Kleene

An interview for a DPhil is probably VERY different from an interview for an MSc. Do bear that in mind. The focus will lie on your research proposal. I applied for a DPhil in CS, btw.

I can imagine. I am a current MFoCS student. Last year I had the tough decision to make between MFoCS and an MSc in CS in ETH Zurich (I am predominantly a computer scientist). Probably for you the decision will also depend on what field you want to specialize in. Cambridge is the place to be for maths in general, but Oxford has some amazing research groups and MFoCS is a unique course.

I think April is the time for most results to come out. You have chosen a great course, by the way. The vast majority of scholarships are not at all need-based, but only merit based. The only 'sort of need based' scholarships are the HFCE ones, that are given out based on merit for those who qualify as coming from disadvantaged backgrounds.

I basically have the same issue, although I am only looking at non-US universities for personal reasons.

You probably should have realized that Europe is half a world away from the US. In Europe random people outside of academia have only heard of Harvard and maybe one or two other US schools. Columbia, Caltech, or UCLA on your CV would not give you any more edge in Europe than a random state university. Similarly, random people in the US will not be familiar with good European schools such as ETH. Therefore, if you are concerned with random people's knowledge or recognition of your university, you would probably have been better off staying in the US, like European students would be better off staying in Europe.

Join the club. I will turn 21 just after the start of my PhD. I am now doing a MSc. It came up in a few conversations, which surprised me because it has been a long time since anyone cared about it. I have not received any negative remarks about it, though. Obviously, nobody knows how old you are unless you tell them or look so young people ask you about it.

Thanks for your replies. My reason for asking is that I am currently doing an MSc in a world top 5/10 university in my field. I have applied for a PhD there, but obviously funding is scarce. If I end up not getting funding, I might want to do a PhD in the university where I did my BSc (a world top 100 university) or a related university. Both supervisors are awesome and recognized in their field. There are only a couple of universities of better standing than my BSc uni with a suitable supervisor, given that I would prefer not to go to the US. The question is whether I should take a gap year to apply to some of these 'slightly better' universities while I am not particularly keen on gap years.

I know that the standard answer here is that the reputation (inside and outside academia) of your (PhD) university does not matter as long as your work is good. But is this true in all cases? For instance, does an employer outside of academia care about your thesis or will he in general be more impressed by a fancy name? We have to be realistic, since not every PhD graduate ends up in academia. Does it depend on your field, perhaps?

This is what I am planning on doing. Don't you think it will be very awkward to ask for a reference from your previous (undergrad) supervisor for other institutions if you have that same person as a back-up PI? "I really like(d) working with you, but I hope you don't mind you are last on my list."

Some profs go on sabbaticals, often to visit other academic institutions for longer periods of time. A possible PI (for a PhD next year) is currently on a sabbatical. Has anyone had the experience of applying with a PI on sabbatical? I can imagine it may affect his current students, but also new ones he will be taking on.

I seriously disagree with the previous poster. You should check out the English language requirements for the universities you are applying to. Many of them will require a 100 at the TOEFL (some even 110). These requirements are usually not flexible. At all. Your application might not even be considered because of missing the 100/110.

It depends on what range of schools you intend to apply to, but both the TOEFL and GRE may be below hard cut-offs at some schools (310 for GRE and 100 for TOEFL). The combination of a low TOEFL and low verbal score would raise questions about your English language skills (especially for a TA position). I would definitely retake both. You did very well on the TOEFL writing part, by the way. Well done!

If I were you, I would look at professional Masters: Cornell MEng, Illinois MCS, etc.

Congrats on your acceptance! You did your undergrad in a Bologna country so I think it is unlikely that you will have any additional requirements, but you never know. It was mostly for three reasons: student/social life (Oxford has the collegiate system and I was guaranteed college housing), level of peers (Oxford is much more selective) and most importantly what I can learn from the course. My course at Oxford does not have written exams at all. It uses research papers as a means of examination. The ETH course is more traditional. Since their system is very similar to the system in my home country, I think a whole different course style will complement my education better. I feel the Oxford course will prepare me better for research or another job. Mind you that is was a tough call nonetheless. I could not go wrong with either of the courses/institutions. I recognize ETH's awesomeness. Otherwise I would not have applied there in the first place.

Wow, that's extremely good news! Congrats!

Thanks for sharing your experience with us! I am sorry to hear that your choice did not work out as you had hoped, but for people in a similar position your post is most valuable.

Cornell's MEng

The response came mid February, while I have applied for the mid December deadline. They actually said results would be out mid March at the latest, so they were quite early. I got accepted and it was quite tough deciding where to go. Did you apply anywhere else?

I applied during the international application period for the same course. Best of luck to you!

You have a fair point after the supervision aspect. I reckon it might be fun to attend too. However, actually presenting as an undergrad seems like a lot of trouble to go through for relatively little gain. Surely, at your own university you will have to present papers on a regular basis, peer review, etc. I suppose I am looking for the skills you could master by presenting at an undergrad conference that you could not otherwise/easier master. Maybe I am just too unfamiliar with said conferences, but I wondering what people intend to gain from it.

So, you're here too? I recognize you from TSR. Hope you get some useful replies here. By the way, do you think the average ETH PhD student would be older than the average Cambridge PhD student? (Since you mention your age as a factor.)

Because UK standards are higher. The length of a degree matters less than its content. I am not aware of any UK universities accepting non-honours degrees from Australia. Of course I am only familiar with a fraction of UK universities, but a highly doubt that a G5 university would accept one. See for yourself: http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/students/gradadmissions/prospec/international/qualifications/australia.html http://www.lse.ac.uk/study/informationForInternationalStudents/countryRegion/australasia/Australia/entryRequirements.aspx http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/entryrequirements/graduate/countryindex/australia http://www.ucl.ac.uk/prospective-students/international/countries/australasia/australia

Stanford and Columbia MSc's are cash cows, IMO. Cornell MEng and UIUC MCS are terminal Masters intended for those joining the industry.

Cash cow Masters should be allright. Also, ome universities offer MEng especially for those who intend to join the industry.

Some of you go to local/undergrad conferences. Personally, I am surprised to see this since I thought going there would not serve any purpose. What do you guys think to get out of attending those conferences?