Deleted

Someone posted an acceptance from UCLA DOTM, has anyone here heard back from them?

Well, those are two among the top 5 names in the world I would say so trying to rank them is no easy task. I would personnaly think that MIT is bigger though I could not elaborate much on it, just a guts feeling. You can't get wrong with either, those are the dream schools for most everyone

Congrats! I would love to go there

I would say Cornell, but it is a close one. Anyway, since I have not yet been accepted and likely won't, I am not losing too much sleep over this.

Don't worry, you will be notified when a decision has been rendered on your application. I think if it is positive you will receive a mail from faculty congratulating you, and if not you will receive a generic email saying that a decision has been reached and to check it on the apply yourself page where a link will be available (https://app.applyyourself.com/?id=COL-ENG).

No because I asked not to be considered for the MS in the application form. But that's what last year's topic seemed to show. However, I don't have a very high opinion of the MS at Columbia. From what I understand, it has an extremely large intake and high fees, and its only design is to make money out of students looking for an ivy name on their CV. There is no research project whatsoever so it is not a proper preparation for someone who wants to apply for a PhD afterwards. I think it's a shame because it does not profit the students and it is a bad publicity for a school which is perceived as selling its name.

I got rejected from Columbia today. I expected this too and it is going to make my decision easier (I am only waiting on Cornell before accepting NU now), but I would have loved to get in. Sigh...

Agreed (although it might sound very superficious) I also meant but forgot to mention the interaction with other departments as testarossa did. OR is interdisciplinary by nature so it is important. NU has Kellogg of course (top 3 MBA) but also from what I gather strong links with the Maths dept and the school of medicine (in addition to the other engineering subfields within McCormick). Few universities can offer that level of diversity. It also shares with U Mich the advantage of being part of the big 10 which means good sport events, lol. I realize I am being very pro-Northwestern, but it is the only positive answer I have got so far and I received the mail packet with some more info and started looking videos on the web and stuff and I have started picturing myself living there...

I have been thinking a lot about this. I sometimes come to wishing I get rejected from allremaining schools so I do not have to choose and later regret my decisions. My decision is not based on US News ranking. wifey9999999 mentioned that U Mich is better ranked than NU in US News. That is true but I don’t think a couple of spots in the ranking (which by the way changes every year so maybe next year NU will beahead) makes too much of a difference. You’ve got to think about what you want to do after your PhD, I assume either academia or research in the industry. Either way, you will apply for a job and you will get screened on the institution where you got your PhD. UMich and NU are both top notch programs and they will equally open up all the interview doors, then it will come down to you proving your worth. In that regard, I would put them on equal standing. Then you must take a closer look atthe specialties you are interested in and the opportunities of each specific program. Where do you best fit? Where are the people you would like to work with? If you are not really decided on a specific subject you may also want to look at the school environment: would you rather spend 4/5 years of your life in such or such school….? There are many factors to take into consideration. As to me, Iwould like to go in the industry upon completion of my PhD. I don’t think people in the industry are always that much aware of trends in the rankings ofa specific discipline. However, what will always stand is the brand name of the institution, especially for international students if they want to go back home. So for otherwise similar programs, I would choose the better name however silly it might sound. So between NU and Mich, I would choose NU because of its (as I perceive it) greater prestige. Since weare talking reputation, how would you qualify GaTech’s reputation. I have always thought it has a very good reputation but the rankings do not seem to reflect this, and from afar it is hard to really capture the general feeling towards it. For instance how would you qualify GaTech compared to NU (in general, not specifically for OR)? Back to the reality of applications, it has been pretty quiet for me. No news from Mich or Columbia which I expect to be arriving pretty soon. How about you guys?

So how would you rank your choices: NU>Mich ?

Wow, that is really bad. I feel terrible for them, I can only hope it works out in the end or that they found some other program.

Congratulations!

So the "vast majority" of the people here are pricks?! That's not the best way of starting a topic, lol.

Lol, you wrote your profile in your signature with the same colour as the background of the forum so that it only appears if the signature is selected. I saw that by accident

I really liked how your post started for it is true that this forum is heavily skewed and only those aiming at the very best unis speak up. However, there is no need to be aggressive towards them; and your post gives the impression that people who get in the top 50 do so because by virtue of their birth. It helps when you come from a comfortable environment, but you still need to work your ass-off to get there eventually and that concerns only a minority of the people here. I am sure many a member applying to ivy-like unis would be able to prove that. Most of us do live in the "real" world and are equally anxious about the outcome of our applications. Please do not turn this topic into something political. Why not simply stick to your initial intention of sharing experience?

Congratulations on your acceptance! You probably made yourself the most hated guy on the topic by the way, lol. Since we were wondering, would you mind sharing your profile? (I think the guy who posted his acceptance on CC said it was unofficial. He had inside information from a professor there)

Agreed! Who the hell gets in?

Yes and I am glad I got the acceptance first and I am thus less affected by the rejection. I guess it also saves you from a tough decision to make between stanford and NU. It looks promising for your friend because it looks like they sent an awful lot of rejections today, so maybe they are hanging to the waitlisted+accepted? Good luck to him. PS: I am really amazed by the number of people who posted a rejection from Stanford today on the results board. The number of candidates must have been huge! It really is a tough year for PhD applicants with such a competitive pool and so little money for the universities to provide with aid

True for the MS, but the PhD deadline was 1st Dec so the answers are imminent now for PhD.

I received my rejection from Stanford today (expected)

Nice! I imagine that NU is still above Florida in your selection but it must feel good to be accepted

Congratulations! Third acceptance already, you are doing pretty well

I think Cornell is in early March. Columbia should be soon though