English learning resources sharing and PhD application in 2022 Fall

Ph.D. offers

Here to make a summary of my ph.D. applications. When I was about to finish Bachelor’s degree, I had a idea of studying abroad. For a student who has never seen the world outside the country, everything is unknown. Thus, I talked to Prof. Tang whom I chose to be my master’s advisor about studying abroad. He said to me that I should lay a good foundation for the future study. What he said seems truly right to me now. When I become mature, I feel more comfortable with challenges of the unknown. At that time, I found I still had passion on my major which is well logging, so I continued to pursue a master’s degree at my alma mater. Although I did not have many outputs, I practiced much at master’s study to solid my academic background. Thanks to the study and academic practice in the seven years, I could know about a big picture of petroleum engineering and a clear goal for my life career.

Based on my academic background and research interest, I finally submitted six applications for Ph.D. positions (Purdue University, Colorado School of Mines, The University of Texas at Austin, University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Bristol, University of Edinburgh). I finally got admitted by UT austin (fully-funded with fellowship), UW-Madison (fully-funded) and University of Bristol (conditional offer).

That is a unforgettable period because besides contacting with potential professors and preparing for application materials, I attended all six college interviews with different professors. It was a great honor to talk to these professors, and pretty thanks for their affirmation of my academic education and experience. I finally chose UT austin. The most important reason is that I can continue my research in acoustic logging which I have devoted three years into that field. During application stage, I appreciate help from my teachers, peers and three professors of essential recommendation letters. Moreover, I accumulated many useful materials, such as a list of professors (mainly geophysics, rock physics, rock mechanics and petroleum engineering) of different universities from all over the world and other necessary application materials. If one needs them for reference, please contact with me through e-mail. In the following, I share some good TOEFL and GRE learning resources for Chinese students who want to join these two tests.

TOEFL RESOURCES

1. BEAT托福

• Official Website: http://www.51beat.cn/home/index
  
  
• WeChat Official Account: BEAT托福，李文勋
  
  
• Richard is an experienced TOEFL teacher who opens free and high-quality TOEFL courses on MOOC and has an intelligent website. This website can evaluate your English level and help you plan your practice schedule. Moreover, you can practice TOEFL on this website by following their arrangements. Their learning groups (it costs a little money) can supply materials and help you practice everyday according to the schedule. Most importantly, they also sort out writing topics frequently appearing in the TOEFL test.

2. 四箭齐发托福/康老师托福机经

• Official Website: http://www.sijianqifa.com/
  
  
• WeChat Official Account: 四箭齐发托福/康老师托福机经
  
  
• They mainly sell TOEFL, GRE exercises and their own teaching courses. I think their courses are not that good, but exercises pool is very large. You can practice some TOEFL and GRE questions that came up from last several years, through which you can really know the difficulty of real tests. They cost you some money, but it is worthy of buying their exercises.

3. Group9120

• BiliBili Website: https://space.bilibili.com/396671281/?spm_id_from=333.999.0.0
  
  
• WeChat Official Account: Group9120
  
  
• Vince is a young blood in English teaching and gets very high scores in IELTS and TOEFL tests. His courses have clear ideas and are free on BiliBili website. You can learn some useful tricks for TOEFL writing and speaking. Except for TOEFL teaching courses, he also shares how to make CV and write personal statements in his videos.

4. 托你的福

• Official Website: https://www.tuonidefu.com.cn/#/
  
  
• WeChat Official Account: 托你的福
  
  
• This is a great platform where you can watch high-quality teaching videos and practice TOEFL exercises that camp up from last several years. When you finish a section (eg. Reading) of exercises, there is a recorded video that helps you analyze all the questions of this section. It can be expensive to register at this website, but it is beneficial to practice at this website a few days before the exam. Once you successfully register, please notice the limited time of using the website. The WeChat official account is very active. It usually shares useful learning materials of TOEFL and latest TOEFL test reviews.

5. 考满分

• Official Website: https://toefl.kmf.com/
  
  
• WeChat Official Account: 考满分托福GRE
  
  
• You can practice TPO on their website. They also supply great TOEFL and GRE teaching courses that you need pay for. The KMF website is stable and has good exercises management system. I think KMF is better than XIAOZHAN, although XIAOZHAN always has latest TPO exercises.

6. 皇冠美研

• WeChat Official Account: 皇冠美研
  
  
• It is established in recent years. Its TOEFL and GRE courses are free and concise. You can quickly get the point once you look at their video. It also sells their own compiling exercises.

7. 无老师托福

• WeChat Official Account: 无老师托福
  
  
• Its courses are a little expensive, but its WeChat official account can update latest information of the TOEFL test places and tests reviews. Also, you can follow WeChat official account of TOEFL for tests and other studying abroad information.

GRE RESOURCES

1. 四箭齐发托福/康老师托福机经
   
   
2. 皇冠美研
   
   
3. 考满分
   
   
4. 雷哥GRE (WeChat Official Account: 雷哥GRE)
   
   
5. 张巍老师GRE (WeChat Official Account: 张巍老师GRE)

• You can access to above different learning platformS through searching engine (eg. Baidu or Google) and WeChat. GRE is not like TOEFL, one should practice reading and writing instead of listening and speaking as much as possible. We should prepare plenty of high-quality exercises and practice them on computer or on paper after learning the methodology of analyzing and solving problems in the GRE courses.
  
  

🔚 ENDING 🔚

• If you do not want to use much money on buying courses and practicing materials, there is a courses vendor I want to tell you. You can buy latest TOEFL and GRE courses and materials with low price. The WeChat account: HulaGirls.

Above are all learning resources that I want to share with you for preparing TOEFL and GRE. These two tests are not easy especially for those who (like me) had wrong English-learning methods that were not corrected from the high school to the university. Please focus, repeat and practice! You will success! If you have any questions, please contact with me through email. Thank you for reading!😉