Engineering PhD Application Guide

Guide to apply for Engineering PhD

Deciding to apply:

Applying to be a professor’s apprentice for an extended period is crucial for an aspiring academician. An Engineering PhD usually takes around five years to complete and one should try to put enough thought into the decision of applying to a PhD program. Whether you are an undergraduate or a full-time job holder, do make your decision carefully before going for a PhD because it’s a long-time commitment without huge scope for luxury. You may end up working as long as 50 hrs/week with little progress, lag, meaningless obstacles and barely sufficient funding. If you’re supporting a family along with all this, then, it becomes all the more challenging. We do not want to discourage the reader from applying but we’re just ensuring to avoid any confusion in the reader’s mind. Have a look at this article to make a greater sense of what we’re suggesting.

It may be obvious now that good or great grades in your undergraduate aren’t sufficient reasons to apply. So, why would anyone pull themselves through this tortuous path to end up with a “Dr” in front of their name? We feel that when someone is excited about most (if not all) of the things that go behind the PhD, they can make the most of their time as a PhD student. This excitement may arise as a result of all the thrill and possibilities in scientific endeavours. There may be other reasons as well but we are assuming that our audience is really excited about their upcoming several years as a part of an internationally reputed science lab.

The conventional way of testing whether you have the enthusiasm or not is to gather research experience in your possible areas of interest. Short term research internships as an undergraduate researcher in a laboratory are really useful. It is generally recommended to get involved enough so that you can gauge your affinity for the research process and the problem.

Finally, there are certain things that do matter when it comes to getting accepted to a program. Due to the highly competitive nature of fully-funded PhD positions, it is common to see that candidates with greater research experience, better grades/scores, writing and communication skills end up receiving the offers. Therefore, it would be a good idea to contact current/incoming PhD students in your area of interest to measure your profile before you apply.

Application:

You are expected to prepare the following things before you jump to the application portal -

• Make a list of universities/research institutions (RIs) that are suitable for you. Make a priority list to ensure that you are less confused when you get multiple admits. A few things to keep in mind during the shortlisting process are: Faculty research areas, Facilities, Funding, Rankings and their metrics (ARWU, QS etc.), Opportunities (academic and extra-academic), Location .. etc
• A list of faculty (3 per RI of Interest) who can recommend you*
• Required tests: GRE — 330+ is great; 320+ is good enough, TOEFL — 100+ is good enough, IELTS
• Documents from your past/current institution(s): Transcripts, Converted Grades
• Statement of Purpose (coming to this later)**
• Diversity Statement (may not be needed)

*LoR(Letter of Recommendation):

Many people make a common mistake because they choose recommenders based on their workplace or academic reputation in academia. This cannot be repeated enough but please make sure that you choose recommenders based on their relationship with you and your confidence in their skills in expressing your suitability. Give them sufficient information so that they can write an impressive letter.

**SoP(Statement of Purpose):

The statement of purpose needs a special mention as it greatly impacts the admissions committee’s decision. A good statement of purpose should not only express the candidate’s academic history, research experience+skills, and research interests in a clear, coherent and grammatically correct manner but it should also be tailored to the place where you send it. Adding a few lines that make the research institution a particularly suitable fit for your research background could make a huge difference.

Furthermore, the statement of purpose should make the reader feel like it is a bona fide representation of your background. We recommend writing it in small chunks at least six weeks before your earliest application deadline. We strongly encourage students to get it reviewed by a few people who have previously been admitted or are working as faculty in similar research fields.

Tracking your applications:

We encourage interested students to keep a google sheet to note down the requirements before applying such as GRE, TOEFL scores as well as your progress towards completion of the application. Also sometimes there are special requirements to apply for grad schools/ RIs so do look out for those points as well in the respective application website.

Feel free to use our sheet as a template PhD Applications Sheet.

Doubts:

If you have any doubt related to the application to a particular university do contact them sufficient time before the application deadline. Sometimes people contact the administration at the eleventh hour and they submit their application without a definite answer to their questions.

After your Application:

The worst part after applying is the long wait. Some programs may take as long as three months before you hear back from them. You could check out a few websites to keep track of the decisions (acceptances are generally released way earlier) — GradCafe and r/gradadmissions on Reddit are two of them. We recommend that you avoid overstressing the results and just stay informed about the status of your application.

Good Luck!

For a comprehensive and dynamic list of resources for applicants, go to this link.

This article was co-authored with Sourim Banerjee who’ll be joining Purdue University for his PhD in Mechanical Engineering.