newms

Hey, I just did this last week. No problems at all. You'll show them your passport at the border crossing - if you're in a car, they'll have you pull over and you'll go inside for processing. If you're in a bus, I think everyone comes off the bus and goes inside for them to check your documents. As far as i can tell, the procedure inside was the same as if you'd land by air. They're going to want to see your passport, VISA (for non-Canadians), I-20 as well as your SEVIS payment receipt. As for the I-94, you won't have to fill it out (at least I didn't) - they will print one with your information and staple it in your passport. They asked me where I would be staying, so make sure you have an address to give them. I don't know if they'll ask about finances - they didn't ask me, but that may be because my funding information was on my I-20. Detroit is a major crossing, so they'll know how to process you. Good luck!

For me, I went with a 1,000 word version for those that wanted a longer one and only used the 500 word version for the programs that asked for a 500 word limit. I found that the 500 word limit was too little for me to properly express my plans, as well as how I would fit with the program, so I happily made use of larger word limits.

Cool comic! I can definitely relate.

The schools ktel listed are the top CS schools in Canada. U of T is on par with a top 10 US school and the others are pretty good as well. You should consider which of them are best suited for your research interests when you decide which to apply to. Don't just look at rankings.

I would guess that it should be ok. Perhaps you could trim 10 or so words but 500 word limits are always tough. I think you should be ok though.

I'm thinking that it's just going to take some time. After all, it takes 5 years to get the PhD - and that's just the start of a career. Something that also helps me to keep up with new stuff is twitter. I follow fellow grad students and some profs and researchers that are on there and they usually share useful links. That may be field dependent though.

Your options are really between your academic advisor and the post doc, since they're the only 2 of the options you have that may be able to speak to your research potential. You would want to choose the one that would be able to better write about your research ability and potential. Has you academic advisor been following any research projects you did? Even if he doesn't have a strong interest in your future, if he could give a good letter about your research experience then that is sufficient. You say that the post doc might not be able to write an in depth letter about your research work - if he is not able to then you might want to go with the academic advisor instead. Perhaps what you could do is to approach the academic advisor first and ask if he could write you a good letter for your grad school applications. If he says that he is not able to write a strong or good letter (for whatever reason) then you could consider the post doc. Ideally you want to get 3 strong letters that speak to your research potential, but if you're only able to get 2 strong ones, then having a third letter that isn't as strong, while it won't be helpful, won't be disqualifying either. Hopefully, between the advisor and the post doc, you'll be able to get that third strong letter. Good luck!

Yeah you don't want to be caught downloading pirated stuff. I'm not sure, but I think it could jeopardize your student visa status. As for illegal stuff already on your comp, I would suggest you get rid of it or legalize it if you could. If no one who would care about that stuff finds it on your comp then you'd be fine. In the unlikely chance that someone who does care about that stuff finds it on your comp then you may not be fine.

I agree with Strangefox - ask the grad coordinator at the department. I know some programs encourage grad students to apply for fellowships (external and university wide) even if they already have stipends, because fellowships do a few things: 1) gives you prestige and looks good on your CV 2) will usually provide you with a higher (if even slightly higher) stipend than a TA/RA 3) the department will now have the funds they would have given you in stipend to support another grad student, so you gaining a (non-departmental) fellowship will allow your department to accept more students.

List the current information. I had to do the same myself for one of my recommenders when I applied.

I don't like this approach. Just state your strengths as you would even if you hadn't been rejected the year before. The SoP should really be about your research interests and how your experience and skills have prepared you to succeed at what it is that you want to research in grad school. Ideally you want your SoP (especially for a PhD program) to be about 60% on your future (ie what it is you want to research in grad school, your career plans and why you would be a good fit for that school and vice-versa. If you were to take the approach you're suggesting, I fear it would take up valuable space on a topic that's probably not going to help you at all. I agree with the others above, that you really should only mention that you're applying for the second time if you're re-applying to the same school - and even then, keep it brief. Just my $0.02. Good luck!

I think it would be worthwhile to re-apply to CMU. Were you in contact with a PoI there? If so, perhaps you could politely ask him/her for advice on what could make your application stronger (you'd have to be careful in wording such a request). Some people have had success asking a PoI for advice in re-applying and others haven't, so it varies. The journal paper (is it a well-known journal?) and your award should help to strengthen your application for this round. Sometimes you just need a little luck, since sometimes the PoIs you're interest in working with aren't taking students and you end up not getting admitted. Do you think your SoP was strong enough last year? Perhaps you could refine it for this year. Were your school choices good fits for you? I think re-working my SoP and choosing schools that were better fits for me were the top two things that I did to help me when I re-applied.

It's a good sign because it at least indicates that the prof is looking for students and that you are potentially the kind of student she would be interested in hiring. Did her response leave you room to be in further communication with her prior to applying? If so, you should maintain contact with her about your common research interests, if not, then just send the reminder email when you have applied. As others have said, it's not a guarantee that she will go to bat for you with the admissions committee, but it's good that she will be looking out for your application.

I found spreadsheets to be very useful to keep track of all the requirements and materials when I was applying. I used Google Spreadsheets since I could access them from any computer or device with an internet connection. Katherine Sledge Moore (now a post doc AFAIK) has a useful template that she used when she applied to grad schools that you can customize. I wish I could help you with the feeling old part. As soon as I figure out how to stop getting older, I'll tell you.

Hi Aaron, if you're going to get an older iPad, it's better to get a refurbished one from Apple. See the link here. Occasionally, you'll find a 16 GB WiFi iPad for $350 - they run out fast though. They come with a 1 year warranty, new outer shell and new battery.

Mendeley and Zotero seem to do pretty much the same thing - reference management, just that Zotero seems to be Firefox based (they're developing a stand-alone app as well as integration with other browsers) while Mendeley has a stand alone application. They both have online storage that allows you to sych with 'the cloud' for access on multiple devices, but Zotero's free plan has 100MB while Mendeley's free plan has 1GB. Mendeley has a comparison chart of reference management software here, but keep in mind that they wouldn't be impartial. Wikipedia has a comparison of reference managers, including Mendeley and Zotero, here.

Yeah, I think I'm going to be using Mendeley as well. Zotero and Mendeley are both free but the additional storage seems cheaper with Mendeley, and more people in my field seem to use Mendeley than Zotero.

Thanks for the suggestion. This sounds like a really good idea and I think I'll try it out.

It probably seems vague because 'fit' can be very personal for an applicant. It encompasses things like research interests (as Strangefox says, they don't have to be identical, but should be similar), the advising style of the prof (some profs are very hands-on and involved, others give students a lot of leeway), how reputable the school (or department) is and do they have a good track record of placing students in jobs that you're interested in and things like how collaborative or competitive the labs/groups are in the department. But it also encompasses things like how comfortable are you going to feel living in that city (you're going to be spending several years there and you need to be comfortable enough to do good work) and for some people their 'gut feeling' is important in how they feel about deciding to attend a school. For some people they may need to go to a school in a particular area or region due to their family needs. Of course there are probably other things that I'm forgetting that applicants consider when determining fit, and since it's a personal process, the importance of each factor varies from person to person. Schools have to consider the 'fit' of an applicant as well and they will usually look at things like your research interests, career plans and research experience in determining if you'd be a good fit for them. They will also look at your letters of recommendation, especially if they're from profs that are well known. Essentially they want to gauge whether you'd be able to assist them in the research they are currently doing or want to do (while you pursue your own research) and whether you'd be able to successfully complete the program. Since spaces are limited, they'll choose the ones that are most likely to succeed and to assist with the research they're interested in. It's a beautiful thing when the applicant and the school both agree that they're good fits for each other.

Many people use LaTeX.

I definitely plan to be around too as well and I do appreciate the new subforums. I am wondering if it would be a good idea to have another subforum under 'Grad School Life' related to non-grad school stuff, ie stuff related to the 'life' part of the work/life balance. A forum to talk about things like socialising in grad school, or even about raising kids while in grad school, or building and maintaining relationships while in grad school. Or should those topics be discussed in the Lobby or maybe the Officially Grads subforum?

I guess this may be field specific, since I've seen grad students in my field who have their GPA on their CV. Then again, maybe it's because they were grad students and they didn't know any better, because I don't think I've seen GPAs on a professor's CV.