ParanoidAndro1d3

I don't think it's uncommon, and I don't think it could hurt to contact the graduate admissions persons at GWU explaining your concern. If you "conditionally" accept their offer (pending acquiring financial support), perhaps they can then move you up the list, or give you first consideration when/if someone declines. At worst, by contacting them, you will have shown them interest and enthusiasm for their program, which seems to me to be a good thing.

My opinion: UPenn is better if you want to study distributed, multi-agent systems. They have several labs (GRASP, TerraSwarm, PRECISE) with active research on the topic - spanning from the mechanics of groups to the theoretical and computational components of their control. Also, UPenn is better if you are interested in pursuing an academic career, or pursuing studies that are broadly interdisciplinary. GaTech seems better if you want to end up in industry. As far as funding is concerned, Penn's PhD funding (supposedly) is not distributed strictly by lab association (a professor I recently spoke to told me so). Whether or not they provide PhD funding seems to be more tied to your research interests being strongly aligned with theirs. That all being said, you probably won't go too far wrong with either school. If you really aren't certain where to end up for your PhD studies, it may make sense to go to the more geographically appealing or less expensive option. You can always transfer for your PhD studies, especially if your Master's is not being funded. Hope that helped.

I just got my first decision back - a rejection from Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute. I had expected it, not that I feel that I was unqualified, just that the program is intensely competitive. Nevertheless, I find myself feeling dejected and more than a little worried about my remaining applications. I have a good GPA (4.0), GRE scores (161/163/5), three research projects (but no published papers), a good idea of what I want to study (multi-agent systems), and I applied to several schools (7). I feel as if I'm qualified, but I have a nagging, unshakable feeling that I'm going to be rejected everywhere. I suppose I'm wondering if I'm alone in feeling this, and looking for any stories of triumph after initial defeat to buoy my spirits.

Hi All, I was wondering if anyone knew if there is a correlation between the competitiveness of REU acceptances and (funded) PhD acceptances? I'd certainly feel more at ease with my pending PhD applications if there was a correlation, because I know my SOPs and letters of recommendation are of roughly the same quality, and my GRE scores shouldn't hurt me (163Q, 161V, 5AW for PhD in EE). Thanks for your input.

"What is your top school? If you got in everywhere, where would you go?" - Person other than me "If I get in anywhere, that's where I'll go." - Me "You'll get in EVERYWHERE, you're brilliant. They'd be crazy not to let you in." - Person other than me "Yeah...they'd be crazy for choosing a different person from the pool of highly-skilled, highly-qualified candidates that they have available to them. Absolutely insane." - Me "Why are you being so crazy?" - Person other than me "Why are you being so dismissive of the reality that my future is currently being determined by a group of strangers that are basing their admissions decisions on approximately 5 pages of information per candidate, of which the majority is nearly identical for each applicant - essentially reducing my future to a game of chance?" - Me This whole "waiting for decisions" thing is making me a tad irritable to the non-grad-grad-school-seeking persons in my life. They just don't get it...

Undergrad Institution: Small, Unknown Liberal Arts School Major(s): Electrical Engineering Minor(s): Mathematics, Physics, (Computer Engineering - may or may not qualify for this, have to talk to program head to verify a course substitution) GPA in Major: 4.0 Overall GPA: 4.0 Length of Degree: 4 years Position in Class: Top Type of Student: Male Domestic GRE Scores: Q: 163 (89%) V: 161 (86%) W: 5.0 (92%) Research Experience: 2 REUs in Nanotechnology (Northeastern University), 1 Year-long project in embedded system development Awards/Honors/Recognitions: University scholarship, Dean's List, School's IEEE Leadership Award Pertinent Activities or Jobs: University's IEEE Club President, various other clubs, nothing outstanding, Math/Physics Tutor for past 4 semesters, RA/TA for a Bioinstrument Design course (developed three laboratory exercises for students) Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Strong relationships with recommending professors (one from REU). Conference paper pending. Applying to PhD program: University of Pennsylvania - Electrical and Systems Engineering PhD Drexel University - Electrical Engineering PhD Carnegie Mellon Robotics Institute- Robotics PhD Yale University- Engineering and Applied Sciences PhD University of Michigan - Electrical Engineering: Systems PhD Worcester Polytechnic Institute- Robotics Engineering PhD Northwestern University - Electrical Engineering PhD