Isos

By any chance did you receive a funding offer from the robotics department? They told me that any financial offers (if any) would eventually come.

Dead silence from the two of those I applied to: MIT and Berkeley.

Thanks, TakeruK. Those do seem like the best, logical choices (minus lying of course ). I mean, they're not going to rescind funding offers over it, I would assume.

I have been admitted to UT Austin and Cornell, and I was quite flummoxed to notice that they both invited me to visitation weekends on the same date. They both want to book travel accommodations ASAP. I admit that this isn't a bad problem to have, but I really want to see both schools to make informed decisions, etc. Does anyone have experience with this scenario or either of the school's visitation weekends? Do either of them host multiple sessions? Thanks for any input!

Undergrad Institution: State school, around 50 overall ranking in my field Minor(s): mathematics GPA in Major: 4.0 Overall GPA: 4.0 Length of Degree: 4 Position in Class: Top junior award; no official numbers. Type of Student: Boring - domestic, white male. GRE Scores: Q: 170 V: 166 W: 4.5 Research Experience: Advanced manufacturing group for the last year - very informal though. Also, summer research (again not very formal) at an international university. No publications, but a conference presentation in the spring. Awards/Honors/Recognitions: A number of awards in my department. A handful of scholarships--some music, some engineering. Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 20hrs/week engineering tutoring for the last 2 years for the university. Also, online physics tutor (tutor.com). Summer internships in controls at a DOE facility and also at a commercial vehicle company Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Projects in industry related to proposed research. Leading university undergraduate team in various fabrication projects. Applying for Mech Eng. PhD (when possible) at: MIT - Waiting UC Berkeley - Waiting Cornell - Waiting Carnegie Mellon - Waiting UT Austin - Waiting Georgia Tech - Waiting Duke - Interviews coming up

I'm interested in a certain lab's work at one of the schools I applied. I got an interview invitation (yay). However, I have learned that the main faculty member of this lab is retiring shortly, and his role will be largely taken by an assistant professor who joined the university earlier this year. He is a less-established researcher, having received his PhD in 2008. How much should I take this into consideration when evaluating my options? Is this a dangerous situation to be walking into, and what's the best way for me to know? Thanks for any insights! -Matt