jcperez

Hi there! Congrats on your Fulbright fellowship! The 2-year home residency requirement can be waived, but those seem to be rare cases. For example, I know about a Fulbrighter from my home country (Honduras) who completed his PhD in Electrical & Computer Engineering, got hired by Microsoft, and never had to come back. You might want to check this website for further information about waivers. Do you have any other funding alternative?

I think the official letter of admission from the graduate school is the one that shows up when you click on the link at the bottom which says "Your application decision is now available online". If you don't see any letter there, you should check with ECE.

Maybe both profs are more or less equal in terms of accomplishments, but which group's research do you like best? That would be a deciding factor for me. If you have the chance, you should really consider visiting both schools. Overall, I would also lean more towards UCSB, but that's just me. Just as you do, I am also thinking whether to do more theoretical or experimental work. I know I would feel totally comfortable doing theoretical work, but I would really like to have some experience in nanofabrication and optical instruments, for example. That's why I am giving priority to groups that let me do both kinds of work. I don't think your job opportunities will be heavily affected by that decision, though. I do have a feeling that UCSB would be a better choice when looking for a career in academia, but that doesn't seem to be your case. Btw, which track did you choose at Northwestern EE? I am still expecting a response from them.

I will keep working as lab instructor at my local university until June. Afterwards, I will go to France for three weeks to visit my dad, who is working on his own PhD thesis. I will return around mid-July, and spend my last month at home studying some much-needed course material (need to strengthen quantum and solid state physics background!), reading papers, wrapping up some volunteer projects I have been working on, and preparing everything to move to my new school .

I also got an admit to an EE PhD program with no departmental funding, but I am certain my worst case scenario there would be an unfunded 1st year. I seriously doubt that you won't have any funding once you are done with most of the coursework and the preliminary exam. By then, you should already be working at the lab of one of your POIs. Right now, I would recommend you to contact POIs and inquire about RAships.

I actually noticed those professors were gone just after sending my transcripts, TOEFL, and GRE scores, but before submitting the online application. Therefore, I was able to change my SOP accordingly. The program might not be the ideal fit I was looking for, but there are several professors who work on areas related to mine. I could see myself working with them, or they might even agree to supervise a project in my area of interest.

One of the schools I applied to has admitted me to their PhD program, with full funding, and they are now inviting me to an open house for admitted students in which they cover transport, hotel and food (school is in NY, and I live outside the US, in Central America). But here comes the problem: as great as it sounds, I applied to this school, so to say, "by mistake". My two POIs left the school last year. The department did not update their website accordingly, and I didn't contact those professors before applying because the department's website clearly stated that decisions are made by the Adcom, and that all admitted students are given a first-year fellowship in order to concentrate on coursework. Since I had already sent transcripts, TOEFL and GRE scores to this school when I noticed that problem, and they even waived my application fee after a "preliminary review of my academic credentials", I decided I would send my application anyways, even if they had gone down on my priority list. And that's how I got admitted. I have another admission offer from my 2nd choice university, but with no departmental funding (currently contacting POI for RAship), and I am still waiting for answers from other 5 universities. So, there is still a good chance that I won't be attending the aforementioned school. So here comes my question to you: how rude would it be if I attend this school's open house (in which they would cover my transport, hotel and food) and then decline their offer? I guess they are willing to take the risk of spending on a student who has not yet accepted their admission offer, but I really don't want to end up in bad terms with this school (I want to become a university professor, and they might be a potential employer in the future!). Thank you for taking some time to read my story. Best of luck to all of you with your applications and admission decisions!

Hi there. You could go to the results section and check when were previous applicants to your program notified. That's what I'm doing right now to get an idea of when would I hear back from the schools I applied to. In my case, I don't expect much to happen in January.

Undergrad Institution: Top private school in my country (but not known outside my country) Major(s): Telecommunications engineering GPA in Major: 96% Overall GPA: 96% Length of Degree: 4 years Position in Class: 1/18 in my major & undergraduate valedictorian (for the entire university) Type of Student: International, male, Latin American GRE Scores: Q: 166 V: 167 W: 4.5 TOEFL Total: 119/120 Research Experience: Final year project on antennas (not related to my intended specialization). Presented at a regional IEEE student conference and publishing an article in my school's technical journal. Unfortunately, my school has no summer breaks, which I could have used to do research. Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Graduated with honors (Summa cum laude), and 2nd place at my school's undergraduate research competition. Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Tutored in math (algebra to diff. equations), general physics, electromagnetics, and circuits (2 years). TAed in labs for general physics, electromagnetics, electronics, and communication systems (2 years). School hired me after graduation as Lab Instructor for several courses in circuits, electronics, and communications. Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Volunteered doing research on university student attitudes toward science, teaching applied math to youth at risk, and at an IEEE outreach program. Applying for [ PhD ] at: UT Austin - Electrical & Computer Engineering - waiting Purdue - Electrical & Computer Engineering - waiting UPenn - Electrical & Systems Engineering - waiting Northwestern - Electrical Engineering - waiting U. Rochester - Optics - waiting U. Central Florida - Optics - waiting