Snapshots
Name : Sushmit Malik
Graduation College : SRM University, Chennai
Graduation Stream : B.Tech in ECE
Graduation Aggregate : 8.925 / 10 and 3.5/4 (6th semester in University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA as visiting student)
GRE Score : New Pattern - 310/340 (Quant: 159/170 ; Verbal: 151/170)
TOEFL Score: 106
University for Masters: North Carolina State University (NCSU), Raleigh
Course Details : Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE)
Term: Fall 2012
Applications & Admits
Universities & Courses applied to :
Applied for Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) program in the following universities:
- Stanford University
- Georgia Institute of Technology (Ga.Tech)
- North Carolina State University (NCSU)
- Purdue University, West Lafayette
- Penn State University
- Arizona State University (ASU)
- Columbia University
- Cornell University
- University Of Southern California (USC)
- University Of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (UIUC)
- University of Texas, Austin
- University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
- University Of Wisconsin, Madison
- University Of Michigan, Ann Arbor
In Europe-
- EPFL
- TU, Eindhoven
Admits from:
In US
- Cornell University ( Applied for PhD, but admit in M.Eng )
- North Carolina State University (NCSU)
- Arizona State University (ASU)
- University Of Southern California (USC)
In Europe
TU, Eindhoven
Minutia
Projects:
- Final year research project on Fiber Optic Sensors, at The University Of Hong, Kong. Worked under Prof. Kenneth KY Wong as a Research Assistant.
- Designed and fabricated an Automated Drink Mixer & Dispenser as a part of the Embedded Microprocessor System Design course at UW-Madison, Spring 2011.
- Designed and fabricated a Buck Converter with given specifications as a part of the Power Electronics course at UW-Madison, Spring 2011.
- Designed and fabricated a Color Sensitive Robotic Arm capable of sorting objects based on color at SRM University, December 2010.
- Designed a Device for generating electricity to charge mobile phones while walking at Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, November 2010.
- Designed and fabricated a Solar Powered Autonomous Obstacle Avoiding robot capable of following the direction of highest light intensity and avoid obstacles on its way at SRM University, Chennai, August 2009.
- Worked on an C++ based Intuitive Library Management System as a part of the course, Computer Science in high school, January 2008.
Letter of Recommendations :
- Professor from SRM University (the courses relevant to my area of interest and I did well in them, thats an important thing to do when you decide who to take a LOR from. If you have done well in a relevant course, that should be your 1st choice)
- Two professors from University Of Wisonsin, Madison, under whom I took classes.
It is good to give the recommender a copy of your resume and SOP and discuss about your interests, and goals to have a more structured LOR from that person.
Technical Papers:
1. ‘Self Powering Mobile Devices Using Piezoelectric Crystals’ for Schneider Electric Innovation Challenge, 2009.
2. ‘Improving Energy Efficiency in Buildings – A Case Study’ for Schneider Electric Innovation Challenge, 2010.
Extracurriculars:
- Selected for the Semester Abroad Program in SRM University to pursue 6th Semester at University Of Wisconsin, Madison.
- Couple of wins in Robotics competitions at techfests.
- Seminar on Cloud Computing at SRM University, Chennai, August, 2010.
- Workshop on Linux Poison at SRM University, Chennai, August, 2009.
- Workshop on Robotics at SRM University, Chennai, August, 2009.
Work Experience/Internship:
- University Of Hong Kong, Hong Kong: Student Research Assistant, Temperature and Strain sensing using Optical Fiber based on Brillouin Scattering - December, 2011 – March, 2012
- HCL Technologies, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India : Intern, Hardware and Network technology - July, 2010
- Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Ltd., Hazira, Surat, India: Intern, Satellite and Telecommunication Systems - June, 2010
Financial Aid :
None
Preparation:
Ideally, you should begin gearing up for it in 2nd year. It's a time when you are still not fully affected by the deteriorating Indian college education ;). The new pattern is heavily biased on how good you are at comprehending complex pieces of English texts, so read as much as you can.
I would suggest the following
For Verbal-
- Get yourself "Word Power Made Easy" by Norman Lewis and solve all its questions. This should be your first step. A very solid foundation to begin with.
- Make a habit to read online papers like New York times regularly. This helps you with Reading Comprehensions a lot.
- Don't neglect the wordlist. Having a command over vocab is a must, though you need to understand in what context every word is used.
For Quants-
- Solve each and every question from the ETS book. That gives you the best feel of the GRE.
- Find your weak spots, and work more on those.
- Solve the relevant topic from "Quantitative Aptitude" by R.S. Agarwal.
- Solve Nova's Math for GRE.
This should be more than enough to land up with a perfect score. Pay special attention to topics like statistics, comprehending bar charts, pie charts, etc as we tend to neglect them.
This is why you need to start from 2nd year and take your GRE by the end of 2nd year or in 3rd year.
SOP Advice:
This is one very important part of the application. It can make or break your application. It needs a lot of time and polishing. You need to stand out in your SOP and show how your are unique. So, its always a good idea to write your own version as that will be unique for you. Keep in mind that, you NEED TO MAKE A CONNECTION to the university that your applying to. Also, emphasize on how you evolved academically, what influenced you towards your are of interest, how have your projects and internships helped you in reaching where you are. Mention about how the professors and their research uniquely stands out and what can you contribute and how your future goals and ambitions are aligned with it.
Counselling Opinion:
I did not avail the services of any counsellor and I don't think that they are required. No one can handle your applications better than you. Yes, it will take a lot more time and research, but it's worth. It will also help you write a much better SOP for yourself.
Reasons to choose Current University:
It was a tough call between Cornell and NC State. I spoke with a lot of seniors and finally decided to go ahead with NC State.
The main reason being Cornell's 1 year M.Eng program is more geared up for the industry and not the greatest of foundations for a PhD later on. It will give less time for working on publications, and publications matter the most for PhD.
Apart from this, NC State is awesome in the field of NanoElectronics and Photonics which is my area of interest. NC State excels in CMOS and related device fabrication.
Advice to Juniors:
- Planning, Hardwork and Dedication, Thats the combo required to make it to the top.
- Plan your projects and get started on them as soon as you can. Not only do they build your profile, you also learn a lot. This should give you confidence to go for papers, which are VERY important.
- It's good to get the GRE out of the way early as I mentioned before as it helps you to focus more on projects and academics. Make no mistake, acads are quite important than it seems. A high GPA can offset an average GRE, but it doesn't usually work the other way around.
- Aggressively apply for internships and do not hesitate to mail professors for working under them on a project. You never know when you get lucky!
- Apply to about 10-12 universities. IF you feel you have a strong profile ( projects+acads), don't be afraid to be ambitious, yet always keep some safe options. Always keep in mind, rankings don't tell you the full story. Be specific about your research interest and then see which universities fit the bill. A good way to find this out is to go to Microsoft Academic search and see the citations and H-index ( indicator of the impact of research ) of the relevant professors. That gives you a good idea.
- The admission process is a bit random, so just do your best and let them worry about the rest. Have the satisfaction that you have given your best shot.