So Guys.. So butterflies in the stomach The moment has arrived.

You have been preparing for this one exam for past 1 year (3 years, 2 years, 6 months, 1 week whatever)

And just 2.5 hours to decide your fate..(does it??? I dont think so) It certainly does put your efforts into dustbin if you dont do well..

Anyways, so what to do in the last 1 – 2 week to go.. What to do now????

I am sure you have been searching “1 week to cat” in almost all possible forums remotely related to CAT.. I dont blame you for that.. Even I was doing the same last year..

Here is what I did. Disclaimer: You dont have to do what I did. I am just telling what I did.
1. Revise all basic formulas in quants.
2. Brought 2 novels & I was reading it to keep my thoughts away from CAT
3. Went out & Played cricket almost everyday.

So what should u do???

I am sure there will be hazaar forums out there.. which will recommend which movies to watch on the day before CAT.
Dont fall for all this. Do what fits you best. Do what you will naturally do to keep your focus, at the same time without getting too focussed.

There will a huge speculation about whether you should write your last mock cat, correct your last mock papers which you give in your room etc.. Again, Be yourself. If you are someone who can take a low score and still believe that you can go there and crack the paper, correct your paper. Else dont correct. Samething for last paper.

So remember one thing, be yourself. Be confident. Just believe in yourself.

I was having a conversation with my friend yesterday.. And this what he had to tell about life at IIMs & IITs.

“IIMs & IITs are like public toilets. People outside want to desperately come in. People inside want to desperately get out.”

Well, however hilarious that comment was.. it is partially true..

So dont worry.. There is life beyond CAT, irrespective of whether you do well or not.. So.. thats it.. give your best.. Enjoy the moment!!

All the best.

How did I change my verbal scores in just 1 one month before CAT???

Like most of the situations, even this can be handled.. Here is what I did..

* I accepted that my accuracy in english is pathetic and I cant do much about it.. My accuracy was in the range of 50-60%.. So, I tried to maximize the number of questions I attempt.

* I used to attempt english last in my mock exams. Any section you attempt last, you might not do upto to your potential.. As such, it is difficult to score in english.. Having it last.. makes it even worse.. So I decided to attempt english first.. I gave 1 hour for english.. I try to attempt all the questions.. But in CAT 2007, I attempted 20 questions (because my 1 hour was up)

* I started focussing more on Reading Comprehension. The best thing about Reading Comprehension is that the answer is already there in the paper.. You should only trust your abilities to read.. I wasnt doing too well in Reading Comprehension before.. This was because, I used to rush through passages.. At the end of the day speed doesnt make sense.. Read the passage as if you are reading some news paper article.. Read it at pace which you can understand.. Dont move to the next paragraph, without understanding a given paragraph fully.. It might sound funny.. But if you profile your time, you will realize that you will spend 2-3 minutes extra.. Thats all.. And this will be made up when you answer questions..

* Read 3 articles a day.. And more than reading, write down 3 sentences summary about the article.. Re-read the article and check out if your summary is good enough.. If not modify your summary.. If you can do this with a companion, it will be very good.. As you will get points, which you would have missed out.. This exercise certainly has rewards.. But it will take time for you to see the impact on your performance.. It is a long term process.

* Also, when you are asked for summary of the passage, please dont mark the answer without reading the starting and the ending lines of each of the paragraph..

* Above all this, handle your verbal section patiently.. Give yourself enough breathing time.. Answer the verbal section, without looking at the watch every 2 minutes..

All the best!!

ps: CAT strategies are not one size fit all.. So.. Try this, and find out if the method works for you..

Today I have a very close friend of mine – Santhosh to share his gyaan about MS Vs Phd & apping.. I wont give any formal introduction about Santhosh.. What I am going to tell will speak volumes of Santhosh..

While a lot of us yearn to make it to Stanford.. A prof from stanford calls up Mr. Santhosh asking him.. if he can join Stanford! Thats “Stan-thosh” for you..

Without further ado, over to Santhosh..

Hi CWS Readers,
I am Santhosh Kumar S. I am a doctoral candidate at Stanford University. I joined the university as a Masters Candidate after which I managed to get into the doctoral program by clearing the qualifier examinations. My field of expertise is in Aeronautics and Astronautics. Specifically I major in COmputational Fluid Dynamics wherein I try to implement a physical model for fluid flows in a computer algorithm and hence try to simulate the flow numerically and obtain results which when compared to actual experiments would validate my physical model and numerical implementation. I did my undergrad at IITM.

MS/PhD
A common thought in the mind of undergrads who want to obtain a higher degree in term of education is “MS or PhD”. The common source of confusion is because these two programs have very different timelines. While a PhD would on an average take 5 years, a MS would in general take 1.5 years, giving around 3 years of work experience on the completion of the 5 year period. Hence one begans to debate of its worth doing a 5 year research study or obtain valuable work experience during the same time. In my thoughts, I would say, the two programs have a very different design and layout, meant for very different streams of interest and apptitude. One should seriosly debate on if one posses the ability to work on research independently or if one has the ability to do well in an industry.

In most of the technical fields a MS is considered as equivalent to one year of work experience. Most of the MS programs are designed to give a brief overview of the topic, in the sense, a revision of the syllabus covered over the entire course of Bachelors, and moving a little furthur by presenting practical situations, real life complications, or present study and findings. Most MS programs around the globe have course requirements along with some basic research requirements on completion of which a candidate is endowed with the degree. In most cases the course requirements are dominant over the research requirements. The research leg of a Masters is only aimed at providing the student some way of a independent thought and to test and improve his/her ability to do independent research and work in phase with a guide. Hence this does not require the candidate to contribute to the research as such in a major way. Also the timeline given for research to a candidate is small, a few months to a year at most; during which the candidate is expected to familiarise himself with the present work through a literature survey and frame a goal for his own research and then obtain results.

Coming to the more practical issue of funding, most of us Indian find the fee structure and cost of living in the US universities exorbitant. This is because while education is considered a basic necessity in India its a luxury in the US. Most of us would look for financial aid in terms of Research Assistantship(RA) , Teaching Assistantship(TA) or Fellowships to fund our education/living costs fully or partially. Most of the funding given for Masters students is only in terms of fellowships and few by TAs. This is because the RAs are reserved for candidates from whom the university/dept/professor would benefit in terms of research advancement, hence they are generally only offered to PhD candidates who will remain with the university on a long term basis. As there are more number of RAs than TAs and Fellowships in most universities in general there are much higher chances of obtaining funding for a PhD candidate than a MS candidate. There is another suttle issue here, so in the case one does not obtain funding, does that mean spending around 60K$ over a MS is not worth it? From what I find, candidates who sponser their entire education in top universities are able to make up for the money in a year or two of working in the US. This again totally depends on the scope of industry work for your field of interest and the reputation of your university. Hence its a compromise and one needs to gather information from people who have been in similar situations before taking a decision. But obtaining a degree from a reputed university in a industry oriented field is certainly worth the money and I would consider that money an investment.

The PhD program on the other hand has a very different structure to it. It is designed to focus on the ability of the candidate to conduct independent research while working with some guidelines provided by a professor. The candidate is given lot of time to familiarise himself with the present work in the field, and to frame a problem of interest. The candidate is expected to not only work towards obtaining that goal but is also expected to defend the choice of the research topic. As in “WHY” are you working on that problem? What is the need for it? Is it worth the money and time that is been spent on it. What are the practical consequences. The candidate is expected to address each of these questions and then come up with a solution to each of these issues. In a nutshell, the PhD program is where a candidate chooses a particular problem, and develops detailed understanding of each of its aspects, fragments the problem into sub problems and fragment them furthur and obtains solutions to each of them. In this process over the time, the candidate obtains the best understanding of the problem and becomes an expert in that particular problem.

Now one may ask, so what is the scope of PhD? Is it that one can only join a research lab or a university as a professor because the candidate only has a detailed understanding of one particualr topic in a specific field. Is there no scope of industry work? I would say no. Though many PhD students join universities as professors, research labs as associates etc a majority of them join the industry! And not just the industry that focuses on their field of research. Varied industries, consultancy firms, financial markets etc demand for PhD candidates. The reason is very evident if one just looks into the structure of the PhD program. The candidate obtains expertise in conducting independent research, focusing on the practicalities of the problem, developing solutions models to them, implementing them to obtain results. This require considerable focus, logic, practical thinking and ability to defend ones stand. These are skills every industry/firm/company looks for. Hence the scope after PhD is wide.

Hence each of these programs have their own needs and cater to different minds. The apptitude of the candidates is very different, each having its own strengths. Most students apt for a MS initially, and while in that program learn and find if one has the apptitude to do a PhD in the field before committing to it. It is for this reason that most universities advice you to do a MS with them before continuing for a PhD because then one can keep their options open.

Thanks a lot Santhosh..
Readers, hope you enjoyed this episode of Coffee With Experts. For previous episodes, click here. ]]> http://coffeewithsundar.com/stanford-phd-student-on-ms-vs-phd/feed/ 10 http://coffeewithsundar.com/tech-sector-vs-mba-thoughts-from-junta/ http://coffeewithsundar.com/tech-sector-vs-mba-thoughts-from-junta/#comments Wed, 14 May 2008 06:09:12 +0000 Sundar Rajan G S http://coffeewithsundar.com/tech-sector-vs-mba-thoughts-from-junta/ Hi All,

I think this interview with Manas Garg, about rejecting IIM B call was quite useful. There is nothing right or wrong about his decision. What one can take out this discussion is “WHAT IS IT THAT YOU WANT TO DO..” matters the most..

There are lots of very insightful comments given @ the end of the post.
Check out the comments given by Pradeep Kumar, Ram, Shyam, Anshul etc.. Quite useful I would say.

There was a discussion about this in IIM Bangalore – PGP 2008 – 2010 yahoo group. Seniors have their views about it as well. For the benefit of readers, here is what some seniors told. I really hope this will help you in your decision to pursue/not pursue MBA.

A senior Parul was kind enough to give a long explanation..

Dear Sundar n others facing similar dilemma

In my view, there can be no general answer to your question. However, it’ll be of benefit to continue speaking to many ppl and get individual perspectives. Here, I’ll share my perspective.

1. I feel every participant of the course is entitled to his/her likings and dislikings. Yes, you’ll have people who are doing an MBA coz they wanted to move on from the technology sector. And, why do
you not expect them here? It’s a general management program. If u dream about science/technology all the time and want to be a scientist/technologist, why do an MBA? The world needs bright scientists n technologists just as it needs bright managers. However, if your interest is in managing technology businesses, MBA does make sense.

2. Many of us at IIM B are from technology backgrounds. If some hate coding, some loved it too. It’s the same with everything, is n’t it? Some love marketing, some hate it. There are my batch mates who still love to code and they write codes to automate funcions of bookclub or sigma. But they pursue it as a hobby. The curriculum won’t have any courses in coding. It will have courses in managing technology businesses – technology marketing, Management of Information systems, Internet marketing.

3. I think asking whether there are people who love coding in IIM B is just as good as asking whether there are people who love X in IIM B? X could be sports, restaurants or even wines. If you choose not to come to IIM B as there are more of X haters than X lovers, it’s a personal choice. If you choose to do MBA as you love to manage the business of X, fair choice. The question you can ask of the course is – will the course have courses about managing business of X?

4. If we keep emphasizing on the selection process at IIM B, it’s just to say that your batch will have enough of diversity. And this diversity will make it more probable that u’ll find someone else who loves X no matter how unconventional that love maybe.

5. Yes, it might be difficult to get into hardcore tech after an MBA. VLSI Firms like ST Microelectronics India don’t even need an MBA for you to be a manager there. As STM India is a design centre. Most managers there are not managing businesses,they are managing design teams. They need to know the technology their teams are working on. So, most managers are engineers who have climbed up the management ladder. If an engineer at STM India wants to stay in
become a manager at STM India, a full time MBA might not be the route to take. Some Engineers there are doing part-time MBA. Maybe, it fits the bill better.

6. Tech firms like Yahoo! do hire from general management programs like ours. Google has hired Product Managers from ISB. So, if the manager’s profile at a tech firm has an element that’s taught at B schools, tech firms will hire from B schools.

Kandarp gave the following gyaan.

I have 3 things to say :

“Entrepreneurship”(‘A’) is different from “Being in
hard core tech”(‘B’).

C: Only one of A and B requires an MBA.

Your friend ( Manas ) seems to confuse the two when he says he is afraid to ‘lose touch’ with technology – coding , which might indeed happen when he becomes an entrepreneur. In effect, he is perfectly right when he says he is too early for him to do an MBA.

Readers, I really hope this information was helpful for you. I would like to say “What you want to do” matters most.. Talk to people.. to get a better picture..

A lots of us want to get into IIM Bangalore.. There is so much about getting to A B or C.. Its a dream!! People slog for it for years… But today, I have a very special guest, Manas Garg! Manas, is also one among 250,000 people who took CAT 2007 with a dream of making it to the IIMs.. But when he got a lonely call from IIM Bangalore, he rejected the offer to attend the interview.. Manas has given some of his thoughts about why he rejected the call in this episode of Coffee With Experts.. Today, when a lot of us are gha-gha about making into IIMs, without even having any idea about why they want to be there.. This interview could be an eye-opener..
Its my pleasure to invite Manas Garg!

Coffee With Manas Garg!

Me: Sundar Rajan G S
MG: Manas Garg

Me: Hi Manas, First of all – Let me tell you.. You have taken a gutsy decision. When did you take the decision to pursue CAT/MBA? And more imporantly when did you decide to reject the call?
MG: It was in the final year, after working for Spider Club.. I realized that I throughly enjoyed working independently. I felt that entrepreneurship was my goal.. and thus an MBA seemed to the right thing to do. However, I was never completely convinced about this idea, and I kept getting second thoughts all the time. It was only after the results were out and I got the call from IIM Bangalore that I finally decided that I’d reject the call.

Me: Just to add context to this discussion, what was your cat percentiles, how many calls did you get.. Can you share these details..
MG: I had 98.5 percentile, and got just one call – from IIM-B. I attempted very few questions in the English section and my percentile in that section (apparently my strongest) turned out to be just 83. I was expecting calls from other IIMs but definitely not IIM-B. Getting the B call was a pleasant surprise.

Me: Where was the mismatch… You were enthusiastic at one point and suddenly u decided no after getting call.. Why did you change your decision.
MG: After getting the call, I spoke to a lot of people – people studying at IIM-B, people studying in ISB and people with commendable experience in the tech sector. The common things that came out of my discussions were as follows:

• IIMs are not a good place if you want to go into a tech company after your MBA. People in IIM love finance, economics and dream of Investment banks and Consultancy firms. I’d be a mismatch – I dream about technology all the time!

• Most engineers who join IIMs do it mainly ‘coz they have had enough of coding. I still haven’t – Again – I’d be the odd one out.

• After two years in such an environment, I’d lose touch with technology – and everyone agreed that it would be hard to get back into hardcore tech.

• It is not a do-or-die situation for me as yet. I can always go do an MBA later if i want to. Why hurry things up? I’m all of 22 years old.

To top it all, I love my job. I love the workplace, I love the kind of work I’m getting and I love the people I’m working with. As you can see, I have enough reason not to go for an MBA just now. I have described the reasons in detail and had a debate with my friends on my blog here – http://manasg.com/2008/03/25/mba/

Me: Now that you have thought a lot about MBA in India.. What are the pros and the cons of it.. (According to you!)
MG: MBA is more than the glamorous profession people in school or college look up to. The entry is difficult, and upto an extent, random too. Once in the institute, you need to work very hard. What we did for our engineering is nothing compared to the hard work an MBA course demands. And finally, the high paying jobs one gets after the MBA are also taxing – they don’t really leave you with time to relax.

MBA courses in India are highly inclined towards finance, and there are hardly any reputed MBA courses with focus on technology or entrepreneurship.

Me: Microsoft gives a good Pay package for software engineer.. How much did money factor play a role in you decision.. even if it played a small role?
MG: I’d be lying if I say money did not pay a role. Had I been earning much lesser than what I’m just now, maybe this decision would have been tougher for me. Microsoft is an amazing place to work. The work environment, unlike most other tech companies, is very relaxed. However, relaxed definitely does not mean it is not challenging. The combination of good work, good work environment and good compensation is very satisfying. Also, I learn a lot everyday at work – there are always new things to do.

Me: What does your bold decision mean.. No MBA or No Indian MBA? What are the other options that you are looking for? Are you thinking of MS/Phd? Or MBA abroad.
MG: My decision does not mean no MBA. As of now, I’m enjoying my work as a developer at Microsoft, and don’t want to do anything to spoil it. If I feel that I’m done with technology (which is highly unlikely), I’d have no option but to go for an MBA. To put things in perspective, entrepreneurship has always been my dream, and I’ll do anything that is required to achieve it.

Me: Where do you see yourself 5 years down the line?
MG: I’m not sure if I can answer this truthfully – so I’ll skip it.

Me: What is the message that you would like to give to juniors in NIT Trichy.. And to all the other CAT aspirants & MBA aspirants?
MG: All I’d like to say is that don’t get caught in the rat race. Introspect, think and find out what you really want to do. College is a great time to figure out your passion. If you come out of college with a set goal, life will be much easier. Most of us have no idea about the job we’re going to take up – and consequently have no concrete plans for the future. Set a goal for yourself that you want to achieve in this lifetime – everything else is only the path leading to it. MBA or CAT is only one small piece in the whole jigsaw puzzle.

Me: What do you think about CWS initiative? What do you like about it.. Do suggest areas of improvements also..
MG: Sundar’s passion for his blog is really commendable. Even though he goes around telling every time there is a new post, I think it is only because he wants to share what he has discovered. I’m sure Sundar’s blog will soon be counted in India’s best blogs. I’m a regular reader of his blog and am so happy that he asked me to appear on his blog!

Me: Manas, its my pleasure to host you as well! All the best for your future.

For previous episodes of Coffee With Experts – Click here

During my last 2 years, I learnt a lot of things… Really really lot!! I learnt some of these things by making mistakes.. I learnt a few things from others.. But at the end of the day, I am happpy that I had an invaluable experience @ Google.. I thought I could share some of my learnings, so that you dont have to learn it the HARD way!!

These are my learnings..

* Two things motivate people to work.. Its either PASSION or INCENTIVE..Example of an incentive is things like promotion, salary, perks etc.. I cant give examples for PASSION.. One should feel it! Its the fire.. the extra energy that comes when one does what he loves.. I mean.. really really LOVE.. Feel the FIRE to understand it.

* A lot of times, people dont realize their PASSION. People only know what they dont like… It takes time and conscious effort to find out one’s passion.

* If one works only for incentives.. When there is a set back/rough period, one will really be down and depressed! There will be a feeling that one is wasting his INVALUABLE POTENTIAL by working for SOMEONE ELSE. But if one works on/with what one is passionate about, A difficult stage becomes an opportunity to learn and excel..

* When it comes to choosing job offers, there are 3 important things which one must keep in mind.. Career – Compensation – Company culture. The order can be any, but all three are important.. Most of time, especially in college, we only bother about Compensation.. The other two are equally important as well.

* At some level, money will no longer be important.. I am sure a lot will disagree.. But thats the plain fact! As one starts earning more, the focus will shift to career opportunities and company culture lot more than just the marginal increase in salary.

* The first person who leads you has a lot of influence on you.. This could be your mentor/team lead/manager/tech lead or whatever fancy name you give this person.. JUST BE AWARE OF IT.. These guys could be great and might have positive impact on you… sometimes they might have negative impact on your personality.. JUST BE CONSCIOUS about this… You need not replicate/emulate your *LEAD*

* When at work, there can be relationships beyond colleagues.. I mean.. make friends.. A lot of people tend to be very formal.. Its probably worth breaking this a bit.. Hang out with colleagues for NON WORK reason.. Its a lot of fun.

* Another thing, which I learnt is.. Whenever an incentive is given too regularly, it loses its value.. If you keep getting T shirts, it loses its SPECIAL status.. It is for this reason, after a while, monthly salary is not going to be SPECIAL..

* I realized that the responsibility is on the individual to take initiatives.. There will no longer be any spoon feeding.. There are exciting people out there.. Interact with them.. Learn from them.. Teach them.. Show them your learnings.. Show them your accomplishments and appreciate theirs.. The onus is on each individual.. If you observe closely, you will get lots of amazing people who can be role models in one thing or the other.. Let me tell you.. you dont have to search for Gandhis or Narayan Moorthys or Premjis for role models.. You will get a lot in your work place..

* Infact, I really really want to emulate Sreeram in the way he teaches others, the way he learns and keeps himself updated.. There is this Vidhya in Orkut team.. Just amazing person like Sreeram.. She takes so many initiatives.. There is apurv.. Amazing Amazing guy.. He is just super aggresive.. He doesnt like things to be WAITING or IDLE.. I really appreciate it.. The ONUS IS ON ME to follow some traits from people like these.. And in fact, become one such person.. so that others can follow me..

* One thing I very badly repent in my 2 years at work.. I never became an expert in something.. Its great to get your work done.. But its even greater when your knowledge helps others accomplish goals.. I have learnt a lesson here.. I will be expert in alteast one area.. Infact, I dont want be just a company level expert.. I want to be an Industry Level Expert.. And I will keep updating my skills regularly.. Its very very important..

* There was one thing I have been good at along, which I would like to continue further down.. I enjoy prototyping.. And prototyping is very very important.. For one simple reason, there will be people out there.. whose only work is to criticize whatever you say!
This prototyping will stop people from giving “random gyaan”.. They will give more focussed comments.. Trust me.. Interactions with people after having a prototype is so so awesome.. You will get invaluable suggestions.

* This also reminds something which I couldnt digest for months.. Actually IT IS VERY DIFFICULT to come up with new ideas which are reasonably useful.. Each individual can think that he has 2000 or may be even 2 Million ideas.. But if you start discussing deeply.. you will realize that most of these will get shot down right away!! And a really good idea can also be lost in the mess! So.. its better to prototype any non-trivial ideas… A lot of ideas rarely succeed but some ideas which manage to.. eventually end up having huge impact.. So, its worth the effort of prototyping.

* One must come of out of the kids world – where you BELIEVE your efforts always have results.. You will realize that it is not true.. and Life is unfair.. And at times, it can be very bad as well.. Accept this.. Remember that there will be people whose decisions (knowingly, unknowingly, carelessly, carefully, whatever..) can affect your life for Good or Bad! Accept this and you will be really happy in this big world!

* Work very hard and work passionately.. Love your work even if you cant work on what you love… Trust me.. You will suddenly see that your productivity has increased.. You will start making meaningful contribution..

* After working with really really talented people.. Amazing guys trust me.. A melting pot of talent.. I realized one thing.. TALENT DOESNT MATTER.. Yes!! What matters most is one’s passion and attitude.. Googlers work with great attitude.. The right attitude will take a person a long way..

With these learnings, I step back into the academic world at IIM B! When I come back to this Corporate World – I am sure it wont be back to square 1. Thank you Google for this invaluable experience.

Jayant Haritsa’s views on MS Vs Phd.

A couple of random points (caveat: as you will see below, i am heavily biased towards a traditional notion of academics):

1) Firstly, we should not make value judgements between Masters vs PhD in the sense of one being superior or inferior — it is more an issue of what *you* would like to do in the remainder of your technical life.

If you are the type who prefers to work in teams and is keen on developing immediately useable systems, then pursuing a Masters would make good sense. On the other hand, if you are the type who likes to work alone and secretly wishes to pursue an irresponsible life and be paid for it, then doing a PhD may be an attractive proposition.

2) I personally am not in favor of PhD thesis coming out of large systems projects, based on the following reasoning - a PhD should gear you up for carrying out *independent* research and is in a sense, a process of *self*-realization. However, often in a large group project, you get either lifted or pulled down or channeled by the group objectives and members. So you really don’t get to figure out your *own* abilities due to the external modulation. Ideally, a Phd should prepare you for the loneliness of academic life

Further, in large systems projects, sooner or later, getting the software out usually becomes more important than the concepts themselves – but to me the quality of a PhD is defined by the fresh *conceptual* breakthroughs.

3) The reason often given for an industry stint before or during PhD is that you get to grips with “real problems”. My view is again that of the pure mathematician – who cares? The “real” just means that it may have *short-term* applicability, but in practice, most PhD thesis find their way into the real-world in the long-term. To give you a recent example – Mike Stonebraker is now using some of the scheduling ideas from a thesis of fifteen years ago in the Streambase prototype.

Do a Phd when you are at the peak of your mental powers, which is *right now* - don’t bother so much about whether it is “industry-relevant”, as much as “did I have fun thinking about the problem and did I come up with elegant solutions that I am proud to show my mother”.

4) Finally, in my view, ideal Phd is one where *you* come up with the problem, work alone (modulo advisor) and single-handedly write a definitive thesis on the issue.

Hope you enjoyed this episode of Coffee With Experts! Previous episodes of Coffee with Experts is here.

Refer to Prof. Mor Harchol-Balter’s guide for application to PhD (link:http://www.cs.cmu.edu/education/admissions/doctorate/)

In a nutshell, MS is like furthering your education, learning advanced topics and carrying out more complex projects than at undergrad level. After that, you get job as software engineer in some firm (higher salary than undergrad and better quality of work in US) As a PhD, you can work in a university or in some research lab or as system architect in some firm. From admission point of view(for CS), it’s very difficult to get admission for PhD compared to MS. But aid is almost guaranteed for PhD and almost never available for MS. Some universities like, wisconsin-madison has integrated MS/PhD program. So, its one common pool of applicants and everyone who is admitted is for PhD program and gets aid. He can drop out after MS.

Apping Process

From my experience -

1. GPA and university reputation are most important for admission to any university.

2. Your best chances are in the universities where your seniors have been in past.

3. Have a good resume. Don’t have it more than a page as far as possible. No admission committee member has time to read long resumes. So, longer you write more “boring” you become to him. Achievements in programming contests get special attention(depending on the level of competition)

4. SoP: I doubt if anyone reads it, but make a good statement of yourself. Be objective! No articulate language. One page as far as possible….but 1.5 page is OK. Talk about yourself, your experience in the field and why you want to join graduate school and why join the particular university and briefly mention career plan

5. Reco letters: I know most of you will be required to write your own reco letters….so here are some tips. I believe, after GPA this is most important thing. References based on your industrial work don’t matter. Admission committee wants to know about your skills in academics. If the person can comment on your abilities and skills, then it may be OK.

Reference letter should always focus on specifics: “person took course XYZ with me and secured score of 99.99 out of 100 and was 2nd in class of 100 students. He did so and so work under my supervision. He did this and this in that project. Achieved so and so in that….and that work is up for publication now….in so and so conference. I have supervised students in past who made to graduate schools at MIT, CMU, Stanford and I consider him to be at par with them….I consider him to be in top 100% of students I have supervised….or in top 200% of students who make to places like….. “

This is the reference letter, people are looking for! Focus on specifics….don’t write, “he is hardworking, ambitious….I found him very social….NOOOO!!
No one wants to read that kind of stuff……Include a line about communication skills. It is important.

If you are writing more than a letter… make sure all those styles are different….. people here *DO* recognise that students write own references in India and tend to discount those.

6. Choose universities carefully. Some of you asked for universities and selecting them. It is very difficult for me to comment on choice of universities. I repeat, chances are best where your seniors have been in past. It hardly matters, in my opinion if the university is 30th ranked or 50th for MS. If you are going for lower ranked universities, apply to places where there are jobs like, California or Boston or washington state.

Remember, every university has different priorities and has different procedure and criteria for admission.

First Posted at Coffee With Sundar – http://coffeewithsundar.com