dido

Is it really today (Sunday) the last day replies can be sent or one can also reply tomorrow (Monday, April 15th)? Because we know that the deadline is April 15th but is the very day of April 15th included or not...

I have bachelor's in CS and master's in Computational Math and also some computational experience but no experience with high performance computing yet. It is not only the background that matters but also the horizons that a person wants to follow.

No, no decision yet... Are you aiming at CSE or Scientific Computing at UIUC or other CS field? What is your background?

Actually the graduation rate of ICES is not that high (http://www.ices.utexas.edu/about/facts-figures/). Also the information I have is that each year they admit on average 15-16 PhD students and on average 4-4.5 finish it successfully. Of course it does not mean that a large number of students fail on the exams. There are millions of reasons not to complete a program. However, it is a bit concerning considering how competitive is the program and how good are the students they admit, and still they are not able to finish it. On the other hand, if you manage to graduate you are one of a few (the "market" is not flooded with ICES PhDs) which is very good. I also think that ICES is a better choice compared to GaTech especially considering they give you more money. You must be very good that is why they offer you such good funding. Probably you are also an US citizen. Quite naturally, since it is the US, there are considerably more and nicer funding options for US citizens. I am an international candidate. You are totally right that the question is what I want more since one of my choices is CS and the other is more like Applied Math (depending on the track you take). This introduces a good amount of differences. So if I decide to go to ICES and you don't change your mind, we will meet there .

So I should follow my chicken heart . It is only that I am afraid of the exams and high grade expectations. Otherwise my heart is pretty much split in half between the two.

I am accepted at (PhD): the CS (more precisely Scientific Computing) program of UIUC and CSEM (at ICES) program at UT Austin both with research assistantships. Both seem to be decent choices and it is difficult to decide. The funding is quite similar although Austin is a but more expensive than UC but I think it is bearable. The major difference is that one of the programs is CS while the other is more like applied math. Also, one thing concerns me about UT is their GPA requirements: they require an overall GPA of 3.25 and in one area (there are 3 required areas/groups of courses to be taken) they require 3.5. This as an thought is very stressful and haunting. While UIUC require 3.0 GPA overall. On the second line I also consider UCSD (Math PhD: they have an interdisciplinary specialization in computational science) and CU Boulder (Applied Math). They both offer TA. These are also pretty decent schools. So it is a difficult choice. In a way I lean a bit towards UIUC because I have the feeling that I have a higher chance to successfully finish the program (which might easily not be true) and this is definitely important. Also, it is a great CS department providing a lot of opportunities. On the other hand, ICES at UT is also great but the feeling of higher possibiity of failure definitely pulls me back. After all, you need to get the PhD, to graduate, otherwise it is simply lost time no matter how good the school may be. Anyone in comparable situation or just wanting to share his opinion?

Yes, I emailed the secretary. Do you have any offers from schools or you applied only to top programs and now you are nervous about still not having any positive replies? Are you an international applicant (like me)? I myself do not think that I am good enough for those most prestigious programs and schools although it is always good and desirable to get a degree from them. At least it is much easier to find jobs later. However, you never know where you would be happy. This is something you cannot know in advance. That is why I am pretty cool about getting a rejection. Caltech is very inconsistent about the dates offers and rejections arrive (unlike universities like Berkeley). It also seems that "Applied + Comp Math" arrives a bit later compared to other programs. At least this is how it seems from the very small number of samples on the results page here. Also, every year is somewhat different from previous years, so you simply cannot guess what will happen . Good luck! Maybe we will meet at Caltech or maybe we won't .

Are there people here that applied to the program? Did anyone receive an offer/rejection or was contacted for an interview? I believe that the acceptances are a very minor number and it is unlikely that many of them would read and write here. This program is my most desired one but I can easily live with a rejection. I have nothing from them yet, neither was I contacted for an interview. I sent them an email and received an almost "non-personalized semi-automatic" reply that they are finalizing their decisions and letters should be expected the first week of April.