A communication issue that I faced recently occurred during a meeting with a professor. As I intend to take up a Final Year Project (FYP) next semester, I have been busily emailing professors to arrange meeting with them in order to find out more about their field of research. I have emailed a total of nine professors and only managed to chat with three of them. The six other professors replied directly to me that they would not be taking in more honours students in the coming semesters as their laboratories were packed. I shall give an account of my encounter with the first professor, Professor A.
Firstly, I was asked by Professor A whether I had read any of her journals. In response, I told her that I read several and briefly touched on the main gist of one of the journals. Prior to the meeting with Professor A, I merely read up the journals published by Professor A as I was “told” in her email that she would gladly present her research interest to me during the meeting. Thus, I was anticipating the meeting to be a platform for me to discover the type of FYP that she could offer me. Secondly, Professor A asked me about my CAP score and whether I could better my current score. I honestly replied her that it would be rather difficult to raise my CAP score to 4.5. Towards the end of the meeting, Professor A took down my contact details. However, Professor A added that there was no confirmation of allocating a FYP to me and I am free to look for other professors. Professor A told me to read through her journals and propose something that I can work on.
One week later, I found out from my friend that Professor A had already given a FYP to a friend of his. Thus, I am in a dilemma now. I am not sure whether I still stand a chance if I send her FYP proposal now. In addition, Can you please give me suggestions on how to secure a FYP?
My Final Reflection
15 years ago
This is interesting to me, Terry, because it outlines the process of securing an FYP, something I wasn't familiar with. As for answering your question, it's best left to other students. Hopefully some who have done the FYP will respond. To make that happen, you might read their own posts and leave comments, then ask them to respond to yours.
ReplyDeleteLanguage-wise, one piece of advice: "Thus, I was anticipating the meeting to be a platform for me to discover the type of FYP that she can (COULD) offer me. Secondly, Professor A asked me about my CAP score and whether I can (COULD) better my current score."
"Can" in the past is "could."
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ReplyDeleteHi Terry,
ReplyDeleteI think your situation is pretty frustrating as well. I have yet to do my FYP so I do not think I can give you any tips on how to secure a FYP. However, with regards to your situation, I feel that the Professor A did not sound positive when she said things like,"...there was no confirmation of allocating a FYP to me and I(you) am(are) free to look for other professors."
I think that if you are really keen in her area of research, you can taka a more proactive role and contact her one more time to state your interest and see if there is a chance for you. In addition, you may get help from seniors who have worked under her before to understand her better. Meanwhile, do not give up looking!
Dear zQ,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the advice. I saw from your blog biodata that you are a mechanical engineering student. Are you require to find a professor so soon? In life-science, it seems to be a tradition to contact professor early as many popular professors are booked very early. In addition, it seems mandatory to start our FYP during the three months break. Anyway, i wish you good luck in your search for your FYP professor.
Hi Terry,
ReplyDeleteI think it is always good to know more professors and understand their field of research which may be of interest to oneself. Here in Engineering, we each are allocated with an Academic Advisor (Professor) every academic year. For FYP, a list of FYP projects will be sent to us for choosing For me, I do not think we have to look for a professor so soon (i.e. not the trend in Engineering I think) but it is good to choose a FYP project which can be supervised by a 'good' professor. I think Yuvraj and Candice will know this better than me!
Dear zQ,
ReplyDeleteIndeed, i do have an academic advisor but there is no communication between two of us. Also, the procedure for applying FYP is the same. However, it seems to me that students of Life-science are more competitive and "Kiasu". According of my seniors, most of the projects that are put up in the FYP list during the summer break are no longer avaliable for the honors students. This shows that many life-science students start to look for professors very early in semester 2 of their third year of undergraduate studies. Perhaps, there should be a fair,universal system for the application of FYP. Thanks for your advice!