Personal Experiences: International Students

An international graduate student is a student who is pursuing a higher degree in a non-native country. Below is a sample of experiences from international female physics graduate students.

Graduate School Status:
Doctoral student

Major:
Physics

Why did you decide to attend graduate school?
To learn more!

What was your graduate school search and application process like?
One day I decided to go on-line and look what are my options in the States (I came to the States from Former Yugoslavia-Belgrade). In the search process, my current university was one of the first places that appeared interesting to me and I sent an application in. The application process was long but worth while.

Why did you choose your graduate university?
Especially interesting to me was the fact that one of the NASA centers is located here. I thought that there should be lots of research opportunities available.

How has graduate school differed from undergraduate or your expectations of graduate school?
Graduate school in Belgrade is way different than graduate school here in the States. The main difference is in the number of classes one has to take; in the States, it takes about two years to take all required classes. In addition to that preliminary/comprehensive exams do not exist in the graduate school system in Former Yugoslavia.

Advice for those considering graduate school:
Pick a graduate school that could provide lots of research opportunities in the area the student is interested in and not necessarily look for the higher ranked schools.

Graduate School Status:
Ph.D. student

Major:
Optics

Why did you decide to attend graduate school?
Gaining a doctoral degree is an ambition in my life.

What was your graduate school search and application process like?
I started by preparing for the GRE and TOEFL exams. I listed the colleges that offer Ph.D.'s in optics, just by internet search (there are really few colleges that offer Ph.D.'s in optics). I looked into the requirements like the GRE and TOEFL scores needed. You need to have really good GRE scores to get into a good college, so look into the requirements before taking the exam and come up with a target score. I then took the exams.

I prepared my Statement of Purpose (SOP). The SOP is as important as the GRE exam because it is the only place where you can explain your ambitions as well as your experiences in the field, like job experience and projects, so take ample time in working on your SOP. See that it is brief, clear, to the point, and has all the information that you want to present.

I got recommendation letters and applied to the colleges. Apply well in advance, before the deadline - don't wait till the deadline. I then chose a college.

I attended the visa interview. Get in touch with online groups or forums and read lot of visa interview experiences so that you will have an idea of what the interviewer expects from you. Visa documentation is another big deal to be worked out. Look out for all the documents needed and keep them ready at the time of the interview. Don't take chances with any of the documents; each and every single document is important.

Why did you choose your graduate university?
Choosing the college was the most difficult task for me because some colleges had good research and others had good reputations. I tried to contact the students who are pursuing the degrees, and based on their opinion, made a decision. Being in a different country, it is really difficult to make a decision in choosing a college. Students who are already studying in those colleges are the best ones who can guide you, from the quality of education to cost of living to other things which do play a major role in deciding. Student organizations (like Indian Student Organization) play an important role in helping you find the exact person who can help you in deciding.

How has graduate school differed from undergraduate or your expectations of graduate school?
The U.S. education system is completely different from the one I am used to from my childhood in India. It takes a while to cope, a semester or so. The first thing is, don't get frustrated during that period, it will take a while for an international student to get adjusted with the system here.

Advice for those considering graduate school:
Plan everything neatly. Taking the exams and applying to colleges is a time-consuming process, so plan in advance. There are lot many forums and groups online by students planning for grad school, so keep in touch with the happenings, like the changes in the exam patterns or the visa interview experiences.

Graduate School Status:
Ph.D. student

Major:
Physics: Numerical General Relativity

Why did you decide to attend graduate school?
Because I thought that I would like to do research.

What was your graduate school search and application process like?
I worked at the institute where I current work during the summer before graduating from my undergraduate university. I liked the atmosphere and they liked my work. They suggested that I come back. I applied and was accepted. A department for gravitational waves was added, so I reapplied there for more funding. Since the institute where I work is a research institute and not a school, my degree comes another university, even thought that university is not involved.

Why did you choose your graduate university?
It pays better here in Germany than in the U.S. It is one of the top institutes for research in my specific field of research. There are a limited number of universities with research groups in my area of research, so this is a major factor. The atmosphere is good for students and for research. I like the work group. It has a lot of travel funding for conferences and visitor funding for collaboration.

How has graduate school differed from undergraduate or your expectations of graduate school?
It is a 9-to-5 (more like 10-to-10) research position with no problems sets and few lectures. I have no campus. It is really completely different. I am basically a working scientist now.

Advice for those considering graduate school:
If you studied physics because you love all of physics, make sure you love your area of research at least as much, or it will be very hard to focus and devote yourself to your project. Be confident in the area of research you choose, because you will be devoting four years to learning it and the path of least resistance will be to continue in that area. Also, it is likely that you will become holed up into your niche of physics, so try to keep reading not just about your area of research, but about related fields.

My internet browser home page is set to http://arxiv.org/list/gr-qc/recent. I recommend checking the recent preprint submissions relevant to your research frequently. It is a good way to know what is going on in the field, to know what is relevant, to get new ideas, and to know when you're scooped.

Graduate School Status:
Ph.D. student

Major:
Physics - Astrophysics

Advice for international students considering graduate school in the U.S.:
Applying to graduate school in America is a long and tiresome process, but it does not mean that you cannot try. :)

The requirements for most applications are the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) and the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). You have to have at least a 3.0 GPA out of 4.0. Some of the top schools also require the GRE subject examination (for physics departments, it is Physics GRE). Graduate schools require different grades from these exams.

After taking the above exams, it is time to choose the graduate schools you want to apply for. You can easily go to the webpages of the universities and check for the official documents you should send. These documents are generally the application form, official transcripts, TOEFL, GRE, GRE subject results, at least two recommendation letters, etc. The best way to send the documents is to use cargo companies instead of using ordinary mail services. Mailing with ordinary mail takes much longer than with the cargo companies and cargos are much safer.

The other important point you should be careful about is the due dates for applications for graduate schools. For American universities, it is generally at the end of December each year.

Before sending the application, the best thing to do is to make contact with the faculty members. If you already know the research area you want to work on, you can send emails to the professors in the department and ask whether there is an open position for both teaching and research assistantship. Finding a faculty member makes the application process easier and faster. It also increases the chance of gaining acceptance.

The application process time for universities lies between February and June. It may take a couple of months for them to send the I-20 offer letter for an assistantship.

After getting an acceptance, the first thing you should do is to gather all the documents that the American Embassy requires. You have to pay a couple hundred dollars for the visa application and for the service fee.

You should take the visa meeting in English, not in your own language. Proving your language skills in the meeting is important. Furthermore, be prepared for the common questions about your research area, the school you got accepted into, the program you applied for, and the details in your I-20. After you get your visa, the hardest part for you will be waiting!

Good luck! :)

Graduate School Status:
I am finishing my third year as a doctoral candidate

Major:
Atomic and Molecular Physics

Why did you decide to attend graduate school?
I wanted to continue my education and wanted to be involved in serious research.

What was your graduate school search and application process like?
I heard a good words about my current lab and applied for GRA position there.

How has graduate school differed from undergraduate or your expectations of graduate school?
I didn't know anything about the U.S. education system; it's very different from what we have in Russia. Before I came to USA, I'd completed two year of grad school in Russia. I expected that I would just continue my research at my current university, but it turned out that I had to take a lot of classes. It was a bit scary at the beginning. Some classes I didn't feel the need to take. But my overall impression is good; it somewhat exceeded my expectations.

Advice for those considering graduate school:
If you go to physics grad school just because you don't know what else to do with your life, you'll get tired pretty soon. It's a lot of hard work. You need to be motivated.