The document provides advice and guidance for IITB CSE students considering graduate school. It outlines the key requirements for applications, including internships, recommendation letters, GRE/TOEFL scores, and maintaining a good CPI. It recommends using the first two years to explore interests and take important courses, and the third year to decide on fields of focus, complete internships, and take standardized tests. The fourth year is for finalizing applications and completing the BTP project. Choosing advisors and topics aligned with target universities can strengthen applications. Research experience, publications, and strong recommendation letters are highly valued.

1. Grad School 101
Not completely cogged from the internet. The title is,
however, pretty non-original.
Grad school fundaes that have been passed on through
batches in CSE, IITB since many years
Compiled and Edited by:
Aaditya Ramdas (CSE IITB 2005-2009)
Pratik Poddar (CSE IITB 2006-2010)
Srivathsan B (CSE IITB 2004-2009)

2. What you need – Min
Requirements
1. 1-2 internships and 3 Good Recos
2. GRE/TOEFL
3. <= 2 fields of focus (for internships,
BTP, Seminar)
4. Decent CPI (> 8 would be nice, > 9
is enough to get you top apps if you
have the other 3)

3. Timeline
 First Year
– Concentrate on coursework
– Think about your career goals, and whether you want to go to
graduate school
– Better to study some Math, if you are interested and want to
study something “extra”
 Sophie Year
– Either take the GRE/TOEFL or do an internship (better to do an
internship)
– UROP – take advice of seniors on the topics offered
– Internship either locally at IIT or abroad Good to get one reco
secured, maybe even a publication!
 Third Year
– Time to make decisions!
– GRE / TOEFL (Make sure this is done in 3rd year second
semester. Don't wait for fourth year first sem.)
– Internship / Seminar / BTP (Preferably in the same topic. All the
more better if your internship guide is working in collaboration
with your BTP/seminar guide)
 Fourth Year
– Work on BTP, app!

4. First Year / Second Year
 First year end: Go home! (For those who
are a bit more enthu, read up on math)
 Second year:
– Imp. Courses: Pay attention!
– UROP: Talk to Seniors. Big commitment.
– Internship after second year advised
– Start looking at your fields of interest (Already
exposed to Theory, FM by end of second year)
– If doing an internship at IIT, also club it with
GRE/TOEFL

5. Third Year
 4 solid decisions to be taken
– PT field and prof / place
– Seminar field and prof
– BTP field and prof
– Apping fields – can be delayed, but better
now
 Kick up your CPI – last chance to improve DR
 Give the GRE & TOEFL (Jan/Feb optimal, ToEFL
one month later) Don't wait for
September/October

6. Fourth Year
 Apping decisions to be taken, deadlines to be
met
 Gather information. Talk to professors/seniors
before deciding what to do
 Work hard on BTP first stage, last chance to
impress BTP guide
 Give the GRE & TOEFL if not done already

7. Fields of interest
 You need upto 2 fields of interest to app
 Common ones at IITB
– Theoretical CS
– Formal Methods
– Databases
– Machine Learning / AI
– Cryptography
– Networks
– Graphics
 Other fields
– VLSI / Hardware
– Systems – OS / Compilers / PL

8. Fields of interest (contd)
 More the better, but too much is bad
 One sub-dept decides to take you
 Two is good to diversify (FM + Theory, or ML +
NLP, Approx Algos + Comp Geo.,
Cryptography+Theory)
 Ideally, the two should have some solid
connections that you can emphasize in your SOP
 Not completely binding later on, unless you app
to a prof or to a particular group (depends on
univ)
 Better to app in areas you have worked on
 Choose 2 fields wisely asap!

9. Fields of Interest (contd.)
 ML – Soumen
 Formal Methods – Krishna, Supratik, Adsul
 Theory – Ranade, Diwan, Sundar, Sohoni
 NLP / AI – PB
 DB – Sudarshan, Soumen
 Graphics – Sharat
 Cryptography – Bernard, Sohoni

10. Reco Letters
 Need 3. More the better!
 Plan early. Start looking for these in 5th semester itself.
 Sources
– 2nd year internship guide (?)
– 3rd year internship guide (s) (1-?)
– Seminar guide (Same as BTP guide ?)
– BTP guide (1)
– 3rd year / 2nd year Winter internship guide (?)
– Course instructors (?)
– BTP / Seminar co-guide / examiner (?)
 Look for recos from researchers with enough experience
in the field, PhDs from good US universities and in
general successful (connections to univs you wish to app
to is a bonus)

11. Apping – What matters
 CPI / DR
– Matters ENOUGH, but not as much as you may think
– Can be substituted with good research work
– High CPI + Decent-ish recos = a top-6 app
 Recos
– Very important
– excellent reco from well known prof = damn good chance of a great app
 Papers / Publications
– A good publication can do wonders for your application
– Good publication = good reco
– Too tough for a UG, atleast in some areas
 Internships
– More the better
– Prof with whom you work more important than the place you work in
 SOP
– Consult enough people and write good english
– Not too important, but a bad sop can work against you
 GRE / TOEFL
– Not important for good universities
– Aim to do well enough for it to not show up as a black mark on your app

12. Apping – What Matters (contd.)
 Moral of the story:
– Univs look for research calibre
– Stuff which proves that, for example
 Good recos from researchers to that effect
 Good research internships and projects
 Good academic background
 Therefore, aim to maximize these
qualifications: Take good internships and
impress profs!!

13. Apping – The process
 Number of univs to app to:
– Varies with your profile
– App to enough places, but not too many
– Costs money, and can cause disadvantage to others
– Coordinate:
 A person with similar profile and higher CPI would invariably be
chosen over you, unless they are picking many people
 Good univs don’t take too many junta
 Try to have a different profile from others apping to the same place
(else clashes will hurt)
– Aim high: app to a few places where you think you wont get,
just for fun
– Keep backups: app to a few places where you are sure you will
get
– 10 should be an upper bound for > 8.5 CPI junta, and 8-9
should be an upper bound for > 9 CPI junta.

14. Apping – The process (contd.)
 Choosing where to app:
– Places / groups / people that have similar research
interest to yours
– DO NOT app to places where there is no one working on
areas that you have worked on
– Customize your application to highlight the work uve
done in the area of the group which you want to get into
– USNews is a good rough guide on top CS programs
– Talk to your guide and google for places that match your
interests
– Overall goodness vs. Group goodness (for eg. PhD @
UIUC vs. Phd with Rajeev Alur at UPenn) - Depends on
what you are looking for
 wanting to explore (not sure) vs. fixed on area
 brand name / industry exposure / prospects / collaboration
vs. good advisor / better research

15. Apping – The process (contd.)
 (More) Lessons learnt
– Choose BTP/Internship topics wisely. Avoid obscure/non-
real-world topics (pick problems being worked on at the
places you want to be when you graduate)
– Do enough research, start short-listing universities early
– Work with well known profs and show them your
initiative and expertise => good recos, maybe paper, all
good
– Work hard on acads, always helps to have something
tangible on your app
– Take that extra step – attend conferences, meet people,
look for opportunities to interact with potential
gradschool advisors

16. Apping – The myths 
 Extra curriculars matter
 You need a +9 cpi to get into a top-6 place
 I can loaf off in my fourth year and still
expect to get a good app
 One must aim to publish at any cost
 If I choose a field now, I have to do a PhD
in it
 Undergraduate time is for checking out as
many fields as possible
 CS GRE is required

17. To Go, or Not to Go
 Good Reasons to Go  Not Such Good
– Enjoy research Reasons
– Want to teach at the – What else will I do next
college level year?
– Careers with more – Make more money
autonomy – Prestige of another
– Deep interest in and degree
dedication to a single – Pressure from family,
area friends, others
– More challenging work
(?)

18. To Go Now, or To Go Later
 Now  Later
– Your TA salary looks – More professional
big compared to experience
actually paying tuition! – Greater focus
– More family – Financial
responsibilities later considerations
– Larger peer group – Take a break from
– Might never go later school to avoid
burnout

19. M.S. vs. Ph.D.
 Different job opportunities
– M.S. is primarily a professional degree
 Master’s degree is an asset / requirement for many
industry jobs
 Teaching positions at community college level
– Ph.D. is a research degree
 Research and teaching positions in academia
 Research positions in industry and national labs
 Sometimes different programs
– Focus of the Ph.D. is an original thesis
– M.S. requires coursework, sometimes a
Master’s thesis
 Financial Issues (next slide)

20. Financial Issues
 Funding?
– Ph.D. students are generally supported
financially
– M.S. students may or may not be
supported (varies by program)
 Types of Funding
– Teaching Assistantships
– Research Assistantships
– Fellowships (usually for Ph.D.)
– Employer sponsorship (usually for M.S.)

21. Europe PhD - Myths
 Not recognised in the world
 Easy to get admissions
 Medium of Instruction/PhD Defence is
French/German

22. Pros and Cons of Studies in
Europe
 (-) If the PhD programme does not want you to take
courses, then you are expected to know what you are
primarily interested in. If you do not know what you are
interested in and you want to explore, take up a PhD
programme that obliges you to take courses in the first
few years. US univs are better in this aspect as they
require you to take up courses in the first 2 years
 (+) Academic job depends on the research you do
during your PhD. In general, an academic position
anywhere in the world depends mainly on the research
done during PhD and not where u did it
 (-) Industrial jobs generally better in US than Europe
after MS/PhD
 (+) Opportunities to work with big names

23. General Advice
 Nothing is permanent!
– If you take a job, you can always go back to
school
– If you decide grad school isn’t for you, you can
always get a job
– Either way, don’t burn your bridges
 Be flexible
– Many people change research areas
– Program might take longer than you expect
 If unsure, you might as well apply and
decide later 

24. General Advice
 Ifyou want to app, but not applying
now for financial reasons, target jobs
only in your field
 Databases: Yahoo, Google
 Math: Quant (Tower, Morgan Stanley,
Goldman Sachs, etc)
 IBM Research, Microsoft Research,
Yahoo! Research also have good
groups