mit caltech stanford only a dream ?

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k2
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Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2012 3:26 am

mit caltech stanford only a dream ?

Post by k2 » Tue Aug 07, 2012 3:35 am

i am about to start my undergrad in electrical and electronics engineering in india ,i want to study physics for masters in caltech mit stanford or other universities of high repute,should there be research experience to get in or pgre and gpa enough?how and when to start prep for pgre?please reply

kangaroo
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Re: mit caltech stanford only a dream ?

Post by kangaroo » Tue Aug 07, 2012 4:14 am

For someone who is even too lazy to do his own research for grad sch apps? Hell yes it's a dream.

TakeruK
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Re: mit caltech stanford only a dream ?

Post by TakeruK » Tue Aug 07, 2012 10:36 am

Research experience is very helpful but not absolutely required. A friend of mine got into Caltech with zero research experience (at time of application) but with an almost perfect GPA (from Canada) and a PGRE score in the upper 800s. However, I feel like he is definitely an exception, so I would do everything I can to get some research experience during my undergrad.

k2
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Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2012 3:26 am

Re: mit caltech stanford only a dream ?

Post by k2 » Tue Aug 07, 2012 1:45 pm

TakeruK wrote:Research experience is very helpful but not absolutely required. A friend of mine got into Caltech with zero research experience (at time of application) but with an almost perfect GPA (from Canada) and a PGRE score in the upper 800s. However, I feel like he is definitely an exception, so I would do everything I can to get some research experience during my undergrad.
how can i do research on physics when im doing my undergrad in electrical and electronics?should i do it side by side ?i dont know about this so please guide me

k2
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Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2012 3:26 am

Re: mit caltech stanford only a dream ?

Post by k2 » Tue Aug 07, 2012 1:46 pm

kangaroo wrote:For someone who is even too lazy to do his own research for grad sch apps? Hell yes it's a dream.
how can i do research on physics when im doing my undergrad in electrical and electronics?should i do it side by side ?i dont know about this so please guide me

TakeruK
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Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2012 3:05 pm

Re: mit caltech stanford only a dream ?

Post by TakeruK » Tue Aug 07, 2012 2:30 pm

In North America, students generally find opportunities to do research during the summer terms, but sometimes (for example, senior/honours thesis work), research happens during the school year as well. Sometimes there are special programs (where the work is funded by the government or other agency) that students can apply to in order to get research work experience. All of this varies by school and a lot more by country, so you should talk to advisors or counselors at your current University and ask them how you can get research experience.

Generally, most students don't have much opportunity to do research work until after their 2nd year of classes, since you need a strong foundation first. While research experience is very important, you will often need strong grades in the first few years of courses to stand out and get hired for undergraduate research work, particularly for the special programs mentioned above.

So if you are just starting, I would focus on coursework right now and start talking to people at your school about ways that students can find research experience. Then, you will be ready to take advantage of these opportunities when they do come up.

However, if you are really interested in Physics, then why aren't you in a Physics program? You're right -- it will be hard, but not impossible, to find physics research work when you are studying something else. So, if Physics is your true interest, you should maybe consider switching fields sooner rather than later?

k2
Posts: 9
Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2012 3:26 am

Re: mit caltech stanford only a dream ?

Post by k2 » Wed Aug 08, 2012 3:28 am

TakeruK wrote:In North America, students generally find opportunities to do research during the summer terms, but sometimes (for example, senior/honours thesis work), research happens during the school year as well. Sometimes there are special programs (where the work is funded by the government or other agency) that students can apply to in order to get research work experience. All of this varies by school and a lot more by country, so you should talk to advisors or counselors at your current University and ask them how you can get research experience.

Generally, most students don't have much opportunity to do research work until after their 2nd year of classes, since you need a strong foundation first. While research experience is very important, you will often need strong grades in the first few years of courses to stand out and get hired for undergraduate research work, particularly for the special programs mentioned above.

So if you are just starting, I would focus on coursework right now and start talking to people at your school about ways that students can find research experience. Then, you will be ready to take advantage of these opportunities when they do come up.

However, if you are really interested in Physics, then why aren't you in a Physics program? You're right -- it will be hard, but not impossible, to find physics research work when you are studying something else. So, if Physics is your true interest, you should maybe consider switching fields sooner rather than later?
thank you !there is very little scope for pure science in india for undergrad thats why i thought of changing to it after undergrad,is there any online ,correspondance program in any of universities abroad where i can do my research?in india undergrad research is not common at all

P-representation
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Joined: Fri Dec 23, 2011 12:56 am

Re: mit caltech stanford only a dream ?

Post by P-representation » Wed Aug 08, 2012 6:33 am

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Last edited by P-representation on Sat Apr 06, 2013 3:24 am, edited 1 time in total.

k2
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Re: mit caltech stanford only a dream ?

Post by k2 » Wed Aug 08, 2012 2:09 pm

P-representation wrote:At this stage, just keep your GPA up. Try working at research institutions over the summers to gain some experience. There are a number of opportunities for summer research both in India and abroad, i.e, IAS, VSRP, DAAD-WISE etc... But the popular ones have a very high GPA cutoff so keep that in mind.
P-representation wrote:At this stage, just keep your GPA up. Try working at research institutions over the summers to gain some experience. There are a number of opportunities for summer research both in India and abroad, i.e, IAS, VSRP, DAAD-WISE etc... But the popular ones have a very high GPA cutoff so keep that in mind.
P-representation wrote:At this stage, just keep your GPA up. Try working at research institutions over the summers to gain some experience. There are a number of opportunities for summer research both in India and abroad, i.e, IAS, VSRP, DAAD-WISE etc... But the popular ones have a very high GPA cutoff so keep that in mind.
so in first year i keep my gpa up ,apply for universities in summer?the only thing they consider for summer programs is gpa ? how about preperation for pgre and gre ?when and how should i start ?is halliday and resnick good for theory ?which book for problems?

TakeruK
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Re: mit caltech stanford only a dream ?

Post by TakeruK » Wed Aug 08, 2012 3:53 pm

For North American programs (i.e. 4 year undergrad), I would say that a good chunk of the material in the PGRE is covered in the first 2 years of courses but you really want to have your third year courses to have the majority of the material covered. Students generally apply to grad school at the beginning of Year 4, so I think the best time to take the PGRE is actually April at the end of Year 3, this will allow the student to have another try in October or November of Year 4 if necessary. I don't know how your degree will work though, especially since you are self-studying Physics, basically. From the experience of my peers who scored highly, they studied for about 2-3 months before the test and treated it like an extra course (so about 8-10 hours of commitment per week I guess).

k2
Posts: 9
Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2012 3:26 am

Re: mit caltech stanford only a dream ?

Post by k2 » Thu Aug 09, 2012 1:55 am

thank you !



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