b-man

Thank you, I didn't know about that.

Hi, same here. I am also very excited that I will start my PhD in EE. Do you know if there is any online platform for new admits? (other than this one :))

Thank you @ShogunT, @Sura, and @cramerrao. I am really confused these days. What you say definitely help. I hope I make the right decision.

Thank you @compscianfor the suggestions.

Thank you for your comments. My area of interest is communications and/or digital signal processing. @compscian, what do you think Stanford is like in these areas? Also, the 3-year fellowship is, I think, very appealing. I heard about the internships as well. I will be an international student though, do you think it will cause any problems regarding the internships?

Thanks @mbfox125. I will consider your points in my decision-making. Thank you @seaslugs, that's kind of a relief to hear that they'll be less harsh

Thanks a lot @mbfox125. Yes, unfortunately I won't be able to visit the schools. I really have to learn the situation with Stanford. I have one other question though. How is Stanford perceived among the other universities I have listed above? I mean, after I graduate, will it matter much whether it says Stanford or any of the other schools above on my PhD diploma if I apply to jobs in industry (such as Google)? Or, is it the quality of my work during the graduate study, that really matters?

Thank you rising_star. These are some great points to consider. I have contacted one student at Stanford about the funding and received the answer that the amount of money they're giving is just enough and no more. Maybe, I should contact him about the quals issue, as well. Thank you. Any other suggestions and comments are still welcome.

Hi everyone, I will graduate from my undergraduate school (EE) this June and afterwards will hopefully start studying in a PhD program. I have got admissions from 4 schools and am having difficulty choosing which one to go with. I am open to any suggestions since I am really troubled. I am listing the schools I got accepted and their offers: -Stanford University, EE, PhD: One year fellowship -Carnegie Melon University, ECE, PhD: One year fellowship -UC, San Diego, ECE, PhD: Three years fellowship -EPFL, EDIC, PhD: One year fellowship Before I got any acceptances, I was thinking that I'd absolutely choose Stanford if I'm accepted. But, after I got the good news, I have done some online research about Stanford and found out that they eliminate many of the accepted students after the qual exam. I think I am competent and rank 2nd in my undergraduate school (and my school ranks in top 200 in the world ranking), but I do not know how I will rank among the very best students at Stanford. I am from a Europe country, so it is unknown to me whether I am good enough to pass the quals in a school in the US, which happens to be one of the best schools in the world. One other issue is the funding. I learned that San Fransisco is a very expensive place and the money that I would get from Stanford may not be enough (I will not be getting financial support from any other places including my parents). The places where CMU, UCSD are located seem to be more suitable from a financial perspective. Also, I heard Switzerland to be a very expensive place as well, but the money they're giving is, I think, high enough. Lastly, I'd like to add that there are professors in each and every one of these schools, whose research I am interested in. Any suggestions or comments are welcome.