Exchange Diaries  

Saif Siddique | Metallurgical and Materials Engineering

Cornell University, United States

From where did you get the motivation? How did it all start? How did you handle your preparation with your academics?

I did some small projects with some professors in my department from my second year, and then I continued down the path, never deviating. It was something that I kept doing.

I did one with one professor, then moved on to another professor and did various projects that I found exciting. That slowly and gradually built up my profile, and then before I knew it, I started enjoying it. That is when I decided I will pursue this field.

In your 4th year, the workload from the course decreases. There are around one or two courses, and most of the time, we have to do BTP (B. Tech. Project), which is not that difficult to handle, plus exams are not that demanding in terms of time.

Did you apply to multiple universities? If yes, can you please elaborate on the differences in the selection process of the universities? In universities where you were not selected, can you please share what you felt you lacked, what you could have done better?

While selecting universities, what I kept in my mind was what my interests are and where I see myself after five years, so it's not that I will be pursuing something that gets obsolete within two-three years, and this is not the right thing to do. That was one factor that was in my mind, and the second factor was my interests; based on my interest, I would find professors, and in the University, if I found multiple professors (by multiple I mean two to three professors who match my interest) then I will be selecting that University.

From the University where I got rejected, I felt that, as different universities have different deadlines for their application submission, I noticed that I got negative responses from most of them in universities to which I applied earlier. So this showed me that my SOP or the other material I required for application was not up to the mark.

So if I had to apply next time, I would start very early and make sure my application is ready on time. There is not much to do in CV, and you prepare your CV beforehand. The main work that comes is to work on SOP because different universities will list additional requirements and things they want in the SOP.

How are you planning to manage your finances? Have you applied for any scholarships? What were their procedures?

I will be getting a stipend in the form of an assistantship from the University. There was no separate process to apply for it. I was automatically considered for it.

Role of your CGPA?

If you apply to a prestigious school like MIT, Harvard, Caltech, these schools give your CGPA the most priority, but as you move down the ladder, they check your overall profile. So prestigious schools reject all those who have lower CGPA and then play around with those who have passed the cutoff. Universities that are not top tier give a thorough examination of all the applications that they have received. So even if your CGPA is not that high, people have excellent chances to get accepted into a reputed university.

How is your university going to manage everything in this confusion of COVID-19?

Cornell was among the few schools which opened very early. Most of the graduates from Kharagpur itself went there in early September and have worked full-fledged since last year.

How did IIT Kharagpur benefit you in your journey?

If I were in any college other than IIT, I would not have received the experiences to build up my profile. Building up a profile is essential having past experiences which help your application and being from IIT Kharagpur helped it as there are so many professors in so many different fields, so much exposure in our Undergraduate time all those helped which I don't think I would have received from any other place.

What difficulties do you think the pandemic will bring(or has brought already) in the process?

First, I will talk about the good things that have happened due to the pandemic. Most of the schools have dropped their GRE requirements, so we do not necessarily need to give GRE to apply to universities. The second good thing is that you can provide TOEFL and GRE if you give them from your home. On the other hand, some schools have cut down on the number of students they accept because they are citing that their funds are low. I applied to Rice University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where they did not even reply. Still, if you see past statistics, they respond by 15th January or early Feb to students, but this year I don't think anyone got replies from these universities. Other universities have cut down their intake, so yeah, that is challenging.

What are the opportunities after the Ph.D. course?

So, I have not given it that much thought. I know that after my Ph.D. I will come back to India and try to seek a researcher position in a national lab here, CSIR, IISc, or someplace. But I have not given enough thought to this.

What message do you want to give the juniors today who are interested in pursuing similar courses?

The first thing that they should do is start out seeking new experiences. By new experiences, I mean research experiences. They should work with as many professors as possible. IIT Kharagpur gives opportunities to those who want to build up their profile, and they should take full advantage of it. For you guys, it will be difficult as college won't be opening for 3-4 months more at least, but once it gets over, you guys can start seeking out experiences, talk to professors and build up your profile. And once you build up your profile, you can automatically see where you want to be seen, whether this is something you are interested in doing or doing something else. Once that is clear, you can go for internships where you like, and then gradually, everything starts working out.