Casper14

It's about a 24-hour door-to-door trip for me, so I'll probably only be able to afford a trip home once every two years. But there's so much I want to see and do in the US I'm sure I won't be ready to visit home after only a year!

I will also be heading to RPI in the Fall, and would love to hear some opinions. There isn't a lot of RPI activity on the forum! Firstly, I have heard a lot of people say negative things about Troy, but from what I can find on the internet it really doesn't seem that bad. (Although I don't expect the internet to give an accurate reflection of how it is to live in a place, and also my perspective might be different, coming from a third-world country.) I have heard that the cost of living is cheap, which should help to stretch that grad student stipend a bit further ;-) So two main questions here: 1.) How is crime around the RPI area, and specifically, how safe is the campus after dark? 2.) How is the public transport, and specifically, would one be able to do grocery shopping within walking distance from the campus? Secondly, how is the weather and how much snow can one expect? Where I currently live, anything below 10 degrees Celsius is pretty much considered arctic weather , so I fear I might be in for a very cold time! I have found other topics on dressing for and getting around in very cold weather, but would specifically like to know how the seasons are in upstate New York. Unfortunately I don't have the opportunity to visit beforehand, but I would appreciate any insight, even if it's just a quick story about your thoughts on the city

Has anyone heard back from Brown's Computer Engineering program? I can't find any results from 2013 on Results Search and only one for 2012. Is it too late still to be hoping for good news?

Thank you, I just heard the same. Hopefully the waiting is almost over...!

Cool! I will do that.

Thanks for your reply! Yes, I know it might still be awhile, but I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't the only one waiting on news... Hopefully we will hear soon! There isn't a lot of RPI activity on the forum.

Has anyone received information regarding funding? I was told that it would happen in February and early March, but no news yet...

Did anyone apply to Brown's Computer Engineering program as opposed to Computer Science? By searching in the Result Section, I only found one result for Computer Engineering in 2012: http://www.thegradcafe.com/survey/index.php?q=brown+university+computer+engineering&t=a&o=&pp=25 I would just like to hear if there's anyone else who is waiting on Brown's Computer Engineering!

"This week"? Does that mean the current week, i.e., the one ending on 08 Feb? I hope so! My Brown application also says "Complete" and UCSD says "Under Review". Got a bit of a fright when I saw people talking about their Brown status being "Under Review"!

I would also like to hear this! I have not heard anything either...

I am also terrified when I see all the UW admissions... It's my top choice but I haven't heard anything either... Let's hope!

Berkeley and Washington-Seattle only had a single application, you are correct. They were also the most user-friendly applications in my experience. UT Austin was also very confusing for me, especially how they only send out emails to your LOR-writers once you submit the application!

I am also checking my email way too often! In my time zone, I get home from work when most people start their day in the US. So I find myself sleeping with my phone right next to my bed so I can have a glimpse at my email if I should wake up during the night. That doesn't sound healthy at all, and the worst is that I know I might have to wait until late February to hear my first answer... Thank you to those who have posted their results on the Results Search page!

I also haven't heard anything, and I am getting more nervous by the day. Good luck to all of you! Please post any results once you hear them, so that the rest of use may have some idea of when to expect an answer!

Thanks! It seems that I will have to be very fortunate to hear before the end of January... The next two months are going to be very stressful

I am applying to a variety of PhD programs in EECS for admission Fall 2013. What is the expected time that I will have to wait before hearing about the decision? Some are rolling admission, but others have a deadline of December 15. Is it too optimistic to expect the first decisions during January? My problem is that I have been accepted at my home university, but that I will have to accept/decline that offer by late January. Naturally, I would prefer knowing what my options elsewhere are before making that decision.

Hi, I am applying for a PhD in EECS and have a few general questions regarding the Statement of Purpose. I ordered the questions in order of importance, if you only want to skim through them... 1.) Mentioning specific faculty members, but keeping my options open In my SOP, I mention some members of faculty whose research I find interesting. Should I add a specific statement saying that I am not restricting myself to these professors? What I don't want is my application to get thrown out immediately because the people I mention are not accepting students or something similar. This brings me to the next question... 2.) Contacting specific faculty members Should I make contact with the above-mentioned faculty members before submitting my application? It feels to me that if I do not email anyone, they might feel that I am not genuinely interested, or else I would have at least enquired. On the other hand, however, I do not want to annoy potential professors with generic questions before I have even submitted an application. 3.) Future goals If I have not yet made up my mind as to whether I want to do research at a university or the R&D section of a company, would it hurt my chances if I said this? It feels to me that just saying that I want to pursue a career in research is a little generic. 4.) Mentioning current advisors If my current advisors for my undergraduate project are not particularly well-known in their fields, should I mention their names in my SOP? They wrote my letters of recommendation, so I though that mentioning them might help place their letters in context. Thanks!

It seems to me that you at least have some research experience, even if you don't have any publications. I'm sure that will count in your favour. As for my applications: UC Berkeley (a very long shot, but I've got my fingers crossed. The program looks amazing.) UW Seattle UC San Diego UT Austin Brown University Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute UC Irvine UC Riverside Naturally, I am aware that there is a reasonable chance that I won't be admitted to any of these universities, but I'm hoping for the best with a backup plan at my current university. EEPhdCommsApp, if I were you, I would study and take the GRE again if you have time and funds to pay for it. I only studied for a week, and I could see a significant increase in my scores on the practice tests over that week. Especially the Verbal section is easy to improve on if you learn some techniques and learn some word lists. As a final thought, I have also heard that getting into the top programs is pretty much luck of the draw to a certain extent, so maybe that will favour us underdogs.

Yes, I agree. I might as well apply and see what happens, if I do get admitted it will be a big bonus, and if I don't I'm sure I'll be more prepared for it after an MS. I'm only applying to universities I would really like to go to, so on the off chance that I do get admitted it will be an easy decision to make whether I should go or not. Out of curiosity, how do so many applicants have research experience straight out of undergrad? I've been so busy with coursework I couldn't even think about getting involved in some research, and with our summer holidays so short, the most I've been able to fit in were a couple of internships with local tech-companies.

Yes, I was a little disappointed with my Q score, I did better in both PowerPrep tests beforehand. Sorry, I also forgot to mention that I am not actually an international student, I am originally from the US but living in South Africa for quite some time now. So as far as I understand I would not actually be considered an international student?

My problem is mainly that I do not really have anyone to talk to, as I am studying in South Africa. Thus it is very hard to get an accurate evaluation about my chances at a university in the US. However, I do have a potential scholarship available at my home university that will pay for a full 2-year MS and cover my living expenses. (Which I was recommended for by my professor partly due to my final-year project.) Naturally I would prefer to study in the US, because even though my university is ranked 3rd in Africa, it is not even closely comparable to those in the US which I want to apply to. For the record, my grades are a 4-year 3.5 GPA, and 2-year 3.9 GPA. My GRE scores are 160 verbal, 162 quantitative, and 4.5 analytical writing. I suppose if I could do very well at my MS at my home university it would greatly improve my chances for a PhD in the US, but ideally I would do my entire PhD there. Thanks for your answer, it really helps, as I do not have a lot of sources for information.

I am applying for a PhD in Computer Engineering for Fall 2013. I currently only have a Bachelor's degree in Electronic Engineering, with no research experience except for my final-year undergraduate project. Naturally this also means that I do not have any publications or anything like that. Will this lack of research experience significantly decrease my chance of admission? Applying for a MS and then continuing to a PhD is not an option for me, because I need to secure funding, which is apparently much more difficult in the MS programs.

Hey everyone, UCSD is actually one of my top choices for Fall 2013 PhD Computer Engineering, so I am very happy (and jealous!) for all of you who got admitted! I would really appreciate it if someone could help me out as to what I would need for my application to have a realistic chance. My GRE scores were 160 Verbal (83%), 162 Quantitative (86%), and 4.5 Analytical Writing (73%). I have a 3.5 GPA over 4 years and 3.9 over the last two years. However, I did my undergraduate degree in South Africa, at a relatively unknown university. I also don't have any publications... I'm sure my Letters of Recommendation will be strong, but they will be from professors at my university and thus probably not that well known in the US. Would you say that UCSD is a realistic goal, or should I look somewhere else? (I really like the program at UCSD, but I have heard that admission is pretty competitive... As every application is costing me a lot of money, I obviously don't want to apply to a place that I have absolutely no chance.)

Thanks for your reply! That clears things up a bit. So the implication of this is that I will have to be in the US at least a month before classes start so that I can apply and get a SSN before the 3-weeks before classes deadline?

Hi all I am applying for grad school admission Fall 2013. In order to fund my studies, I would have to get a TA/RA position. Even though I am a US citizen, I have lived outside of the US for most of my life, and therefore I do not have a social security number. According to the SSA website, I would have to go to their office in person to get one. Naturally, it is not a viable option for me to fly to the US to get a SSN before I know that I am admitted somewhere. Therefore my question: is it possible to apply for a TA/RA position without having a SSN? i could always get a SSN once I arrive in the US, but I want to make sure that my lack of one won't keep me from being considered for these positions. Thanks!