hikaru1221

Having a BS in physics doesn't mean you're disadvantaged. Princeton EE for example has been favoring students with science background. The bottom line is, it's about whether your background would serve them well. For PhD admissions, personally I think your research experience, whatever projects you worked on, is one of the main factors, so you should see yourself the same as the rest, because the adcom may likely see you the same way as the rest! The competition is among those who have the research talent, plus probably suitable background. I was contacted by a few professors whose works are not within my undergrad area, simply because of my research experience, plus my theoretical background indicating that I may be able to relate to their research.

I have to concur with your advisor. Another thing to add: someone here can be a professor, or pretty much the students surrounding you

Some schools will ask you to complete some online form (which may be basically a click) to inform them of the decision. In that case, I would only send a personal email to my POI (or anyone who has been in personal contact with me) additionally. But that would have to wait a few days / a week after I receive their offer - I would not want to appear inconsiderate, especially to those who will review my papers in the future.

You never know if you don't try. You've got nothing (too much) to lose. GRE V 147 is not great, but not the worst. TOEFL < 90 seems to be the real danger, even if the requirement is 80. The thing is, having the capability to convey your brilliant research idea is just as important as coming up with the idea. I think it is best if you can get an interview with your POI so that he/she can justify your ability to communicate. Else you'd better raise your TOEFL score.

I'm sorry to hear that. In my opinion, applying to top schools only is risky. All top applicants head there, and we (yes, we) may never know who we are competing with. One thing that I understand from this process with the top schools is that they judge the ability to grow to the level they expect. You might want to look through some results posted on GradCafe of applicants to top schools and see who are accepted, who get rejected. This may backfire. You've underestimated funding coming from top schools (and lesser known but good schools). The rule of the game for them is, once they admit somebody, they guarantee the funding until that person graduates, because otherwise finance is simply another big big stress on the students (and consequently, less quality works). They might question whether you understand and face the arduousness of getting a PhD. They might even question whether you have done a thorough research on the PhD admissions game and PhD-relevant stuff before applying. Or perhaps not... So two things: either your credentials, or your mental preparedness that appears to the schools. But by all means, yes, please reapply next year. And apply to other schools as well, from top 5 to top 50.

Some official statistics from Princeton: https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http://www.princeton.edu/gradschool/about/docs/admission/admission_stats.pdf

I can't be sure, since I withdrew my application. My POI said the funding would be on him. TAMU is a good school, so don't expect to be expected to work for them without payment. My general impression of the AIS system is that it is just not really personalized, so the detail might not be there. Were I you, I would wait for emails from the POI.

Congrats zaphyr. Did you contact your POI at TAMU? As far as I know, it's the POI that promises the funding.

@EngineerGrad: Have you looked at the statistics of Quals at your intended school? Concrete evidence is sometimes the best way to calm yourself Although research is almost all I want to do, I sometimes find coursework and non-research stuff can be a good temporary escape. At least, I know what I am heading into when working on problem sets. It's just hardly the case for research - stuck, and will be stuck for long.

Do you mean the specific department at OSU where the OP applies to, or generic departments?

Do you have any professor at B to back you up? Department politics can become useful.

I second this piece of advice. After 2 topics opened, I suppose top 5 or top 35 or top 50 may not be that important, if the long-term goal is truly PhD & research career. (if you get what I mean)

Opportunity doesn't matter. Being opportunists matters. Just sayin'

I partially agree on this. First, let me point out that at least in my field, the terms "In preparation", "Submitted to", "To be submitted to", etc are acceptable. People generally concur that the manuscript should be listed in one of those ways only if it's ready, or the results are sufficient for a paper, and that it's listed with one's honor. One thing that I have to warn others is, while some professors do spend time reading your paper, some don't and only glance through the most informative details like whether it is published, the journal / conference, the date of publication. This was true, I can tell, from my experience with Stanford and Berkeley, and that's not because they are lazy, but I think because it's hard to tell the quality of a paper, let alone a manuscript, without working on that specific problem (yes, the problem itself, not the field!). Then how can a manuscript that is yet published be of any significance in this case? I think it's when the journal/ conference it is to be submitted to matters. It shows your own (and your professor's) evaluation of the quality of the manuscript. And the terms "In preparation", "Submitted to", "To be submitted to" legitimate the journal/ conference to be noted down. I'm not saying these are the only ways to highlight the journal/conference though. Possibly TakeruK's and fuzzylogician's ways can as well. All I'm trying to say is, it's never wrong to get the motivation right, howsoever the manuscript is listed. As far as this thread concerns, you would want the manuscript to add more weight to your application. The manuscript is not just a paper-to-be; it's the work that you would want people to pay attention to. Let me cite a piece of advice from this link http://graddecision.org/Application_RP.html Anyway reading the posts in this topic, I believe the matter is very much field-dependent. So it's best to consult people working in your field (as what the OP seemed to have done!).

I assume that you would choose the top 3 school if you had applied to and were offered PhD admissions instead; otherwise everything is clear. Have you ever discussed the opportunity to join PhD program directly at the top 3 school, or perhaps the possibility of changing MS admissions to PhD one? You seem to be a strong candidate and it may be possible for you to negotiate. The sooner the better - it would be a bit late if their funding decision for the year is done. By the way, if 2 years is the standard duration to finish MS at the school, I see no reason to not feel confident.