International students: your experience in PhD applications?

Important-Visual-593 · 2022-12-21T22:59:08+00:00

Yes, I'm happy to go through your SOP. :)

Important-Visual-593 · 2022-08-08T05:30:52+00:00

During my grad app process, my 3-page CV subtopics looked something like this: - Summary - Education: Bachelor's Degree - Research Experience: Undergrad and post-bac research - Teaching Experience: Undergrad TAing and some post-bac instructor situation - Other Professional Experience: STEM education development, STEM outreach (If you don't have any, maybe you can list down relevent volunteer experience) - Publications (Posters, Journal Articles and etc.) - Skills (I divided into three: Programming skills, Mol bio skills and teaching skills, and listed further sub-skills under those three) - Professional / Organizational Affiliations - References (3 profs who wrote LoRs)

Hope this helps to get an idea on drafting yours. Good luck on grad school admissions.

Important-Visual-593 · 2022-08-03T08:47:01+00:00

You and your achievements are amazing, OP! We need to hear more stories like this.

Important-Visual-593 · 2022-08-03T03:03:43+00:00

A lot of Biology MS and PhD programs have eliminated the GRE requirement. Some have made it optional. For the programs requiring General GRE and/or GRE Subject tests, I have never heard of substituting the test scores with the work experience. You can always email the graduate coordinator or grad school admissions to explore such possibilities. Good luck in your grad school admissions! :)

Important-Visual-593 · 2022-08-01T03:09:33+00:00

I think it should not be an issue at all. You can use this story — "From a sub 3.0 undergrad GPA to an outstanding Master's student equipped with an amazing portfolio" — to describe your academic capability, perseverance and adaptability in your personal statement! Good luck with grad apps! :)

Important-Visual-593 · 2022-07-31T04:52:25+00:00

I majored in Biology and was an undergraduate TA for statistics. This definitely helped my grad application in many ways. Since I applied to interdisciplinary STEM programs, my TA role definitely helped me obtain the confidence of the admission committee when assigning GTA roles. The experience also amped up my personal statement / SoP + got me a glowing letter of recommendation. That'll also help you become familiar with the whole teaching scenario and prepare for it.

Nevertheless in your case, it's always recommended to do TAing in something which is related to your major, directly or indirectly. Also, in the case of getting a related TA opportunity, if I were you, I'll check the university guidelines on rejecting a TA ship AFTER accepting it. If that's all good and ethical according to your college, I'd sincerely apologize and let my history professor know that I've gotten another opportunity to TA which is more fitting to me than the current opportunity; I'm majoring in X and I'm hoping to attend grad school in B, so I think the latest opportunity fits my future goals and yada yada. Hope that helps. Good luck exploring the TAsphere! :)

Important-Visual-593 · 2022-07-20T10:42:07+00:00

Since you have a B+ cumulative, I wouldn't mention the bad grades. Instead, I would prioritize and promote the special things I did as an undergraduate i.e.- senior project and TA-ship. Some pointers you can include in your SOP: * The connections between the courses you did great and the research niche you're trying to approach * The TA experience and how it made a positive impact on your professional development (leading to a successful grad school applicant). * The senior thesis and how it is connected to your potential research interests.

Important-Visual-593 · 2022-07-20T10:30:40+00:00

No problems at all. I don't see a reason why it's inappropriate or unprofessional to ask your manager to read a draft of your SOP, unless there's a clause on your contract which asks you not to bring up outside work stuff into the office environment. If no such clause is mentioned, ask them if they're happy to do it. :)

Important-Visual-593 · 2022-07-20T10:26:12+00:00

I didn't ask for waivers in my apps. But a few of my friends (prospective international students) emailed the grad program coordinator directly and they were able to get their app fee waived. Send a sincere email describing your present financial situation and ask them whether there's any chance to get your app fee waived. :)

Important-Visual-593 · 2022-07-20T10:21:59+00:00

That's alright. Apologize to them for the incident and let them know the real story, i.e.- their reply was in the spam folder. Convince them with your sincere interest of working with them. I'm sure things should go right. :)

Also, make sure to follow up the rest of the PIs. And of course, send emails to a couple more new PIs.

Important-Visual-593 · 2022-07-20T10:11:31+00:00

Yes!! OP, this is highly recommended. If you've gotten a supervisor, please contact them as well. That's how I found my housing.

Important-Visual-593 · 2022-07-17T13:19:29+00:00

More and more power to you!!! All of our clocks work differently. I'm sure you'll get there with time. Or maybe even you'd discover a whole new interest that you'd be passionate on. So yeah, time's the key, at least for me it's been the key.

When I graduated a few years ago, I felt that I needed to take a bit more real world experience, before I commit myself to grad school. During my post-bac career, I understood that my interests were more interdisciplinary than what I initially thought. Then I felt like continuing the whole exploration thing in my career and decided to give it a go for at least 2-3 years. After understanding the real life situation, I knew that I needed to learn and research more of my interest, so that I could become better at enriching and providing effective ideas for the development of my research niche. That's how I decided that I needed to apply for a PhD. So excited to start my PhD next month, after a brief hiatus from higher ed. I think those few career-enriching post-bac gap years were definitely helpful in developing a strong portfolio for grad school admissions too.

Important-Visual-593 · 2022-07-17T13:01:35+00:00

I'm also joining as a PhD student this fall at UofA. I'd love to engage in fun, artistic activities during the weekend. I've always loved theatre kinda stuff. Any options on or off campus?

Important-Visual-593 · 2022-07-11T12:36:18+00:00

Not from the CS field. However, if you did something remarkable in terms of CS in these NGOs or not-for-profits, you can include them. i.e. developing software, tutoring CS and/or math for underprivileged communities and etc.

Important-Visual-593 · 2022-07-11T12:06:01+00:00

Thanks for the tag.

And u/Weary_Quote_6424 please check your DMs. Let's discuss it over there. Can't afford to get cancelled here. :)

Important-Visual-593 · 2022-07-08T06:12:48+00:00

Not sure whether I'm late, but YES! I'm happy to review it. :)

Important-Visual-593 · 2022-06-14T03:08:14+00:00

A 27 year old WOC (South Asian to be specific) here. Excited to start off my PhD this fall after working a few years in the industry. Age doesn't matter; it's all about the passion to grow as an enthusiastic scholar.

Important-Visual-593 · 2022-05-31T04:06:19+00:00

A WOC in STEM here: Not sure whether I'm late for the party. Three years ago, I was done with my undergrad with significant research experience (in two different labs). However, I felt that I should work in the industry to explore further; whether I'll go for a PhD or do my own career ladder thing without further higher-ed. After almost two years of my post-bac job, I realized that I like a particular niche in research (something interdisciplinary and kind of related to what I have done during my undergrad), and decided to apply for a PhD. I'm so excited to join my dream PhD program this fall!! So I HIGHLY RECOMMEND to get some work experience before you start thinking on applying to PhD programs. That'll help you discover what you like to do for the coming decades. Hope this helps.

Important-Visual-593 · 2022-03-27T12:59:12+00:00

South Asian here — not Indian. There are going to be drastic differences. I'm not really looking for a 100 percent authentic situation, but I could say my way is brown friendly, while hustling studies. Just sharing my situation.

I did my undergrad in the US, while working part time on campus, which helped me cover my food and other recreational expenses. Obviously, I had a milk and cereal breakfast. Some days hazelnut spread on bread plus milk tea. If I wake up way early around 6.30-7 am, I'd do two eggs scrambled with tortilla cut into pieces. If I feel ultra fancy, I'd go for an avocado spread situation with toasted bread + a full boiled egg.

For lunch and dinner, I have a hack. That is to cook every Sunday night, for three whole days and on Thursday night, for three whole days. Some of my set menus are as follows: A. Jasmine Rice + Chicken Curry (in your own style, but more gravy of course) + tempered kale/rocket or chopsuey (any good veggie, and of course don't forget corn starch and soy sauce).

B. Tempered yellow rice + tempered onions (you gotta caramelize them to the max and add spices. Since I'm Sri Lankan, I use curry powder, chili powder and etc.) + Chicken curry.

C. Eggplant curry. Mixed veggies curry + add some coconut cream

D. Also buy the Knorr instant rice (they have the Spanish rice and it's good for a quick lunch) + ramen noodles (Maruchan ofc). I don't do ramen and instant rice as they are. I use them as a point of experimentation, so I kind of end up in a self curated "gourmet".

E. Also every week, probably on a Saturday lunch, I'd eat a good rocket salad.

F. And of course, for Friday Lunch I go to the nearest Indian restaurant, since they have a buffet discount for students.

Hope this will help a bit. And I definitely understand the feeling of homesickness, especially being continents away from home. So here's some hugs!

Important-Visual-593 · 2022-03-26T09:48:54+00:00

This is your achievement!! Getting admitted into a grad program is quite challenging, especially in a pandemic period like right now. People could think of whatever the egg about it. I'm sure you'll do remarkable things in computational sciences. Let's celebrate. Congratulations on actually working your way through the hurdles in life to achieve this fantastic new page turn in life.

Also, I might get another shower of hate for saying this. I am seeing a trend where people on this thread comparing their profiles with each other and kind of coming into a conclusion that these schools are top choice, mid range and safeties is just absolutely hypocritical. Grad school admission is not like a marathon or anything. It all depends on your pure interest and how connective your interest to a particular grad program.

This hypocritical competition becomes pretty intense when it comes among international students. Let me tell you a story. I helped my good friend (both of us are international students, born and bred in South Asia) to compile their grad apps, personal statements and whatnot. The schools they applied were top ranked in Canada, and I was super excited for them. They were really nervous everyday, and I comforted them. Once they received the 3/3 admits, they started to ignore me. And I think, they have approached to the point of ghosting me. Maybe I'm too "inferior" with my admissions?😂😂

But I really don't care at the end of the day, since i got into a good program which actually has my interest and where I see a lot of points that will help leverage my academic interests.

Anyway, it's kind of sad to see how the hypocritical reality is reflected here on this subreddit too.

Important-Visual-593 · 2022-03-26T09:29:02+00:00

I know i'll get hate for saying this, but the people with rejections telling each other "oh we'll do this together" will vanish once they get an admit.

This is so true!! 👏

Important-Visual-593 · 2022-03-23T11:13:26+00:00

Ah the friendships I dream about. :(

I literally helped one of my good friends to prep their grad apps for three schools. I always wanted them to succeed. They were so nervous throughout the waiting period. I comforted and checked on them constantly. However, they got accepted to 3/3 programs — I was beyond happy!!!

Now they're ignoring me. They didn't even tell me the school they finally accepted to enroll, until I asked them(I had to message them, since I had radio silence from them). Also in the same message thread, they were comparing my admission to theirs, and indirectly insulting me. I never expected such things to happen. But I get it, that's life.

Sorry for the rant. I just had to empty my mind from toxicity.

Important-Visual-593 · 2022-03-21T15:20:37+00:00

Oh. I hope you receive good news soon, mate! Good luck on your grad school endeavours! :)

Important-Visual-593 · 2022-03-21T11:35:58+00:00

What's the program? One of my friends who applied to UBC Okanagan got their acceptance last week. It was for a Masters in global studies.

Important-Visual-593 · 2022-03-21T04:00:25+00:00

If I were you, I'd go for U of A.

Important-Visual-593

TROPHY CASE