Exchange Diaries
Gopabandhu Hota | Electronics and Electrical Communication Engg.
PhD in VLSI and Bio-electronics, University of California San Diego, USA
What course are you going to pursue?
It is a PhD course in Electronics and Communications Engg. The research disciplines are pretty diverse. I will be primarily working on VLSI and bioelectronics.
How did it all start? From where did you get the motivation to study abroad?
Mostly it started from the internships. I am a dual-degree student, so I started applying for internships in my third year. I have done two summer internships abroad. That was the primary motivation to study abroad.
How did you apply for the degree? Tell us about the application process.
The applications open to us from late October, and the deadlines are December-early January for PhD applications. For the Masters, the deadlines are January-February. So, first, we give the GRE and TOEFL exams. It is like a preliminary examination, and students have to clear cut-offs. Its scores don’t have much impact on the selections. But still, it takes time to prepare for it. So, I would suggest taking the GRE and TOEFL 4-5 months before the application begins. The other parts of the application, like SOP, recommendation letters, formatting your resume, are the most important.
What role does CG play in this process?
There are two types of universities—the top universities like MIT, Stanford, Berkeley, etc., value students with high academic records. You should have rank 1-2 in your department. Only then would you stand out among other applicants. You should also have a good research background as well as publications and journals. If you have, like, top journal papers, it might compensate for the CG.
In other universities, the professors hire you directly. If they find your profile attractive, they will instantly fund your PhD. The university doesn’t directly check the applications, but the professors do it. So, the professors generally hire students having research interests similar to theirs. So, CG plays a lesser role in these universities.
How are you planning to manage your finances?
The PhD degrees are fully funded. You don’t have to pay any tuition fees or incur any other expenses. If someone is offering you an unfunded PhD, I would instead suggest not to go there.
How is UCSD going to manage everything in these confusing times of Covid-19?
They are very optimistic that they will open the quarters in the fall. They are planning to operate in-person classes as well as have options for remote classes.
How did IIT KGP benefit you in your journey?
It is IIT KGP where everything started. At first, you begin to grow as a person, and you get to find your exact areas of interest. I can remember one thing which played a significant role in my journey. The summer VLSI school started in my second year, where there were many projects in the VLSI discipline. I had to go through analog and digital VLSI in detail, and there I got to discover that this was my area of interest. I decided to pursue a career in it, and then everything took its path.