[招生] OSU power CHPPE for Dr. Julia Zhang

有意报OSU CHPPE 张老师（Dr. Julia Zhang）组的:

My Chinese is not good at all so I'll write everything in English.

I've seen some of the similar posts in this forum and I collected some of the more frequent asked questions and put together a very ACCURATE guide of what to expect when you want to apply to Zhang's group (I'm an undergraduate student that had been working with her for almost 2 years now. I'm guaranteed a PhD position when I graduate in 2020).


Q: Is TOEFL and GRE scores a must to be considered? Is there any flexibility for these scores?
A: There is ABSOLUTELY NO FLEXIBILITY for the GRE and TOEFL. The reason being that these tests are made to test your ability to communicate with others both casually and technically. Dr. Julia Zhang (JZ) wanted to see applicants' potential in communicating with others with no issues at all. There are a lot of applicants applying to CHPPE each year and she cannot interview everyone so these tests are used as a first filter to cut down majority of the applicants. That being said, sometimes there can be RARE occasions where JZ sees potential in an applicant despite his/her tests scores did not meet the standards.  

This will be a useful information to a lot of you, the priority for the tests are as follows:

GRE:
1. Writing – 4.5
2. Verbal – 155
3. Quantitative – 160

TOEFL: 102 total with speaking at least 25.

IF you can't get close to these scores, pls note that your chances of getting an interview will be lower than others. However, I still encourage you to apply anyways for those RARE occasions that JZ still sees potential in you.  


Q: Do research achievements matter? How does JZ evaluate published papers, projects done and experience?
A: Any research achievements such as published papers, projects done, and research experience DO NOT mean anything for JZ. She prefers students with little to no experience outside of solid fundamental knowledge in the power area. The reason why this is her preference is that a blank slate is a lot easier for her to train. She takes pride in helping students develop successful habits that can translate into career after students graduate from OSU. However, if you have research experience, it is still ok to apply as what I state above is only a preference not a standard.  


Q: Is it true that JZ fires students for not speaking English? What is it like working with Julia?  
A: No, she fired students in the past for failing to show any progress over a long period of time and also for dishonest behaviors (lying, deception and etc.). I've been working with her for pretty long time now. I'll give you my opinions about working with her:  
• She is the nicest person when it comes to caring about a student's health and wellbeing. She constantly encourages students to go the gym and exercise. She always brings in snacks to share with students in the lab as well. She will push a student to become a better person and also researcher.
• She is the hardest working professor that I've ever met. The determination she has is unparallel to any other young professors. This is the reason why she can get so many big projects over the years. Working with her has made me a more hardworking individual and researcher over the time.  
• She is very serious at developing students rather than just having labors to help her finish projects. She encourages students to take ownership of the project that is assigned to the student. She will be guiding students along the way to develop critical thinking and other skills needed to be successful. When we are working with JZ, it's more like working with a colleague/friend rather than your boss.  
• She is also a very fiery person. When students do something stupid/wrong, she sometimes will educate them on what they did wrong. Sometimes she will raise her voice when students did irresponsible things but will apologize later for raising her voice at you. I personally experienced this but that didn’t damage my confidence with her at all.  
• (She is also very cute)

Q: What do you need to send her to apply? What material do you need?
A: Make sure when you email JZ to apply for a position, attached your CV, unofficial transcript and GRE and TOEFL scores. Please do not focus solely on talking about your research achievements in the application email. Like I mentioned above, she doesn't care about any research achievements, but she needs to look at your GRE/TOEFL scores, transcript and CV.  She WON'T reply your email if you don't have all the material she needs.

Conclusion:
JZ is the best choice for someone that is looking to develop into a successful researcher in the future. I tried my best to answer all the potential questions you might have but let me know if there are any more questions you want to ask. Feel free to ask me questions in Chinese or English :)

奉劝大家不要报JZ啊，选导师最恐怖的四个特点就是亚裔、女、单身、助理教授。 亚裔和女性就不说了，JZ从2012年开始当助理教授，到现在都八年了，这得多苦大仇深。 至于单身，她又是个离了婚的，整天经历就放在折磨手下的博士上面…  大家要谨慎啊

conartapoci 发表于 2020-3-2 05:19
奉劝大家不要报JZ啊，选导师最恐怖的四个特点就是亚裔、女、单身、助理教授。 亚裔和女性就不说了，JZ从201 ...

活捉教科书般的性别歧视加种族歧视。。

GRE写作要求4.5，光是这一点就可以卡掉很多人了吧，托福写作28+都不一定GRE能有4.5。''ABSOLUTELY NO FLEXIBILITY'' 这几个字看着就有点push啊。。。

conartapoci 发表于 2020-3-2 05:19
奉劝大家不要报JZ啊，选导师最恐怖的四个特点就是亚裔、女、单身、助理教授。 亚裔和女性就不说了，JZ从201 ...

那什么样的导师比较好？

LArray 发表于 2020-3-7 12:11
那什么样的导师比较好？

在OSU做power就去jin wang组吧，jin wang之前没拿tenure的时候很push，现在很nice

julia见过，不评价。。。

老王还可以的

一个ee的，要求writing有4.5?好吧，说明导师希望你能把文章写好。
但是又说published paper do not mean anything?
仅仅是从逻辑上分析，有点奇怪

Jin Wang还不错的