newms

healthcare crisis

police squad

I considered applying to RPI for Computer Science (PhD) this year. During my email 'conversations' with the admissions people they said one of the most important things they look at is GRE score. I don't know if that is relevant for your program though. That really disappointed me though, to hear that my application for a PhD program would be so dependent on how much I scored on a standardized test. I don't know if that's the same for your program, but I would imagine that if they place such value on the GRE for a PhD application then they would value it significantly for a MS or M.Eng. application. Your GPA isn't too far off from the average scores they reported for admitted CS applicants in Fall 2010: Avg. GPA 3.3/4.0 Avg. GRE Verbal 578 Quantitative 765 Analytical 758/4.2 So if the programs are similarly competitive then I would imagine that you would have a shot. I'm not sure about the course work though. Maybe you can ask the admissions people at that department. The CS people were very helpful when I was considering applying.

That is weird

It's possible that the person on the phone was just checking to make sure all your documents were received and that your application was in order and/or checking when the adcomm would review the applications. In either case, I think it means that you're still in the running and that you should look out for a response by the end of the month.

I. love. this!

Would they be reimbursing for your trip? Sometimes even when you get reimbursed, the school only covers a certain amount - say $300 or $500. If you are attending multiple open houses in the same city or general area, around the same time, that you could get each school to reimburse you a certain amount so that your entire cost is covered. As much as I would love to go to an open house - I'm an international as well, if the school wouldn't be reimbursing my costs then I'd rather save my money for when I move to grad school.

Sounds like Stanford is your dream school

Right, acceptances in force on April 15 are considered binding. So you have until April 15 to make a decision and if you have made a commitment by/on April 15, then they're stuck with you and you with them. If you want to back out after April 15 and go to another school, the uni would have to release you from your commitment first. Here's the resolution: http://www.cgsnet.org/?tabid=201

I was in this situation last year, as by this time last year - while I hadn't heard anything yet, I had a sinking feeling that I wouldn't be successful. Telling my LoR writers was pretty hard for me because I know they expected that I would have been successful. I thought about doing exactly what you suggested, but I didn't tell my LoR writers that I wasn't successful until a couple of months after I got my last rejection. Two of them were very supportive and I think they re-wrote my letter, rather than using the same one again. The third didn't reply to my email, and he had been late in submitting a couple letters the year before, so I found another prof who gladly wrote letters for me this year. I know I'm very fortunate to have profs who even after 8 years out of undergrad still believe in me enough to submit 10 letters on my behalf after submitting 4 last year, but I think you'll get a similar response if you let them know as soon as possible and communicate with them about your results. Perhaps you can let them know that you're intent on pursuing grad studies and that if you're not successful this year, then you plan on reapplying next year and ask if they'd be willing to support you again for next year. You could suggest that they save the letters they wrote for you, but I'm thinking that they might want to rewrite them. I hope you don't have to go this route though and I hope that you get in this year.

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sushi dish

I'm not 100% sure of the reputation of that particular program, but Syracuse is a solid school. It may not be elite, but it has a decent reputation. I wouldn't encourage you to make a decision just yet though - wait to hear back from your other schools before you make the decision. I believe that you would have until April 15th to make a decision about where you would attend - did they give you a deadline they wanted a response by?

under par

Maybe it means they're processing it, maybe it means that it's been forwarded to the adcomm for review? Maybe it means that they are waiting to hear back from the adcomm/program to do anything else?

Well, you get the opportunity to meet with POIs and get an idea of the environment you'll be working in - see how the profs interact with each other and with students, see what kind of resources are available to you in the department. You also get to ask grad students about the school and the department. Plus you get to check out the town/city (even for just a little) to see what kind of place you'd be living in. So I would say it's a really good opportunity to help you make a decision, should you have to choose between schools. Of course, if you have already decided where you're going, then it probably isn't as important in that case.

I can't imagine how bad you must feel, how are you holding up?

waiting tables

It's not necessarily bad news at all. Maybe they haven't contacted all people who have been admitted as yet. Maybe they are doing rolling admissions and haven't considered your app yet. There really is too many variables involved to predict that this is bad news. I know the feeling though - I've seen 2 admits from 1 of my schools since last Friday and I haven't heard from them yet.

fight club

corn bread

Love it!

This song has been in my mind this whole app season.

One of my schools sent an email today with a link to a survey about what they can do to improve their web presence. My. heart. almost. stopped...until I saw the subject line.

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