MIT/CalTech/UoF Dream or Reality

Post Reply
heatrs
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Apr 04, 2012 12:57 am

MIT/CalTech/UoF Dream or Reality

Post by heatrs » Wed Apr 04, 2012 1:07 am

Hi,

I have been in US for 5 years now( 2 years of job, 3 years of Masters in Computer Science GPA 3.3)
Did my bachelors in Information Technology with Hons. from a reputed university in India.

I need to get enrolled in PHD in astronomy --- either in MIT or CALTECH or U of Florida.
Its my dream I am living for.

--------

Please suggest me how much scores I will need to get in GRE & subjective GRE for these 3 Univ.
I know there is no surety of admission - but based on past experience etc - any suggestions would be beneficial.

I have no research experience or any published paper yet.

siroy.sam
Posts: 52
Joined: Wed Jun 01, 2011 8:57 am

Re: MIT/CalTech/UoF Dream or Reality

Post by siroy.sam » Wed Apr 04, 2012 1:51 am

heatrs wrote:Hi,

I have been in US for 5 years now( 2 years of job, 3 years of Masters in Computer Science GPA 3.3)
Did my bachelors in Information Technology with Hons. from a reputed university in India.

I need to get enrolled in PHD in astronomy --- either in MIT or CALTECH or U of Florida.
Its my dream I am living for.

--------

Please suggest me how much scores I will need to get in GRE & subjective GRE for these 3 Univ.
I know there is no surety of admission - but based on past experience etc - any suggestions would be beneficial.

I have no research experience or any published paper yet.
You are certainly at right forum, but you need to be a bit adventurous enough to search for your treasure. Its certainly worth the effort, try pal. A BSc honours in IT from an Indian university with zero research experience will fetch you zero probability of getting at Caltech, MIT. Even UF is most unlikely. Even top scores in GRE or PGRE will not help you.

heatrs
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Apr 04, 2012 12:57 am

Re: MIT/CalTech/UoF Dream or Reality

Post by heatrs » Wed Apr 04, 2012 9:08 am

Thanks for the reply.

I do have plenty of research ideas - is it feasible to write papers while doing job or you gotta be associated with Universities in order to publish the paper.

siroy.sam
Posts: 52
Joined: Wed Jun 01, 2011 8:57 am

Re: MIT/CalTech/UoF Dream or Reality

Post by siroy.sam » Wed Apr 04, 2012 9:55 am

heatrs wrote:Thanks for the reply.

I do have plenty of research ideas - is it feasible to write papers while doing job or you gotta be associated with Universities in order to publish the paper.
There is a thread here recently discussing about possibilities of self publishing research papers. You may find it quite interesting. You may search relevant phrase to find the discussion. Without affiliation with any research institute/group, nobody will take you seriously unless you churn out ground breaking works like Einstein did in 1905. However, there is always some exception.

heatrs
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Apr 04, 2012 12:57 am

Re: MIT/CalTech/UoF Dream or Reality

Post by heatrs » Wed Apr 04, 2012 10:27 am

Thanks a ton for your kind replies.

bfollinprm
Posts: 1203
Joined: Sat Nov 07, 2009 11:44 am

Re: MIT/CalTech/UoF Dream or Reality

Post by bfollinprm » Wed Apr 04, 2012 4:57 pm

siroy.sam wrote:
heatrs wrote:Thanks for the reply.

I do have plenty of research ideas - is it feasible to write papers while doing job or you gotta be associated with Universities in order to publish the paper.
There is a thread here recently discussing about possibilities of self publishing research papers. You may find it quite interesting. You may search relevant phrase to find the discussion. Without affiliation with any research institute/group, nobody will take you seriously unless you churn out ground breaking works like Einstein did in 1905. However, there is always some exception.
Disagree. They'll take your work more seriously if you don't attempt to turn physics on its head. But to make progress in a lot of disciplines, you need to know a lot of technical details, so to first order your research will start with combing the arxiv for what people have done previously.

heatrs
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Apr 04, 2012 12:57 am

Re: MIT/CalTech/UoF Dream or Reality

Post by heatrs » Wed Apr 04, 2012 4:58 pm

siroy.sam wrote:
heatrs wrote:Thanks for the reply.

I do have plenty of research ideas - is it feasible to write papers while doing job or you gotta be associated with Universities in order to publish the paper.
There is a thread here recently discussing about possibilities of self publishing research papers. You may find it quite interesting. You may search relevant phrase to find the discussion. Without affiliation with any research institute/group, nobody will take you seriously unless you churn out ground breaking works like Einstein did in 1905. However, there is always some exception.
Oops! sorry to be pain in the neck, but couldn't find the appropriate thread.

siroy.sam
Posts: 52
Joined: Wed Jun 01, 2011 8:57 am

Re: MIT/CalTech/UoF Dream or Reality

Post by siroy.sam » Thu Apr 05, 2012 2:18 am

Its available at Research section of Prospective Graduate Students top list in this forum. Find the first few beginning tops relevant to your interest. There are , in fact, different views on possibilities of self publishing research papers. I didn't say that its impossible, but it will be very tough in view of your background.

Hausdorff
Posts: 21
Joined: Sun Nov 28, 2010 3:40 am

Re: MIT/CalTech/UoF Dream or Reality

Post by Hausdorff » Wed Apr 18, 2012 6:38 pm

In grad school nobody cares about your research ideas, you need to do what they want you to do.
No offense, but I wonder what type of research ideas you have without having a degree in astronomy?
Have you ever typed those topics to google scholar?
I guess I post this before, but since nobody is searching the forum, I can post it again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfxfnokQuLM

jackshroff40
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Jun 30, 2012 4:16 pm

Re: MIT/CalTech/UoF Dream or Reality

Post by jackshroff40 » Sat Jul 21, 2012 6:26 pm

for top and "close to top" closes, research exprience and recommandation letters are more important than GPA and GRE. Even with that. you should (me too since i m also applying) have AT LEAST 800 in physics gre exams to get into reputed school. But it all ALSO depends on weather you wann do observational/computational or theoretical astronomy.

heatrs
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Apr 04, 2012 12:57 am

Re: MIT/CalTech/UoF Dream or Reality

Post by heatrs » Tue Oct 02, 2012 9:47 pm

Interesting things - I am getting little confused myself - do I actually need a PHD degree in order to do fulfil my research ideas//
By the way I have near 4 years of industrial experience as Senior Software Developer in companies like American Airlines, FannieMae etc. , now I think it all got wasted ...

But I am happy :/ still thinking.



Post Reply