Exchange Diaries  

Shubham Mishra | Computer Science and Engineering

University of California, Berkeley, 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 started looking into research when I got into second year, and I really liked
our department’s professors and research work. I was initially torn between going to
Industry and going for Research, and kind of juggling between the two. In my third
year I got 2 offers, one from DE Shaw (industry) and another from EPFL. I ended up
going to EPFL, and that motivated me to go for higher studies. “
2. How did you manage your academics with your preparation?

-”In research line there is not much of a difference between your academics
and what your research profile demands. Mostly they look for good grades. So
maintaining a good CGPA was a part of the preparation. Apart from that, i used to
work in Summer projects. I could not spare much time to work on projects during the
semester.”
3. In Summers, how do you go about it? Do you take up only a single project?

-”I work on one research project, and I also get involved in helping a startup
or making some engineering projects...”
4. What are the factors that you considered for selecting the universities you are going
to apply for?
-”The first thing that came to my mind, thinking about UC Berkely, is
particularly for Computer Systems. Then I got to know about the active professors there.
Finally I decided that I should apply for UC Berkeley.”
5. How did you get in touch with the professors there?

-”So..the thing is that, for PhD applications, contacting the professors isn’t that
much of a necessity, because the admissions are centralized, so there’s no point in
poking just one professor to give the details. That being said, I had a mentor in KGP,
Prof. Mainack Mondal, who knew one of the professors there, from his PhD days, so
he just introduced me there. But that contact was very brief, before the application.
After the application, we had another interview.
6. Did you apply to multiple universities? If yes can you please elaborate on the
differences in the selection process of the universities?

-”Yeah, I applied to 5 other universities. Luckily for me, the universities had
the same selection process, wherever I applied. These days, the universities are
following a centralised approach. No single professor can guarantee your admission.
You have to apply to their portal. Either they will take your interview, or directly give
the results.”
7. 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 did not get selected in MIT, Stanford and Cornell, but I did get selected in
Yale, and EPFL. I kind of knew that I would be rejected by those three..
In the other three, I got an interview call, and two calls actually, from Berkeley.
Maybe the professors did not like my SOP or they didn’t have space in their Lab”
8. 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?
-”I had taken multiple projects actually. In my second year, i started under
Prof. Debdeep Mukhopadhay. We participated in a Research competition called -
“Embedded Security Challenge”. That time I couldn’t contribute much, but next year
we stood 2nd in the region.
Next summer, I was working under Prof. Mainack Mondal in a security-related
project.
In my BTP, i started working in core Cryptographic Research, under Prof. Debdeep
Mukhopadhay.
The current project is my BTP, so its a part of the academic curriculum. But during
the second year, it got very hectic and I had to forgo the Durga Puja celebrations
then, to complete the work. But, that’s worth it, once you get the result.
9. What were the other difficulties you faced on taking this path and how to overcome
them?
-”So one of the difficult things I faced was writing the SOP. Its the most crucial
part I’d say in any University application. A good SOP must reflect on what you have done
already, and what you want to do. The catch is write concisely, but also to project yourself
well. That’s tough to do, because sometimes we tend to overestimate as well as
underestimate ourselves. I had Prof. Mainack Mondal to help, and he did support me. He
went through multiple revisions of my SOP, before i reached a final draft.
Then there was the problem about researching the professors that I want to work with. There
are a lot of professors in any University and sometimes the ideal ones get overlooked.”

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

-”First thing is that, its an IIT, so its known all over the world. This happens in
US, because there are people who are reviewing the applications (especially PhD),
to come from a University or work under a professor that the reviewers know, then
the probability of your selection increases.
Secondly, the professors here are very helpful. Prof Mainack Mondal became my
mentor. The research projects that I worked on...IIT kharagpur has very cutting-edge
projects I’d say, in the new-frontiers of the domain. So i was working on very
interesting stuff. If you engage in research that is currently the demand of the
community, that helps in getting selected. “
11. What are the opportunities after the Ph.D. course?

-”After the PhD, there are two options- either you work in the industry’s RnD
Labs or you become a professor. Currently, I dont know how my PhD’s going to go, but I plan
to join an R&D Lab, atleast for the first part of my career.
12. Do you have interest in Academia as well?

-”Personally i would not like to teach for an entire semester, but i like to take

seminars every now and then. I’ll have to think about it down the road.”
13. 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?
-”Roadmap would be that- if you are inclined towards research, then start
from the second year. Work with at least 3 professors, that too valuable work, not just
any. So that they can give you a strong recommendation. I mentioned 3 because
mostly the universities need 3 LORs. If you can get an FT, under a reputed University
or a reputed prof , that will really boost your application. When doing your projects,
don’t neglect your academics. Maintain a good CGPA (9.5 +). But these are not
constants, and vary from person to person. If you have worked in very cutting-edge
stuff which got published, the other aspects maybe overlooked. In my field, getting a
publication is not easy, the projects last 1.5 to 2 years, so having a good CGPA
helps.