在美國(guó)留學(xué)研究生申請(qǐng)時(shí)，好的套磁能起到意想不到的作用，因?yàn)榇T士是沒有導(dǎo)師帶的，申請(qǐng)理工科比文科有用，因?yàn)閷?duì)理工科學(xué)生來(lái)講，所拿到的獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金其實(shí)就是教授的研究生經(jīng)費(fèi)的一部分，因此與其說(shuō)是學(xué)校給你發(fā)獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金不如說(shuō)是教授給你發(fā)。而對(duì)于文科，情況完全不同，研究經(jīng)費(fèi)一般由院系決定，教授可以起到的作用很有限。

　　對(duì)于計(jì)劃申請(qǐng)美國(guó)大學(xué)工科的人來(lái)說(shuō)，可以參考下面薩斯州立大學(xué)kansas state univ 電子工程系的一個(gè)印度assistant教授對(duì)套磁的看法和建議，希望對(duì)大家有所幫助。

　　International applicants seeking assistantship/admission: please do not send me emails blindly without reading this:

　　Every day I receive emails from international candidates for information, for advice, and especially requesting financial assistance. Unfortunately, I delete most of them without even reading them carefully. I get so many irrelevant emails that cannot reply to each. Extremely rarely has one caught my attention. Please do not send me emails without reading this first. I am only interested in corresponding to candidates who are exceptional, and have a strong interest and experience in my immediate area of specialization, and I highly prefer ones with a Master's degree.

　　For your benefit, I have included in this page, some writing tips, when corresponding to me, and perhaps also in writing to other faculty members in US Universities. When corresponding, do not mention your age/date of birth, your gender, nationality etc. These are superfluous information.

　　I am NOT interested in: Extra-curricular activities, performance in high school or before, TOEFL scores, hobbies, software skills, UNIX/ORACLE/NOVELL certification and other items unrelated to my research area*.

　　I am SOMEWHAT interested in: Your awards/academic honors, academic records, GPA, GRE score (2200+), experience.

　　I am HIGHLY interested in: Your publications, research interests (have supporting evidence for your claim, don't just claim you are interested, unless you actually have done some work in the area).

　　*(Incidentally, I do not know what NOVELL or Microsoft certification are.

　　Research is more concerned with things like advanced mathematical skills,creativity etc. Too much software skill actually may even count negative in my group).

　　Information I CANNOT provide

　　1. Chances of getting assistantship in the department (other than my own available research grants - I do not have any right now, although not very likely, it may change in future).

　　2. Deadlines for assistantship/admission.

　　3. Any information on admission procedures and policies.

　　4. Minimum GRE/TOEFL scores required.

　　5. How to get application forms.

　　6. Whether a decision for assistantship or admission was made.

　　7. Other faculty who would be interested in a prospective student's background (you can easily see faculty research interests from the department website).

　　8. When an admission/assistantship decision will be made.

　　9. Any other information, other than that below.

　　The only information I CAN provide

　　1. Compatibility of your interests/background with my own research area.

　　2. Possibility of getting research support from my own (not departmental) funds. I am always trying to get external funding for my research projects.

　　3. Possible research areas you could work on with your background, with me.

　　I know how interested some students are in coming to the USA for a higher degree. I have written this as a useful guide for you. I have also written this to let prospective international students try and focus their own efforts properly, instead of wasting their energy sending me emails. Here are two sample letters.