Important thread

user it's a Sunday, don't bother trying to rush it.

Trying to get into a top program now. This is what the professor on the admissions committee told me:

They expect research experience and expect a very strong statement of purpose. In the statement of purpose they are looking to see what your research interest is, and they expect you to be super specific (i.e. not broadly saying you are interested in X subject with Y problem is not sufficient). They expect something like you want to work on X problem, understand Y,Z attempted techniques and want to try A, B, C promising techniques to solve the problem.

Only part of the GPA they look at is your last 2 years. If you did badly there, then there is a worry that you will be unable to pass your quals / upper division courses.

Recommendations are important. Better if they know the person writing them and they are in your field.

Getting into a top program (like this one) is very difficult and the odds of you being admitted are low. Professors openly don't give 2 shits about you and are actively looking for any reason to disqualify you.

>Perhaps the most important part. A professional's opinion means a lot more than your own opinion because they know what makes a good researcher and what makes a shitty one.

How many do I need? I'm only working with one professor right now and I'm about to publish a paper with him. I'm a second semester junior, so idk if I have enough time to work with another guy on a whole other topic.

I am answering your question.

You need 3.

If I need 3 solid recommendations from professors I have worked with then I fucked up = /.

>They expect research experience and expect a very strong statement of purpose. In the statement of purpose they are looking to see what your research interest is, and they expect you to be super specific (i.e. not broadly saying you are interested in X subject with Y problem is not sufficient). They expect something like you want to work on X problem, understand Y,Z attempted techniques and want to try A, B, C promising techniques to solve the problem.
This is expected everywhere, not just top schools. If you apply saying "I like particle physics and am interested in supersymmetry" then you'll be turned down in favor of the person who said "I have experience searching for Minimal SUSY evidence in the ATLAS data."
There's a clear difference, and it's entirely how specific you are.

BUT if you are too specific, then chances are none of the faculty will care about your topic. Stay dynamic.

>unable to pass your quals
Let me tell you a little bit about quals. They're easy. A big step below the difficulty of the lecture material. The university doesn't just agree to give someone tens of thousands of dollars in funding just to throw them out for not passing some bullshit stat mech qual after 2 years.

>unable to pass your quals

Good to know, thanks user

>3

I did a probably poor job in my second year summer research project and I was just hoping to do good in a third year summer research project, am I fucked?

Also, I think part of it was to scare the shit out of me and the other part was legit. He recommended I read research papers (told me the journals) and gave me recommendations on projects to work on outside the classroom (to supplement my learning). Not necessarily. See if you can get at 3 letters with at least one discussing your research potential/research experience. Research letters >> Did well in class letters

>that catalog stock image
>i'm happy because i'll be filibustering your hole later, boy

What the hell would a grad student know about this?

>Recommendations
Most important
>Research Experience
If you have it, and yes being published is better.
>GPA
>GRE scores
GPA probably more important, but try to have an admissable GPA. For mathematics 30th percentile subject GRE is cutoff for Ohio State, the mean is 60th percentile
>Personal Statement
Least important, used to verify that the person applying is normal and sane.

>For mathematics 30th percentile subject GRE is cutoff for Ohio State, the mean is 60th percentile

>30th percentile

Hey, it's nice to see this thread. This year I'm finishing my master's and I applied to MIT, UCLA, Berkeley and Columbia and some less known colleges for PhD in pure math. These days I am really stressed if I did not throw my money straight to the trash because of my shitty GPA from undergrad studies (I fucked up two first years) and the TOEFL results.

My stats are:
>I coauthored (with my supervisor) a survey article on a topic that I would like to work on in all these schools.
>I have done some independent research with another professor in closely related topic, and I have been said that my results are publishable. I am making a master's thesis of that these days.
>Hopefully because of that I got 2 strong letters of recommendation. I asked for a third one a professor with whom I did 2 classes and a seminar (he is quite known in his field), but I don't know what to expect from this letter.
>GRE subject math: 800 (80 percentile).
>GRE general Q:169,V:157,A:3.5.
>TOEFL: 106 but only 20 from speaking (I run out of time for several times before answering questions fully :^( ).
>GPA as an undergrad: 3.05, however I was in top 10% in my final year of undergrad studies and in top 5% in my first year of master's.

I've been said that most of the PhD students are accepted only with teaching assistantships, however for that one needs to score 25+ on speaking in TOEFL. Did I fucked up completely my chances to get accepted because of that?
What about this shitty GPA as an undergrad? I explained in my statement of purpose briefly that I had to work these years to afford for my studies, but I am not sure if someone will give a fuck. On the positive side I did pretty well in last two years, so maybe it will be outweighed.
I also aimed in these schools precisely at professors who are doing the stuff that I have some research experience with, so maybe this will catch their attention.

Wut, isn't Gatech like in top 20 in US?

>wanting to live in atlanta

London is not in the US, m8.
This.

>Professors openly don't give 2 shits about you and are actively looking for any reason to disqualify you.

>Getting into a top program (like this one) is very difficult and the odds of you being admitted are low. Professors openly don't give 2 shits about you and are actively looking for any reason to disqualify you.

Feels bad

Which fields are more competitive in terms of grad school admissions? Which ones are less competitive?

Assuming acceptance into a grad school is all that matters, would it be wiser to choose EE or CS?

I mean surely something like machine learning and AI will be much more competitive than shit like device physics right? Fuck, I just wanna get in somewhere at this point seeing everything is such a clusterfuck of a ratrace.

I used a lot of GRE books for my preparation, but the best was the Kaplan math workbook. It has a whole hundred pages on extra-careful problems. It helped me boost my math score from the 73rd percentile to the 93rd percentile.

manhattan review 5lb book and their entire series if you are weak on math and need a review then just buy all their review math books.

magoosh

>Can you assist us undergrads understand the process of getting into grad school? What are the imortant keys that Top-Tier Grad schools look for?

Ultimately, grad schools are looking for train and produce scientists. To that point, they are looking for students who show potential in the research lab.

>Research Experience
This is the most important factor. In my experience, top programs expect at least 12 - 18 months of independent research experience. Here is where you show your acumen as a researcher. More than technical abilities, you need to show that you can ask questions, design experiments to answer questions, and drive a project.

>Do they expect you to publish?
Not always. It's great if you do, but they understand that, quite frankly, this is out of your control. Circumstances may not always allow for putting out a publication, especially in the relatively narrow window of time that we're talking about during the grad school admissions process.

>GPA
This is not near the top of the list. That's not to say it's completely unimportant -- grades can certainly disqualify you -- but GPA is about passing cut-offs. In general, if you have over a 3.5, you're set. If you have a 3.3, your transcript may get a look. If you have a 3.0 (typically the cut-off), then your transcript will get a second look, and you'll probably need to have a good GRE, and great letters and research.

>Recommendations
Very important, probably second after research experience. If PIs (especially prominent PIs) testify to your potential as a researcher, that will go a long way towards your admission.

>Personal Statement
Probably third after research and letters of rec. You need to have good reasons for what you want to do in grad school, why you need to do it in grad school, and why the school that you're applying to.

>GRE scores
Not very important. Pass cut-offs.

What's wrong with Atlanta? I'm asking seriously, since I actually applied to Gatech.

you are a smart guy

>>Professors openly don't give 2 shits about you and are actively looking for any reason to disqualify you.

That's sad af.

What the fuck

When writing your personal statement, try to devote one paragraph to explaining why you want to go to that particular grad school. If the school doesn't ask you to list which professors you want to work with, then you should include another paragraph about two or three researchers you are interested in, and why the sort of work featured in their recent publications seemed like something you would want to collaborate on.

How else are they supposed to approach the situation when the top schools get literally over a thousand applications each year?

I mean I'm gonna be honest, I've never been there, I'm pretty much just shit-talking out of my ass, but I live near LA, so I imagine it's just like LA but with black people instead of Mexicans, which is why is frightens me very much. Once again though, I wouldn't really know. I'm sure Gatech is a great school.

Who cares it's not like you're gonna leave the library or lab.

Self-bump. No grad students that can give me some insights on that?

why

Grad school refers to PhD or masters program?

Follow up question: in the field of biology how important are publications to get accepted in a PhD program?
In my uni undergrad publications are unheard of, so my only chances are during my master but even that is doubious.
The fact that there are international undergrads publishing with Nature is really depressing me.

You should not be depressed about this. I used to know a guy who published in Nature as a third author as an undergrad. He did "only" (it's hard for me to judge how important part it was) some simulations but has had really supportive supervisor with whom he worked basically from the very beginning. It is nice to have some publications, but I guess recruiting committees understand that publishing as an undergrad is usually a lottery with a lot of involved factors.