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No 33andathirdRPM. I have not been in touch with any of the faculty members in these Unis. Anyhow, I made the decision and I decided to attend VT. Thanks for you comment. lpeppersauce, I am so thankful of you for the complete and comprehensive comment. I really appreciate your time and consideration. It was absolutely helpful for me. That said, I decided to attend VT, since its IE department is much more reputable than UMN's and the cost of living and the climate in Blacksburg is a little more endurable for me and my wife than those in Minneapolis. Hence, I hope I and you will become classmates starting Fall 2013 if I can pass the visa processing. Thanks again for your guidance, Go Hokies!

33andathirdRPM, my preferred research areas are Operations Research, Logistics, and Transportation Systems. Thanks lpeppersauce for the comment. I really appreciate it. Considering financial matters, a small town cannot be that terrible for me, since I am married and I should manage my and my wife's costs to be maximally covered by the funding. Anyhow, do you know anything special about the costs in Blacksburg? Do you think 1914$ per month can be sufficient for us with a mediocre style of living? What's your idea about Blacksburg itself? Is it an active town? Are there sufficient entertainment infrastructure (stores, etc.) and activities (concerts, movies, etc.) in Blacksburg? I mean, is the town alive or dead? Pre-thanks for your next comments.

Congrats to all of you who got admissions. I have been admitted to Virginia Tech ISE with full financial support (50% fellowship + 50% TA: 1914$ per month + tuition and fees + 90% of health insurance), University of Minnesota ISyE with full financial support (currently I do not know the amount and the type of support), and research master/PhD program of Management - OR track at Tilburg University with full financial support (Koopmans Scholarship: 1000 euros per month + tuition for first year and 2.5K euros per month from the second year). Now it is the decision time for me. I really appreciate your comments about these schools. Which one do you think is the best choice? I myself think that Tilburg cannot be that competitive in this list, even though its management program is widely recognized in Europe. I know that ISE department of VT is much more recognized than Minnesota's ISyE, but I think Minnesota is more reputable overall. Hence, your comments are absolutely welcomed.

Hey all! Here is my profile. Applying: PhD of Industrial Eng or Systems Eng. Status: International Undergrad: Applied Math - Not well-known uni in the Middle East Undergrad GPA: 3.66/4.00 (Converted by WES - Rank: 2/30) Grad: Systems Engineering - Well-known uni in the Middle East Grad GPA: 4.00/4.00 (Converted by WES - Rank: 1/10) GRE: 170Q (99%), 150V (44%), 4.0AW (49%) Research: 2 extended abstracts and 2 full papers (first author of 3 of the 4 papers) and oral presentations for the papers at not very well-known Intl. Conferences + 2 manuscripts being prepared to be submitted to journals LoR: 2 excellent LoRs and 1 good LoR, all from not well-known full/associate professors I applied/am applying to these unis: Northwestern V Tech Penn State Texas A&M U of Minnesota Lehigh UC Davis (Transportation) U of Washington Rensselaer P I Stevens I of T (Sys Eng.) What do you think about my chance of getting admission with full funding to the unis in my list? I really appreciate your comments and advices.