Notes to prospective applicants

Dear friends --

Many faculty members at UC Berkeley receive a large number e-mails from prospective graduate students or postdocs.  Because of the volume of mail we receive I have written this FAQ on applying for graduate school and postdocs.  If you have written me, I will refer you to this generic note.  I regret that I am not able to answer your inquiries individually.

Q:  I've already been admitted.  Does this FAQ apply to me?

A:  If you've been admitted, congratulations!  Admissions at Berkeley are highly competitive, and we want to make sure you know as much about Berkeley as possible.   After you've been admitted, faculty welcome your individual inquiries. 

Q:  I am applying.  Does this FAQ apply to me?

A:  Yes -- because of the flood of e-mail from applicants that we receive, I can not respond individually to students and their questions, so I am using this FAQ.

Q:  Can I be your student?

A:  Admissions decisions are made based on applications (mechanical engineering admissions information). If you are interested in working for me, when you fill out the ME graduate study questionaire portion of the application you should specify "manufacturing" as your focus area. You should also list my name as a professor you are interested in working with in the appropriate field on the main application, so that I will be sure to see your application. (If you only list my name in the essay but not under professors you are interested in working with, our current search utilities will not alert me, but the essay is a great place to explain *why* you are interested in working for me.)

Q:  What does Berkeley look for in deciding admissions?

A:  We look at a range of factors, including grades, test scores, and recommendations.  One particularly important point is evidence of ability to do research.  If you have research experience, I highly recommend stressing this in your application. If you have already published a peer-reviewed paper relevant to the area in which you are applying (common for students who have already received a master's degree elsewhere), you should include a link to a copy of the paper in your application.

Q:  What do you look for in choosing graduate students for your lab?

A:  A passion for solving problems in design and manufacturing, and evidence of both the creativity and rigorous thinking required to solve them. Most of the research I do involves a lot of computer programming; therefore, the more experience you have with programming in a high level language such as C++, the better. Experience with programming for computer graphics and geometric modeling (not just using commercial software) will help you become a productive member of my lab.

Q:  Can I be your postdoc?

A:  Postdoc requests must also be approved by the department.  Because of the level of commitment involved, I will only consider someone for a postdoc if I know him/her or if he/she is recommended by someone I know well.  Normally, I must know by Fall of the preceding year to consider someone for a postdoc in the next year.

Q:  Can I meet with you and tour your lab?

A:  Again, due to the large number of applications we receive, I can't meet with applicants or give individual lab tours until after the admissions process is complete. Then we host a visit day where admitted students can meet with individual professors and tour labs. Admitted students who can't attend the official visit day are encouraged to make alternate arrangements to visit campus and meet with faculty.

Q:  What is your affiliation?

A:  I am a professor at UC Berkeley in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, in the Manufacturing group.

Q:  What is your research?

A:  You can get an overview of my interests from my web pages and by reading my recent publications posted there.

Q:  Can I enter in the middle of the year?

A:  We have not admitted students mid-year (admit in summer/fall for a spring semester start) for several years, though under special circumstances an admitted student may delay matriculation until spring semester.

Q:  What are my chances of being admitted?

A:  Admission at Berkeley is highly competitive.   We are eager to accept the best, most intellectually exciting students.  If this is you, I highly encourage you to apply.

Q:  Can I apply without submitting GRE scores?

A:  GRE scores are mandatory -- this is a campus-wide requirement.

Q:  Will sending e-mail to professors help my chance of admissions?

A:  No.  Particularly if you begin e-mail to female professors with "Dear Sir." :) Or send the same generic e-mail to multiple faculty members, especially without replacing your boilerplate as this student did (quoted verbatim):
> After visiting your web page, I recognized that some of your researches
> is exactly where my interests lie, especially (mention that professor's
> current research).
Most faculty receive a large amount of e-mail regarding admissions. An e-mail contact will not persuade a faculty member to pursue an application. Excessive e-mails to faculty may even decrease your chances of being admitted.   There is a place on the application to mention contacts with Berkeley faculty, but that refers to extended contacts -- not just e-mail contacts.

Q:  What about financial aid?

A:  We often provide financial support for Ph.D. students -- if you are accepted, we will contact you about this shortly.  For masters students, the funding situation varies, and Berkeley will discuss this with you after you have been accepted. Students with excellent communication skills in English are often able to obtain teaching assistant positions.

Q:  Will you be recruiting new graduate students to your lab this year? For what projects?

A:  This varies and can't always be predicted! Usually I hire a new Ph.D. student each year, but it depends on the applicant pool. After you are admitted we can discuss possible projects.

Q:  How long does it take to get a degree?

A:  The average is about two years to get an MS and about five years to finish a combined MS/PhD, but especially with a PhD there is wide variability. Entering with an MS from another institution doesn't reduce your course requirements significantly.

Q:  I am very interested in your research area. What other schools besides Berkeley have M.E. professors working on similar research?

A:  Look for other M.E. professors who've published in geometry sections of recent ASME conferences, in particular DAC, CIE, and DFM at DETC. The SIAM Geometric Design conference and the ACM Solid Modeling Symposium have a good mix of C.S. and M.E. professors doing interdisciplinary work in geometric issues in design and manufacturing.

I hope this simple FAQ answers most of your questions.  As I receive further questions, I may extend this list.  Good luck with your applications and studies!

(this FAQ was inspired by those of Prof. Doug Tygar and Prof. James Landay)