DeleteMePlease

So what exactly is a "residency requirement"?

Yeah I knew most of that but thanks I plan to visit my family about two times a year so I will frequently leave the US. The visa I got allows an unlimited amount of entries so this should be no problem. When I meant "renew" I actually meant that I would apply for a new one. The application itself doesn't take that long. The only annoying thing is the fact that I have to drive to the embassy and also pay the fine again.

Similar question: What if the date on my visa is incorrect? I put the same duration on my DS-160 as on my I-20. And in the interview I said my Ph.D. takes about 5 years (d'oh!) So now my I-20 expires in 2020 and my F-1 in 2019. Is it possible to renew the visa when the I-20 is still valid or will this cause problems?

This thread is kind of funny. Ofc you have a tiny chance to be admitted to a top school with a 3.3 GPA but the probability that you don't even make the cutoff (which is often around 3.5 for Ph.D.) is very high.

I think my school requires all international students to reside at the university through the whole program. As the others said, just check with your school. Personally, i would recommend doing the Ph.D. at an institution in your home country if your relationship is that important to you.

I recommend asking in the Physics section

Maybe Fees includes other expenses aswell? E.g. public transportation.

You don't apply for an I-20. It is just issued by your university. You apply for your visa (F-1 or J-1) and the I-20 is one of the requirements for this visa. If your I-20 says that you are fully funded, then you usually don't have to show any supporting documents. The visa is the permit to cross the border and the I-20 is the document that permits you to stay in the US. Also, afaik people from Canada don't even need to apply for a visa and just need the I-20 but I could be wrong here.

Just in case anybody runs into the same problem: I decided to arrive about a week before classes started and booked my flight accordingly. Today I found out that there is some special TA preparation course in the beginning of August. Turns out I have to arrive three weeks earlier than I originally planned...

The whole visa application takes about a week (assuming there is a free interview appointment), so I really wouldn't worry too much.

and it is really expensive..

Mh I am sorry that it didn't work out for you then... However, maybe it is a chance to take a break before grad school and enjoy life a little

Wow you got a hell of admits. Personally I would go for Georgia Tech On your question: I would choose UPenn over Brown (nicer location, better overall ranking, bigger department afaik). But I am an international application, so what do I know?

Granted, you need luck to get into one of the top 10 schools. But if you really applied to 11 schools where some are not that highly ranked and all rejected you (without an interview I guess? ), then there seems to be some other problem. Are you sure your Letters of Recommendation are strong? Did somebody proofread your SoP?

I don't think it is about reserach experience but potential to do research. You just have to convince them somehow that you can and want to do research.

Online. The same website you submit your application to. Considering it has only been 4 days I wouldn't worry. It seems like they send out all further information in batches probably when all students have enrolled.

Hi All, I just realized that flights inside the US seem kind of expenisve -- at least when booking from Germany. Flying from Germany to New York City is about 500 Euros and the flight from New York to Ithaca (or even Syracuse) about the same. The busses seem cheap: about 50 Dollars but take 5 hours :/ Any idea where to book cheap flights from some international airport to Ithaca or Syracuse?

Why should they care?

Well there are many resources on the Internet to learn programming. I cannot recommend anything in English personally though. A quick Google search brought me to this tutorial which looks very good: http://www.learnpython.org/ I recommend to start with something easy like Python and then move to Java a few months later.

If the "stipend > all expenses" is also shown on your I-20 then you should be fine. The interview is shorter than you think and is usually only a formality. At least I wasn't asked for any additional documents. I offered to show a bank statement but they told me it is not needed. I recommend to bring something just in case anyways.

nermah1: Maybe write the person that contacted you with the offer? I did that too and they confirmed me the enrollment. Got my NetID yesterday, so I think everything is progressing nicely.

Yes what you describe is original research. But you can also for example evaluate an exisiting contribution. For example I implemented an algorithm that was presented in a paper and did some measurements. Something like that looks better than no research at all. However, another problem if you have no adivser is that you won't have somebody to write you a letter of recommendation about your ability to do research...

Good to know that that is possible. How does this work? Is there any additional documentation one has to show?

It is very rare to work on a publication alone. I wouldn't recommend doing so espeically not as a beginner. You don't need an adviser but at least another student or so that can proofread your paper and give you feedback. @D8F1F488: The experience does not have to be in your field. Any kind of work with/for a professor or grad student is extremely helpful. If you have no research experience at all, how do you want to convince an admission commitee that you want to do research for the next five to six years?

Get research experience