Studying abroad allows us to go to an unfamiliar country alone to experience different educational concepts and national customs.
However, for most students, it is the first time to apply, and they are not familiar with the relevant knowledge and process of studying abroad, and they may step on the pit of studying abroad, resulting in application failure or unsatisfactory application.
Let's share my personal oneNorth American college applicationsexperience for everyone's reference.
First of all, I would like to introduce my background and application, I amApply for a doctoral program in the United States from a master's degree with a major in materials science.
The specific background and admission situation are as follows:
Undergraduate:Tianjin University, GPA375
Master's:Chinese Academy of Sciences, GPA381
toefl:
gre:
The final admissions are as follows:
Rice University, Ph.D
Brown University, full Ph.D
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, PhD Full Award
Texas A&M University, Ph.D
Final selection: Rice University, PhD
I'm probably inI decided to study abroad during the summer vacation of my first year as a graduate studentI want to experience a different atmosphere of education and scientific researchI mainly want to apply for doctoral programs in the United States.
Once you've decided on your intention to apply, you can take a brief look at the admission requirements for several PhD programs to get a general idea of what to do next.
The most important thing is English grades and research experience.
English TOEFL and GRE are the most basic requirements for admission to every school, and it is easy to find the hard requirements for English from the Internet.
It's important to prepare your English early! Very important! Very important!
Many students are still scrambling to prepare for English when the semester is approaching, and it is difficult to grab a seat at this time, and many schools miss the application deadline.
If you are not sure about your English learning plan, it is recommended to consult with a professional and take tutorials to help speed up the progress.
Remember, the application time is very short and precious, so make the most of each small time slot.
The second aspect is to try to enrich one's research experience and produce as many results as possible, such as articles and patents.
I was doing experiments in the lab during the day and learning English at night, and luckily the hard work paid offAt the end of the second year of research, there are some results, and you can sort out and distribute a small article.
Many undergraduate students are very worried that they don't have articles, and only have the experience of doing experiments with their brothers and sisters in some labs.
Therefore, it is necessary to enrich scientific research experience as soon as possible, and go to the laboratory more often to help my brothers and sisters do some of the most basic operationsThis is very important for my own scientific research understanding, and there are many opportunities to publish articles with my brothers and sisters.
When I submitted my application, the first draft of the article was probably written, but it had not been submitted yet, so it was basically the same as no article.
So when writing ps,Be sure to find a very experienced senior brother or sister or teacher in this major, who can summarize your characteristics from a simple and short scientific research experience, be good at extracting unique ideas and next steps from simple experiments, highlight your scientific research acumen and innovation, and be in line with the frontier of research hotspots.
Good psIt will highlight your own understanding and ideas of scientific research experience, rather than simply stating what you have done in the laboratory, which will be very beneficial for foreign supervisors to have an initial impression of you. This is very important for graduate school applications.
After completing the English score and research background improvement, it is necessary to start preparing the list of schools to apply to.
U.S. colleges and universities can apply to multiple programs at the same time, get multiple offers, and then choose their dream school
Generally speaking, everyone will apply to about ten or more schools to increase their probability of admission.
First of all, you must correctly evaluate your abilities in all aspects, and then choose the right school for you, including guaranteed schools, target schools and sprint schools. If you are not sure how to evaluate yourself, it is recommended to consult with a professional study abroad agency.
The guaranteed school is the guarantee of studying abroad, to ensure that all the application preparation in China will not be wasted, it is recommended to prepare 2-3 guaranteed schools; The target school is the most suitable for us, and there is a high probability of getting an offer, it is recommended to have 5-6 target schools; Of course, you have to apply to 2-3 sprint schools in the end, in case Lady Luck strikes.
Taking myself as an example, I applied to a total of 10 schools, among which Texas A&M and Colorado School of Mines (CSM) were the guarantees, Rice, Brown, Penn State University (PSU), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), Purdue and UT-Austin were all target schools. Berkeley and Duke as sprint schools.
Some people may ask, how to choose these schools?
My suggestion isExpand the scope of the school firstFor example, choose about 10 guaranteed schools, about 20 target schools, and about 10 sprint schools according to your major. And then according toThe advice of the tutor or professional study abroad agency is gradually narrowed down. Of course, it is also recommended that you contact some senior brothers and sisters who are already abroad, learn more about the situation in all aspects of the school department, and then make your own choice.
Another very important experience is multiple sets of magnetsTry to reach out to your tutor from among the dozens of schools you have chosen and ask them about their intentions for next year. Many departments only have one or two tutors in one direction, and if they don't have a clear enrollment plan, they can completely remove the school from the list. AbsolutelyIf one of the tutors responds to your email, showing a strong interest in admissions and encouraging you to apply, be sure to focus on this school.
Magnetism is very important for PHD projectsMany tutors attach great importance to students' innovation and imagination, and must be prepared well.
This will give you a good first impression on your supervisor, so that he will pay close attention to your application when reviewing applicants' materials, greatly increasing the chances of admission.
For the magnetic mail mode and how to restore the tutor's email, it is recommended to consult an experienced senior brother or sister or a teacher from a professional study abroad agency. In this way, you can avoid detours and make better use of valuable time and opportunities.
After you have preliminarily decided on the school you have chosen, you should start preparing your application materials, especially the essays.
Most school essays include Personal Statement (PS), CV or Resume and letters of recommendation. Some will also require a personal history statement, study or research plan, etc.
The English score and grade point are used by the secretary to screen the application materials in the first round, and the tutor will evaluate the applicants mainly based on the essays in the second roundTherefore, it is important to be concise and highlight what you want to express.
For example, highlight your rich scientific research experience, how to solve problems from a new perspective, how to look at the current problems of scientific research, how to think and understand these, and how these will affect your own perception of scientific research. You can also highlight that you have rich extracurricular activities, have participated in many public welfare activities, and have good leadership and social skills. Or even highlight your curiosity about how to understand, think, and solve problems.
In short, PS must have content, don't praise yourself with empty words. If you are not sure how to write an essay, it is highly recommended to find a professional to help you, which will not only save time, but also be beneficial to your application.
Comparatively speaking, CV or Resume will be simplerMainly change to the standard English format, highlighting their own characteristics and strengths.
There is also a piece of recommendation in the paperwork. A weighty letter of recommendation can make the application more effective with half the effort, and many foreign tutors like to recruit students recommended by people they know. But that doesn't mean that a letter of recommendation from a bull is necessarily more effective than a mentor who is familiar with you.
Personally, I recommend finding a teacher who is very familiar with you firstFor example, tutors, class teachers, classroom teachers, instructors who participate in some projects, etc. Then ask the big bulls who know you better about them about their attitude towards writing recommendation letters.
Most schools require three letters of recommendation, two of which are for teachers who are very familiar with them, and one for those who know them better, which covers all aspects and is more beneficial to the application.
If some students have summer exchange or joint training experience with foreign countries, try to ask the foreign tutor to write a letter of recommendation.
In the application season, each teacher has a large number of letters of recommendation to deal with, and it is necessary to greet the tutor in advance, how many schools to apply to, and when to submit the application, so that he can prepare in advance.
When you finally narrow down the school selection to about 10, it's almost time to submit your application.
It is recommended to browse the schools and programs you want to apply to one by one, and you can draw a ** to help you record. Include the school you are applying to, the program, the deadlines, the requirements, the essays, whether there are any additional requirements, and the school's account password. This will help you better track the application dynamics of each school.
Be sure not to miss the deadlineThe vast majority of science and engineering programs are due on December 15 (local time in the United States).
Many schools don't strictly require TOEFL and GRE scores to be submitted by the application deadline. But be sure to look at the specific requirements of each schoolIt is recommended that you can send your TOEFL and GRE scores to the school you want to apply to after choosing a school.
Then complete the application submission step by step according to the online requirements, and if you have any questions, you can send an email to ask the secretary of the department. If you are not familiar with the application process, it is recommended to find classmates to apply together or find a professional study abroad agency to ensure that you do not make mistakes in this basic operation and affect the final application. Of course, you also need to have a credit card that can be settled in US dollars to pay the application fee for each school.
After submitting the application, there is a long wait. Basically, I have to check my mailbox several times a day to see if there are any new emails coming over, and even to see if any emails have been blocked and blocked.
Taking myself as an example, when the Spring Festival was approaching, I got a full award offer from Texas A&M, and I finally had an offer, so I could spend the New Year in peace.
Then I received an email from one of my supervisors asking me to make an appointment, which is also a very common part of the PhD program application, so that the supervisor can quickly understand your research ability and ideas.
I just took the summary of my experiments in the report of the recent group meeting, revised it into English, and practiced how to speak in English many times, and also prepared a few questions that might be asked.
An interview means a good chance of being accepted, so be sure to prepare well. If you don't have a clue, find more experienced people or professional teachers to help you explain your project in a clear way.
Luckily, I received an offer from Rice shortly after the interview, and it was a school I really wanted to go to. Then, during the Chinese New Year, I also received several other offers.
Eventually, I received four full award offers from Texas A&M, Rice, Brown and RPIIt's a bit of a shame that I didn't get an offer from the sprint school, but Rice and Brown are both places I really want to go.
With these offers, my heart was full of joy, I felt that my efforts were not in vain, and I thought that every night I stayed up in the past two years was worth it.
The last question is how to choose the best offer for you (if you have multiple offers).It is also recommended to make a **, listing the offers received and the conditions you care about.
For example, you want the school to be in a big city or close to the city, the reputation of the school, the ranking of the major, the employment situation, the difficulty of changing majors, etc.
You can do some research on your own online, or you can contact senior brothers and sisters you know or send an email to some Chinese in the school (the email address can be found on the department's website).
If it is a PhD program, it is highly recommended to learn more about the supervisors in the departmentSome students have already selected a mentor when accepting the offer, in this case, they must learn more about the tutor situation and the atmosphere in the group, after all, the next few years will be spent in the same group.
It is important to choose a supervisor and research group who is nice, academically excellent, and has a harmonious atmosphere.
My own experience was mainly due to the struggle between Rice and Brown, and finally I considered that Rice's major ranking is better, I also liked the research direction, and the supervisor was very nice, so I finally accepted Rice's offer.
After confirming the final offer, you can happily apply for a visa and prepare to start your study abroad life.
The above is a summary of my own experience in studying abroad, and I hope it will be of some help to those who are willing to study abroad and pursue their dreams.
A little advice for everyone:
It is recommended that students who are preparing to study abroad must prepare as soon as possibleThere are too many things to deal with at the same time, and the sooner you start preparing, the more chances you have to go to dream school;
Be sure to seek help from someone with experienceFor example, familiar senior brothers and sisters or professional study abroad agencies can speed up efficiency, avoid mistakes, and can highlight the key points and meet the requirements of the school tutor.
Finally, I hope that everyone can offer a lot and go to Dream School to study and live.