Exchange Diaries
Saptarshi Mandal | Electronics and Electrical Communication Engg.
University of Illinois, USA
What motivated you for MS/Ph.D.? From where did you get the motivation? How did it all start? How did you handle your preparation for your academics?
I have got the motivation mainly from my seniors and the professors of IIT Kharagpur, with whom I have worked till now. Also, the great source of inspiration comes from the professors of IISc, where I did intern. I was a student of the BTech program but decided to switch to the MTech program in the third year seeing my interests and opinions from several professors of my department. So, the preparation for actually getting into MS/Ph.D. didn’t affect my academics. Rather my academics helped me significantly to come up with this decision.
What is the process of interdisciplinary studies? How easy was the switch? What motivated you for the switch?
The switch to Ph.D. has never been an easy decision for most of the students. It has been a combined result formed over multiple opinions and suggestions and thought processes. As far as the interdisciplinary studies are concerned, since, the course I opted for at the University of Illinois and my major courses were highly correlated. So, I don’t think I needed any interdisciplinary studies.
Did you apply to multiple universities? If yes, can you please elaborate on the differences in the selection process of the universities? In universities in which you were not selected can you please share what you felt you lacked, what could you have done better.
Yes, I applied to multiple Universities and most of them were from America. So, in general, the selection processes for most of the interviews are quite similar, more or less. Though there is a difference in the minimum C.G requirement by all the Universities. Many Universities don't go for interviews and select students based on resumes and other examinations like TOEFL, etc. It’s quite natural to get rejected by universities. So, the very prime reason could be your profile might not be as strong as they need.
And mostly, the universities have a deadline for application around 15th December (may vary) and declare results by maybe March and set a deadline for acceptance till mid-April. So, I accepted the University of Illinois and didn’t wait for other results to come as most of them were waitlisted.
How are you planning to manage your finances? Have you applied for any scholarships? What were their procedures?
So, I was selected for a Ph.D. program and in general, the Ph.D. students get full fellowship in America. So, in my case, it is a research fellowship under the professor but for MS you may need to apply for certain scholarships. You may specify it in your application as well depending on if you would be able to afford it or not.
What was the role of your CGPA?
C.G.P.A is highly important. According to my view, you can take it as it contributes to about 75% for application into these fields and about 60% if you are applying for your jobs. But, if in case you have a low C.G you must have a proper and grate profile to convince them for the same. A 9 and above CG makes the whole process a lot easier.
How is your university going to manage everything in this confusion of COVID-19?
So, the University has planned for online classes and stuff, and maybe sometime in the future, we would be called. But, everything right from expenditure and education is being taken care of by the University.
What difficulties do you think the pandemic will bring (or has brought already) in the process?
So, first of all, the important thing is a letter of recommendation. It is not easier to get letters of recommendation online than it would have been to get while talking to the professor in person. Also, since this entire application task takes a lot of time, you may have to wait for some time, maybe a week or so to get the responses which otherwise would have been much easier offline and you have to do everything remotely.
How did IIT KGP benefit you in your journey?
So, yeah IIT Kharagpur immensely benefited me in the entire journey. I was just a normal student before coming to this college and then the exposure and the opportunities, the learnings, and several audiences that the college provided me was something irreplaceable. Also, the wide Alumni network and the seniors here helped me a lot to figure out my goals.
What are the opportunities after the Ph.D. course?
If you are looking for an industry job after Ph.D., abroad is a better option than India. In India, MS is sufficient to get a head start down the corporate-stairs. And if you want to be in academics, Ph.D. is the way, and in that regard the better the university, the better your career prospects.
What message do you want to give the juniors today who are interested in pursuing similar courses?
Stay connected with the professors and the seniors. Also, try to maintain a good CG and keep doing hard work. In the whole journey, you will come across several failures but you must not give up. And approach professors of both home institutes and outside as early as possible. Mail a lot!