Kleene

I agree with the OP, but have to add that it completely depends on the program you are applying to what it means (not) to get an interview. Some programs do not interview at all, which are easiest to deal with. Some programs interview everyone (or a way too large proportion to admit), which means that the interview is a crucial part of the admissions process. Other programs only interview applicants they are quite sure of as a final check. Of course, many programs hold the middle somewhere... I applied to two programs that do not interview and one that does. The one that does says that interviews are standard for all applicants living in the country. It also says that it will make no acceptances without an interview. So if you are a national getting an interview means nothing, while as an international it means that at least you have made the first cut.

Have you taken possible time differences into account?

I would not be surprised if the proportion of internationals on the Grad Cafe was significantly larger than in the general applicant pool. Many internationals fully depend on information from sources like the Grad Cafe as we simply have nowhere else to turn for information on US grad school applications.

I have no experience whatsoever in these matters, but I think that if you are sure about your wish to take the other offer you should decline the 'accepted' offer asap. It would be even more rude to keep them hanging in there, believing you will attend.

You can get funding from your department, your college and the university. Have all released their decisions yet? I am just an applicant to Oxford myself, but I never got the impression that masters were eligible for assistantships.

It is not such a big deal if you keep two things in mind: 1. Do not bring up your other applications/results unless asked for (or necessary for other reasons). 2. Do not lie about your other applications/results if asked for. Be discreet.

Nice, congrats!

I just got an invite for a Skype interview.

By the way, I totally get that American universities are not keen on European universities. It is not all that different the other way around. In Europe we recognize the top 5 (or even some more, if you are lucky) American universities. The rest is just a 'random American university I never heard about'. I would expect American academics to recognize the best European universities (Cambridge, Oxford, ETHZ, ...) similarly.

Personally, I am set on getting the best education, which is why I applied to one school in the US, the UK and Switzerland. I have no intention of working in the US. I wouldn't mind either, but it is definitely not what I am aiming for. It sounds like you are in a similar place? With regards to working in Switzerland: I am not sure about how hard it is to get a job, but I do know that if you are not studying and are not employed you have no legal reason to stay in the country. This means that the pressure of finding a job after graduation would be pretty tough. I am not sure about chemical engineering, but in my field (CS) there are some awesome international cooperations based in Zurich. On top of that, Europe is larger than Switzerland. There is also the UK, although I am not sure how easy it is to find work and get a visa over there.

I would drop the Texas idea, because it is MS and ETHZ is a lot better (world top 10 rather than top 100 in your field). Did you check out the courses ETHZ offers? Do they fit your interest and background? If you do well in ETHZ, you might end up at a 'higher-ranked' university than Penn State for PhD, but there is absolutely no guarantee. You have to go through this whole application process again and hope you get admitted somewhere 'higher' and then hope you will get similar funding. For a PhD fit is usually the most important criterion, definitely not ranking. You seem to doubt the fit of the PhD program and you are not happy with the rankings. By the way, European universities do not have more international students than American ones. In general it holds that the better the university, the more international students. Probably universities of similar quality have similar international populations. ETHZ is a world class university and indeed it has many international students (for master and PhD, that is). It sounds like a tough decision. Best of luck!

What about funding?

My memory is mediocre at best and my time for prepping was rather limited too. There are indeed many words, so you need to prioritize. First of all, learn all the prefixes, suffixes and roots. Since many GRE words are constructed out of these parts, you learn a huge range of words just by memorizing these lists. It will also speed up the process of learning vocabulary. Afterwards, you start learning words. Please use lists of frequent words. All prep books have lists like these. Just start with all the lists of frequent words you can find and then work your way towards rarer words. Some books also have lists of otherwise interesting words; common mistakes and that sort of things. I used the appendixes of a number of prep books, all of which I found somewhere online. Eventually I got my score up to a 162 (as a non-native speaker), so it definitely worked.

Did your confirmation emails also say to expect the outcome of your application from late March onwards? Just wondering whether the time frame mentioned is course or department dependent.

Me too, surprise, surprise. Fortunately I am already set on another university. It does not even hurt. I am just glad it is over.

Number of acceptances, rejections and waitlists, respectively.

I am also waiting for Oxford. I applied for the combined MSc in Maths and CS. In general, though it may vary by department, Oxford is a lot more rolling admissions like. You may hear from them any time in February, March or April really...

I still think it would help. It is such as much work experience as any other job. It is even relevant experience too.

If you are exceptionally good, they will fund you. If you are one among the crowd, they might as well choose someone who needs less funding. No experience applying to such a program, though.

Seriously, one of my profs actually wants me to stay. That's so opposite to what you describe. Anyway, I am afraid I cannot help you with the rest of it. I live somewhere where it is quite common to do you BA en MA at the same institution, sometimes the PhD too. Good luck with the decision! You know what you have now, but if you do not take the leap you will never know what awesome things you could have gotten. (At least, that is what I keep telling myself, lol.)

I lolled about a rather different comment. Someone rejected from ETH Zurich for a master in computer science said:

Ah well, everyone deals with it his/her own way. I keep hoping for the best, but fully aware of the very slight chance. Too bad. Let us continue hoping that results will come soon now.

Stárting to lose hope? Many of us hit rock bottom weeks/days ago. Last year some people asked for their result by email. I seriously consider mailing. They are likely to give out results, since some callers got their results as well. Or maybe just in case of a rejection. Calling is not a feasible option, given the time difference.

I went with Balliol. It is a large undergrad/grad college, though grads live on their own campus where also the common room is. They also offer many scholarships in my field, which I am hoping to secure. My overall impression was quite good. Apparently, many admits don't get their first choice college. It all has do to with each college needing a representative student body. If you have a small course, let's say 15 people, probably none of you will be assigned the same college even if it was your preference. I guess a lot can happen here, but it felt vain not to name a preference. I am curious what your decision will be. Just as curious as I am about mine, lol.

I think it matters a lot what background you have. Your background has to be at least as strong as the ETH Bachelor in your field. You are not admitted if you lack more than a small number of prerequisite courses. Perhaps that is what is going on?