tvn

I didn't get in either

I also got the magazine - it's nice

anyone applies for this fellowship ?

nah - the vn in tvn does not imply Vietnam, tvn is my name: ThanhVu Nguyen :]

decided not to retake them for this year applications -- we'll see what happens :]

I have heard great things about the VEF - Although it is not as popular as NSF, NDSEG or the like since it is only for specific group (Vietnamese), however it is still well-known. Fellowship is good since the school does not have to take care of you - in short, you come to work (research) for them free of charge so it boosts your chance in that sense. Also schools like to brag that their students are fellows of this and that. I know UIUC in particular has accepted many Vietnamese student sponsored by VEF. Are you applying for M.S. or Ph.D. program ? Ph.D. is a research degree so emphasize on research - it is perfectly fine if your projects yield no good result, as long as you show research potential, you're fine. In your Statement of purpose, tell them briefly about the work, what you've done, discovered, learned ... any thing from there that you would like to pursue in the future. LOR likewise is crucial, if it's from someone well-known in the field, can comment about your working capability, etc ... Just curious, what school are you from ? You might think it's unknown but the admission committee probably do since they have looked at thousand of applications, hundred of schools over years.

Othello, congrats --- Cal is awesome!!! Did you get their decision over email or phone or normal postal system ? agm, I thought CMU's general deadline is 12/15 ? I also apply to GaTech and find its application process inconvenient, they require you to submit the application BEFORE sending invitation emails to recommender's.

Greetings ... I greatly envy your GRE scores :] I plan to sneak in one of the top Ph.D. programs in Computer Science with the lowest-ever-publicly-known-scores-for-Ph.D of 1023.5 (combination of all 3 subjects) :]

Hey, congrats on the fellowship - it should be a tremendous boost to your application (fellowships are prestigious and the schools don't have to take care of your tuition/stipends etc). Can you tell us what fellowship this is ? Also, I believe most top schools will probably look for research potentials so you want to improve upon that. Any previous project ? Doesn't have to yield good results ..

I created a thread on Comp Sci application for 2007 at http://thegradcafe.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=760 . Very nice score on the subject test by the way.

in my case, before. Because many of them ask me to mention their names in the statement of purpose so the application will be passed to them.

My mails to profs are very short email listing the below: - My current edu status (e.g., senior at school in major...) - My research interest (<- customized so it matches with the profs' current works) => this leads to why I wrote the email - My goal and what it has to do with that prof (e.g., I am applying for Ph.d. program at school X, and would like to know if that profs consider taking students for the time period Y). - at the end, have a link to CV or webpage listing publications. I don't know how helpful it can be when it comes to admission. However I figure it can't hurt, the worst case is they just ignore the mail.

only a few replies, however they are quite positive, probably they saw my experience matches theirs hence they replied. Some of them suggest that I put their names in the Statement of Purpose so my application will be passed directly to them.

I tried to contact all that I feel have interests matched with mine (about 3-4 on average at each school), 95% of them didn't reply but several did. I figure it worths it, in the worst case probably they will ignore and delete my mail. Hopefully they probably won't hold it against me just because I send them a mail (which they probably didn't even read it pass the subject line).

Othello, just wondering if you have contacted (or plan to) professors you are interested in at the schools you applied to ?