DeleteMePlease

Is the German program a US-style Ph.D program or is for a German doctorate (Doktor)? Imo these programs differ significantly.

Same here. Haven't heard from any school yet. I hope they are currently only admitting the strong candidates and then proceed depending on how much of them accept offers.

I found the verbal part of magoosh really hard (as I am an international student) and scored a lot higher on the GRE. But still it was a good preparation. I think Magoosh predicted 151 and I got 157.

Seems like more acceptances from UIUC and interview requests from JHU have gone out yesterday. Still nothing here

Take the GRE ASAP. That gives you the possibility to retake it if your scores aren't good enough. Imo it also takes the pressure off a lot.

Thanks for the feedback! It helped a lot. Seems I can move everything to July so I have some more time. Would love to arrive early so I can look for housing and can take some time off before I start grad school.

There are also some (many?) companies that have research departments. I myself will be an intern at a big company and help with some research that will hopefully result in a publication.

I suggest you try to take the GRE anyways. I am a bad testperson too but it is very studiable and I could boost my scores a lot (took it twice). You can always look for alternatives that do not require the GRE. I did that too. For computer science I found UIUC, MIT, and UBC (Vancouver), maybe they don't require the GRE for other programs either.

That is what I thought. One of the institutions I apply to say that international students have to arrive before mid-August because of the visa stuff. Hopefully, I can finish everything by July.

Hi, I am an CS undergrad in Germany but maybe I can help a little. * Youre right that most of the stuff is taught in English (especially on a Master level) but it depends from school to school (so check!). There are also programs that are completely in English called something like "International XY". * TOEFL is sometimes required but I know of no institution that asks for the GRE. * Tuition is basically 0 - you have to pay some fees (around 100 euros ) a semester. In some states a little more but it is always < 600 Euros * We have a lot of international students - i have never witnessed any form of racisim or discrimination towards them * Admission requirements really depend on the institution but they are a lot less strict than in the US * The cost of living should be more or less the same but maybe it is more for you because of the strong Euro * Companies should have no problem with hiring you as there is the bluecard: http://www.apply.eu/BlueCard/

So the last semester is approaching and I am still not sure if I will finish my thesis by the end of July :/ Just wondering: What is the latest date I *have* to be in the US if I enroll? Is it possible to arrive when classes start or do I have to be there 2 or 3 weeks earlier?

Well I am using it mostly to find out who is interested in me and also uploaded some additional stuff there I couldn't put in on my application like links to all my projects and some slides I made. It seems like adcoms are in fact googleing you. I tried to make my results as positive as possible and I think the website helps a lot. I also have a Twitter account where I only post "serious" content. In fact, one of my POIs is following me and encouraged me to apply via Twitter (yeah that really happened).

Hi, is anybody else having a personal homepage? I read on these forums that they can help with applications. So I set one up with CV, Projects, and a small blog about Computer Science (my major) topics. I also put a link to my website on my SoP. Now, I am monitoring access to the website. I was wondering if anybody else is doing it and how much visits they get. If so, what are your experiences? So far as I can see three (out of 9) universities have visited my site. That hopefully means that I have passed the first barrier (GPA, GRE scores) and am seriously considered. One came from Google so it seems like they are doing background checks of applicants. Thanks!

Why don't you do your degree at wherever you are from and visit the US as an exchange student?

It never even came to my mind to keep my toothbrush outside the bathroom. I regularly switch my toothbrush though to prevent an unhygenic situation.

Well imo your profile looks good. But I am only an applicant myself so what do I know

Why do you want your profile evaluated if you have already applied?

Thanks for the infos and congrats to your acceptance! From the schools I am applying to especially UMN, Northwestern and UIUC send out acceptances. Hope that this is only the first round..

Anybody heard back yet from their schools? I saw some acceptances on the result search. However I haven't heard back from any of my applications yet. At least no rejections yet

FYI: I also used magoosh (flashcards and the tutorials) to study verbal and improved by 5 points.

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.

yes it takes about a week as the AW part still needs to be evaluated

You cannot do worse as there is ScoreSelect which allows you to send only the scores you choose.

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.

You can take it every 21 days. So you can already retake it the end of October. I will be taking it on October the 9th. Still early enough to be able to retake it. I think that takes a lot of pressure off on test day