Confused Goose

Hi. I've been pretty fortunate to have got a couple of good offers. At the same time, I've been waitlisted at two of my top choice programmes. This has got me thinking what they actually indicate. Does it mean that they'd be happy to have me but the advisers with whom I would like to work aren't taking in any more students or have already made their picks for the next year? Or does it mean that they wouldn't exactly be elated if I joined, but would gladly take me in to make up the numbers? I believe there may be significant differences between how these things work in sciences/engineering and in humanities/social sciences. I'd really appreciate some perspective from both sides though.

I'd heard/read on results page of some interviews a couple of weeks back (I think...) I'm not too hopeful any more though.

Definitely snail mail in my case. In fact, the letter was dated 17th Feb. and I got it on 4th March!

I was waitlisted by post last week. It's going to be a long wait

Got a letter last Thursday, but it was dated Feb. 17.

A guy at my school got admitted to the PhD programme there sometime last week.

Nothing at all.

Good time to start this thread perhaps. Here's my question - Does anyone have an idea of how many students Stanford usually has on its waitlist for the PhD programme? How likely is it to get an offer this way?

Most of the applicants I know in person are forumites themselves. Having a face to associate with them, and knowing them personally, makes a difference in how one feels about those who haven't yet got in. I'm not saying everyone should get in, but a lot of people who I know (the faces to the forum) are qualified and able enough to pursue a PhD. Perhaps that explains my perspective.

Same here, as well as a friend of mine. Doesn't mean anything.

I care too. I see my friends agonizing over the wait, and very much wish them get admits already. Same goes for all fellow applicants, even though most are strangers.

I got an unofficial acceptance mail from a potential advisor about a week back. I'm waiting for an official mail from them. I'm actually really anxious to know of the financial aid offer, especially considering the budgetary situation of the UCs.

I'm 23 till when I graduate later this year and will be 24 when I finally begin the program. I do feel a tad older since many of my high school friends have jobs, some are engaged/married! But, I will complete my master's!

Same here :-(

Got admitted to Purdue. :-) Nowhere near my top choices, but there's nothing like the 1st admit to perk up one's mood :-) However, the dampener is that they haven't offered funding. It's the same with a couple of other guys from my school. Have been asked to contact professors for research assistantships. Looks like the recession is going to be really hard on international applicants.

Got admitted to Purdue. :-) Nowhere near my top choices, but there's nothing like the 1st admit to perk up one's mood :-) However, the dampener is that they haven't offered funding. It's the same with a couple of other guys from my school. Have been asked to contact professors for research assistantships. Looks like the recession is going to be really hard on international applicants.

Undergrad Institution: IIT Bombay (top 3 engineering institution in my country) Major(s): Electrical Engineering Minor(s): NA GPA in Major: 9.04/10 Overall GPA: 9.04/10 Length of Degree: 5 years (integrated dual degree programme i.e. I will graduate with a B.S. level as well as an M.S. level degree) Position in Class: Near top, I guess Type of Student: International GRE Scores: Q: 800 (94%) V: 760 (99%) W: 5.5 (90%) TOEFL Total: 113/120 Research Experience: 1 summer at my school 1 summer at a well known research lab in US 18 months (at the time of application) of research for my thesis 1 journal publication (2nd author), 3 conference publications (1 as 1st author, rest as 2nd author) Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Conspicuous by their absence :-( Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 1 semester TA for a graduate level course (at the time of application) 6 months of tutoring high-school students Academic mentorship of undergraduates Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: N/A Applying for PhD at: Harvard - Electrical Engg. Cornell - Electrical Engg. Princeton - Electrical Engg. Caltech - Electrical Engg. - Stanford - Electrical Engg. Berkeley - Electrical Engg. UCSB - Electrical Engg. UCLA - Electrical Engg. U. Michigan, Ann Arbor - Electrical Engg. Purdue - Electrical Engg. UT Austin - Electrical Engg. UNM - Electrical Engg.

hehe...I sort of figured it must have been him. That's why I've been sceptical about Berkeley since you said you had an interview and then an unofficial admit . But this sort of thing is common. Many professors don't respond till admits are sent out, but worth taking a gander with emails. I got replies to a few emails I sent, and they help a lot in deciding where and to whom to apply. Well, definitely not the end of line for everyone, since many will be on the wait-list. I, however, am not too optimistic with Berkeley.

Normally, I get some sort of a reply to every 1 in 5-6 mails sent to professors. I sent mails to a couple of profs at Berkeley, including Yablonovitch, but no reply. Didn't expect one either. Truthfully, getting admits is highly unpredictable, except perhaps for the most well qualified candidates. So, you needn't worry about the fact that you have a different background. As long as you have explained and justified your proposed area of work, it won't matter.

He works in Information Theory. Don't remember which track he had applied in though.

USC, as far as I know (EE), is a fairly well respected research institution overall. But while narrowing down on a program to apply to, the overall reputation is largely (though not completely) irrelevant. As quadsbaby said, objective parameters cannot evaluate the subjective details of a graduate programme, research quality, mentorship, etc. The first thing that one must look at, in my opinion, is the amount and quality of research going on there in your field of work, and the best way by far is to actually read papers and watch out for who the authors are. This is not always practical since it would entail a fair bit of literature survey. You could then talk to professors at your school working in that field. If a research group piques your interest, send a mail to a student there (or directly to the prof, but getting a reply may be difficult). Secondly, although the best graduate experience depends on the nebulous thing called 'fit', having a well known advisor can open many many doors. As an international student, visits and interviews are not always possible, so one has to use other methods while finalising. The same thing goes with the school itself. A top school can help you in your career after you graduate, especially if you are moving out of your narrow research area, where your advisor's reputation won't hold as much weight. So, to sum it all up, try to get a balanced perspective. If you are considering objective parameters, try to gauge how they reflect your particular area of work. Lastly, rankings mean absolutely nothing as far as graduate schools are concerned. Most lists give a very high weight to UG education, which precludes the possibility of using them as a reliable indicator for graduate education and research. If you want some sort of a list nonetheless, I would recommend you look at the ones made by the Shanghai Jiao Tung University (SJTU rankings). They explicitly give a higher weight to research output, citations, etc. BTW...it also matters whether you intend to pursue research of just an MS. MS is effectively a professional degree in engineering if you want to work in the industry, so the way you evaluate a program would be different.

I have observed that students from my school are accepted to Berkeley every alternate year, more or less. Can't say that it is by design or not. Last year, they rejected a friend of mine who is now in MIT. They admitted one guy the year before and one a couple of years before that. Go figure! I guess then that the competition's so intense that they are perhaps resorting to non-academic factors in making the final decisions (you may also read this as a conspiracy theory from someone who's desperately awaiting his decisions ) Anyway, I'm applying in the Physical Electronics track. Waiting and watching...a lot of gradcafe results posts :-SS Forgot to add - Someone from my school got an admit to Berkeley yesterday. I guess they've filled their quota for this year then ;-)

Look at it this way - from the posts in the results list, it seems that those who have already been rejected in the 1st round are being notified. One may reasonably guess that they are finalising financial support for those who have been accepted. So if you haven't got a rejection mail yet, then you haven't been rejected. If neither of those, you may find solace in that you are on the waitlist

:-SS

Yeah, but I can't help chewing my fingernails (figuratively of course) :-SS More so because Berkeley's is first series of official decisions from any of the programs to which I've applied :-SS EeeeK!!!