. Thing is I’m still uncertain in a few aspects.
For example, the past research I’ve done with faculty members focused on signal processing and communications. If I write to grad school departments stating that I want to focus on X but haven’t taken any advanced courses or did any prior research on X, what will they likely think of me? If they see that I haven’t done any research or taken courses on X (X could be micro/nanoelectronics and Y could be signal processing for instance, both areas common in EE), will they likely turn down my application? Or does it really depend on your LORs and how well you did previously, regardless of which areas you focused on as long as it’s EE interrelated?
Furthermore, do you recommend I get the last recommendation letter from industry? There are rarely any R&D firms here, and none for the area I wish to focus on, so I’m very uncertain with regards to this.
Thanks!
The kind of research you do as an undergraduate is irrelevant. The experience is the important thing and the fact that you get to know a professor who will hopefully be able to write a solid letter of reference for you.
On letter can certainly be from industry as it will speak to your work habits and performance as well as how you work in a team. The others should be from university faculty but in my experience, faculty in other countries do not always know how to write a good letter for a student. You can help them out by just mentioning the kinds of things that graduate programs in the U.S. are looking for: ability as an academic, research ability, whether you are good at working in teams. A good letter is personal and indicates to the reader that the writer really knows the applicant well.