<p>This is semi-copy of a thread posted in the "College Admission" forum, but I was advised by a senior member to post this here instead..</p>
<p>So I applied to Stanford and MIT last year (grad school) and got rejected by both. Now a year later I have largely changed my field of interest and I'm wondering if I should re-apply.</p>
<p>The main things that have changed since last year:</p>
<ul>
<li>Was teaching assistant in a very related subject.</li>
<li>Am doing two internships in fields that are related to the one I want to apply to.</li>
<li>Coauthored a paper (but in an unrelated field)</li>
</ul>
<p>Anyway I have a couple of questions:</p>
<ol>
<li>Will the universities also judge me based off last years application (ie. will they see that I've changed my field of interest and think this guy either doesn't know what he wants or he is a liar)?</li>
</ol>
<p>2.1 I applied for a PhD position last year, but to be quite honest I am not completely sure that this is what I want and I would be perfectly happy to just be admitted to a Masters program. Would I increase my chances by just applying for a masters?</p>
<p>2.2 How different is the SOP for a masters and a PhD application?</p>
<ol>
<li>What are chances like for people who reapply?</li>
</ol>
<p>Graduate school applications are generally reviewed by the specific department you’re applying to. If you’re in a totally different field, chances are very high that nobody will even know that you previously applied to the school.</p>
<p>That said, you’re literally applying to two of the most selective institutions on Earth, and your “chances” are a total and complete crapshoot. Admission rates are likely 5 percent or less. If you really want to go to graduate school, you need to significantly broaden your search and apply to a wide range of schools.</p>
<p>Also, why are you applying to those schools? Are there specific professors there you want to work with because of their research interests, or are you just applying because their names are big and prestigious? Graduate school is as much about finding the right “fit” with an advising professor as it is anything else.</p>
<p>As for masters’ vs. Ph.D, remember that doctoral students are essentially always funded, but funding for M.S. students is generally more limited.</p>
<p>Even if I apply to a different department I still have to state whether or not I have applied to that specific university before, hope they don’t really care…</p>
<p>The reason I only applied to two universities is because I live in Switzerland and have the option of directly continuing my studies here. I therefore thought that if I was going to the states then it should at be to a university that is better than the one I study at (ETH Zurich), or at least prestigious enough that people here regard it as a better degree than one I would have received here in Switzerland.</p>
<p>When you say that “grad school is about finding the right “fit” with an advising professor as it is anything else”, is that true when applying for only a masters as well, or more so when applying for a PhD position?</p>
<p>Apart from the funding (which ofc. would be preferable, but isn’t critical), would it be easier to get an offer when applying only for a masters vs. PhD?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>The United States has many more than two top universities. While I agree with you that you should go to a US school that is as good as or better than your current option, I suspect that you may not know US universities well enough to know that there may be ten or fifteen that fit into that category–depending on your field, of course. Graduate school is so specialized that unless your research interests dovetail with current work being performed there, you won’t stand a chance, no matter how impressive your stats are. You might want to look at important journal articles in your subfield and see where the American authors are located.</p>
<p>To answer your question, it’s not impossible to gain admission to those universities by reapplying with a stronger profile. My real worry for you is that you’ve changed fields and therefore programs. If you were qualified for one program last year, I find it difficult to believe that you’ve achieved the level of proficiency that these universities demand in another. The teaching experience probably will not help your application, although the internships may, depending on your field and the internships themselves.</p>
<p>Master’s programs are indeed much easier to get into; however, they can be expensive. Master’s programs tend to fund a much smaller percentage of their students and even then, only partially. Another option, if you can afford it, is for you to attend a top 20 master’s program; if you excel, then you could possibly get into Stanford or MIT. Top US students are rejected regularly from these schools because there are only so many open spots, so nothing is guaranteed.</p>
<p>I think people could be of more help if you were more specific about your two fields. For instance, going from molecular biology to neuroscience, with a focus on the molecular, would be easy, but going from mechanical engineering to evolutionary biology would be tougher. (I’m assuming you’re in the sciences because of the universities you mentioned.) In some fields research experience means working in a lab, but in others, work experience and internships count.</p>
<p>It’s true either way, for research-based programs. Your degree program is centered around independent research, and your advising professor will be your mentor and primary instructor in that process.</p>
<p>It is easier to secure funding for a Ph.D than a master’s degree. Not impossible to do the latter, but harder nonetheless.</p>
<p>ETH sends students to Caltech every year for a masters program. Have you explored this opportunity?</p>
<p>@Momwaitingfornew: I know that USA has more than two top universities and I will definitely apply to more than two universities if I decide to re-apply, thing is that a university may have a great department within some special field, but unless it’s a rather prestigious university, chances are slim that Swiss employers will know it…</p>
<p>Regarding the programs, last year I applied to the EE/EECS departments, with a specialization in Photonics. This time around I’m planning on applying for a masters in Computational Science (aka Computational and Mathematical Engineering), which is a degree that is frequently not offered at undergrad level (at least not at stanford). I study electrical engineering by the way, which means I have had a fair amount of classes that are relevant to both of these topics, but it’s of course not the same as having years of research experience (though I did half a year of research on photonics).</p>
<p>@bookworm: I didn’t know that the ETH had any agreement with Caltech, couldn’t find anything about it on our exchange website either… I know they send a couple of students to Berkeley every year.</p>
<p>I guess the most relevant question is, “Why study in the United States when you have an excellent option in your home country?” If it’s because you want to study in the US to broaden your experience, then you might want to see if you can find comparable programs at Carnegie Mellon, Georgia Tech, Cornell, Berkeley, etc., all of which are well-known abroad. If you merely want to get a degree from a university with a “higher rank” than your own, I recommend staying put since distinctions among top universities are slight and can change from one year to the next.</p>
<p>My reason for wanting to study abroad is definitely because I want to experience something different, I just want to make sure that it doesn’t negatively affect my chances of getting a job once I move back to Switzerland. I guess my best bet is to apply to a broader range of universities. At least it seems like the fact that I’m reapplying to a university will not negatively impact my chances (?).</p>