Exchange Diaries  

G.V. Sai Harshit | Aerospace Engineering

Purdue University, United States of America

1. While you were in college, what was your motivation to go for higher studies, and in
which year did you get that motivation? How did you manage your academics with your
preparation?

- “I have been exploring different fields in engineering since I was in my first year.
While at it, I realised that I don’t really like coding and machine learning. These
topics have always been popular. To me, however, these felt like I was doing the
same thing over and over again. Then I got a remote research internship at the
John Hopkins University and realised that research is what I want to do.
As for managing academics with my preparations, getting a good CGPA is a part
of preparation. Other than that, there is preparing the SOP, GRE, and TOEFL. I
prepared for GRE and TOEFL during my summer break. The SOP took me about
a month to prepare. It took some planning to balance everything. Also, my
semester being online helped me in getting some extra time.”

2. What are the factors that you considered for selecting the universities you are going to
apply for?

- “I mostly considered the professors who are working in the same department as
mine while considering the universities. I also got in touch with our professors
who have worked in those colleges. I then mailed these professors and based on
their responses, I shortlisted six universities to which I finally applied.”

3. 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, and what could you
have done better?

- “I applied to six universities. There is not much difference in the selection
procedure. The cut-off for GRE and TOEFL may vary a bit. But apart from that,
you have to send in your CV, SOP and need two or three good Letters of
Recommendation. You also need to submit a personal statement. The format of
SOP may vary though. Most universities accept an SOP of two complete A4-
sized sheets. However, Purdue University had a word limit of 500 words. There
might be some other requirements in other colleges as well.”

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

- “The thing with Ph.D. is that it is fully funded. So, I don’t have to worry too much
about my expenses. In the beginning, we get research assistance. If we want
some extra income, we can apply for teaching assistance after some time –
usually after two or three years later.”

5. Is CGPA a factor while considering higher studies at foreign universities?

- “CGPA is definitely a factor while getting accepted in foreign universities. I was
asked about my department rank in nearly every interview, so yes maintaining a
good CGPA certainly gives you a good boost. However, you can still get into a
good university even if your CGPA is not so good. If your published papers are
good and you have good projects and letters of recommendations, it can
outweigh a low CGPA.”

6. Have you taken up any research project at your bachelor/ master's level under any
professor here at IIT KGP? How did you manage your college studies and worked for
your research?

- “Yes. I have been part of various projects during my stay at the campus as I
believe projects are the best way to get in-depth knowledge about an area. My
first project was an Institute-funded project in the department of Mechanical
engineering related to 3D printing. Apart from this, I have done various course
projects in my department.
You can easily manage research with academics as you will have a lot of free
time in the first 3 years. The workload of subjects in my department was also
moderate.”

7. What were the other difficulties you faced on taking this path and how to overcome
them?

- “There wasn’t really any difficulty that I faced. I think some of the biggest
challenges while getting selected were the interviews. The professors would send
me research papers to study and then ask for my opinion on them. It was difficult
to understand those papers and was a challenge for me.”

8. How did IIT KGP benefit you in your journey?

- “IIT KGP certainly has a big role in me being where I am. The ‘tag’ of being a
student of IIT Kharagpur is very prestigious and gives a good impression to the
interviewers. Besides, the professors also know the value of students of IIT
Kharagpur and have a fair idea of their capability and dedication. In fact, most of
the students in Purdue University who are doing their Ph.D. from my department
are from IIT Kharagpur.”

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

- “There are ample opportunities after you get your Ph.D. There are basically two
paths you can take – Academia or Industry.
If you go for Academia, you can get a well-equipped National lab for your training.
Also, the demand for Ph.D. scholars in the industry is huge and there is a large
scope over there as well. However, the research options get limited once you are
working as a researcher in the industry.
There is also a less probable scenario where I return to India after my studies
and do my research over here.”

10. What are the suggestions that you would give your juniors who want to pursue higher
studies? Could you please give a rough roadmap to ease their journey?

- “A common misconception I’ve seen among students is that Ph.D. takes five
years to complete after your Masters. Many of them don’t take up a Ph.D.
because of that. This is not necessarily true. With dedication, you can complete
your Ph.D. in four years.
Another misconception is that you need publications to get admission to a good
university. This is false as well; I don’t have any publications either.
I would advise anyone who wants to do higher studies to take up projects and
work on them with dedication. Also, make sure to be in contact with the professor
under whom you are working and also with other professors. Make sure to have
good letters of recommendation. Many people undermine the value of good
letters of recommendation, don’t do that.”