2022FALL 昆山杜克大学DKU ECE MEng 申请总结

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这篇文章更多是记录我的申请经历,希望给后来者一点经验参考,故未发布在录取汇报。

背景:
普通211中外合作EE,综合GPA3.88/4.00,WES认证3.98/4.00,排名1/74,托福100+,无GRE,
一段3个月的大疆安卓开发实习,一篇EI,三段水科研,一些水赛国奖,若干数学建模比赛一等奖,
有Duke正教授/DKU研究生院院长推荐信。

申请:
2022FALL DKU ECE MEng Software Development

结果:
2021/11/03提交申请,2021/11/25接受AD,奖学金4万RMB

历程:
第一次接触昆山杜克大学(DKU)是2020年的暑期,虽然大学专业是电子信息工程,我一直也在自学计算机,希望研究生向CS/ECE转码,当时遍跟随同学报名了DKU为期1周的机器学习夏令营。主讲李昕教授对于课程和教学的热情给我印象很深:哪怕一些同学零基础,他也会耐心但高效地讲解,迅速让他们了解了这一概念。我认为和DKU本科同学最大的差距是,他们在全英文课堂中随时敢于提问甚至是质疑教授观点,而我们国内普通学校学生多数则是一堂课被动的接收。夏令营4次作业全部取得满分,因此我获得了李昕教授的推荐信(对于想要申请DKU的同学,这个夏令营很值得一去)
申请季时我详细了解了DKU的生源、培养模式和毕业数据。其中我最关注的有三点:
1. 一年国内昆山市DKU学习+一年美国杜克大学学习,毕业证学位证和美国杜克完全一样。这意味着面对国外疫情/签证限制时可进可退(也可选择两年全DKU学习)。
2. 在DKU的第一年暑假可以在昆山市的外企实习,DKU会提供很大帮助。有利有弊,便于回国后进外企工作,但毕业后在美找工作的难度相比于直接在美国企业实习是会更大的。
3. 具有OPT,在美读完后可以继续实习,为转正做准备。但是没有CPT,需要自行衡量得失。

我申请的这一Track生源不少是转专业过来的,因此对于计算机基础不是很扎实,但是又期望转码的同学非常合适。Software Development虽然在ECE专业下,但几乎不涉及硬件,目标是培养软件开发工程师。此外,DKU完全引进Duke课程,在学习软件开发的同时,也会要求学生学习管理学、金融的相关知识,这有助于毕业后中远期从码农向管理者过渡,我个人是很期待这一系列课程的。

另外DKU的就业优势似乎很强。不少学校如UCLA/哥大/CMU同辈竞争过大,从企业diversity的角度,Duke也算是个不错的选择。记得看过官方的offer统计,一半左右的毕业生拿到了Amazon、Facebook、Google、Cisco之类公司的offer。

申请准备:
首先推荐信,我的配置是:一封国内学校课程老师/科研项目指导老师 + 一封大疆实习导师 + Duke正教授/DKU研究生院院长。

近两年,不少学校在申请阶段都采取线上3分钟回答随机问题的方式面试,DKU则直接给出了题目,只需要我们录制一段2分钟视频(2022FALL):
How would this Duke Kunshan program help you achieve your academic and professional goals? (2 mins video)

我的回答如下,仅供参考:
Hi, I am XXX applying for the ECE program. It's my great honor to make this self-introduction here.
So why do I apply for this program?
First, from an academic point of view, I wish to further my education. I attended XXX University, both being top schools in the world, and I ranked the first in my major, 3 years in a row, with a WES GPA of 3.98. I want to continue learning in a top-notch environment, and I believe that my academic records match the ECE program's expectations. I initially became interested in DKU because of its high-quality curriculum. Then I attended your 2020 Machine Learning Summer School, which was led by Professor Xin Li. Professor Li and the teaching assistants were very helpful and friendly. They answered my extended questions outside of the course material and introduced to me many great resources in DKU, so I decided to apply.
From a career perspective, I aspire to launch my career in software engineering and aim at becoming a technical leader for global companies. I appreciate how DKU offers courses that cover such a wide range of topics, from software development to sustainability thinking, and I especially like the interdisciplinary courses in business and management. Because I've been the leader in many hardware and software projects, I clearly understand that development is not just programming. I want to understand business goals more deeply, diagnose problems more promptly, and communicate ideas more efficiently, and DKU's business training will help me with these.
Overall, I am very looking forward to becoming a student of the DKU ECE program. Thank you for watching this video. Hope I can see you on campus.


另外,请一定考虑申请提前批,2022FALL的Early Admission是2021/12/15截止,需要向招生委员会发邮件说明希望申请提前批。据悉提前批录取概率挺高,且即便被拒,不影响正常批次继续申请。DKU采取滚动录取,今年ECE项目大致招收50人。

如果还有什么我能帮助的,欢迎提问~
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