compiler_guy

Awesome! Congrats and good luck.
BTW what is your intended field of research?

One good way is to ask professors at your undergraduate institute for their opinion.
 
Browsing over universities in this ranking is not a bad idea as well:
http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools/computer-science-rankings

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=environmental+engineering+jobs
 
Did you try googling it?

Got an acceptance from Cornell. Still think this some kind of mixup...just cannot believe this.

Then why the panic? You have acceptances! Celebrate!!!!

Not really, had a same request from two different professors from uni waterloo in Canada a couple of years ago, after my application

A good place to start is the CS graduate school ranking:
 
http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools/computer-science-rankings
 
Other than that, I suggest you only go to a program which have classes and maybe research projects that fits your interests (Machine Learning, Systems, Computer Graphics and so on...)

So I retook the GRE on Wednesday and got 156 verbal and 161 quant. Still not perfect but a huge improvement. Thanks to everybody who suggested me to retake the test.
 
I also decided to put UC Boulder, GaTech and University of Maryland on my list. Now I "just" have to talk to my professors for the LoRs and finish my Statement of Purpose.
 
Good luck to all other applicants.

I really suggest you just browse through the schools faculty. I don't think there is much difference in quality or reputation. In the end grad school is what you make out of it
 
I would never apply to a school where there is not at least one professor that I find interesting. Most of them have really nice websites with a lot of infos on what they do. As you said you are considering a Ph.D., this seems even more relevant.

90 to 120 days from the application deadline. Also in the winter semester it is usually harder to get in.

Game servers is probably a sub-field of "Systems research", which is a field of computer science that deals with how to make computer systems better and more efficient. See:
http://cs.stanford.edu/degrees/mscs/specializations/
 
I haven't heard of a university that has even a course, workshop or degree specialization in "game servers" . Probably because from a technical viewpoint, "game servers" are very similar to regular servers that deal with a lot of bandwidth traffic (like at google, youtube.. ). So as a researcher you don't have any special incentive to tackle specific research problems with "game servers". You just research servers and such systems.

Mentioning religion in a public forum? My bad :-)

Joining...

Yes, by 9 points :-)

Accepted PhD students could receive a one-time funding relocation incentive, but that depends on the department and your location.
Some numbers I heard from other graduate students are: 900 to 1500 dollars. But most of these graduate students are international students.
Perhaps you could send a polite email to your program's graduate program, it doesn't harm to ask.

UC Santa Cruz has a specialized game development graduate program:
https://cs.soe.ucsc.edu/ms_gamesplayablemedia
 
But you could also do a PhD if you work with relevant faculty:
http://www.cs.ucsc.edu/research
 
University of South California has two types of degrees:
http://www.cs.usc.edu/academics/masters/msgames.htm
http://cinema.usc.edu/interactive/degrees.cfm
 
http://interactive.usc.edu/game-innovation-lab/
 
One is geared more towards the "fine arts".
 
Perhaps there are other universities with game development - try to search for schools that have good computer graphics focus.

Joining...

Accepted PhD students could receive a one-time funding relocation incentive, but that depends on the department and your location.
Some numbers I heard from other graduate students are: 900 to 1500 dollars. But most of these graduate students are international students.
Perhaps you could send a polite email to your program's graduate program, it doesn't harm to ask.

Take it a screenshot of that!

I have decided to turn down Stanford. Well, not many people have the chance to turn down Stanford. Haha. 

Yes, by 9 points :-)

Whats going on with U Penn, I see they sent admits and rejections, but I personally heard nothing yet.

:-)

Browse thru the research papers of potential advisers and see if you their research interests you.

Your are right, generally top schools offer less funding the lower ranked schools, but you have missed the point a little.
 
First of all, it is silly to go to into debt because of graduate school, especially when you have a great offer with funding from a great school like U Wisconsin Madison. Do you know that you were selected as a PhD candidate with funding from over ~1300 prospective applicants? Don't underestimate this achievement. Some entering PhD candidates did not get funding, and will dismiss the admission offer to the PhD program. If you browse thru various threads in this forum, you will find out the the more funding you have - the better chance you will finish the program.
 
Secondly, U Wisconsin Madison is highly ranked in graduate studies in Computer Science - it is more respected than Columbia, Harvard or some other ivy league or reputed university. Columbia is great school for undergraduate studies - but you are looking a graduate program.
Check out: http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools/computer-science-rankings
Columbia U is ranked 17, U Wisconsin Madison is 11.
 
Finally, research interests and fit is very flexible. Most entering CS PhD students change their research areas once they enter the PhD program because they are suddenly interested in another area. Don't be to worried about it at this stage.