High School senior Indian International

Chance Me / Match Me
21

I think that sometime between now and when you apply to master’s degree programs it is very, very likely that you will change what subject you intend to focus on for your master’s degree.

However, some combination of physics, mathematics, and computer science can be used in quite a few ways. Just as one example, you could start on this path thinking “quantum computing”, and six or seven years from now (after a bachelor’s degree and some time working on a job) change to “artificial intelligence” or “machine learning” or “operations research” or “particle physics” or “acoustics” (assuming that you take the right math and physics, which is likely for someone aiming for quantum computing), or any one of a very wide range of other fields.

I do not think that you need to be too concerned right now about the specific manner in which you are going to apply interest in some combination of physics, mathematics, and computer science.

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22

My SIL is professor of quantum computing. So I hope I am answer some of your questions about the field.

Yes, physics is very much necessary for quantum computing. Math would be a decent second choice. Knowing some CS is useful but not critical.

Are you more interested in the hardware side of QC or the software side of QC because the graduate pathways are pretty different.

Hardware is still in the developmental stage with 4 or 5 competing designs for quantum storage and circuitry. There will be a shake-out sooner or later, but for right now there is no clear “best” method.

Software is also in the development stage because some types of programming are hardware design dependent. Software generally falls into 3 categories: error correction, scalability and quantum-specific algorithm development. All three are highly math intensive.

Few of SIL’s grad students have quantum computing courses from undergrad and most have no or only a limited amount of computer science.

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https://thequantuminsider.com/2024/05/21/20-top-universities-for-quantum-computing-research/

20 Top Universities for Quantum Computing

  1. Cal Tech
  2. MIT
  3. Stanford
  4. Harvard
  5. University of Chicago
  6. University of Science and Technology of China (USTC)
  7. Oxford
  8. Cambridge
  9. ETH Zurich
  10. UC_Berkeley
  11. University of Tokyo
  12. University of Waterloo (Canada)
  13. National University of Singapore (NUS)
  14. University of Colorado Boulder
  15. University of Arizona
  16. University of Copenhagen
  17. Purdue University
  18. Tsinghua University (China)
  19. University of New South Wales (Australia)
  20. University of Sydney (Australia)

As an international student, maybe you ought to broaden your search a bit.

(SIL has been faculty at 2 of the universities on this list…)

P.S.Most jobs in quantum computing right now require a PhD, not just a MS.

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24

Hey there, thank you for the lovely advice! But as of now, I’m interested about physics and that’s it. I might/might not lose interest in quantum computing, therefore I’ll not think about it as my aim.

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If you’re interested in Physics, and not Sociology, then the Sciences Po suggestion doesn’t apply since they only offer social science majors.

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26

Quantum computing is to quantum physics as electrical engineering is to electromagnetism. Having a deep understanding helps, and most graduate programs will require you to take courses in those areas, but it’s not necessary to get started.

You don’t need much besides linear algebra, which most STEM majors learn.

Check out these books:

http://103.203.175.90:81/fdScript/RootOfEBooks/E%20Book%20collection%20-%202024%20-%20I/CSE%20%20IT%20AIDS%20ML/Quantum%20Computing%20for%20Everyone.pdf

Or this game: Steam Community :: Quantum Odyssey

A different issue entirely is what will make you a competitive applicant for quantum computing graduate programs - for that, Physics, electrical engineering, or math would be your best bet.

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Another thing to be aware of if you do apply to US universities is that the State Department has recently been ordered to read the social media of prospective students. They are supposed to look for terrorist sympathies, anti-American sentiment, etc. This is in addition to the existing practice of scrutinizing applicants for their commitment to return to their home countries, as a student visa is a non-immigrant visa. I would suggest that you not post on social media, reddit, etc. that you want to get out of India and move here permanently.

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Big thanks for that information. I don’t have any plans of residing in the USA and even my parents are against it. I might continue to study my masters in usa if I find a good program but nevertheless my plans state that I’ll return to home after my education.

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29

International student

Indian nationality

Low income (6k$ PA budget)

Intended Major(s)

Physics

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: ~92%(the least grade is 9th the rest are all above 90)
  • Class Rank: 3 (School’s Valedictorians are often in top 10 Nationally)
  • SAT Scores: expecting a 1500+ (I have 790 in math but I need to get a 710 in R&W by October SAT)

List your HS coursework

Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, English

Comp Sci (9th, 10th grade)

Physical education (11th, 12th grade)

All courses done according to ISC & ICSE curriculum

4 AP Courses (self studied, school does not offer)

AP Chem, AP Phy 1, AP Stat, AP Calc AB

Awards

  1. 2nd at State level, Top 500 in the national level in the largest research exam in India.

  2. 3rd in ISRO National World Space Week Quiz

  3. 1st in Regional level, 1st in Zonal level quiz, Qualified for national level (10/2750), national level at the near future.

  4. AP Scholar with honor.

  5. 2nd in CISCE Zonal debate competetion.

Extracurriculars

  1. Co author — I-manager

Research | 11th, 12th Grade

Worked as a co author under the guidance of local university prof to work on algorithms to find and predict student dropout rate.

Also working on an independent paper, would be posted on arXiv soon.

  1. MCQ Creator — Gumbi software

Job | 10th, 11th, 12th Grade

Created powerpoint feeders for animations, curated hundreds of mcqs for Gumbi software - a ed tech company which provides satellite based education to tribal and rural schools of India.

  1. Teacher — Community School

Community Service (Volunteer) | 10th, 11th, 12th Grade

Taught students of underprivileged schools using technology and presentations. Helped increase creative though processes among children. Understood the real life concern of unaccessible education.

4)Co founder of the highschool quiz club

Other Club/Activity | 11th, 12th Grade

Founded the Senior School (classes 9th, 10th, 11th,and 12th) quiz club. Conducted daily talks and sessions, producing talent that won 6 state, regional/zonal and competetions and 4 National qualifications in the same year(room for a bigger number because there are still many competetions).

  1. Vice President of Student Council — Student cabinet,

Student Govt./Politics | 10th Grade

Coordinated the school cabinet of around 50 members to efficiently govern the school. Led them to successfully conduct prestigious events like CISCE national chess tournament and many more successfully.

  1. Soccer team Midfeilder, School chess Team — CISCE sports and games

Sport | 12th, 11th Grade

School soccer team midfeilder. Put on passes to the forwards and the defenders and led to victories like bronze at the zonal level. Represented the school at chess at state and zonal level.

  1. Co founder and drummer — Band amethyst

Music: Instrumental | 11th, 12th Grade

Co founder and the drummer of the School band. Led the band to play at school and ngo fundraisers- five events till date. Played at cafes part time for passive income.

8)Head of the Debate club

Debate/Speech | 9th, 10th Grade

Co Founded the debate club of the school. Conducted weekly debate sessions. Started the tradition of participating in zonal level competetions, produced State and National contestants.

  1. School commander NCC

9th, 10th grade

Commander of the Second wing of school National Cadet Corps. Commanded the March in the Corps camp to get the 1st position.

There are other activities but I don’t know if they have a good impact.

My profile has undergone SEVERE CHANGES especially because all the Senior year activity results are coming out. All the earlier activities which I thought we’re useless are now becoming pretty significant.

Essays/LORs/Other
Lors from the professor under whom I did the research, from the school councellor who helped manage all my clubs, from my physics teacher

Schools
Im applying to

AMHERST College (ED)

W&lee (ED)

BEREA(EA)

Humble me. Please do suggest colleges i SHOULD consider for ea/ed.

30

You cannot apply ED to more than one school. If accepted and your financial need is met, you’re committing to attend. Therefore, you cannot make that commitment to both schools since you’ll only be able to attend one.

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31

They support ED1 & ED2, don’t they?

32

Only W&L has ED2. So you can apply ED to Amherst and (if you aren’t accepted), ED2 to W&L.

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Yup, that’s what I meant in my app.

34

Ig i wasn’t so clear about it.

35

You can try for UT Dallas McDermott perhaps??

You can also look into France and Germany, which are generous with scholarships. Canada: UWaterloo (apply by Dec1 for scholarships I think), UToronto (super competitive Pearson scholarship).

For physics, what about Lawrence, Wilsconsin? (Not sure if they require a minimum amount from internationalsso do check). Topnotch for Physics. What about Denison or F&M?

Berea may take one student from India per year so you have to really :crossed_fingers::crossed_fingers: they choose you.

36

I don’t think they offer scholarships which meet my financial state?

37

Lawrence doesn’t meet full need isn’t it?

The rest of the colleges you mentioned have good programs but aid seems to look good only on paper according to what I searched.

38

?? Did you read the UT Dallas website and their McDermott page?

Lawrence doesn’t meet need indeed. So they may or may not fund you. I don’t know whether they have a minimum for internationals to even apply (some colleges do). That’s why you need to read their international students and scholarships pages.

39

Im very sorry :sob: I just did a simple google and was too quick about it. Big thanks for your lead. The program however seems to be extremely competitive, where do you think my profile stands if I would be able to bring my sat scores upto 1540~ and bring out that second paper by December?