Branch: Electrical and electronics
CGPA: 9.75
Admit: Georgia Tech
What are you currently doing?
Right now, I work at the device research lab, directed by Dr. Wang at the University of California, Los Angeles. Here, I pursued my undergraduate thesis and worked on developing circuitry for the next generation of magnetic memories, with a focus on Magnetoelectric Random Access Memory (MeRAM). This technology offers significant advantages in terms of endurance, speed, and energy over other emerging non-volatile memory alternatives. My work with the neuromorphics group currently entails developing circuit based optimization techniques to enhance the efficiency of in-memory computation operations in a memory array. We aim to overcome the underlying issues faced when a data-intensive machine learning application is run through a conventional von-Neumann processor. We are currently using RRAM and MeRAM based memory cells to improve the stability and performance of the array.
How did you choose your career path?
I can't say I was insanely passionate about electronics. At the end of 12th grade, I knew I enjoyed physics and semiconductor devices, and that's why I thought Electrical and Electronics engineering would be a wise choice. The interest in what I am doing today, originated in my second year, when I was introduced to different college courses. I currently work on device modeling and circuit design and believe that this is an area I see myself working on in the future. However, I am not ruling out the possibility of branching out to other topics in the field of electronics.
There's this stigma attached to phoenix branches, where people automatically assume that courses are going to be abstruse and incomprehensible. I've seen a lot of people use their degree in electronics as a path to IT jobs. While I have no issue with people branching out and achieving whatever they aim at doing with their future, I do believe that students often give up on core electronics courses before even giving it a chance. There's clearly a problem here as this leads to students being closed-minded about electronics, and hence eliminating the possibilities of completely understanding and branching into core electronics. It's true that the courses are challenging, but you need to devote that time to it.
In what ways has college helped you?
I was fortunate enough to have a friend circle who were striving for the same thing as me. We all were working to achieve a common goal, therefore pushing and driving each other to get there. All of us went through the process, and honestly, it is a grind, definitely not a simple, straightforward task. I had to write a lot of emails until I got replies from foreign professors. There's always this hope that there would be a professor out there who likes your work and can accommodate you into the lab he/she works in that keeps you going. So never become demotivated when you don't get replies. What I would advise people to do is to target professors smartly. Tailoring emails to professors and understanding their work definitely helps. Targeting their Ph.D. students and researchers will also help you understand the general hiring process of that particular lab. Another important thing students should utilize is the network of seniors. I got plenty of advice from seniors who went to daad/mitacs, who talked about what the process was like, what you could expect, and how they went about it.
On building a profile:
Projects: I did an informal project in my 2nd year under professor Dan, and he was the reason I developed an interest in that field. In my 3rd year, I did 2 DOPs under him. After my 3-2, I appeared for DAAD, a German organization providing opportunities for students to pursue a research project in a university of their choice. It helped me get a feel of research and check whether it was my cup of tea.
LORs, CGPA, SOP, PORs: Be very concise on what you want to convey in your SOP because the college administration has a great deal of applications that they have to go through. In my opinion, the secret to writing a good SOP is hitting the sweet spot between making it unique without sounding cheesy, and incorporating all the work you've done through your undergrad. If you are able to explain why you are passionate about your area of interest, and how attending their graduate school will help you further your passion, you should be in a good place. When it comes to LORS, try acquiring them from different institutions and different professors, this gives diversity to your application. The key to all this is maintaining good relations with your professors the course of your degree. Your grade does play an important factor in your application, but it definitely isn't everything. Maintaining a good GPA does pay dividends, though. As far as PORs are concerned, I was the IEEE treasurer and president over my 2nd and 3rd year, respectively.
On GRE:
I wrote my GRE at the end of July, right before my 4th year. I prepped for 3-4 weeks or so. The harder part of GRE is the vocabulary. Doing those test papers really helped me in terms of my speed and time allotment. Build on your tenacity to sit for 4 hours as GRE is a marathon.
Online courses:
I've done NPTEL courses on analog electronics, ADVD courses, and digital design to brush up on concepts before working on my project here at UCLA. But they did not award me with certificates. There are youtube videos of a professor from CalTech, Ali Hajmiri, and some of his courses are brilliant. He covers many topics, and I'd recommend interested students with prior knowledge of analog electronics to look it up.
Advice for phoenix students:
As every senior says, go to classes! Going to classes helped me a lot not only in learning and grasping concepts quickly, but also by giving my day a structure. Going to classes also means that you get to meet and interact with professors who are good at what they do. Professors can guide you in various fields, and having a good connection with them makes it easier to do projects under them.
As an international student, I immediately assumed that I was going to struggle to compete with the others because I couldn't hack an exam that 650 other students had cleared to join the institution. I weighed myself down with a tremendous amount of pressure and assumed that I certainly wasn't on the level of any of the others. I think it is imperative to focus on yourself and what you are capable of doing. You will have so much to work on and experience in college, and the last thing you need holding you back is self-doubt. With the right amount of effort and interest, you are definitely capable of achieving whatever you set out to do.
Make sure your fundamentals are sound, especially the second-year courses. You will be able to contribute to projects and build on ideas only if your core is strong. Again, talk to professors as they can give you a feel of where the field is headed towards and how you can contribute to it.
Another problem is that EEE F111 is mandatory, and more often than not, the course is challenging. This puts a mental block for the coming years. If you have an open mind about electronics and choose a path that interests you, trust me, it's actually fun. Ask yourself questions like; Why does this work the way it does? What are the factors that alter the working of that model, and what can I do to improve this particular aspect of it? This will strengthen your concepts.
Advice for juniors:
Everyone should get it out of their minds that courses are tough and complex to the point of being unachievable. Have an open mind about it and accept the unique challenges the course has to offer. This is the same for all students who come into college in their first year; everyone starts fresh in college, don't let the level of your preparation in 12th grade for competitive exams pull you down. Don't graduate with the regret of not working hard enough in college. It's key to find a sweet spot between sports, social life, and academics.
1st years: Explore college life, try to strike a balance between academics and college life. Moreover, you'd be exposed to a lot of courses, so keep an open mind about all of them and explore as much as you can. Try keeping your CGPA as high as possible through this year. It opens you up to several opportunities throughout the rest of your career.
2nd years: This would be your first exposure to core courses, so make sure you do justice to them. Build your foundation at this stage because it's essential in order to learn more complex ideals. Talk to professors and find what you like doing.
3rd years: Build on your interests by taking up projects and relevant courses. This helps you learn to apply your knowledge practically.
Disclaimer: The points given above are the views and steps taken by the individual. They are not fixed steps and guideline to base your college upon. Our hope is to inspire students so they can take the necessary steps here after. We hope you like it!
Written By: Eishita Tripathi and Manish Patil
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