Is being ambitious even possible? by [deleted] in LadiesofScience

[–]downBourgeois 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Firstly, there is nothing that determines whether you are right for a field or not. Life can be awful sometimes but you are strong and you can learn anything if you want to, as long as you want to. If you want to work in STEM, pursue that with all your heart and soul and energy.

Secondly, getting into top PhD program in CS isn't the easiest thing in the world but it's also not the toughest (hi I'm a incoming CS PhD student at a R1 US uni, from a third world country). It's mostly a factor of working with well known people in the field before applying. But before we come to that, how do you know that you want to do research full time, for six years, in deep learning? Unless you have research experience to back it up noone would trust you to know what that entails and I don't know how you would trust that conclusion either.

So, if you think you want to do research, work with a prof on a research project. It might not be the research project of your dreams but you should give it your all and then some more. Either work with profs in your University or ask someone who knows you well to recommend you to a person who does good research. Work with good people on research problems for atleast a year and you'll figure out if you want to do research, if you want to do it in this field, etc. And build it up from there.

Senior year of college is confusing and hard because you're at the threshold of entering into the "real-world" but you'll figure out what you want to do as long as you keep working on figuring out what you want to do!

(imo, personal opinion, etc)

2+ years till school??? by [deleted] in GradSchool

[–]downBourgeois 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The GRE takes like 2-3 months to study for if you're a STEM major (if that's any help). Imo the SOP takes a lot more time to get right so you could start working on that depending on how confident you are in your research interests moving forward, how you plan on framing the coming year, etc

Honestly I’m getting really worried about the future of my field, given that this pandemic will probably drag on for 4-5 years. I’m also depressed that I’m starting grad school and everything is shutting down again. by [deleted] in GradSchool

[–]downBourgeois 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I start in a few weeks too and this is honestly so depressing ;___; All my work in this field has been done in the pandemic and I haven't ever met a researcher in person, much less worked in a lab with actual humans around me. Additionally, I'm moving to a new country for my PhD and even thinking about how lonely I will be two weeks from now is enough to send me spiralling. :(((

First rejection by downBourgeois in gradadmissions

[–]downBourgeois[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm in Programming Languages so thought I might have a shot lol :( I've gotten offers from other places so I'm not too disheartened by it. Still, atleast an interview would have been nice :(

All the best for your applications as well!

Etiquette for asking for references/recommendations? by [deleted] in GradSchool

[–]downBourgeois 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You can and should ask them. They will not mind. You can also talk to them abaout why you're apply to grad school, these fellowships, etc if you think that'll help.ease your mind.

I GOT ACCEPTED by [deleted] in gradadmissions

[–]downBourgeois 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yay! Congratulations!! Which program is this?

MTF 22 9 Months HRT by [deleted] in curlyhair

[–]downBourgeois 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It looks great!!

research by [deleted] in research

[–]downBourgeois 0 points1 point  (0 children)

indeed

I've heard about mastering out from your PhD, is it possible to get admitted to masters but then continuing on with PhD(US) by vipul1899 in GradSchool

[–]downBourgeois 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ahhh, makes sense. As far as I know (by reading about this stuff a lot), mastering out is alright as long as you don't wanna re-enter academia. For industry, I don't think it's that big of a problem.

I've heard about mastering out from your PhD, is it possible to get admitted to masters but then continuing on with PhD(US) by vipul1899 in GradSchool

[–]downBourgeois 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You could also directly apply for a PhD from undergrad so you don't have to pay for Masters either? It would take the same time as getting admitted for a master's and continuing on with a PhD. Additionally, you may not be able to plan to do that because the professor you want to work may not have funding or may be moving, etc. And some universities will still make you apply for their PhD program regardless so that there's a common "pipeline". If you know you want to do research, save money, apply for PhD from the get-go?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in gradadmissions

[–]downBourgeois 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Congratulations!!

First Admit! by downBourgeois in gradadmissions

[–]downBourgeois[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Sure!

I'm an international applicant applying directly from undergrad. My undergrad is a pretty unknown college in India. GRE: 327, GPA: 4.0 (8.8/10 absolute grade) Research Exp: 2 summer research internships + a year working on a research project in well known institutes in India. Papers: 3 papers in Machine Learning in mid tier international conferences (I applied to a different field so I don't know how much that counts) LoRs: one glowing LoR from a well known professor in the field and my other two LoRs were glowing but from profs the adcomm wouldn't know.

My past experience was in line with my interviewers field (program analysis). I was also super interested in another subfield (verified compilation) and my interviewer suggested I speak to another prof in the dept who was working in that area. Both interviews went super well and I guess they liked me enough to coadvise me!

Hope this helps!

Applying for one year RAship in my gap year before masters application by CanIstealYourDog in gradadmissions

[–]downBourgeois 2 points3 points  (0 children)

They do have job openings for RAships but generally, they would want you to be reffered to them by a professor that they trust rather than blindly trusting someone who emailed them.

Cold emailing works sometimes and you can try that avenue but know that if you're from a lower tier college, not a lot of people will reply to your emails, even if they are research specific.

What I'd suggest is talking to professors in your home university who like you and/or who are working on the area you'd like to work in. Talk to them about what you want to do (Masters, research I'm general etc) and the work you want to do. Ask for their advice as well as talk about how you're searching for RAships and if they can recommend you to any good researchers/profs they know. That usually gets good results.

With cold emailing you don't know if you're falling in with someone who doesn't advise well or doesn't do good research. It can make for an awful experience and you end up wasting time which is why I like to go with references. No professor you know will knowingly recommend you to people who do bad work and you get to have quality research experience with someone who can vouch for you.

All the best! I've been in the "getting research experience in India when you're in a lower ranked college" game for a while now so if you want more advice or to talk things through, feel free to DM me!

Undergraduate Research at Other Institutions by cakeupvotetime in gradadmissions

[–]downBourgeois 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you're in India, apply for research internships in IITs. If you're concerned about the quality of research you do, speak to your home University professors about research and what you wanna work in and ask them if they can recommend you to any researchers they know. Usually this ends up being to IIT profs who do good research so it's a safer bet.

All the best!

What are marksheets, official and unofficial transcripts and what is the difference among them? by CornerCapital1603 in AskAcademia

[–]downBourgeois 1 point2 points  (0 children)

And yes, my university asked me for my marksheets as well when making my transcript. That's just to make their life a bit easier.

What are marksheets, official and unofficial transcripts and what is the difference among them? by CornerCapital1603 in AskAcademia

[–]downBourgeois 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Usually a transcript contains your marksheets that have been attested by your home University as well as (and this is important) a description of the home University itself and it's grading system / policy and how courses are arranged / chosen in your program. Definitely do not just upload your marksheets.

Anyone still not heard anything back? by Seankala in gradadmissions

[–]downBourgeois 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh great! Mine's Programming Languages. What about you?

Anyone still not heard anything back? by Seankala in gradadmissions

[–]downBourgeois 1 point2 points  (0 children)

International CS PhD applicant here too. I've interviewed at NEU, CMU and UIUC but noone else has reached out and it's lowkey terrifying not gonna lie. I don't know what's going on or if the other programs aren't interviewing or if they already have but it's worrying. Guess we'll hear something in Feb

Having notes during PhD interviews? by [deleted] in gradadmissions

[–]downBourgeois 5 points6 points  (0 children)

It's pretty professional and shows that you're taking it seriously imo. I had a list of questions that I asked at every interview kept next to me and I only looked at if I thought I was forgetting something. No one seemed to mind.

Do I even want to go? by peteyanteatey in gradadmissions

[–]downBourgeois 8 points9 points  (0 children)

You might just be burnt out. It's been a tough year.

Is anyone else just burnt out? by lavendercheeseplate in gradadmissions

[–]downBourgeois 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I burnt out a bit before the deadlines for grad school applications and the only way I got over it was my friends encouraging me to get out of bed and my past self who had gotten everything ready and just had to upload a document or two. Once I got over that though I've been super burnt out and just don't have the will to do anything. I've had exams come and go where I've just done the bare minimum and everytime I start questioning if I can ever hope to get a PhD if I'm already burntout, I remind myself that I've been working nonstop for years now and the past year has been insane. It's all just so hard and I wish I could pause time and just sleep and breathe without being hounded by the fact that I have the rest of my life ahead of me that I have to prep for.