Admissions Difficulties getting into anything, anywhere

[ams]

Hi all,

I just wanted to know if anybody else here has experienced this sort of mass rejection from anything and everything. I've finished my Bachelors (3 year) and Masters (both in physics) from a not-so-great college in India. I've been applying to every single opportunity that comes my way since I graduated, which was 2 years ago, but have found no luck. I've applied to grad schools, masters programs, research assistantships, internships, summer internships, jobs, teaching positions, workshops, etc in both the USA and India (I'm an American who went to India on a student exchange program), and have not been called for even a single interview.

Since getting rejected the first few times, I've asked for help preparing my applications with my peers and most of the time they don't find anything majorly wrong with my applications. My average percentages have been 92% in bachelors and 88% in masters, and I've scored an 81st percentile in my PGRE. I want to pursue a career in quantum information, and I worked in the field for my master's thesis at an acclaimed research institute in India. I've even worked on it after my masters for several months. After this, I have never gotten any research opportunity and returned to the States since.
Is there something obvious that I'm not paying attention to, or is this a common phenomenon? I believe I have a decent resume for a beginner who's got a long way to go still. My main suspects are my alma mater and nationality; is it really so hard to get into anything here in the US if your alma mater is from an unknown college in India? If it is, what am I supposed to do now?
A friend also once suggested that my application may seem sketchy to the admissions committee since my citizenship and country of education don't match. Is this really true? I understand not getting government funded positions in India where I am a foreigner, but here in the US too?

I could really use and would appreciate ANY advice on how to pick myself up from here. Sorry for the long post

 

[trurle]

Hi all,

I just wanted to know if anybody else here has experienced this sort of mass rejection from anything and everything. I've finished my Bachelors (3 year) and Masters (both in physics) from a not-so-great college in India. I've been applying to every single opportunity that comes my way since I graduated, which was 2 years ago, but have found no luck. I've applied to grad schools, masters programs, research assistantships, internships, summer internships, jobs, teaching positions, workshops, etc in both the USA and India (I'm an American who went to India on a student exchange program), and have not been called for even a single interview.

Since getting rejected the first few times, I've asked for help preparing my applications with my peers and most of the time they don't find anything majorly wrong with my applications. My average percentages have been 92% in bachelors and 88% in masters, and I've scored an 81st percentile in my PGRE. I want to pursue a career in quantum information, and I worked in the field for my master's thesis at an acclaimed research institute in India. I've even worked on it after my masters for several months. After this, I have never gotten any research opportunity and returned to the States since.
Is there something obvious that I'm not paying attention to, or is this a common phenomenon? I believe I have a decent resume for a beginner who's got a long way to go still. My main suspects are my alma mater and nationality; is it really so hard to get into anything here in the US if your alma mater is from an unknown college in India? If it is, what am I supposed to do now?
A friend also once suggested that my application may seem sketchy to the admissions committee since my citizenship and country of education don't match. Is this really true? I understand not getting government funded positions in India where I am a foreigner, but here in the US too?

I could really use and would appreciate ANY advice on how to pick myself up from here. Sorry for the long post

I remember similar difficulties (being that time the foreigner searching job in Japan) just before crisis of 2010. Applications to interview conversion rate was below 1% - worst in my career. May be just another crisis is on the schedule?

 

[StatGuy2000]

To the OP:

It is very unusual for an American to complete a university degree in India, and I suspect that employers (at least in the US) may very well be suspicious of your qualifications because of this, as they may be asking themselves why you did not complete a degree in the US, thus discounting your Indian qualifications, whereas they would be more accepting of such qualifications from someone from India.

I know this may not be what you were looking for, but without knowing more about your situation, you may not have any choice but to pursue a second undergraduate degree in physics at a US institution for the sole purpose of earning that credential.

Perhaps others on PF can offer better suggestions.