Undergraduate School:Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications.
Professional:Communication Engineering.
gpa：90.4， major 92.1， top 2%
gre:v156，170，3
toefl:r29 + l27 + s22 + w26 = 104
Scientific Research Experience:Tsinghua Network Institute for half a year, UCLA summer research for two months.
Internship Experience:Intel Internship.
Two water submissions (Infocom is in the application process).
Contests or other:National Award, Mobile Scholarship, Mersey H Award, English Competition.
In 2016, during the UCLA summer research period
gpa
Master's degree application,In addition to the bachelor's degree, the decisive factor should be GPA.
For GPA, children who go abroad can never relax, and should do their best to take every exam and prepare for every experiment.
Your excellent grades will become the first stepping stone for you to do projects, find internships, and apply for scientific research.
In the application for changing majors, some courses related to the changed major are even more important, and some schools will also require the relevant courses and scores to be listed when filling in the online application.
In short, your undergraduate school and GPA ultimately determine what level of school you apply to.
I myself have been preparing to apply for graduate school abroad since my freshman year, so I have paid great attention to the results of each course since my freshman year, and basically guaranteed that the score of major courses is above 90 points, and I have also won a national scholarship for this.
I took the gregre exam once, took New Oriental's intensive class in the summer of my sophomore year, went home and gnawed angrily for two months, and then just finished the gre:v exam at the beginning of the first semester of my junior year.
Personally, I think it is still necessary to get started with GRE, help you save a lot of time to organize the OG by yourself, and there will be a lot of information.
The process is painful due to the direct on-GREIt is recommended that children with a poor foundation should start with TOEFL firstOf course, it will be much easier to prepare for the TOEFL after taking the GRE.
There is still a need to pay attention to AW, and some schools will use AW to brush people, such as Gatech's CS and ECE have been stuck in 4 years in recent years0。
Therefore 30 AW I also struggled for a long time whether to retake the exam, and even reconsidered.
Although in the end I decided to focus on improving other soft skills first and gave up retaking the exam, no one can say how much influence AW has on admissions, or try to get a 3 in one attempt5 or more is more secure.
TOEFL
I have taken the TOEFL test a total of 3 times, and I have not been to New Oriental, and you can find information and experience from the sustenance forum, which is completely enough
What is more sad is that I have always felt that my speaking is not bad, and I have taken the test three times (and spent two months in the United States in the middle) with a score of 22.
Well, I also reviewed the TOEFL speaking with confidence, but it still didn't work.
Speaking is mainly about how to prepare for the examSome students who are not as good as me in speaking also scored 22 points by memorizing the template, so the TOEFL test is still routine.
Students who have time for TOEFL can still brush it a few more times, make good use of the TPO, and basically improve every time
In recent years, more and more domestic students have chosen the path of summer overseas scientific research to improve their background, which seems to have become the "standard" for students in the higher three circles.
Let's be clear firstSummer research isn't hard to findAs long as you prepare carefully to do a good job of magnetism and look for it in a targeted manner, you can basically find a position.
In 17fall, I knew more than a dozen friends who went to overseas research in my undergraduate school during the summer vacation, and the schools we went to were mainly concentrated in CMU, UCLA, Gatech, etc.
The time and method of applying for summer research varies from person to person, but it is mainly concentrated between February and May.
Some partners sent less than ten emails and got a few positive responses, and some friends found a suitable pit late after hundreds of emails.
Personally, I started to prepare for the test after taking the second TOEFL test at the end of March, sent more than 30 emails, and received five or six responses. (After getting an interview notice from the group I want to go to, I stopped sending emails) The process was not very difficult, but it was also very painful.
Preparation
The preparation that must be done before applying for magnetism is to clarify the direction of the laboratory you want to apply for, and generally choose according to your previous laboratory or project experience.
Before sending an email, you can take a certain amount of time to organize and collect information about professors in relevant directions at each university, and you can also ask seniors about the groups they have been to, as groups that have recruited international students will generally continue to recruit people (as long as your seniors are not too bad).
Prepare your own resume while gathering informationKeep your resume conciseHighlight your matching project experience (preparing your resume for application season will also save a lot of hassle at this time).
And then there's a well-worded emailBe careful to highlight yourself at your own expense! At your own expense! At your own expense! (Of course, there are big bull juniors and sisters who can get funding, when I didn't say).
There are many templates available online that you can refer to, but it's important to highlight where you and your group match, so take the time to dissect yourself and research the teacher
Interviews
The general professor offers an interview after thatThe main purpose of the interview is to intuitively understand your person's speech and English level.
The interview may be voice or **, I was in voice at the time, the duration was about 20 minutes, and the content was the regular interview questions.
Professors are generally very kind, and they may send their PhDs to meet you, so take it easy! Be careful to find a place with a better network, pay attention to the time difference, and don't make a mistake!
Prepare before you go abroad
Congratulations that you have found a suitable position, the formal way for summer scientific research is to take the J1 visiting senior visa, of course, there are (most) of the friends to take the B visa, but it is not recommended, because the identity is not legal, and it may be repatriated by the small black house.
Generally, schools have their own procedures for applying for J1 visas, and some schools are very efficient, and you can get DS2019 in April.
Of course, there are also schools that are extremely inefficient, and it basically takes two months.
Don't let your guard down when you get the DS2019 visa application, because the embassy will still check you!
The basic waiting time is 25 days, during which everyone should do what they should do, and then pray
After determining the itinerary, you can book a ticket to find a house, and there are seniors subleasing in the CSSA forum or one acre and three points of land.
Scientific research
Finding your own direction and working in a group will not be so difficult, and you will have to adapt to life in the United States during this period.
It's best to find a little friend together, otherwise you will still be very lonely in the United States.
During this time, you can experience the scientific research life in the United States in advance, and you can also think about whether you are suitable for scientific research and whether your scientific research direction is suitable for you.
It was during the summer research process that I found that I was not accustomed to the direction and form of research at that time, so I decided to apply for a taught master's degree.
It was already the end of September after returning from the UCLA summer research, and at this time I had already determined my application direction: CS and EE were mixed, and I only applied for taught master's programs.
My plan after graduating with a master's degree is to find a CS-related job in the United States.
Therefore, in order to improve the competitiveness of the master's program application, and to prepare in advance for an internship in the United States during the master's degree, I immediately devoted myself to finding an internship after returning to China.
Thanks to the rich job search information of the Beijing Post Forum, and my excellent GPA during my school years, plus my summer research experience in the United StatesI quickly found an internship at the Intel Open Source Technology Center in Beijing.
And spent the application season there all the way, completed the graduation project, and continued until the end of the undergraduate program.
This 8-month internship proved to be the most important investment in my application process.
During this internship, I not only learned the standardized development process of a large company, improved my professional skills, but also made excellent colleagues and accumulated contacts.
Large foreign companies have provided me with abundant resources, and I am fortunate to be able to share my internship results at LC3.
This internship experience also won me internship interviews with many major companies in the United States, which paved the way for me to find a job in the United States.
In general, my school selection was completed by the Beijing Post Forum Leap List and the One Acre and Three Points Forum.
After two months of research at UCLA during the summer, I thought hard about what my real interests were and what I wanted to gain in graduate school.
Aside from the influence of employment orientation, I love CS more than EE.
The two months of summer scientific research made me realize that as a player who changed majors, my CS foundation is really not solid.
I needed a project that would give me enough time to make up some CS basics, and I wanted to have a good time in my last student career, and at the same time, I was very concerned about the quality of life.
Therefore, many nine-month projects have not been applied, some projects with poor location and climate have not been applied, and many harder EE projects have not been applied.
Everyone should choose a school according to their individual needs, collect as many information as possible, ask seniors and seniors, or consult professional institutions. (Otherwise, the result is often that despite getting a bunch of ADs, none of them want to go.) ）
In the end, my school selection list is divided into four parts: lottery, sprint, main application and guarantee.
Lottery schools (also known as the Dream Series) include Stanford EE, UCB EECS;
The sprint schools are: UCLA CS, UT-Austin CS, UIUC MCS.
The main schools are: UCSD CSE, UCSD ECE, UMICH ECE, CMU INI, CMU ECE, COLUMBIA CS.
The guaranteed proofreading is: USC CS** major 37 credits), NEU CS, UCI NETSYS.
Now it seems that my choice of school at that time was still reasonable, and my positioning was accurate enough, and I did not leave any regrets in choosing a school.
Instruments
I am a semi-DIY application, and I write the full-text structure of the essay first, and then go to the agency to constantly revise and polish it.
The paperwork for the application is mainly divided into three parts:
The first is a resume.
The CV must be controlled on the whole page, preferably within one page.
Because the review materials are printed out by the admission committee to read by themselves, don't write them as one and a half pages, which is very unsightly.
It's best to use a bullet point on your resume to make the most important information and highlights clear (this is also crucial when applying for a job).
The second part is a personal statement.
PS or SOP is generally best in 1000-1200words, but there are also schools that have a limit on the number of words or characters, on this basis, please delete it, generally speaking, you can write less why school and background information, directly enter the topic to write about the journey and experience, how to solve the difficulties, etc.
Each school must have a place that is suitable for its culture and program, and it is best to point out its program curriculum, teacher highlights, etc.
The third part is the letters of recommendation.
Whether the LOR is preparing it yourself or writing it by the teacher, you must say hello to the tutor or teacher in advance, and be sure to maintain active email communication with the teacher.
Online application
The process of online application is very cumbersome, I began to collect the online application opening and deadline of each school in October, and recorded it as **.
There is no skill in filling out the online application, just be careful and patient.
You can make an appointment with your "comrades-in-arms" to fill it out, so it is not easy to feel bored and you can avoid mistakes to a certain extent.
Personally, I don't think there is a necessary relationship between the time of filling in the online application and the time when the final result will be announced, as long as it is filled in before the deadline for DDL, there is no problem.
However, it should be noted that there are several projects with very early deadlines, and if possible, you can find a professional organization to help you plan and track.
The release of application results is also a very painful process.
The result of my first school was in January of '17, USC CS, which was a reassuring pill for me.
Other results came on and off until May and June of that year.
During this time, you must adjust your mentality, and be prepared with both hands, and always make a make-up plan to avoid dropping out of school.
After the application results are announced, most of the programs with scholarships will comply with the 415 agreement, which means that you have until April 15 to decide whether to accept the offer.
Different projects may have different processing timelines, so it's important not to get too excited and ignore these important rules after receiving an ad offer, and it's a good idea to continue to keep records.
I received a total of 7 AD for my application, namely UCSD CS (also the last to go, highly recommended program), UCSD CE, CMU MSIT-MOB (scholarship 14.).6K), USC CS (37 credits to professional programs), Umich ECE, UCI Netsys, Neu CS.
I am personally satisfied with the final application results, all the projects guaranteed are successfully guaranteed, and the main application project has also applied for the one I like very much.
Although I didn't win the sprint project due to the limitations of my major, a small regret has become an unforgettable embellishment in the application season. At least remember that we used to work hard, run, and chase our dreams.
I started writing this article on a normal weekend in quarantine when a rainstorm suddenly fell in California in April.
Thinking back to myself three years ago, the application season has finally come to an end.
Everyone's application season is a wonderful story, with many surprises, many anxieties, many opportunities, and many challenges.
Other people's stories can only be used as a reference to bring some light and cheer you up on the way to apply.
Every time you choose, you will always be the only one who bears the consequences, and often ask yourself whether you are suitable or not, whether you are happy or not, perhaps more important than blindly pursuing the result of a "mainstream" value orientation.
Finally, I would like to conclude with a quote that has been encouraging me during the application season:"Dreams, she's really something that will come true. We will eventually become who we want to be. It's just that before she comes, everything is quiet."
At this point, the rain stopped outside the window, and the air was cool and cool after the rain, mixed with the sweetness of the earth. Hardly a day goes without sunshine in California, it's another warm and sunny day.