Exchange Diaries
Rishabh Kumar | Mathematics
University of Alberta, Canada
From where did you get the motivation? How did it all start? How did you handle your preparation with your academics?
I was involved in a research group in my 1st and 2nd years, where I did things in Robotics and Computer Vision. To study it deeply, I contacted Professor Khare of the Mathematics department. He told me about Bayesian statistics which would help in the problems of object tracking and object segmentation. I got interested in pure maths and wanted to pursue it further. Then I attended a summer school in Norway and did an internship on statistics at the University of Ottawa. These things made me decide upon doing an MS in statistics.
I started GRE preparation in July/August and gave it in September. 2-3 days was enough for TOEFL.
Did you apply to multiple universities? If yes, can you please elaborate on the differences in the selection processes of the universities? In universities in which you were not selected, can you please share what you felt you lacked, what you could have done better?
Yes, I applied to multiple universities. Some of them prefer a personal statement that says who you are and how you would increase the diversity in the program. At Alberta, I was asked if I had applied to any other professor there. I was waitlisted in Toronto. I feel that I wrote a very good SOP but I didn’t get any reply to my emails. The fact that I didn’t have any contact there was the major reason for my rejection. It is very important to contact the professor beforehand.
How are you planning to manage your finances? Have you applied for any scholarships? What were their procedures?
My course is funded by the university and everything was managed internally, I didn’t have to do anything. It was a major reason I chose Alberta over Ottawa.
What was the role of your CGPA?
I didn’t have many publications, so I think my CGPA played an important role. A CGPA of at least 8.5 opens a lot of options while applying for graduate school and gets you good recommendations from professors. If your CGPA is above, say, 9.5, publications won’t matter as all universities will take you directly based on your academic ability.
How is your university going to manage everything in this confusion of COVID-19?
Admission letters will be honored even during the COVID-19 period. You can begin your program as mentioned. Due to the pandemic, they are providing the option of online classes. The plan for Fall 2021 is being regularly updated.
How did IIT Kharagpur benefit you in your journey?
Contacts here really help. I contacted a senior who is doing his Ph.D. in Alberta regarding some document issues and he helped a lot. You need to maintain good relations with everyone in IIT Kharagpur as even if they don’t know you, they’ll help you.
What difficulties do you think the pandemic will bring (or has brought already) in the process?
The entire application process is online now, you don’t have to mail your transcripts to the university. If you have all the documents, you can apply from your home in a few hours. But communication is slower. They rolled out my offer on May 18-19 which is very late, it is usually done in April.
What are the opportunities after this MS course?
You can apply the statistical methodology to financial data and studying stocks. The course is useful in core finance. Thesis-based programs are preferred by Canadian employers. If you want to go for a Ph.D. after MS, it provides a lot of contacts and a network. However, if you are in a pure maths course, I don’t think you would get a lot of jobs after MS.
What message do you want to give the juniors today who are interested in pursuing similar courses?
You need to be genuinely interested in a field to do an MS. Get in touch with professors in IIT Kharagpur. Doing projects here will help in writing your SOPs and LORs. It will also clear your doubts if you are interested. Also, keep a backup while applying.