The marathon called PhD Application
I am writing this PhD blog so that it can serve as a guide for future PhD applicants. I caution the non-CS students that this blog is specifically written, keeping the CS audience in mind. Also, if someone has doubts about my credibility, remember that I got PhD offers from UW Seattle, CMU, UIUC and Georgia Tech. So let’s start.
Pre-Application Stage
If you are not in your final year, this section will be valuable for you. Getting selected for a top CS PhD program in the USA has become much tougher than, say, ten years ago. And it is way more challenging than getting a top 500 rank in JEE. 10 years ago, if you had a stellar CGPA, then that alone along with a decent Letter of Recommendation (LOR), would be more than enough to get you a good PhD offer. But the situation has changed drastically in the third decade of the 21st century. CGPA is not such a significant factor. Maintaining a 9+ CGPA should be more than enough, in my opinion. What matters the most is the research work you have done in your undergraduate. If you have strong LORs from well-known professors, then your chance of securing a good PhD offer is quite high. But for that, you need to get an opportunity to work with such professors in your undergraduate. Hence, I believe you should start working on some research projects in India as early as the 4th semester or the following summer. The reason is that if you do a research project in India, you are more likely to secure a good Foreign Training offer for your 3rd-year summer. If you are from a dual degree program, you have an additional summer to significantly boost your profile by working with top professors.
The second thing which is a huge plus for your profile is the publications. Top publications can compensate for the lack of LORs from well-known professors. In CS, the number of top publications required varies from area to area. In ML, you are expected to have 3 top publications. In theoretical CS, you are expected to have at least one paper, but it is better to have two publications. In systems, publishing papers is not such an easy deal. Nevertheless, having a paper under review is desirable.
Now the question which many juniors ask me is how should they secure a project in their second year, as professors rarely entertain them. The students need to know that professors are ready to invest time in you if you are pretty serious about higher studies. Hence, before approaching any professor, explore the area on your own by either watching some talks on Youtube or reading some book on that topic. Moreover, go through the work of the professors to see if you like the flavour of the work. After this, approach a professor by mailing them and explicitly stating your interest, what you have done in that area in terms of reading, why you like that area and state at the end that you are seriously considering this area for higher studies. Also, approach the other undergraduate students working under the professors and request them to refer your name to the professor. Now, don’t get disappointed if you don’t hear back from the professors. Just keep on trying; I am pretty sure that if you are a student who is really into research, some professor is out there who is ready to take you. I would suggest everyone to try their luck at IISc and TIFR as they are the best two computer science institutes in our country. Other good places to try are IITs, IMSc, CMI, and IIIT Hyderabad.
Now assuming that you have some research work behind you, the next step is to try for foreign internships for your third-year summer. I would suggest starting mailing the professors in September. The template of the mail should be similar to what I have written in the previous paragraph. Also, try to see if the professor with whom you have worked in the 2nd yr summer has any contacts in the USA or Europe with whom you would like to work. Now, if your luck’s great, you should land a decent foreign internship. Otherwise, you should try applying to IISc and TIFR (at least for theoretical stuff) and do your summer internship there as the professors there are also quite well known worldwide, in my opinion.
Just a piece of advice: If you get the chance to work on multiple projects, ensure that the areas are slightly different, but they fall under the same broad area. For instance, you can try out various areas within theoretical CS. Also, try to work with three different professors as you would require three LORs
Application Stage
This is the time between July to December for the final years who are applying for the PhD. I hope by this stage you have the three letters ready. Try to inform them by September at least that you will be applying for the so and so universities and enquire whether they would be willing to provide the LORs. If you have done a decent amount of research work with them, they usually give the LORs. Otherwise, you may have to approach one of the course professors for a LOR. Also, remind them about the LORs two weeks before the application deadline.
Next, try to finish your GRE and TOEFL by the first week of September so that you have plenty of time to work on your Statement of Purpose (SOP) and CV. There are a few Facebook groups for GRE and TOEFL, which you must join as you would get an idea about the kind of preparation required. If you want some online platform to practice on, then Magoosh is a great platform. However, it is slightly expensive. Try to get 325 in GRE and 110 in TOEFL (with 25+ in every section). Note that GRE was optional for the last few years due to Covid. So keep an eye on if you need to write GRE this time. If not, then skip them. Also, send the GRE and TOEFL scores to the universities by October end.
Now coming to a vital part of your application, the Statement of Purpose. Again the style of SOP varies from area to area. ML guys like to write flamboyant SOPs with a lot of cheesy stuff. Theoretical guys, on the other hand, write SOPs that are quite technical. I would suggest chatting with seniors in your research area and then deciding the kind of content the SOP should have for that area. However, there are few things which are usually common across all SOPs and usually are the important parts of your SOP. First, mention the research work and our contribution. Try to show in this section that you are a great undergraduate researcher. Second, try to list out the research areas in which you would like to work on. Don’t just list the existing areas. Professors often look out for potential future problems in these SOPs. So don’t shy away from suggesting some new problems which you feel might be good to look at. Third, try to list out the professors whose research area matches your research interest. Apply to a university if you find at least three suitable research advisors. Here is a sample SOP for your reference:
http://www.facweb.iitkgp.ac.in/~niloy/studentscorner/princeton_sop_arnab_sinha.pdf
Now, regarding selecting the right universities, don’t go by ranking. Instead, go by the research area and the research group. Also, look at the professor’s website to see if they have listed anywhere if they will be taking any students. You can even try mailing the professors. Another indicator of whether the professor will take any new PhD student is by seeing the number of PhD students under them. The higher the number, the lesser the chance they will take you.
Here is my Resume that I submitted for PhD application. Try to follow a similar style:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1y7n8os5NzXt2-UQgB6Dc2BB4gkvtnPk-/view
Also, try your best to publish your papers before the application deadline in December. Two publications just before the application deadline (one in NeurIPS and the other in AAAI) sealed the deal for me.
Now I believe you are ready to go and submit your application.
Post Application Stage
Mail all the professors whose names you have mentioned in your SOP with your application ID. Next, wait for the PhD interview call. Some universities take an interview, and others don’t. Professors usually reach out to you for an interview. In the interview, the professors are mainly interested to know your future plans as far as PhD is concerned. Don’t try to fake here. Try to be genuine regarding your interests as it is a matter of 5 years. If you don’t get the offer, no problem. But if you get an offer, it should be the case that you have professors in your area who are interested in advising you. Otherwise, getting the PhD offer is as good as nothing. Hence, I suggest not to fake anything during your PhD interview. After this, it is a waiting game till you get any acceptance or rejection.
Assuming that you got multiple PhD offers, now is the time to make one of the life-changing decisions of your life. I suggest talking first to the PhD students of the universities from where you got the offers. Ask them about the advising style of professors explicitly. See if there are any red flags regarding any potential advisor. Next, have a one-to-one video call with the potential advisors, express your goals during and after PhD, and check what they have to say about it. If they react positively, that’s a good sign, in my opinion. Also, if you want to be co-advised, discuss in detail with the professors and see if they are ready. Lastly, check the track record of the students who have done their PhD under your potential advisor. Depending on all these factors, you can finally make a call regarding the university you want to choose. Don’t take any rash decisions here, and don’t be hesitant to drop any queries to the potential advisors and the graduate students. They are usually more than happy to answer them.
Alternatives in case you don’t get a PhD offer
Now, here are a few other alternatives in case you don’t end up getting a PhD offer but still have the dream of doing a PhD. One way to secure a good PhD offer is by improving your research profile. Hence, after completing your undergraduate, try to join as a research assistant at some top institute like IISc or join as a pre-doctoral fellow at places like Microsoft Research. Giving yourself a time of 1.5 yrs would boost your profile and help you land a good PhD offer. Usually, you can apply for these places in the first week of January and start working with them in June after completing your undergraduate.
Words of Wisdom
I want to end this blog by telling you something that the guys who went through the entire PhD application process can only tell. First, don’t be under the false perception that if you are from a top institute in India, you will definitely get admission to a top PhD program in the USA. Indian students usually tend to forget that their main competitors are the international students from Europe, Iran and China and outperforming them is not such an easy task. This is evident by looking at the number of Indians in the PhD programs compared to Chinese or Europeans. Next, try to work on quality projects, be it in India or Foreign. You can start by working on a not-so-interesting project but later shift to top-quality projects; otherwise, the projects don’t hold any value as far as PhD applications are concerned. For your first project, try to work with an assistant professor as they are the ones who are ready to invest a lot of time in you. Now coming to the foreign internships, they are a double-edged sword, in my opinion. If your luck’s good, then you will get a good LOR. If your luck’s bad, then you won’t get any LOR, and your summer gets wasted. Hence, before committing to a foreign internship, just check the professor’s track record in terms of giving a LOR. Also, just because a foreign internship sounds cool, don’t just go to any random university. Ensure that the professor with whom you will work is well known; otherwise, you are better off doing a project in India. Lastly, this PhD process is a marathon. Don’t get depressed if things are not going as per your plan. Patience is key here. Don’t pay too much attention to what your peer says about you. Do talk to the professors and seniors about the PhD application. Their advice is worth a lot in my opinion. Finally, believe in yourself. This itself is 50% of the job done.
All the best to future applicants, and feel free to reach out to me.
