Dear Aspirants: I am sure you read Waqar bhai's post about Italian Scholarship Rejection and I have personally noticed that Pakistani Students are not represented in such a majority in US universities either. While I pursued my Undergraduate Degree in the US and now doing my Ph.D. there, I have noticed this dilemma, and tons of mentors have brought it to your attention as well.
T have other mentors that Scholarships are Competitive not because there are many students but also because you are competing against international talent too.
If you can not make the effort to open the link and read the requirements for the program then I can not comprehend how do you comprehend that you can sustain and do well abroad
If you are so uncertain about giving IELTS/TOEFL, constructing SOP, creating your CV, Giving the GRE, Making a Research Proposal; that we hope that someone just gives us all the information and we do not have to do much then we will continue to lack and be underrepresented
We need to think this fact that we must quit running after acceptance letters. I have seen students just mindlessly asking for an acceptance letter from professors that have research not even close to what they want to pursue.
Students continue to send the same email to every professor and then ask, WHY ARE WE REJECTED?
We do not take time to read the profile of the professor, read their research, read some of their papers and try to understand what are their active projects because we claim that "IT WASTES SO MUCH TIME".
If you think that doing hard work is waste of time than let me tell you that trying to find the shortcut is the biggest waste of your time because to achieve success NO SHORTCUT EXISTS
SO HOW TO RECTIFY THIS PROBLEM?
Try to spend some time reading the requirements of the program. Do not blindly apply as soon as you see the word "FULLY FUNDED"
Stop chasing acceptance letters and try to find a perfect match with you and the lab you want to do research in.
Please start working on your profile by constructing a compelling CV, SOP and other material ahead of the application deadline. If you start gathering your documents days before your deadline than you will not be able to carefully make sure that you have fulfilled all the requirements
Do apply to multiple programs on the same SOP, IT IS NOT GOING TO WORK IN YOUR FAVOR
If you are applying to US, know that GRE is not some sort of a foreign BEAST! The test is designed for humans by humans and not for robots. We all take these exams and we all can do well, if we put the same dedication as we put in things that are of interest to us
If you can spend hours browsing the internet then you should also be able to spend hours trying to find scholarship opportunities
PLEASE understand the importance of RESEARCH! It is rather impossible to get into PhD if you have no research experience. Instead of sitting and blaming your country, your institutions, and other people, start taking responsibility of your actions!
If you did not have the opportunity to do research, you must do an internship or a job relevant to your field before you apply for PhD!
Do not assume someone knows that you know the skills. If you do not mention that in your CV, I can not know that you have Research Skills
MORAL OF THE STORY: Let us stop blaming others for our failure and take responsibility of our actions! Work hard! There is no success if you can not take the time to work hard! Failure should not disappoint you but let it teach you!he Biggest Problem is: TRYING TO FIND A SHORT CUT
