PhDerp

A bunch of us live in west LA, but mostly near Culver City. I know some people in SM, too, but not as many. It might be easier when the Expo Line's Phase II is complete, early next year.

I recommend Steven Universe to anyone who needs cute, 12-minute bursts of pick-me-ups right now. It's funny and charming! Edit: Oh, and it's all online for free on Cartoon Network!

Eastern Daylight Time, but yeah, Eastern Time! I only point this out because I just learned the difference this past year, after travelling cross-country to my program and learning about Arizona's weirdness. Yes, I'm an adult. XD

I decided my junior year that I wanted to teach college-age students, which requires a graduate degree. Also, I wanted to try research. I didn't know research was something you did in graduate school; I thought it was just a job you got after college! I found out after it was too late to get involved in my undergrad. Since I wanted to get paid for it if at all possible, I shot for PhD programs, not just MS ones.

Fact: west coast is best coast. Decision made. But seriously, my vote is for UW, for reasons all mentioned above.

I was told you can transfer advisors once you're in the PhD program when I asked a professor there last year (that's my alma mater). That being said, I assume it's like my current institution: you can't just make someone take you. But in general, they're concerned with getting the right fit between student and advisor, and will do what it takes to make that happen.

I can't imagine needing separate cars for people, especially if you're going to live so close to campus that you can walk, take the bus, or call a campus cruiser for your commuting needs. I imagine that if I had a car, I'd just use it for groceries and long trips to visit the sights. Are you thinking of selling one of the two cars before moving? Or are you asking about buying a car once you're here? Because waiting to know about your schedules and expected commutes would help you make the decision whether or not to buy a car. If I were to guess, however, I think one car is enough for two people, as long as one of those people can make their commute without one.

This is my favorite thread.

They shouldn't even have to look at your last semester. I mentioned two courses I would be taking that were relevant to my research in my SOP, but that's not necessary. In fact, I only just remembered to send my final undergraduate transcript to my PhD program this past week!

It's probably encrypted. That happened with mine. My very quick fix was to screenshot the image of the transcript and submit a PDF of that!

I lucked out, found a place, and will start moving in a week. Things escalated quickly~! ;P

I know many schools that are generally good for natural language processing (MIT, Stanford, UC Berkeley, CMU, USC, etc.)... but do you know what you want to do? What about NLP interests you? Is it data mining? Is it language technologies in general? Would you also consider yourself interested in speech technologies, not just text ones? I bounced from NLP to speech processing, but applied to universities strong in both just in case.

Unrelated: Boy oh boy, have you upped the magikarp game in this place

I went to Europe!! Now I'm going to Bonnaroo! Trying to make this summer count. One last trip to move, and until then, weekends of hanging out with people in my home state. This summer has had so much excitement!!

^Upvote because seconded. If you show you can code well enough, you can find work.

Woof, it's less expensive for me to take a more expensive apartment than to fly in and look for one. x_x This process is a little scary! EDIT: Actual question... Does anyone on-campus know any resources for finding sublets? It's hard to get anything online!

FWIW, I've never heard of this. Ever. And I nosily ask people about their CS programs and careers. I definitely agree that having a strong github presence is resume-changing. Some employers may ask to see yours even if it's not written explicitly on your resume! There are two main classes that general software engineering positions seem to "require": data structures and algorithms. That is, the questions from these topics come up regularly and, by definition, will be necessary during your entire software development career. Additionally, it helps to learn about general programming principles / methodologies. I've never been asked to know anything outside of these topics in job interviews. Being good at solving logic puzzles also helps! Keep in mind, I'm referring to general "software engineer / developer" positions. When you're looking to develop for mobile devices, or for big data companies, or anything else specific, you'll need more specific knowledge. Some people are willing to give you that at the job. Others aren't. But you probably don't want to jump into a job that you aren't very prepared for anyway! [Again, all of this is based on my own experience and inquiry. Good luck, and enjoy it!! ^^]