美國教授如何判別學生是否有潛力

美國教授如何判別學生是否有潛力 美國教授如何判別學生是否有潛力-转载来的，以后写email或许有帮助 作者: Sanjoy Das, Assistant Professor, Kansas State University Ph.D. 1994, Louisiana State University. Evolutionary algorithms, neural networks, artificial intelligence, discrete optimization. International applicants seeking assistantship/admission: please do not send me emails blindly without reading this Every day I receive emails from international candidates for information, for advice, and especially requesting financial assistance. Unfortunately, I delete most of them without even reading them carefully. I get so many irrelevant emails that cannot reply to each. Extremely rarely has one caught my attention. Please do not send me emails without reading this first. I am only interested in corresponding to candidates who are exceptional, and have a strong interest and experience in my immediate area of specialization, and I highly prefer ones with a Master's degree. Here are two sample letters: A sample letter that will never get the candidate an assistantship with me: Unwanted email Respected sir, I am very interested in going to the US for higher studies. I am seeking admission and financial assistance in your esteemed University. I am very interested in artificial intelligence and computer architecture. I have programming experience in C++, C and ｊａｖａ. I am also familiar with several software packages in the Windows environment (MS Word, Excel Spreadsheet etc.). I also have networking certification from NOVELL. My GRE score is 2050, and I got 99 percentile in the TOEFL exam. I request you to spare a few moments from your precious time to go through my attached resume. Sir - if you are kind enough to offer me assistantship, I promise to work very hard for you. I have a very good academic record since primary school. Alternately, can you tell me what are my chances of getting assistantship from your department? Can you kindly inform me about the last dates for Summer term 2002 before which I can apply? Thank you for your valuable time, Yours obediently ABC My comments: I simply delete these emails, which I consider garbage . The person seems to be too obsequious and flattering. In the emails that I do read (occasionally), I do a first scan for keywords like "precious", "respected" etc. deleting the email if I find one. Obviously the person is not professional enough. The person is interested in artificial intelligence and computer architecture - these are quite unrelated areas, making me think that he is trying to cover as many professors as possible to get aid from any possible source. Besides, he does not have anything in support of his claim (about his interest in artificial intelligence). He emphasizes on his software skills, making me think that his goal is to get a programming job in the US and higher studies is only to allow him access to the US job market. His GRE scores are OK, but not exceptional. He asks me to tell him what his chances of getting an assistantship are, elsewhere in the department. I have absolutely no way of finding that out, and even if I knew, I would not bother to reply back. He also asks me to give him information about summer deadlines. How am I supposed to know that? (I would typically expect that this information should be available from the University web site, or from the grad school, but my guess is as good as yours.) Finally, this letter is too generic . He probably uses exactly the same format for hundreds of email letters to various professors throughout the country, leaving no stone uncovered. I receive hundreds of email like this. Regretfully, I cannot answer everyone, and these applications do not interest me at all. Now, here is a letter that would DEFINITELY attract my attention: Excellent email Dear Prof. Das, I am applying to KSU (amongst other places) for a Ph.D., and I am very interested in your research areas. I would like to explore the possibility of doing my research with you, with financial support. One possible area that would interest me a lot is in applying Tikhonov regularization to your problem in computational neuroscience, since I understand that neural data can be very noisy, and yet sparse. Alternately, I am also interested in applying evolutionary algorithms to your genetic neural network parameter estimation. One of my other interests in in parallel processing. Are you considering parallel implementations for any of your optimization/estimation algorithms? Considering that the projects that you list in your web site would probably be very computationally intensive, that may be a worthwhile strategy to pursue. I presented a paper entitled "Hybrid Gradient Descent Based Training of Probabilistic Recurrent Networks" in the International Conference on Neural Networks and Image Processing, Bangalore, last year. It is a reviewed publication. If have attached a copy of the article in pdf format. If you have available funds, and are interested in my application please let me know soon. XYZ My comments: This is a straightforward letter from someone with a genuine interest in my area . He is an exceptional candidate. He has evinced a keen desire to learn, and already has considerable mastery over my area of research . If I have any funding available, I would definitely try my very BEST to get this person . This person may have an MS degree, while many applicants have only a BS degree. 我在老罗的英语培训班被他征召做个关于申请研究所的演讲。我老爸是个教授，他的工作包 括看PhD candidate的application和interview他们，就问他中国学生申请美国学校会犯 什么错误，或者该做什么提高他们被admit的几率。下文是他的回答(他五分钟之内写出来的； 超吓人) Some thoughts on Chinese students applying to American grad schools. 1-make sure the English in the essay is very good. 2-work on pronunciation very carefully especially for programs in which you would likely be supported through at least some work as a teaching assistant; if spoken English is difficult for an American to understand easily, that is often a reason for not admitting a prospective Chinese student in grad programs where there is a role expected as a teaching ass't...and that is probably most grad programs. When we are interested we'll sometimes go to the trouble of a phone call to assess this. now to the less obvious: 3-tailor each essay to the grad program to which you are applying. take the time to find out whose research on the faculty seems most relevant to your interests and mention your interest in working with one or more faculty members where there really is a good fit. (more than one is good because you never know who has resources and space in their lab). this includes figuring out what in your background and experience might make you a good fit for them in their research. the greater your familiarity with their research and what it involves, and the better case that you can make that you will be a good resource for that research program, the more likely you are to be admitted. At the same time, don't try to make a case that you are a good fit for lots of very different people. that gives the impression that you don't have any research or intellectual focus and direction, which is necessary to succeed in grad school. this is a bit tricky--you don't want to appear too narrowly focused, nor without clear focus. the further along you are, the tighter the focus should be...someone with a masters applying for a PhD should have quite a sophisticated focus; less is expected for someone applying for a masters. 4-this means the more research-relevant skills you have, the better. look for opportunities to do research-related work before you apply that is relevant to your discipline. volunteer in professors' research labs. whatever. even better if you can be part of a research team that has done some publication before you apply. 5-reference letters that speak to your research skills and motivation can be quite valuable, especially if they are from people the faculty at the school you are applying to know and respect. more general endorsements of your academic potential, intellect and personal character are important, but it is your research potential and related skills that are particularly important in that they may set you apart from other very good students. endorsement of your English skills from a native English speaker is also good in a reference letter（assuming you have worked with English professors or professionals). 6-if you think you truly do have an excellent fit with some professor's line of work, it can be a good idea to send them a brief, carefully worded email that lets them know that you are applying to grad school there and what your qualifications are that might make you a good fit, and letting them know you'd be happy to answer questions. (Make sure that you are confident about the quality and clarity of your email, so it helps rather than hurts your chances). 7-do really, really well on your GREs. and on your TOEFL. 我只有改一些小地方，但大部分是他写的。关于第六项：这个要很小心，他跟我说很多学生 会害他们自己，因为写的email太general，或者英文不够好，语气不对，显示不够理解他 们研究，太cliche啥的。但是做得好的学生统统都被admit了。他跟那个graduate admissions 也算比较熟的，要是大家有其他的问题，请留下评论，我就翻译成英文传给他。希望以后可 以再分享一些别的advice。大家加油！