GRAD ECHO

Funding comes in many shapes and sizes. You should be aware of all aspects of funding. There’s a professor funding, which means the professor has some research project they are hiring for, typically geared towards PhD students, because they can stick for a while. You have the funding as long as you're working with the Professor. Then there’s a department or university funding, such as that at Wisconsin Madison, where you can change the project and professor. Then there are third-party funding like Fulbright, Erasmus Mundus, and Commonwealth, which have some strings attached, such as repaying by coming back to Pakistan and serving the country for a certain amount of time. Other sources of funding also include TAships. The money can cover most of your tuition. Once you get one of those TAships, you’re usually able to get more. Then there are RAships - some people self-fund their first semester and then they’re able to get RAships and TAships that help cover their tuition. There are plenty of opportunities, you'll just have to look. Niche programs encourage people to apply by offering them funding. So, if it aligns with your interests, you can apply there and get some funding.

PhD is a huge decision, and you absolutely need a huge reason other than funding. It’s like being handed a fishing rod and being asked to get back with a fish nobody has ever seen before. Such is the uncertainty inherent in a PhD. The purpose of a PhD is to receive formal training in research, the goal of a PhD is to actually go through this process and produce a novel finding at the end. There is most definitely going to be a time when this need for novelty makes you desperate. It is then that you need a magical combination of passion and love for your field, and faith in the process to get you through. At times, even your advisor may not be able to get you through a specific research progress slump. This is where your grit and drive get tested to the best of your ability. A drive you’re likely to possess only if you are entering a PhD with a strong reason to begin with.

I would encourage you to first assess what the final destination in your head is. Do you want to go into academia and pursue research full time? Do you want to go into an industry that demands a PhD and high technical acumen? Do you want to pursue research within industry in their research wings? Be sure that you only pursue a PhD if your desired goal absolutely necessitates it. If you have a specific profession or dream job in mind, go meet people who do that and engage with them about their experiences and learn if you can imagine yourself having the experiences they describe. Do you actually want what they get out of their experience or not? If you still want to be like them, then investigate if a PhD is absolutely necessary to get there.

I never wanted to be a Computer Scientist. I wanted to be an astronomer. I thought physics could take me anywhere. Between subatomic particles and beyond galaxies. Through a series of events partially out of my control, I ended up at FAST, instead of UET (the only name I had heard of right up until the point of my application to FAST). I hated everything they were teaching in a CS degree. It took me to get through 3 semesters of torturous courses to finally find a course I liked. Assembly language particularly appealed to me because I absolutely loved the way my instructor engaged with me. I found myself so deeply involved that I gave up my gaming nights just to design microprocessors. I quite literally quit my first passion for that. Later on in my undergraduate, I was discouraged from taking the Phonetic course(for the simple reason that the course was useless). Today, I hold a PhD specializing in the same subject. My primary purpose for sharing these details is that life will eventually give you an opportunity to pursue something that brings you sheer joy. Be fearless in your pursuit whenever that time comes. Please forget about your GPA, it legitimately will not matter. Go for amazing teachers even if they are bad graders. If you have the passion you will find your way into your dream job or dream program.

In US, most universities start sending out offers around early January. These offers are sent out on a rolling basis. Recipients of these offers are generally expected to inform the universities of their acceptance or rejection by the 15th of April. As many students receive multiple offers, it is common for them to send their decisions well before April 15th. This, in turn, enables universities to extend offers to individuals on the waiting list, should previously extended offers be declined.

In my experience with Ph.D. interviews, it is primarily to get a sense of how you interact with the PIs, the level of maturity in your responses, and clarity in your future goals and ambitions is essential. Other than that, as others mentioned, you need to demonstrate a strong link between your interests and what the program/professor has to offer. Ph.D. is a very serious commitment, and you need to demonstrate you are taking this decision after due consideration. I would recommend having good questions prepared to ask before the interview as well as some follow-ups to showcase you know the program well and have specific and thoughtful questions.

I think rankings should not be considered in isolation and scrutinized too much. Many programs consistently remain in the top 10 or top 20 for example, but vary a lot along that list. This does not mean they actually get better or worse. Some ranking criteria are very volatile and tied to factors that may not be of interest to you for example openness to veterans or amount of publications in an area that is not of interest to you. So perhaps evaluate programs based on the tier in which they fall (top 10, top 20, top 30) rather than the exact number. If you then have to account for rankings look at subcriteria provided by rankings, like QS for instance has diversity and employment outcomes sub criteria for ranking as well, which may be more important for international students.

I recommend thoroughly searching through the Financial Aid and Assistance options subsection of program websites. Usually, there is some general statement about university/program policy regarding this. For Ph.D. programs, you can also check professor/PI websites which often mention whether they are looking to hire in a certain season. Other than that I think the resources others mentioned should help you find some answers.

I would recommend staying away from the Princeton Review and Kaplan series as I have come across several reviews claiming they do not mimic the actual GRE difficulty or question style even closely. The preparation for verbal and Quant is a bit too extensive to cover in 1 month and you might feel like you don't have enough time. I have heard good reviews about Magoosh and Gregmat to develop strategies but in terms of GRE Question difficulty, sticking to official guides is your best bet. These are made by ETS and are actual questions that appeared in recent tests. Studying the reasoning given for each answer will help you understand the type of thinking the exam expects from you. Furthermore, the hard questions there and the free Power Prep 1 and Power Prep 3 are your best resources for the closest approximation of exam difficulty and setting. Make sure to give them after you think you are ready. Remember to write the essays as well and giving 2 full timed tests will help you realize the pressure and conditions of the actual exam. Study your mistakes thoroughly and make sure to identify weak areas and strengths so you can adjust your prep accordingly. Best of luck with everything!

A format I followed was to link an element/feature of the program the SOP was for with each of my project/research interests, mentioning it immediately after I explained my interest. For example, when I wrote about building a tool which I eventually want to launch as a startup in the near future, I followed it up by mentioning the entrepreneurial classes and venture lab in that university to show that I have a charted trajectory for this program and that I can build on my specific goals and aims using program facilities.

@Mukhtiar-Ahmad The availability and types of financial aid for graduate students can vary significantly by university and program. In my experience, PhD applicants often receive full funding through scholarships, assistantships, and fellowships, though the mix may change annually. Assistantships come in two types: Graduate Research Assistantships (GRAs), which involve research often related to the student's dissertation, and Graduate Teaching Assistantships (GTAs), which involve teaching duties.

Master's students typically do not receive funding upon admission but may secure scholarships or assistantships later by reaching out to their department or faculty members.

Again, these opportunities depend greatly on the specific university, program, and departmental resources. More detailed advice requires information on the targeted university, program, or field of study.

@Mukhtiar-Ahmad In general, most Master's programs are not funded. However, there are exceptions, such as Masters by Research programs. In addition, you can also fund your Master's via research assistantships or teaching assistantships but they come with their caveats. For example, for the former, you need some research experience. There are also various scholarships you can apply for that are typically geared towards specific regions or countries (e.g., Fulbright Scholarship, Commonwealth Scholarship). I hope this helps.

@Mukhtiar-Ahmad It is challenging to assess one's chances of admission solely based on the GPA. GPA is one important factor but your recommendation letters, experiences with independent projects, SOP, and test scores play an important role too. I've had students with less than 3.0 GPA who have been admitted to good universities in the US so there is certainly hope 🙂