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[RohitGanji]

Hi Razvan,

We just texted on Reddit. I'm SprinklesWise1057.

Info about me:
Undergrad Year - 2022 from India
Master's - 2023 from US (Johns Hopkins)
Age - 23 years old

1. Research Publications - Currently working on 1 as main author. Might be co-author on other papers by end of year. Do the papers have to be published via academia?

2. Judge others work - I'm going to be one of the judges for a UK online hackathon, with participants coming from all over the world. Would this be considered? How many like these would I need?

3. Critical Role - I work at the Neurology Lab at Johns Hopkins as a Senior Software Engineer. For this criteria, would a letter from my Manager/Director of the lab be enough?

4. High salary - My salary is $100K per annum. 2 websites show that my salary is in the top 90%. Salary.com and indeed.com

5. Media - I plan to approach media publishers to publish my articles or write about me. This will take a long time.

This is my plan. Could you please let me know if this is a practical plan?

Thanks!

[razvanmarinescu]

Here's the issues I see:

1. Need more than 1 publication, and need to show that they were peer-reviewed and published in important venues. Number of citations matter too!
2. Weak, you need much more. Also the hackaton has to be in the same field and on the topic of your declared exxpertise.
3. That criterion also requires the organization to be considered "distinguished". You need to make a case that your Neurology lab is a distinguished organization of importance to the US or the world.
4. That looks ok, as long as you have quantitative data to back it, you're good.
5. Important to have substance there. Officers can tell if some articles are bogus. In my application I included 1-2 media articles written by me, but I didn't attempt to satisfy that criterion, it was more for adding to the entire package.

Overall, it looks to me that you need significantly more, but with a few more years of work you can satisfy it. Best of luck!

[RohitGanji]

Thanks for the response, it means a lot. I've some follow up questions, hope that's okay.

1. Yes, I'll focus on publishing more. How many papers and overall citations are a decent amount?

2. Judging how many hackathons would be a decent count? I'll look for more opportunities to judge. Yes, it's in the field of Software Engineering/AI. Does having only 4-5 hackathon judge experiences count towards this?

3. We're working on a BCI project. US considered is National Interest

4. Only 2 websites show that. Other websites show my salary as median. Is that okay?

5. I understand. I'll look more into media publication category. But the above 4 should be enough right?

Also, does age matter? I'm working parallely on papers, and might get a few by the end of 2025, with citations. I plan on submitted the application when I turn 24 after satisfying at least 4 requirements.

Thanks!

[razvanmarinescu]

Age doesn't matter. You also don't loose much if you apply, worse case it gets rejected, and you can re-apply in 1-2 years.

[razvanmarinescu]

You're welcome! Hope it helps.

[RohitGanji]

Hi Razvan,

Thank you for responding back and giving me your valuable time. Your story encouraged me and my friends!

Could you also please answer these questions during your free time?

1. Publications: Yes, I'll focus on publishing more. How many papers and overall citations are a decent amount?

2. Judging: Judging how many hackathons would be a decent count? I'll look for more opportunities to judge. Yes, it's in the field of Software Engineering/AI. Does having only 4-5 hackathon judge experiences count towards this?

3. Critical Role: We're working on a BCI project. US considered is National Interest

4. Salary: Only 2 websites show that. Other websites show my salary as median. Is that okay?

5. Media: I understand. I'll look more into media publication category. But the above 4 should be enough right?

Thank you so much again.

[razvanmarinescu]

1. There's no strict criteria, exceptional cases had even just 9 citations and a 1-2 papers. But they compensated with other things like patents, work used by industry, etc
2. I wouldn't focus on hackatons, they are percieved to be events for training students and young people. You need to be a judge of other experts in your area, not juniors. Things that count: reviewing papers at conferences and journals, sitting on PhD committees, ...
3. You're mixing up national interest and the criterion of "leading or critical role in distinguished organizations". You initially asked about the criterion, and for that you need to prove that the organization is distinguished. National interest is a different thing altogether involving a different argument.

[RohitGanji]

Gotcha! And how do I prove that my role is critical? Like, would I have to get a letter?