<p>I am a 5th yr undergrad. My interests are in computational fluid dynamics, EE, or materials. I was wondering when I should get started on working on my grad school applications, considering that I will also be applying for jobs, since I finish my undergrad this fall semester, so I need to work after Jan 2010, but also because Im not completely sure Im ready to start grad school for the fall 2010 term. </p>
<p>So when should I be starting to work on my statement of intent, getting letters of rec, etc? I dont wish to start right away as I wish to spend the beginning of the semester meeting new people</p>
<p>I’m surprised you haven’t all ready begun the process.</p>
<p>Take the GRE’s. Talk with your current professors and academic advisor. Discuss your goals and what needs to be done to work towards achieving them. Research grad programs and find a few that fit your interests. Think about which professors will be able to write good recommendations. Set up a meeting with them and discuss your plans. </p>
<p>Make a list of grad school/programs that fit your needs. </p>
<p>If you’re plan is to attend grad school in the fall 2010, start the process now. There’s a lot of work involved.</p>
<p>Its hard for me to decide what grad programs fit my interests, as my interests are broad, and I’m interested in going into materials or EE, but I haven’t taken any classes in either department, so i dont know too much about their research areas</p>
<p>I heard that emailing profs at schools that do research you’re interested in is a good idea. But what should I tell them in the email other than I’m interested in their research and am a potential grad school student?</p>
<p>^ I’ve been doing that. Ask (1) if they are accepting rotation students in the next year (who knows, maybe they aren’t), (2) what their current/research interests are/if they differ from website, etc… what their directions are (esp in things you are interested in. I ask because often times it is different and they are like “oh yeah, i have to update the website” and because publications come out so much later than the work is done.</p>
<p>A rotation student is someone who’s rotating through the lab. Basically, during the first one or two years (varies by program), you choose a number of labs to “rotate” in, doing research in each one to get a feel for both the research and the advisor. This often lasts for a year, and–at the end of the year–you make a decision on which lab you want to do your original research for your Ph.D. in.</p>
<p>As for your situation, I would suggest waiting until next year to apply. Applying to graduate school is a LOT of work, especially if you’re not even sure if (or where) you’d like to go. I would recommend going now and speaking to any professors you’ve worked with (or just got along well with) and simply talking with them for a while: about your goals, about what interests you, if there’s anybody they know who might be doing something interesting in your area of interest, and if they would be willing to provide a strong letter of recommendation–whether you apply this year or next year.</p>
<p>If you want to apply this year, sit down and strap yourself in. Take the GRE as soon as possible (score reporting can take up to six weeks, so you would want to take it early November at the absolute latest) and get those letters of recommendation from professors. Start researching schools–I found a good starting point was thinking up geography where I thought I might enjoy living, and looking at schools in that state.</p>
<p>If you’re not sure of what type of research you’d like to do (or what they research), go to the school’s EE department and just look up faculty; if you find something that sounds interesting, find more professors who work in it and/or look at the host institution that THEY got their Ph.D./post-docs done at. This was, at least to me, the most tedious and time-consuming part of applying, but also the most beneficial: I now have concrete reasons why each would be a good fit for me (and vice-versa), and numerous talking points on each reason.</p>
<p>Finally, Statement of Purpose and Personal Statement. Start working on these immediately, hammer out a rough copy of each, and revise, revise, revise. They’re going to take a lot of time, but you’ve got enough time to polish 'em up before the December deadlines.</p>
<p>‘Start researching schools–I found a good starting point was thinking up geography where I thought I might enjoy living, and looking at schools in that state.’</p>
<p>really? geography is the main factor for deciding where to apply? is that really how you decide between two similar schools, say MIT and Caltech?</p>
<p>‘go to the school’s EE department and just look up faculty; if you find something that sounds interesting, find more professors who work in it and/or look at the host institution that THEY got their Ph.D./post-docs done at.’</p>
<p>huh? how could that help you decide if a school is a good fit for you?</p>
<p>Geography can be an important factor. I’m applying to schools in the middle of nowhere because of the research, but to be honest, I will probably, if admitted, pick a school in a better location even if the research doesn’t fit that well, because at the end of the day, I can fall in love with lots of different things. I mainly just like GOOD science and a good lab environment and a good city… whether I’m looking at how x is involved in y or z involved in b, it doesn’t matter THHHHAT much for me to override living in New York vs some other small town in the mid-west. I’m a liberal-minded, christopher hitchens-type of atheist, and I’m gay… I think I would fit in in New York much better than a lot of other places that have great schools. This is how location matters. It is 6 or so years of your life, you know. I was even joking the other day if I go to like Brandeis or Yale or something I might have to start dating men (please someone tell me this is wrong :P).</p>
<p>I’ve already taken the GREs. My plan is to apply both for full-time jobs and graduate programs, since i’m uncertain if i want to go to grad school yet. </p>
<p>Soon. You can ask now if you want. I think you need to think about whether you want to go to grad school or not. Applying is a big job in and of itself and might not be worth it if you don’t actually want to go. You can always work for a bit and return back to school.</p>
<p>well, i’m kinda worried i can’t land a job that relates to what i’m interested in studying in grad school (lasers, semiconductors, optics, materials)</p>
<p>as for LORs, i’m hesitant to ask one of my profs soon. I’ve only done research with him for about 8 weeks, and its been me mostly just programming on my own, so he hasnt really gotten to know me well. Since i’m currently still doing research with him, i was hoping to wait a little longer for him to get to know me better, but I don’t know if that’ll work or not</p>
<p>Note that I said it would be useful for starting to get a good idea of where you’d like to apply. For me, personally, geography is an important factor–I absolutely loathe hot/arid regions, for example, and would greatly prefer to not spend five plus years of my life (in a relatively stressful/heavy workload environment) somewhere like that. I wouldn’t exclude a school based solely on geography, but I’ll admit it can be a determining factor. </p>
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<p>I’m not sure I understand the question. I may have worded it poorly, so let me put it another way. As for the first part, I define ‘fit’ of the program as my research interests being in line with (a minimum of) several faculty. Going to the faculty listings and looking at the research being done, seeing if it interests you, and seeing how much of that type of research is being done would determine if their program is a good fit for you. </p>
<p>As for the second part, I wasn’t clear. Since you’re looking for schools you might be interested in applying to, my suggestion was to find a professor (or several) who does research related to your interests, and then see what school they received their Ph.D. from. It’s a good springboard, as it’s likely they performed research related to their current interests at their previous institution.</p>
<p>what are some other factors i should look into besides geography and the ranking of the school? it seems most schools have research that seems to interest me</p>
<p>‘It’s a good springboard, as it’s likely they performed research related to their current interests at their previous institution.’</p>
<p>Well, it’s relevant if you’re looking for additional graduate schools with good fits. I’ll give you an example: when I was going through the initial ‘where am I going to apply?’ phase, I liked the work that my genetics professor and my developmental genetics professor were doing. So I looked up where they got their Ph.D’s from, asked who had advised them, and found a couple more schools to apply to I wouldn’t have thought of otherwise.</p>