thegraydude
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Posts posted by thegraydude
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I just got accepted into Computer Science, PhD. I was notified via Email which asked me to log in to my applicant account on the university's website to access the official letter.
It is a one page letter that says:
"Congratulations! You are accepted into...Your department has determined that you must complete the following course with a GPA of at least 3.0.... For I-20 information, go here...We encourage you to do research that benefits society, not just you. etc etc. --Signed, Vice provost for Graduation Education".Also, it doesn't say anything about the last date until when I should send in my acceptance of their offer (well, they haven't made any [funding] offer yet).
Nothing about funding anywhere. What does this mean?
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If this is not a troll post, you have some serious evaluation to do regarding your attitude towards life.
In the words of Rocky Balboa: "If you know what you're worth, then go out and get what you're worth and don't point fingers saying you ain't where you wanna be because of him or her or nobody. Cowards do that and that ain't you. You're better than that".
Allow me to draw from my personal experience in life: I did my BS and MS from ordinary schools in India that no one ever heard of. I did good work and I was recently accepted into the top computer science doctoral program in the US. What I'm trying to say is, nobody cares about where you're from, it's what you are and what you have done with the opportunity that counts.
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UPDATE: You guys, I GOT IN!!
I'm a worthy human being. *sniff*
- c m, amam, thegraydude and 2 others
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Thank you for the sound advice CM and grad_wannabe. I'm just going out with my friends now and trying not to think about decisions. If my phone notifies me of an email, I will check it and I hope to see some good news.
I was frankly dismayed when I saw on the results search that people were getting interviews for that program when I'd heard nothing, but this process is honestly SO arbitrary.
It could be that they had too many applicants who proposed to do fieldwork in America.
I do know that one of the other POIs I'd named in the program had just left for another university.
I also know that the POI with whom I'd spoken so many times was new in the department, and it could be that she just didn't have enough pull on the adcomm.
I'm so sorry for you. It must have come as quite a shock. I hope you get into other schools of your choice. Best wishes.
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My application is alright (not too strong, not weak). I have average math score in GRE (bad for PhD in Computer Science). I do have some publications (only 1 of them is peer-reviewed), and two Masters' degrees (one relevant, one totally irrelevant).
I have been talking with my POI since the last few months, I mean to the point where I know for sure that he's behind me 100 percent. He's very nice and has hinted that, and I quote: "mostly it (decision) should be about what kind of support to offer. I'd be very surprised if it is anything but that".
When I expressed that I am having trouble sleeping at night (I really am!), he emailed the grad director asking about when I "might hear about acceptance". The grad director told him that it should be in a week or so. My POI said, "wait until a week and then email me if you don't hear something; I'll ask again."
6 days have passed and now I'm constantly sitting in front of my Gmail, just staring at it. I know the Gmail page is dynamic and yet, I sometimes refresh the page in hopes of seeing a new mail. I can't get any work done and I keep thinking about my chances.
What do the good folks here at gradcafe think? Do I have a solid chance if my POI is so supportive and nice? Yes, I know it's not his decision, but he's a respected professor (in his 60s) and I am thinking the admissions committee would respect his opinion of me. What do you think?
PS: Argh, I'm going to need some therapy after this.
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Thank you Munashi and Chubberubber. I will include it in the application. It also asks for the 'city', 'state' and 'country' for these jobs. Would I write the city that their offices are located at, or would I write my home city that I worked from?
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As you said. don't state that you've been employed by these companies, but under the section "Independent contractor" of your C.V, state which companies you've done independent work for.
I have already stated the independent research jobs in my CV. The problem is that the online application page has a section titled 'Employment Experience'. Do you think that these independent jobs can be listed under that?
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I have been working as an independent contractor for 3 major organizations from home. I work from India, they're in the US; conversations and business take place using Skype or emails.
Now, I am very clear that I am an independent contractor and not an employee. But these jobs that I am working on are research jobs that are directly relevant to my field of study. Also, these are quality institutions so I would like to show that I have worked for them.
My question is: Can I state these independent contract positions under 'Employment Experience'? Or is it necessary that you are a full fledged W2 employee in order to do so?
Also, the application asks me: "How many years of work experience do you have?" Is this '0' for me (I haven't worked as an employee ever)? I have been working as an independent contractor for more than a year, can I state this?
(Sorry, but I couldn't find a more relevant section to post this in)
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Thanks. Also, I can see my TOEFL scores online but they are yet to be 'processed' and sent to the universities. Now, one of the universities that I'm applying to says "We only accept electronic copies of the TOEFL score report". I just selected the 4 universities where my scores are to be sent, and have no idea whether ETS will send these scores electronically or in hard copy. Can anyone tell me if this university with receive these TOEFL scores "electronically" like it wants? I hope TOEFL doesn't send them the hard copy or something. I'm already way past the deadline.
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As a non-native English speaker, my TOEFL Scores are: Reading 29, Listening 27, Speaking 30, and Writing 30; Total of 116/120.
That's a good score, but I was thinking it is practically useless. I'm applying for Computer Science doctoral programs (no ivy league or other top 20 programs). The universities that I'm applying to require a minimum TOEFL score of 80--and 90-100 is expected if you're expecting to be awarded Teaching Assistantship. I do need a TA, so I guess it might help there.
I wanted to know if the good folks here at Gradcafe think that these high scores would "impress" the admissions committee in any way, and exactly how and where can a TOEFL score help during admissions. Thanks!
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I just missed them. The office hours are over. Now, I can't wait till Monday so I mentioned total credits for one university that had the credit system and left it blank for the others that don't have the credit system. They'll have my transcripts anyway, so they'll figure it out accordingly.
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So this university does not ask for 'GPA' specifically, instead for each university it asks for 'Start date', 'End date', 'Degree earned', 'Major, and 'Credits earned'.
Here, does 'credits earned' mean I have to mention my GPA / scores? Some of the universities where I live--and have got these degrees from--don't mention anything about 'credits'. Could someone clarify?
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By the way, would anyone be kind enough to explain what is SLAC/R1/R2 universitities? I used Google but the difference is not clear.
I wish to do extensive computer security research at a university while teaching grad students, which of these--SLAC/R1/R2--would I be wanting to teach at?
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Well, depending on the kind of teaching that you want to do, it's possible that you don't need a PhD at all. But if you want to teach in a university, then you need a PhD. More specifically, you probably want to specialize in subfield X or teach techniques Y and Z, or start a lab, etc., and you might also specify what kind of institution you want to teach in. I think it's totally fair to have a paragraph that says roughly the following: after I graduate I would like to obtain a job as a university professor, specializing in X. I hope to teach and advise students at the [under]graduate level and work at a SLAC/R1/other institution. Follow that up with a sentence or two stating how Awesome University will give you the necessary preparation to pursue this goal. There is no catch here; it's another way for the school to gauge whether you're choosing to pursue a PhD for the right reasons and whether this program is the right place for you.
Thanks! This helps me a lot. I specially like the idea of talking about starting my own lab at a university as I have that in mind and I can show that the experience of working in the labs at awesome university will help me not only in acquiring relevant skills, but also in managing my own lab someday.
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As my long term plan is to teach X, how can I show that this PhD is necessary to teach X? Apart from the obvious reason, that universities usually require PhD before you can join as an assistant professor. This is too blunt to be stated. What 'skills' can I acquire during my PhD--which will help in my long-term goal of teaching--that cannot cannot be acquired without it? I find it highly confusing.
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This what the university wants to know. My long term career goal--for now--is to teach and conduct research at a university after my PhD. But that's it. I don't know what else I can write to relate my goal for graduate study to my "long term career plans".
I am not sure what else I can add to this. Any ideas are appreciated.
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I am applying for PhD positions in computer science.
I have much to tell about my impecunious background in a developing nation, and how I held 2 jobs to pay for my college education, while at the same time securing top grades. I wish to mention these things in the 'personal history statement' since that is what they are asking to know for consideration for college fellowships.
On the other hand, I am concerned that the university also wants 'Financial statements and affidavits' to prove that I, or my sponsor, can pay for the first year of college. These are contradictory in nature. I fear if I write about my impecunious background they might be concerned that I won't be able to pay for the education--and will have to drop out in case they are unable to offer me a fellowship or research support. For the record, I can show this amount of money after admission.
Also, I read a lot of advice about not crossing interpersonal boundaries while writing statements. I feel that I am crossing that boundary in each sentence of my personal history statement since discussing being raised in hardships by a single mom, a poor background, and the related obstacles, is not easy without crossing such boundaries.
Am I doing something wrong here? I am bothered by this personal history statement. I have much to tell but lack the subtlety in saying things. Should it be subtle or is speaking bluntly about obstacles alright?
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Update: The professor in question at last agreed to upload the recommendation using his authentic college email after I expressed my concerns. However, he did so in the nick of time and after several emails and phone calls from me.
If any other applicants are following this topic, under no circumstance should you consider this an option.
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I took the GRE today. I got conscious during one of my quant sections in the beginning; you know, when are very 'aware' that you need to score good on this test. This consciousness leads to distraction from the question, which leads to you having to re-read the same lines again and again without comprehension, and of course, the clock is ticking. Did it ever happen to any of your guys?
Anyway, I'm still applying to schools with these scores for a PhD in computer science. The four universities so far are: MSU, ASU, Indiana- Bloomington, and Northeastern.
I have been personally recommended by a recent PhD graduate (in my area of study) to a professor at one of these universities. This PhD student has had a very good relationship with the advisor, and him and I have been discussing research since 2 years.
This mutual associate (the PhD candidate) introduced me and the professor via email. Much to my delight the professor wrote in his first email:
"Hi <name>, pleasure to meet you. You can talk to me on <this date> and <this time>. Meanwhile, here's a link to our college's application page. Take note of deadline. If <mutual associate name> says you are worthy of a PhD, that's sufficient for me."
That's not all. He put a smiley face at the end of the last sentence!! I have never, in my life of 26 years, met a professor so cool. (Maybe that's just me?)
In any case, what do you guys think are my chances after the bad Quant score?
I have a phone interview with him in 4 days. Should I address the low quant? Or not mention it at all?Additional info: I have two masters degree --one unrelated to the field; one very relevant. I excelled in both masters. I have research experience as an 'independent researcher' who worked on contract basis with some "top" people in industry.
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I concur with all the people here. My LORs are also in progress, and only one of my recommenders has used an official letterhead with his signature on it. He scanned the document and uploaded it. A real nice guy; he's a Canadian that I've been working for from the past year.
My two professors writing the LOR, on the other hand, won't bother with the letterhead stuff. As long as their email address is an affiliate organizational email address, you don't need to be worried.
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Did you do this before or after you started this thread and asked if you could get into trouble? If so, then why the need to start a thread asking about the "probability" of universities finding out?
The need to create the thread because I needed information. I asked about the probability of universities finding out about this because I'm curious as to how universities detect such practices. Also, if someone else is thinking of doing something similar or has been similarly misled by a professor, I believe this post would help. When your professor tells you 'you can do it this way', you are inclined to think 'Hey! Maybe I can do it this way'. However, it was a fleeting thought, and the posts here were really helpful.
Notice how other users told me it was wrong as well, but also contributed in some way. You, on the other hand, accused me of duping the system, without really understanding my position, and contributed zilch so far. Now I'm sure you're the epitome of morality in your life, but please do not be so sententious.
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I wouldn't worry too much greydude. I don't think adcomms are going to be leaning in with a magnifying glass trying to detect subtle similarities between your letters and SOP/WS. If you show overwhelmingly similar & noticeable mistakes in both then maybe, but otherwise - I doubt a busy adcomm reviewing potentially hundreds of applications cares too much.
Thank you. You're probably right. I don't think I make distinct errors while writing or use any distinct vocab that the adcomm would be able to glean from the documents. I'm probably over-thinking it as far as the writing style is concerned. But yes, when so much is at stake, I guess we all get a little jumpy.
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You claim But... I think that you do bear some, if not most, of the responsibility for the situation you now face. You tried to game the system and not until it seems that you might be caught do you worry.
I think you are being too quick to judge. I did NOT try to "game the system". For the record, I am against this practice and have already politely told me professor that this is not possible.
What appealed to me, when I said 'in control of my LOR', was that I would be able to upload it on time. That's it. And even that was just a passing thought.
As for creating a draft of my recommendation myself, many professors ask the students to create an initial draft to "get the juices flowing". I can't deny them that. I am worried about how much they will edit it. Again, I WANT them to edit it as far as possible.
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THIS. They'll read your SOP, then they'll read a LOR that has an eerily similar writing tone. Whether or not they call BS is a chance I wouldn't be willing to take. There's gotta be someone else who can help you!
Don't get me started. I have 4 writers and 3 of them are asking me to create draft and send them. I don't know how much they will edit it. In the end, my writing style will probably end up in 2 out 3 letters. And then there's my SOP. That will be enough for smart people like the ones in adcomm to make out that LORs might have been written by me. I have tried to change my writing style, but hey, there's only so much you can change about your writing style and word selection etc.
I am worried sick over it all. Through no fault of my own, my application may be viewed negatively.
[PhD] Got admission, but the letter does not mention funding
in Decisions, Decisions
Posted
UPDATE: Nevermind, one day later, today, I got an email from the department specifying the details of the support offered. They are giving me a TA position.