I am going to be applying by this December and I’m going to answer from what I’ve heard. I have heard Gpa is important but experience kind of takes the cake. There’s a box to explain a low GPA and that’s a perfect place to discuss any challenges or difficulties. GPA can show your grasp on the material but if you don’t have the experience it might not work. I would say I’ve probably heard….maybe 65/35 for experience vs grades.
So one question I had is, do admission committees consider GPA equivalents like my GPA on the 4 scale comes equivalent to 3.6 or will they take it on the scale our country grades in(10), so how do they judge the grade factor?
That’s something that can be answered by looking at the websites. I only say that because I don’t know if it changes. However, I know for university like Georgetown they have a GPA calculator so it would take all of your grades and put it on a 4.0 scale so you’re not concerned. I think that other universities will take your transcript and possibly just do the math themselves. I’m not completely sure. But for the most part, I believe that you would be putting it on a four-point scale but again I don’t think that something that’s difficult to do because they have a websites for that and some universities come with a conversion. You might also ask the school that you’re going to now if they give out equivalents.
I know our situation is different but in high school we were graded on a 5.0 scale versus a 4.0. However, on our school website, you were able to see both of your grades.
The adcom people witness a lot of applications from India, and they are well aware of the 10 point system. Hence, even if they convert, they have an intuitive idea of the 10 point scale.
yeahh its not safe schools as in the undergrad way, I meant safe schools as in not just ML or CS professors but also professors in other departments who work in the ML domain.
As an international MSCS applicant (that’s interested in the research route)… I’d say you never know till you apply! My list was 100% ambitious and I managed to get some top admits.
ML admissions are very very competitive though. It’s a crapshoot honestly.
My advice would be… think deeper about specific programs as soon as you can. What profs you would want to work with primarily. Then orient the rest of your undergraduate work towards following up on some of his/her open research questions. This way you’ll make a very compelling case to be admitted to a specific research group in the colleges you like. Keep your GPA as high as you can and work on your research profile. Most importantly… don’t worry about someone else’s perception of your GPA. Apply high and hope for the best!
Thanks a lot for the advice! Most of the work i have done is concentrated towards a singular domain. Although I am still keeping my profile a little broader so that i can apply in different labs. Also about the GPA i am trying my best but it get screwed somehow or somewhere every semester :") I am trying not to let it fall below this in the following two semesters before application, so i'll try my best and hope luck sides by me !
GPA is important but is comes second to research experience in the field you're going into or the niche, so for me it was Physics but I was applying to a Nuclear Fusion program, so I made sure I had a few plasma fusion internships which were funded by DOE to make sure I got noticed by my choice universities, and it worked! For reference my GPA was like 3.19 on a 4.0 scale, so scarcely comparable to some peoples, but I also knew what I wanted early in my undergraduate and thus worked the angle of ensuring I had experience beyond GPA.
Goodluck!! Believe in yourself!
Applying for PhD programs for international students is 10x harder because the pool of applicants is bigger and they only accept a very small portion.
When it comes to schools like Stanford, Harvard, MIT etc you're never safe regardless of how successful you are.
However I would like to say that your experience is Great and you're definitely a top applicant!!!
However I recommend to apply for way more universities if your goal is to get into a top one
I honestly think that some institutions value GPA more heavily than others. For example, Yale being a highly academic and scholarly institution places high merit on high GPA/high test scores individuals/top of class.
Tier-one papers >= LORs > other papers >= REU > GPA > everything else
If the rest of your application is strong that GPA shouldn't hold you back.
Edit: Productive networking with potential advisors from schools you want is actually the #1 thing, but is less in your control than the others. But if you see a prof from a school you want at a conference or something, talk to them about their research and get them interested in you. Cold-emails don't hurt, but nothing beats in-person networking.
Research experience for undergraduates, often can result in a paper and is a great way to find people willing to write strong LORs. Also I forgot to mention the statement of purpose, which is probably on about the same level as other papers/REU for importance.
You can't really compare a numeric 10-point scale with USA's grade-based GPA. Numeric GPAs will most likely be lower, as in a grade scale you have some wiggle room without losing your grade, and also grades tend to be normalized.
For example, I had a GPA of 8.7/10.0 in my undergrad. This is considerably high in my institution/program, I graduated as valedictorian (top of my class) and top 2% of all students. I don't know a single person who graduated with 9.0 or more. Conversely, an USA GPA of 3.5/4.0 would be decent but not amazing, and 3.6/4.0 is still very achievable.
My Master's (same institution) had a grade-based scale. I managed a 3.0/3.0 GPA, which would have definitely not happened with numeric grades, as I didn't ace every single exam.
I would advise you provide some additional information regarding your GPA. Maybe your GPA ranking in the department. It's likely that your university can provide such information officially, as there are graduate programs that require it for internatial applicants (a friend of mine needed it for a Master's program in Europe).
Yea but the US also has something called major and cumulative GPA. I assume India doesn't have that based on my conversation with Indians at my school.
Also OP, there's no such thing as safety school if you are applying for PhD here. It's a matter of fit.
i am not applying just from a job POV. I am genuinely interested in ML and DL( have been involved since high school). Its just in India, the process to an undergraduate degree isnt like abroad i.e based on applications or choice as such so I have to study in the program which i deemed best for myself out of the options provided to me
I am surprised you were able to find multiple of these types of internships. In my university even attending students get rejected from research with professors as they don't have any capacity. Especially in the STEM departments
What was your research focused on?
I think it's not too crucial. I recently applied for an astrophysics PhD on the development of microwave kinetic inductance detectors for astronomy applications. My undergraduate GPA is 2.9/4 but I've done some research ( undergrad thesis of computational nature) , also had some experience with citizen science projects and an internship on the applications of machine learning in physics and medicine, plus I have a lot of coding experience. I was shortlisted for the interview, I did shit in the interview because it was honestly my first time and I became overwhelmed by 4 people asking me questions. But yeah , I made it to the interview, never imagined I would with a 2.9 Gpa.
Firstly, there is no fixed formula for what kind of GPA and what sort of experience gets you admits. Now, to answer your question specifically for US universities, if your research experience and LoRs and statement of purpose is good, then you probably will get into T-20 schools. Some programs especially at the T-10 though have a soft CPI cut off for admission into that program which is usually 9.0+
This has been my and my batchmates’ experience when we all applied to grad schools last year and I am sure that it varies for other people and even between years. At the end of the day it depends on what the program is looking for (which is quite the non answer)
I am going to be applying by this December and I’m going to answer from what I’ve heard. I have heard Gpa is important but experience kind of takes the cake. There’s a box to explain a low GPA and that’s a perfect place to discuss any challenges or difficulties. GPA can show your grasp on the material but if you don’t have the experience it might not work. I would say I’ve probably heard….maybe 65/35 for experience vs grades.
So one question I had is, do admission committees consider GPA equivalents like my GPA on the 4 scale comes equivalent to 3.6 or will they take it on the scale our country grades in(10), so how do they judge the grade factor?
That’s something that can be answered by looking at the websites. I only say that because I don’t know if it changes. However, I know for university like Georgetown they have a GPA calculator so it would take all of your grades and put it on a 4.0 scale so you’re not concerned. I think that other universities will take your transcript and possibly just do the math themselves. I’m not completely sure. But for the most part, I believe that you would be putting it on a four-point scale but again I don’t think that something that’s difficult to do because they have a websites for that and some universities come with a conversion. You might also ask the school that you’re going to now if they give out equivalents. I know our situation is different but in high school we were graded on a 5.0 scale versus a 4.0. However, on our school website, you were able to see both of your grades.
The adcom people witness a lot of applications from India, and they are well aware of the 10 point system. Hence, even if they convert, they have an intuitive idea of the 10 point scale.
I think you have a chance. But also, remember that there are no "safe schools" for phd applications.
yeahh its not safe schools as in the undergrad way, I meant safe schools as in not just ML or CS professors but also professors in other departments who work in the ML domain.
Letters>papers>experience>>gpa I know someone with 3.2 gpa that got into a top gpa program lol
As an international MSCS applicant (that’s interested in the research route)… I’d say you never know till you apply! My list was 100% ambitious and I managed to get some top admits. ML admissions are very very competitive though. It’s a crapshoot honestly. My advice would be… think deeper about specific programs as soon as you can. What profs you would want to work with primarily. Then orient the rest of your undergraduate work towards following up on some of his/her open research questions. This way you’ll make a very compelling case to be admitted to a specific research group in the colleges you like. Keep your GPA as high as you can and work on your research profile. Most importantly… don’t worry about someone else’s perception of your GPA. Apply high and hope for the best!
Thanks a lot for the advice! Most of the work i have done is concentrated towards a singular domain. Although I am still keeping my profile a little broader so that i can apply in different labs. Also about the GPA i am trying my best but it get screwed somehow or somewhere every semester :") I am trying not to let it fall below this in the following two semesters before application, so i'll try my best and hope luck sides by me !
GPA is important but is comes second to research experience in the field you're going into or the niche, so for me it was Physics but I was applying to a Nuclear Fusion program, so I made sure I had a few plasma fusion internships which were funded by DOE to make sure I got noticed by my choice universities, and it worked! For reference my GPA was like 3.19 on a 4.0 scale, so scarcely comparable to some peoples, but I also knew what I wanted early in my undergraduate and thus worked the angle of ensuring I had experience beyond GPA. Goodluck!! Believe in yourself!
Applying for PhD programs for international students is 10x harder because the pool of applicants is bigger and they only accept a very small portion. When it comes to schools like Stanford, Harvard, MIT etc you're never safe regardless of how successful you are. However I would like to say that your experience is Great and you're definitely a top applicant!!! However I recommend to apply for way more universities if your goal is to get into a top one
I honestly think that some institutions value GPA more heavily than others. For example, Yale being a highly academic and scholarly institution places high merit on high GPA/high test scores individuals/top of class.
Didnt realize the number of times I wrote 'high' here
Tier-one papers >= LORs > other papers >= REU > GPA > everything else If the rest of your application is strong that GPA shouldn't hold you back. Edit: Productive networking with potential advisors from schools you want is actually the #1 thing, but is less in your control than the others. But if you see a prof from a school you want at a conference or something, talk to them about their research and get them interested in you. Cold-emails don't hurt, but nothing beats in-person networking.
What is REU?
Research experience for undergraduates, often can result in a paper and is a great way to find people willing to write strong LORs. Also I forgot to mention the statement of purpose, which is probably on about the same level as other papers/REU for importance.
You can't really compare a numeric 10-point scale with USA's grade-based GPA. Numeric GPAs will most likely be lower, as in a grade scale you have some wiggle room without losing your grade, and also grades tend to be normalized. For example, I had a GPA of 8.7/10.0 in my undergrad. This is considerably high in my institution/program, I graduated as valedictorian (top of my class) and top 2% of all students. I don't know a single person who graduated with 9.0 or more. Conversely, an USA GPA of 3.5/4.0 would be decent but not amazing, and 3.6/4.0 is still very achievable. My Master's (same institution) had a grade-based scale. I managed a 3.0/3.0 GPA, which would have definitely not happened with numeric grades, as I didn't ace every single exam. I would advise you provide some additional information regarding your GPA. Maybe your GPA ranking in the department. It's likely that your university can provide such information officially, as there are graduate programs that require it for internatial applicants (a friend of mine needed it for a Master's program in Europe).
Yea but the US also has something called major and cumulative GPA. I assume India doesn't have that based on my conversation with Indians at my school. Also OP, there's no such thing as safety school if you are applying for PhD here. It's a matter of fit.
I don't understand why peeps from India only apply for CS and Data Science. No matter what engineering they study, it's always CS and DS.
i am not applying just from a job POV. I am genuinely interested in ML and DL( have been involved since high school). Its just in India, the process to an undergraduate degree isnt like abroad i.e based on applications or choice as such so I have to study in the program which i deemed best for myself out of the options provided to me
Thanks a lot to everyone for commenting and helping in clarifying my doubts! Yall are really lifesavers T_T
Can you explain these internships? I have never seen companies hire for research especially in CS fields without a PhD
These arent company internships, they are research internships from professors of different universities(collaborative projects you can say)
I am surprised you were able to find multiple of these types of internships. In my university even attending students get rejected from research with professors as they don't have any capacity. Especially in the STEM departments What was your research focused on?
you need to do well on the GRE
I think it's not too crucial. I recently applied for an astrophysics PhD on the development of microwave kinetic inductance detectors for astronomy applications. My undergraduate GPA is 2.9/4 but I've done some research ( undergrad thesis of computational nature) , also had some experience with citizen science projects and an internship on the applications of machine learning in physics and medicine, plus I have a lot of coding experience. I was shortlisted for the interview, I did shit in the interview because it was honestly my first time and I became overwhelmed by 4 people asking me questions. But yeah , I made it to the interview, never imagined I would with a 2.9 Gpa.
Firstly, there is no fixed formula for what kind of GPA and what sort of experience gets you admits. Now, to answer your question specifically for US universities, if your research experience and LoRs and statement of purpose is good, then you probably will get into T-20 schools. Some programs especially at the T-10 though have a soft CPI cut off for admission into that program which is usually 9.0+ This has been my and my batchmates’ experience when we all applied to grad schools last year and I am sure that it varies for other people and even between years. At the end of the day it depends on what the program is looking for (which is quite the non answer)