►Foreword:
Every year, there are many people who are admitted to CMU MSCF, but there are very few who don't go. After all, the top project + top employment, Emily, the protagonist of today's case, holds an offer from a top master's program such as CMU MSCF, Columbia MAFN, UCB Analytics, Cornell ORIE, CMU BIDA, etc., and finally abandons the voice of the outside world and refuses to follow the crowd. As the title suggests, she unexpectedly chose the seemingly unremarkable UChicago ADS project, so what was her reasoning? How did you get so many offers? Let's watch her interview!
►Introduction:
Name: Emily
Coming soon: ADS Chicago
Undergraduate: UCSD
专业：Applied Math
Overall GPA：3.9+
GRE/GMAT：335+
申请研究生获得的所有offer：CMU MSCF, UChi MSFM, Columbia MAFN, GIT QCF, Cornell Tech ORIE, UCB Analytics, Cornell ORIE, UChi ADS, CMU BIDA (小奖)
Internship experience: three paragraphs
Published papers/done several research: one paragraph
The interview officially began
►Q: First of all, please share why you chose PH to study abroad?
I brushed PH when I was in Shen Meiben, so it's really early hahaha. I think the PH team members are all from top schools/projects in related directions, and they are very reliable and can provide a lot of insightful advice, so I didn't hesitate to choose.
►Q: During the application process, which tutors, homeroom teachers, and ministers helped you? What is the help given? What helpful suggestions or services have you made?
I have more contact with tutors and class teachers. The homeroom teacher was always a second to respond, gave me a full sense of security, and answered a lot of my strange questions very patiently. The selection of schools is mainly with the class teacher, and from the results, the division of the stalls is also very good, and the admission results are also closely related to the schools that were divided into sprints and matched the bottom at that time. Tutors are mainly in the area of essays and interviews.
►Q: What would you like to say to your tutors, homeroom teachers, department heads(s) and any other personal thoughts you would like to share?
Although I finally chose the DS track and reluctantly gave up the CMU MSCF offer, I would like to thank my MFE mentor in particular. Not only do I take every project very seriously and responsibly when applying (the guaranteed school also treats everyone equally), but I also revise the documents according to the characteristics of the project. In the final offer selection, it also gave me a lot of objective overviews about the industry and suggestions for me, so that I have a clearer judgment on what I want to pursue in the future.
►Q: Tell me what impressed me the most in your application?
When I applied for CMU, I made a fuss: because I filled in the backup email address for the online application, I don't know why the system automatically replaced my registered email address with an alternate email address, which led to the incorrect password when I logged in again, and the login failed. But because I firmly believe that the password is correct, I tried a few more times, and the direct account was temporarily blocked... The point is that at this time, it is less than 24 hours before applying for DDL, and the webpage does not show how long it will be unblocked. The homeroom teacher immediately helped me find a way, and there was no relevant situation for the students before, but fortunately, there was no danger in the end, and it was unsealed after about 1 hour. So here I also give special thanks to the homeroom teacher~
►Q: During the application process, how does PH Study Abroad help you determine your major choice and school goals?
I applied for both DS and MFE, because the goal is clear, I want to go to a school with a larger title + the program itself is not too bad. The class teacher and tutor respected my choice very much, and did not PUA me at all, but encouraged me to sprint to more schools, which I think is really important during the application season! In the end, I basically applied for what I wanted to go~
►Q: How did the PH tutors and other teachers help you in the process of revising your resume? How to dig out the shining points and make up for the shortcomings?
The process of revising my resume mainly helps me to make each experience concise and specific. I went back and forth to change the framework on the first draft, the description of the work became more refined, and the language was revised at the end.
►Q: How did the PH tutors and other teachers help you in the process of revising your essays? How to dig out the shining points and make up for the shortcomings?
The most time-consuming thing should be the PS and SOP at the beginning, because I didn't enter the state of writing, and I felt that there was nothing worth saying when I wrote why I was interested in the direction of application. Later, I chatted with the tutor slowly, and found a good breakthrough from the application of the direction learned in the classroom project to daily life; The hook at the beginning also becomes my favorite part of the paperwork.
After the PS and SOP are set, it is much easier for other schools to write, but the essays in each school are basically written after chatting with the tutor about what to write, which reduces the time for large revisions after the first draft. So the writing process is still very efficient overall.
►Q: How did the PH tutors and other teachers help you during the interview process? How to dig out the shining points and make up for the shortcomings?
The shortcoming should be that my internship is more miscellaneous and I applied for 2 directions at the same time, so I need the tutor to bother how to string them together and highlight the key points, so that these internships can be used in both directions.
►Q: What was the dream program I applied for at that time? Why did you choose this project among the many offers? What are the pros and cons of this project?
In fact, I recorded a lot of good projects, and some of them didn't even dare to think about it before, and finally chose UChicago ADS should surprise many people, in fact, this is a decision that has been deliberated for a long, long time. Because I feel that I am not a very keen quant person for the time being, and this will lead to if I do not have enough motivation to overcome the difficulties and setbacks in related fields in the future, I think it will be a very terrible thing, so I finally chose the direction I am more interested in, and gave up a lot of good MFE programs such as CMU MSCF (here again, I would like to thank Tutor S, she talked to me a lot).
In the DATA admission program, the reasons I finally chose were: the school is a big title, the duration is one and a half years (convenient for employment), the academic pressure is low (easy to brush questions), and even the tuition fee is relatively cheap, I just hope that the Chicago DT place is relatively safe hhh
►Q: How do I get a letter of recommendation? How do you develop a good relationship with your professors?
Because I knew very early on that I needed 2 letters of recommendation from professors for graduate school, I locked the target in advance and told the professor. Maybe it was also good luck that I agreed without much effort.
►Q: How do you divide your energy between hard power (GPA, GRE, TOEFL) and soft power (internship research recommendation letters)? What advice can you give to juniors?
The earlier you take standardized tests like GRE and TOEFL, the better!! Skipping a piece of heart can really be a lot easier in the middle of the application season. GPA is a daily effort that accumulates over time. After graduating, I spent a year to improve my soft skills (such as intern).
►Q: Are there any special precautions for juniors who apply for similar programs?
Once you know what you want, prepare early, boldly go to your dream school, and calm your mind.
►Q: Tell me about the overall feeling of being a student studying abroad at PH and joining the PH family
Everyone was supportive and made the anxious application season full of confidence!
►To Emily
Blessings from PH:
In our eyes, Emily is a smart, excellent, and humble girl, you are not in a hurry to do things, you are very clear about your own planning, and you are a very assertive student, every time we talk to you about school selection, application details, paperwork, interview coaching, etc., we feel that you deserve the best! We are fortunate to be with you through the application season and wish Emily all the best in the United States and a free connection!