orgirl

I'm employed in my old university as a Research Assistant. It's hectic because we write papers and think of new things to do research on, but it will at least give me more research experience. I've also been reading up on a lot of books on my field to supplement my future research. I might think of taking a vacation to Europe soon, once I save enough money.

Yes, I do realize that it's stupid that I base my decision on the fellowship I get, but most of my friends keep saying how good that particular fellowship is. And it's a waste if I don't take it.

How would you decide on your graduate program? I'm having a dillema. One top school has two really good professors who have agreed to work with me. I have worked with these professors before and I know what kind of work they are doing and we have really good chemistry. A moral dillema for me is that they were the ones who wrote my recommendation, so they were also pretty much responsible for my admissions in other universities. Another school has also offered admission to me. It is also a top school and it has offered me however with a really prestigious fellowship (which I heard can open a lot of doors afterwards). But I am not too familiar with the work of the professors there. So my question: which would you prefer, (1) a university with professors you have worked with or (2) a university offering a prestigious fellowship?

I finished my bachelors in Singapore. After which, I did my Masters in MIT in Computation for Design and Optimization (CDO).

I'm also a first generation student. Well not exactly, since everyone in my family has college degrees. But that doesn't mean anything because in the country I'm coming from, even working in McDonald's requires a bachelor's degree. But I'm the first one in my family to get into a university outside my country, and now I will be doing my PhD. It's weird when I mention to my mom that I got into Cornell, she doesn't seem impressed. LOL. But she's really supportive and she understands that a graduate degree is really essential because it has been her dream too.

:oops: I guess it's not really well known. In layman's terms, operations research is applying analytical and mathematical tools to make better decisions. This applies to varied fields such as finance, manufacturing, telecommunications, etc. In essence, you just try to maximize something (such as profit).

I feel so lonely when I see everyone else applying for Humanities or Engineering. When I did a search of the forum, the last people who posted about OR were a couple of years ago. So did anyone else apply for OR? Or do OR people just like to lurk?

Anyone else going to MIT? Specifically, Operations Research? The chances of anyone going to ORC replying to this is slim since the program is so small. Anyways, greetings to other incoming MIT students who got into other programs.

Hi ysznl. In my case, when I finished my Bachelor's, I didn't have a lot of research experience. I also didn't know much about what grad school was all about. If I applied for a PhD and later realized I made a mistake, it would have been a waste of time and resources. So doing a Masters is sort of a testing phase for research for me. The good thing about the Masters program I applied to is it was a dual Masters program which you finish in 18 months. So it wasn't really a waste of time.

I believe when applying for graduate studies in really good universities, the letters of recommendation is important. Since you mentioned you are in one of the top 10 universities, it is very likely that there are some professors there that are pretty well known in the field. These people tend to know people in the universities you are planning to apply to. If you work under them and give a good impression, it will help your chances tremendously. I did a Masters degree under two really good professors in MIT, whose research is well known in a lot of different places. Now that I am applying for PhD, I realized that getting in is not that difficult once they see who you worked under. In any case, some MIT professors told me that the important things they look at are letters of recommendation and statement of purpose. Publication is not a must, as long as you show interest in research, or are currently working in some research that is not yet published.

I guess only Engineering guys would be jealous of me... I got accepted into MIT Operations Research! I will be working with two really amazing professors in Sloan School of Management. Regardless of the outcome of other applications, I'm definitely going to MIT, and no one can stop me! Accepted: MIT, Cornell Waiting: Stanford, Columbia

I'm so ecstatic! I just got an email from MIT saying they're accepting me! Yay! And I'll be working under these two really amazing profs. So now, it's Accepted: MIT, Cornell Waiting: Stanford, Columbia I am actually just going to accept MIT regardless of the outcome of the rest.

I had the exact same thing just yesterday! I was so freaking out because I feel like I screwed it up, since the line was so bad. In the first place, the Stanford professor called without any forewarning. And since our time difference is about 8 hours, I would expect they usually email first to check when is a good time to call. So the professor was first saying that they were very impressed with my application. And he was asking about what research I am interested in. He also sounded so positive, so I had to ask whether his call meant an acceptance. And he said that it wasn't, since my application would have to go through other channels. But they were very impressed with my credentials. I'm seriously worried because I was caught off-guard by the call that I might have screwed it up. :oops:

Accepted: Cornell Waiting: MIT, Columbia I got a call on a Saturday morning from a Stanford professor, who just called out of the blue. There was no email about scheduling a phone interview. I was confused as to what the call was all about since the conversation was casual and he was saying how impressed they were with my credentials. He was also asking about my research interests, and saying if I wanted to get in touch with a professor, I should tell him. So since he was saying good things about me, I asked him whether this means I am accepted. He mentioned it wasn't yet, since my application had to go through other channels. I'm just really confused, is that what a phone interview is? Or do they usually schedule it? I hope I didn't jeopardize my chances. :oops: