Preparing and Submitting Applications Part 1: Paperwork Mohamed Nabil, Rehab ElMaghraby, Amr Essawi, and Ahmed Ettaf Elbanna Webinar II
The Application Process! Transcripts/GPA! TOEFL (IELTS) and GRE (GMAT)! Statement of Purpose (SOP)! Recommendation Letters! Resume! Awards and Previous Research Experience! Advisor/Research Project Selection AND Funding 2
The Application Process Rearranging by order of importance:! Advisor/Research Project Selection AND Funding! Previous Research Experience and Awards! Statement of Purpose (SOP)! Recommendation Letters! Transcripts/GPA! Resume! TOEFL (IELTS)! GRE 3
The Application Process! Each filtered application is usually further screened by several faculty members.! All the checklist above are very important.! Previous research experience is most important, especially if it is relevant to the research group one is trying to join.! Bad Recommendation Letter can ruin your application. 4
Transcripts/GPA
Transcripts/GPA! Transcript is a certificate of your classes and grades.! Grade- point- average (GPA) better be above 3.5.! GPA of 4.0 by itself is not sufficient to be admitted to top schools.! If you ve no research experience and bad GPA (< 3.0).! Get MS first and reapply after MS. 6
US Grading System Degree Classification in % vs. GPA - USA USA Undergraduate The equivalent in Egyp8an percentage Grade Points Percent Grade A 4.00 85-100 Excellent A- 3.70 (3.67) 80 84.99 B+ 3.30 (3.33) 75 79.99 B 3.00 70 74.99 B- 2.70 (2.67) 65 69.99 C+ 2.30 (2.33) 60-64.99 C 2.00 55 59.99 C- 1.70 (1.67) 50 54.99 D+ 1.30 (1.33) 40-49.99 D 1.00 35 39.99 D- 0.70 (0.67) 30 34.99 Very Good Good Pass Weak F 0.00 0 29.99 Very Weak An example of a credit our system in Egypt The equivalent in US grade The equivalent in Egyp8an percentage Grade Points Percent Grade A 4.00 > 93% A- 3.70 88 93 B+ 3.30 82 87.99 B 3.00 78 81.99 B- 2.70 74 77.99 C+ 2.30 70 73.99 C 2.00 65 69.99 C- 1.70 60 64.99 D+ 1.30 55 59.99 D 1.00 50 54.99 Excellent Very Good Good Pass Weak F 0.0 < 50 Fail 7
Degree Classification in % vs. GPA - UK Undergraduate Bri8sh system The equivalent in US grade The equivalent in Egyp8an percentage Scale Degree Grade Points Percent Grade 70-100 First Class Honors [1:1] A 3.71 4.0 85-100 Excellent 60 69.99 Upper Second Class Honors [2:1] A- / B+ 3.3-3.7 75 84.99 Very Good 50 59.99 Lower Second Class Honors [2:2] B 3.0 3.32 65 74.99 Good 45 49.99 Third Class C+ 2.30 2.99 60 64.99 Pass 40 44.99 Pass C 2.0 2.29 55 59.99 Pass 0 39.99 Fail F < 2.0 < 55 Pass/Weak / Very Weak Postgraduate Bri8sh system Scale % Degree 70-100 DisYncYon 60 69 Merit 50 59 Pass 0 49 Fail 8
How is GPA calculated? 1) First convert the grade for each subject you studied to the USA equivalent points.. Use the scale in the previous slides. Example: If you studied 3 subjects X, Y, and Z. Your percent grade in the subjects were 70%, 60%, and 87% respectively. 2) Get the number of credits / studied hours for each subject. 3) The points of each class are multiplied by the number of credits or hours for that subject, to get the total points for each subject. 4) Calculate the total number of point for all the subjects. (9.00 + 4.60 + 12.00 = 25.60 points = Total Points) 5) Calculate the total number of credits / hours of all the three subjects. (3 + 2 + 3 = 8 credits/hours = Total Credits/Hours) 6) Divide Total Points by Total Credits/Hours This is your GPA (25.60 / 8 = 3.20 cumulative GPA) Egyp8an Grade Equivalent USA Grade Credit / Subject Total points Grade Percent Grade Point Hours X Good 70% B 3.00 3 3x 3.00 = 9.00 Y Pass 60% C+ 2.30 2 2 x 2.30 = 4.60 Z Excellent 87% A 4.00 3 3 x 4.00 = 12.00 9
How is GPA calculated? Want to calculate your GPA yourself? you can use the following link: http://www.foreigncredits.com/resources/gpa- Calculator/ 10
TOEFL (IELTS) / GRE (GMAT)
TOEFL (IELTS) / GRE (GMAT)! Test Of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).! International English Language Testing System (IELTS).! Reading/Writing/Speaking/Listening.! Graduate Research Examination (GRE).! Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT).! Math and English exams. 12
TOEFL / IELTS TOEFL IELTS Sec8ons Listening Reading WriYng Speaking Score 0-120 0-9 Accepted Around the world Mul8 Choice Ques8ons Reading + Listening is a muly choice quesyons Reading + Listening asks to fill the gab with no more than 3 words, may also contain muly choice quesyons Speaking Talking to the computer using a mic Talking to person, conversayon is recorded Fees $ 165 = 1183 EGP 1090 EGP Score Reports 4 score reports free with the test 5 score reports free with the test 13
GRE (GMAT)! Fee vary by country. Fees listed below are for Egypt in 2014:! GRE general exam: $195! GMAT: $250! Know the schools you d like to apply a-priori, to send your score reports for free. Need more information regarding these tests, check the following link: http://egyptscholars.org/en/files/stepsseries- webinar- Lecture- 3- final.pdf 14
Statement of Purpose (SOP) (aka Personal Statement)
Statement of Purpose! The admission committee is really looking for a research statement! What research you ve done.! What research you hope to do.! Why you like research. 16
Statement of Purpose! Try to include something unique about yourself that reflects your passion in this particular field of study.! Show that you know the school you are applying for (mention a lab that you aspire to join or show familiarity with the work of a professor).! Stress on how your previous experience/skills paves your way into grad school.! Be clear about your future goal (academia vs. industry). This may change later (no problem) 17
Statement of Purpose Example! 1 st paragraph: Describe general areas of research that interest you and why (helps forward your application to relevant professors).! 2 nd, 3 rd, and 4 th paragraphs: Describe some research projects that you worked on.! 5 th paragraph: Why you want to apply for a MS/PhD.! 6 th paragraph: Why you want to apply to that university. Which professor would you like to work with and why.! Usually only the last paragraph needs to change upon applying to various universities. 18
Statement of Purpose! Common mistakes in writing SOP! Telling a story that you were the top of your class at primary/high school and everyone thought you were a genius etc.! Telling a story that you enjoyed playing/dissembling appliances and putting it back. It was then that you realized that you want to be an engineer.! The admission committee simply doesn t want to hear these irrelevant stories.! It is best that your statement sticks with stuff you did in college and later. 19
Recommendation Letters
Recommendation Letters! Select someone you personally know and you are sure will write a personalized and strong recommendation letter.! The letter should not be too short (e.g. 1 paragraph) or too long (e.g. 2 pages). Ideally it should be 1 page.! The recommender should make every effort to show that you are unique and wonderful. Of course you should help him/her by providing supporting information.! Give the recommender your transcript, CV, and talk with him about your previous experience and your passion for grad school (give him/her elements of a good story).! It makes a difference when the recommender says that the student is the best/ Top 1% of the students whom he interacted with. If there is something like this, it should be stated clearly.! If there is a weak point in the academic history/test scores it helps that the recommender tries to explain its source and how it should not undermine the overall quality of the application. 21
Resume/ Awards and Previous Research Experience
Resume! What is a resume? A resume is a summary that highlights your education, experiences and qualifications related to your targeted job or research lab. 23
Resume! A resume contains:! Contact Information:! Your name.! Your email and phone number.! Your address.! Your personal web page if available. 24
Resume! A resume contains:! Contact Information.! Education:! State most recent degree first.! State your major, degree and the granting institution.! State graduation date or expected graduation date.! State your GPA if you think will help.! For MSc students, state your thesis title if applicable. 25
Resume! A resume contains:! Contact Information.! Education.! Teaching experience:! State courses you TAed.! Include relevant teaching evaluation and teaching awards if available. 26
! A resume contains:! Contact Information.! Education.! Teaching Experience.! Research Experience: Resume! Even if it didn t result in a published paper or yielded a result.! It shows that you know how research is like as it is different from taking classes.! Name of the research lab and the institution.! Research project description and your responsibilities using action verbs.! Accomplishments.! Start and end dates. 27
! A resume contains: Resume! Contact Information.! Education.! Teaching Experience.! Research Experience.! Papers and Conference Presentations. 28
! A resume contains: Resume! Contact Information.! Education.! Teaching Experience.! Research Experience.! Papers and Conference Presentations.! Additional Information:! Awards, honors and fellowships.! Skills and languages.! Activities: sports, arts, community service etc. 29
Resume! A resume should NOT contain:! Personal information (age, religion, martial status etc.) or photographs.! Personal pronouns (e.g. I, me, we).! High school experience unless relevant to your objective.! The phrase References available upon request.! Small margins and small fonts. 30
! Helpful resources: Resume! List of action verbs: https://studentaffairs.stanford.edu/cdc/resumes/verbs! Sample resumes: https://studentaffairs.stanford.edu/cdc/resumes/samples! Previous STEPS resume writing session: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0defaexwhoi 31
Previous Research Experience! How to get research experience?! You can do research with a professor as an undergrad.! Relevant summer internships related to your field.! Working for few years after graduation in a company where your job involves some research.! During your MS research project.! Search for an interesting problem yourself and try to research how to solve it (alone or with a friend). 32
Advisor/Research Project Selection AND Funding
Advisor Selection! The advisor should be in a research area you like! You ll spend about 5 years working with your advisor. This entails the following:! You have to make sure it is easy to deal with that advisor.! Check whether previous students often leave the research group! The advisor should be technically good.! Check publications list and ask other students at university! Should you work with relatively new or experienced advisor? 34
New vs. Experienced Advisor New Advisor Pros Will have new exciyng ideas that needs to be researched. Probably have new- faculty startup fund. Will spend more Yme with you and thus you will learn a lot. Not too old and much easier to deal with. Cons Fund is not guaranteed for the whole 5 years and depends on results. You ll need to work a lot and publish so that the advisor can be promoted. Might realize aker few years that the research project you ve selected wasn t good. Can miss several publishing opportuniyes due to lack of your advisor s experience. Most Likely the advisor will pick a research topic for you. Experienced Advisor Will bemer know whether a research project has an impact in the research community or not (in terms of publicayons or seeking funding). May not have funding for new projects. Won t spend much Yme with you (Either too busy or not so excited anymore). Most likely you ll search for a relevant research topic. 35
Funding! Make sure you have secured fund for your research project! Several kinds of funds are available:! Fellowship! Money paid by the government/company/university. Could last for the whole PhD duration.! Teaching Assistantship! Money paid by the department to teach classes (besides your own research)! Research Assistantship! Money paid by your advisor to do research. This funding makes you focus on research. 36
Research Project Selection! Either you or your advisor will pick a research topic.! PhD research topic shapes your area of expertise for several years.! Some research areas don t exist in the middle east and will be very difficult to return after graduation.! Unless you will work in academia rather than industry.! Be realistic and don t over- commit.! You don t want to spend 7 years in the PhD. 37
Research Project Selection! Don t base your topic selection on the expectation that your advisor knows everything related to it.! If the advisor knows:! It wouldn t be called research and there will be no need to work on it.! The advisor only guides you and his experience will be very beneficial in the first 2-3 years. 38
Applying to Schools and Sending your documents 39
How Many Schools Should You Apply to?! It is best to apply to few schools above your level and few below your level and majority for schools in your level.! This depends on your budget. Average application cost is $100.! If you have budget to apply to 10 schools, then:! 2-3 top schools (above you level), 2-3 below your level, and 4-6 in your level.! If you have budget for 5 schools, then:! 1 top school (above you level), 1 below your level, and 3 in your level. 40
How to Choose a School?! Choose schools that are strong in your area of interest (good ranking), even if not as strong overall.! Famous Rankings in the U.S. are U.S. News and World Report.! School that have several faculty members in your area of interest.! Helps in case you needed to change advisors.! Helps in terms of possible advice/guidance from other faculty members.! On top of the above, try to choose schools that other former/current graduate students are recommending.! Consider cost of living as the stipend is usually around $2000/month regardless of the location. 41
Sending your documents! Check first if you could send your documents by e- mail or fax. Sometimes you can, till you get accepted. Once accepted you can send the original documents by mail.! Available courier services in EGYPT: DHL, FEDEX, ARAMEX, Egy Mail! But how much does they cost? EGY Mail From EGYPT to USA (500 g) From EGYPT to UK (500 g) From EGYPT to USA (1KG) From EGYPT to UK (1 KG) 174 EGP 157 EGP 234 EGP 207 EGP Check yourself: hmp://217.52.211.18:9080/calculate/price.aspx FEDEX From EGYPT to USA (500 g) From EGYPT to Imperial College, UK (500 g) From EGYPT to USA (1KG) From EGYPT to Imperial College, UK (1 KG) Check yourself: hmps://www.fedex.com/ratefinder/home? cc=eg&language=en&app_id=hprm&hiflag=u 401 EGP 377 EGP 511 EGP 472 EGP Aramix From EGYPT to STANFORD University, USA (400 gram) From EGYPT to Imperial College, UK (400 gram) From EGYPT to STANFORD University, USA (1KG) From EGYPT to Imperial College, UK (1 KG) 310 EGP 310 EGP 410 EGP 390 EGP Check yourself: hmp://www.aramex.com/express/rate_and_yme.aspx 42
Step by Step Example for Applying Online to Graduate School
University s Graduate Division Website! I searched on Google for UC Berkeley Graduate Admission.! I got this link: http://grad.berkeley.edu/admissions/apply/! You should check the graduate programs to see available research areas. 44
Finding out the Application Deadline! Next I clicked on Graduate programs and deadlines and found the application deadline for Electrical Engineering in UC Berkeley is December 15 th. 45
Admission Requirements! From Admissions Requirements I found out that UC Berkeley requires:! Bachelor s degree from an accredited institution.! Usually requires GPA > 3.0! TOEFL IBT score 90. Institution code for Berkeley is 4833.! Tests taken before June 1, 2013 will not be accepted even if your score was reported to Berkeley."! For GRE, there is also a ETS code per department (You don t need to know these codes before the exams."! GRE exam can be taken before June 1, 2013."! Departments can have additional requirements on GPA, TOEFL, GRE scores. So you also need to check the department s requirements. 46
Admission Requirements! From Admissions Requirements I found out that UC Berkeley requires:! You can upload your unofficial transcripts with your application. Official transcripts will be required if admitted.! Academic Records should be issued in original language and English. School s stamp or embossed seal and signature of authorizing official is required.! At least 3 letters of recommendations are required.! Your recommenders are asked to give their personal impressions of your intellectual ability, your aptitude in research or professional skills, your character, and the quality of your previous work and potential for future productive scholarship.! Application Fee: Non- U.S. citizens: $110 47
Department s Admission! Further Details from the EECS Department s Website:! Application Deadline: December 16, 2013! Supplemental Materials Deadline (Test Scores): January 6, 2014! Decisions Sent: March/April 2014! Program Begins: August 2014! Required materials:! GRE: Take exam between 06/2009 to 11/2013! TOEFL: Take exam between 06/2012 to 11/2013 48
! Required materials: Department s Admission! Statement of Purpose: Why are you applying for this program? What will you do during this degree program? What do you want to do after and how will this help you?! Personal History Statement: What from your past made you decide to go into this field? And how will your personal history help you succeed in this program and your future goals?! 3 Letters of Recommendation: Your letters could include details about your goals, research accomplishments, technical and leadership skills, academic work, etc. We suggest to give your recommenders at least a few weeks to write your letters and upload them as PDFs through the link (provided from your online application).! GPA: If you attended a university outside of the USA, please leave the GPA section blank. 49
Stanford s Online Application! UC Berkeley s Fall 2015 was not open yet, so we will go through Stanford s online application process. 50
Stanford s Online Application! Upon clicking create new account, you ll need to enter your:! Login ID (email address)! Password! Other Basic Information! Once done, you ll get a confirmation email and then clicking on the attached link will activate your account. 51
Stanford s Online Application! Stanford has 15 steps. You can save at any step and continue later.! Steps 1 and 2 are your information 52
Stanford s Online Application! Step 3 is your Ethnicity.! Don t choose African American! Step 4 is your Contact Information 53
Stanford s Online Application! Step 5 is program selection! It turned out that Stanford s admission for Fall 2015 will open in Mid September 2014, so will move on with UCLA s application process 54
UCLA s Online Application! In UCLA, after selecting the program, they ask you for your research interests 55
! It also asks for who is your preferred Initial advisors UCLA s Online Application! You should already know which group you d like to join 56
! Next is your Academic history UCLA s Online Application! Where you ve graduated from.! Your Major! Awarded/sought degree! GPA! This is repeated for every degree you ve (B.Sc., M.Sc, etc.)! You ll be asked to upload the unofficial transcripts afterwards. 57
! Next is your test scores.! It depends on whether you have already took the exam or not. UCLA s Online Application 58
UCLA s Online Application! Next is your Awards, Publications, and SOP! Notice that, in the SOP section, it tells you what your SOP should cover.! Next section asks for professional (work) experience. 59
! Next it asks for uploading your resume or CV.! Then there is a survey about how did you hear about the UCLA program and what other institutions you are applying for.! Next section is additional documents required by your department (if any). UCLA s Online Application 60
! Recommendation Provider list UCLA s Online Application 61
Application Submission! Last section will allow you to submit your application.! Don t do it until all the sections are complete! Upon submission, you ll be asked for your payment information. 62
Be Organized! Applying to various universities/professors can easily get out of hand.! Organize yourself. One example would be having an excel file with various worksheets, where each sheet corresponds to a university.! In each sheet at the top, write any specific information related to that university. Then have a list of professors you d like to contact Application Deadline: 12/15/14 Application Fee: $110 Writing Speaking Reading Listening Total Required TOEFL scores: 25 24 21 17 87 Requires test scores a-priori Professor Contact date Replied Asad Abaidi 10/1/2014 10/20/2014 Behzad Razavi 10/1/2014 10/15/2014 No Yes No No Has Funds? Yes N/A Research area 63
References! http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~harchol/gradschooltalk.pdf! http://www.amideast.org/egypt/amideast- tests- and- schedules 64
Best of Luck! Q & A?