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Understand our motivation.

ActualAIz is excited to bring prospective graduate students a brilliant opportunity in the form of a fully funded PhD position at the Rochester Institute of Technology.

About the Advisor:

Dr. Fawad Ahmad is an Assistant Professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology. His research focuses on building mobile systems that enable humans and machines like self-driving cars, and drones to perceive, and understand the world better. Research at Dr. Fawad’s lab is published at top networks/systems and mobile systems venues like MobiSys, MobiCom, NSDI etc. Students from his lab intern at places like General Motors.

About the Project:

A live 3D digital twin is a high-fidelity 3D replica of some physical object or scene, which evolves with the physical object in real-time. These twins are starting to enable ground-breaking capabilities in numerous applications ranging from autonomous driving and manufacturing to sports analytics. In his research lab, Dr. Fawad builds reusable perception infrastructure to build these digital twins and then build end-to-end cyber-physical systems that leverage these twins in different applications.

Eligibility:

• Undergraduate Senior or recent graduate
• At least 6 Months to 1 Year of Research Experience (preferably in the domain of the project)
• Computer Science or Electrical and Computer Engineering Major
• Prior Experience in Computer Vision and/or robotics and networks/systems

Application:

Interested candidates should please email Dr. Fawad at fawad@cs.rit.edu with:

1. A short description about yourself
2. Provide a clear description of why you are interested in the specific topics above
3. Explain how your background applies specifically to this position,
4. Your academic curriculum vitae (CV).

ActualAIz is excited to bring prospective graduate students a brilliant opportunity in the form of fully funded MS and PhD positions at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

About the Advisor:

Dr. Muhammad Taqi Raza is an Assistant Professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. His areas of expertise include Mobile Networked Systems, Quantum Network Security, and Internet of Things.

About the Research Lab:

The Khwarizmi Lab is a joint venture between University of Massachusetts Amherst, the National Science Foundation, and the Center for Quantum Networks. The Khwarizmi lab is dedicated to solving challenging problems lying at the intersection of systems and algorithms. In particular, their research focuses on developing secure and effective solutions in FinTech, Quantum Networks, and Critical Infrastructures – such as 5G Mobile Networks, and Industrial Control Systems.

Eligibility:

• Undergraduate Senior or recent graduate
• At least 6 Months to 1 Year of Research Experience (preferably in Networked Systems and Security domain)
• Computer Science or Electrical and Computer Engineering Major
• Applicants strongly motivated to apply to graduate school in North America are encouraged to apply

Application:

Interested candidates should fill this form. Dr. Taqi will personally oversee the applications, and reach out to select candidates.

I had a 3.0 CGPA at the end of my freshman year in college and a grade of C+ in my introduction to computer science class and was heavily dejected at the possibility of not being able to pursue my major simply because I could not meet the requirements. I did not respond well enough to the learning environment at my university and the transition from highschool to university was massive for me. To be completely candid, I did have a chronic procrastination problem. While I could manage that in highschool by cramming up the syllabus right before examinations and doing a few past papers to understand patterns, this attitude could not succeed in university. This is something I learned the hard way. Everything was fast paced and we had to learn several courses in less than 5 months. This required regular and consistent effort. Half of my second semester was spent online due to COVID. Upon semester completion I utilized the golden opportunity offered by online learning platforms on Coursera with discounted rates to relearn whatever I had studied in my first year. I started with Harvard CS50, an introductory computer science course, and ended up taking complete specializations in niches like cybersecurity, databases and algorithms. Supplementing my university learning with online courses allowed me to gain a very in depth understanding of key concepts and allowed me to ask deeper questions and investigate and understand things more than the average student in my class. I made a habit of learning online prior to lectures to gain an upper hand in what was taught in class. This practice enabled me to secure a 3.7 CGPA by graduation and allowed me to secure a fully funded master’s in my dream program.

I want to shed further light on exploring opportunities beyond what your university has to offer. Gathering extra skills online significantly boosted my confidence and filled up the skills section of my resume. This allowed me to compete with international students for highly valued opportunities like Research Programs for Undergraduates at prestigious universities. Getting a letter of recommendation from these programs allowed me to demonstrate my caliber as a researcher and significantly aided my applications. I encourage all prospective applicants to explore online resources and talk to as many people as they can who have made it into their target programs to better understand which profiles stand a solid chance at admission and then utilize these learnings to build their own profile.

I applied to a total of 20 universities in the U.S for my undergraduate studies. I had competitive test scores, and Cambridge O levels and A levels internal results that were easily among the top 5 students in a highly competitive highschool in Lahore. Despite an array of stellar co curricular activities, I received 14 waitlists and 6 rejections. The number of waitlists indicated that my application was missing a key element. Most of my universities definitely considered me for admission, but I kept falling short of some final criteria. Upon deep reflection with counselors in my school and teachers, I realized that my common essay (sent to all universities), was lacking in a cohesive story. I had ended up submitting a very pretentious essay that was all over the place. I tried to fit in everything I had done, without any unique hook binding these elements together. I also falsely believed that colleges only need story-based essays that are well written with fancy verbiage.

My essay did not reflect my genuine interests and failed to encapsulate my journey in pursuing my extra-curricular activities. I ended up enrolling in a local university with my mind set on receiving a graduate school admission by the end of my degree. I took full control of the process and networked extensively with past alumni as well as my professors. I made sure to take the first 2 years to explore what I was actually interested in. I explored various subfields within my undergraduate major to assess what I wanted to specialize in. I did this through internships, personal projects, as well as course projects. I then used my last 2 years to pursue a specific niche within my discipline and gathered research experience within this domain. I took advanced courses in this field and tailored each project to ensure a cohesive story of my journey. I chose my professors for recommendations very early on, and spent 2 years building a very concrete relationship with them so they could speak to my ability, my passion, and my creativity. This allowed me to successfully portray significant investment of time and energy in my choice of graduate studies major, and the recommendations supported this journey very well.

I believe it is this dedicated and directed effort that led me to securing 6/8 admissions for my graduate studies in Mathematical Finance, including my top choice program. I encourage students to think deeply before applying to graduate school and then carefully deciding their universities and understanding their requirements well in advance to ensure they can demonstrate a good fit in their applications with well supported evidence through their CV, personal statement and recommendation letters.

During my senior year of undergrad, I applied for MS Computer Science programs with hopes of starting in Fall 2023. I received offers from the University of Virginia, the University of Arizona, and the University of Iowa. I chose the University of Arizona, largely because I secured a TAship for a course on Linux Operating Systems that would fund my first semester. However, I found myself yearning for more research opportunities in my field of interest, which were limited at Arizona.

My advisor saw my potential and suggested I pivot to a research assistantship (RAship) and reapply. Embracing this new direction, I dived into research and discovered a deep passion for it. This journey transformed my goals, leading me to pursue a more research-intensive degree: a PhD.

Learning from my previous application experience, I meticulously curated my university list, ensuring each program aligned with my research interests and had faculty whose work genuinely intrigued me. With the guidance of my advisors, I applied to 12 universities.

I had seven interviews with faculty members from various institutions. However, as the weeks passed, the tide turned; I began receiving rejections from places where I had interviewed. Doubt started to creep in, but I remained hopeful and resilient.

In my last interview chance with UC Irvine, i crafted my presentation slides with great care and sent follow up emails sharing my after thoughts from the meeting and connected my proposed research as a synthesis of my PIs past research and new developments in the field. These personalized efforts helped me finally received a fully funded PhD offer.

At the end of my undergraduate (Management Science), I was clueless about the kinds of programs I was eligible to apply for in graduate school. My primary motivation lies in utilising data science and analytics to leverage positive change in the development sector. I had a decent exposure to statistics/ computer science and econometrics in my undergraduate but lacked a robust base in either domain. Demonstrated excellence or exposure in these subject areas was a hard prerequisite listed for data science graduate programs. I found myself regretting not building these foundations earlier.

I took a month to reevaluate my options upon graduation and decided to dedicate 7-8 months to building a robust data science profile. I started with securing a research assistantship at LUMS and working on a data driven public policy project to yield tangible output from my work. At the same time I took on multiple online specialisations and certifications (many of which can be free of cost e.g, Coursera offers financial aid to students at almost a 100% rate) to diversify my skill set and fill gaps in required prerequisites. To demonstrate further interest and investment in the field, I worked on a personal project which used some advanced or recently developed techniques in the domain of data science. These experiences also pushed me to give back to my community at the business school (where I majored from). I wanted to contribute to the learning environment there and provide avenues for technical skill development. I ended up co-designing a graduate level data science course which met industrial needs better than traditionally taught content. This experience added a leadership and initiative element to my profile within my field of interest.

I also engaged extensively with my recommenders and discussed what I wanted emphasised in my recommendations (each speaking to the three initiatives i undertook).

I believe taking a proactive approach which shows dedication and commitment to your field along with demonstrated proof of output and verification (through recommendations) is what helped me succeed my dream admission in an MS in Data Science.

NYU has been my dream school since highschool. I had been building my profile as soon as grade 8. I had excellent test scores, grades and extracurriculars and ended up securing admission into my dream university. However, due to lack of financing, I was unable to join. I ended up coming to LUMS, and used my 4 years here with one goal in mind: securing a fully funded admission into the NYU graduate school.

Reflecting back on my experience, I took several exploratory leaps in my academic journey, and I am glad I did. I utilised the interdisciplinarity inherent in the MGSHSS curriculum to explore all facets of my multi-passionate self holistically. STEM courses have made me a better quantitative analyst. In contrast, history and politics courses have provided the necessary nuance to my intellectual perspectives and made me a better researcher. To pursue my passion, I found the perfect blend of courses to explore and work on issues combining gender, economic theory, and development policy.

LUMS offered me the environment to foster deep personal and professional ties with my faculty and the academic community at large. My current role as a pre-doctoral research fellow at MHRC has allowed me to work with renowned names like Dr. Michael Best (Columbia) and Dr. Anders Jensen (Harvard) as well. I found my personal inspiration in Dr. Hadia Majid and Professor Maha Rehman. Their mentorship helped me find my calling and refine my specialisation interests. Moreover, professors such as Dr. Farooq Naseer and Dr. Sher Afghan Asad played a vital role in my journey, from providing rigorous quantitative training to mentoring me on projects that allowed me to acquire essential research skills.

The opportunities LUMS presented me have been monumental in making me the self-confident professional and academic I am today. At NYU, I aim to continue the work I started at LUMS and strive to provide an equitable chance at life to the most vulnerable populations in the global south.

Today, I am proud to share that I will be pursuing an M.A. in Economics at NYU as a Fulbright Scholar. On top of my Fulbright Scholarship, I also received the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences (GSAS) 100% Scholarship from NYU.

To all prospective applicants, never give up. Stay committed to your dreams, and with enough hard work and resilience, they will come true!

My undergraduate degree in CS was largely exploratory; I had dabbled in various fields, and while I had a sense of what I liked and didn’t like, nothing had truly piqued my interest. To avoid being left behind in the graduate application process, I applied to a few universities without really considering how to present myself, and I ended up getting rejected. In hindsight, it’s clear: if I wasn’t sure of what I wanted to do, how could I convey my interests to grad schools, and more importantly, how could I ensure that I was choosing a path that brought me joy and satisfaction?

With this realisation, I decided to take a step back and ponder the specifics of my interests. I knew I wanted to work on developing deployable human-centred technology. So, I applied for and joined a research assistantship that allowed me to explore exactly that. I continued my previous research projects with a fresh perspective, aligning them with my interests, and successfully submitted my work to top conferences. Wanting my work to have a real-world impact, I also developed curriculums and questionnaires for short courses and workshops. At this point, it wasn’t even about building my profile— that was just a byproduct of enjoying my work and pushing my boundaries with tech.

My journey was not carried out in isolation. I was surrounded by great mentors and colleagues who took the time to help me throughout the process. This time around, I knew exactly what I wanted to apply for and kept open communication channels with my supervisors and recommenders. I learned to resist my imposter syndrome many times and applied for the more "ambitious" positions. Looking back, I am grateful for the past year. It allowed me to take charge, learn new skills (both technical and soft—networking is hard!), and dive deep into my interests. I'll just say this: the effort has truly paid off. If I can get into the best program in my field, so can you!

I have always been interested in exploring the interrelationship of various social factors and how they influence social outcomes. During the summer of my senior year, I started researching master's programs within the field of development studies. I also realized that in order to pursue further studies, it is important to take a step further and complement my academic knowledge with on-ground realities. I therefore enrolled in a social sciences course offered at LUMS where we conducted primary research in the working-class areas of Lahore to analyse economic and anthropological outcomes. Furthermore, I also joined an internship at a public-sector consultancy where I worked on a healthcare project with the Punjab health department.

Such experiences not only complimented my academic knowledge but simultaneously deepened my knowledge of the various branches of development studies. This mature understanding helped me draft a compelling personal statement and also recognize my research interest area which I would pursue in my Master's.

Moreover, I would take this as an opportunity to appreciate the support from the faculty at HSS in navigating my application process. Not only was I supported in drafting my research proposals, but I received an equal amount of support in navigating through fully-funded programs, which is a task students often struggle with.

I believe that adopting a holistic approach to understand one's interest area and leveraging the support of LUMS' faculty has been instrumental in helping me achieve my goal of pursuing a Master's in development studies.

I also applied for my Master's programs for the fall 2023 intake and was also able to receive offers, however due to lack of funding, I had to withdraw my efforts. Motivated by my faculty advisors at LUMS, I was encouraged to apply for the fall 2024 intake. This time, I ensured that I had applied through fully-funded programs including Commonwealth scholarships, Erasmus scholarships, and fellowships in the US. This experience made me realize that it is important for students to understand the importance of finances before they start the application process and plan their applications supported by relevant funding sources.

I would say that my journey towards graduate studies started a little later than most. I thought about pursuing graduate studies in my junior year, and by that time I felt that I was quite late. I also didn't have a stellar GPA (<3.4). At this point, I also did not know much about the research opportunities available at the department. It wasn't until my Junior Spring semester that I landed a health-tech project and enrolled in a directed coursework (research project) . Due to my dedication, I managed to get a leadership position in the research lab and started working on other projects as well. The projects I liked to work on all followed a similar theme-using technology for societal well-being. Around the same time I built deep connections with recommenders. I spoke to a lot of students discussing my options for grad school. I think it really worked for me that my recommenders really believed in me. At the time I was applying, I did not have any publications but I was working on very promising projects. I had been doing research for less than a year.

I decided to go for strictly PhD programs because:

• I enjoyed doing research.
• I knew that self-funding a master's degree was absolutely not an option and with my GPA, and no publications it would've been hard to land a merit scholarship.

I based my university choice on three things:

• Does the CS department have professor(s) with similar research interests as mine, and are they recruiting?
• Does someone with a similar profile as me, have chances of being accepted to this program?
• Are they offering a fee waiver? Unfortunately due to my financial circumstances, this did play a significant role in deciding whether I'd apply to a certain place or not.

I think it helped that I wrote a comprehensive SOP and found a common theme. Instead of being too vague and highly specific, I tried to go for something in the middle so it could keep options open for me. I was ultimately interviewed at three universities. Two of which waitlisted me. Since one of them was my top choice, it was a very difficult time and I had very low hope of making it. Meanwhile I was still waiting to hear from the third interview (which was also one of the top choices). I received my acceptance late March when I'd lost all hopes. This is pretty late by most standards. I was also eventually offered a semi-funded masters at my top choice, but it wasn't what I wanted to pursue so I'm going for my PhD this fall!

Are you planning to apply to one of the top 100 US universities? We've compiled a comprehensive list of MSCS and PhD CS application deadlines based on the latest USNews rankings to help you stay on track. Ensure you don't miss out on your dream school's deadline!

Deadlines

Please make sure to verify the deadlines with the respective universities, as dates may change. Our team strives to provide accurate and up-to-date information, but it's always best to double-check.