Argon

Since I'm at MIT 5 days a week, I'll give some insight into a couple of points. I'm not a student -- just an undergrad researcher. The MIT graduate housing really is pretty nice on the inside, in my opinion. Well, some of the dorms. I lived in Sidney-Pacific for a summer and it was really a wonderful experience. I've heard that that one is normally considered the best, but I've heard Ashdown is equally nice. So, even if they don't look gorgeous on the outside, there are some pretty nice spaces on the inside (in my opinion). That being said, Sid-Pac is going to be under renovation next year, so first years won't be able to move in there. That makes living on campus a bit more difficult as a result. As for the "big city" thing, it honestly doesn't feel like that to me. I'm absolutely not a big city kind of person myself. The thought of a school like Columbia (for example) sounds miserable. However, the MIT campus can be like its own little entity. Also, Cambridge as a whole doesn't feel too much like a big city to me -- at least not as much as being in the heart of Chicago or being in NYC for instance. Once again, that's just me. If you have any particular questions about living in the Boston area, feel free to message me. The grad students at MIT definitely seem to work pretty hard, but the ones I work with regularly (admittedly a small sample size of ~ 5 students) seem to be handling things well. Still, it is my general impression that a school environment like that at Stanford is a bit less strenuous than that at MIT even if it is self-imposed. I don't have much input on Stanford since I've never visited. However, when it comes to Stanford and MIT, you're not going to choose wrong. Both options are obviously fantastic, so congratulations! As a professor at Berkeley told me when I visited, it's going to come down to "secondary factors," and that's really all that matters. Neither option is bad. Neither option will change your success in the future. It really needs to be where you're happiest, provided there is somebody you can work with at either option. Both are equally well-regarded but have extremely different environments. If you think you want to go into academia, I'd consider checking out the placement history of the alumni in the labs you're looking at. Also consider the status of the POIs you're interested in. Are they tenured? Are they well-established? Heavily cited? Famous in a particular field? Then consider the other million factors. How important is being closer to home? Have a significant other in a particular region? The list goes on and on. Honestly, you can't go wrong! Still, it's not petty. It's an important decision. Going with your gut isn't too bad of an option So, in short... nobody can really help you out much from here but you. The options are too equally awesome Honestly, if you fell in love with Stanford and you still feel this way in a week's time, go to Stanford. The heart wants what the heart wants!

Also similarly curious. Applied for chemical engineering programs and am attending a nuclear engineering program. I guess since they're both engineering that won't be an issue though, actually.

I don't know about that. I didn't see a placement history for any of the programs I applied to. I think it's different for math/science fields.

Hey, nano-cladding! I'll see you in the fall

Me either edit: Never minddddd

I had something similar in one of my letters, and it said in parentheses that they aren't legally (for whatever reason) allowed to guarantee funding for every year but those in good standing end up getting it and there's no real concern. Maybe it's something similar where they want to play it safe with regards to legalities. Definitely follow-up with the department though!

Ah, okay! That changes things. I was thinking CSE was similar to CMS. My mistake! Hopefully somebody else can chime in about CS(E) at Wisconsin!

I don't know if CSE at Wisconsin stands for Computational Science and Engineering like at MIT, but I'd imagine that there isn't too much public opinion on any of these programs yet since they're brand new. The MIT one started last year, and the Caltech one seems to be new based on their website (pretty interesting program - never knew it existed!). My very uneducated opinion is that CSE (and variants) will become increasingly popular over the next few years, but until then they're kind of unique. That being said, Wisconsin is a pretty well respected institution with regards to engineering and the sciences. Sure, it doesn't have the same attention-grabbing nature as Caltech, but I don't know how much you'd have to worry about which one is perceived better. Research fit and secondary factors (location, the people, money, any significant other, family, whatever) are going to be your deciding factor I'm sure.

Also, side point. A lot of ChemE departments (I'd say most) have faculty thay frequently collaborate with folks in the chemistry department. If you want to combine the best of both, maybe see if there are any research projects of such a nature at School A. Who knows. Maybe you could even be co-advised.

I ended up deciding to switch fields for my PhD. I've been told by every faculty member I've talked to at the schools I visited that the name of your degree matters relatively little at the PhD level. As has been said before, it's the research that you do, and postdoc positions will be available to you if you want to transition between disciplines. I'd ask yourself why you would want to get a PhD in chemical engineering. And then talk to faculty at your own University in both the chemistry and ChemE department to make sure you aren't disillusioned. If you plan to go into academia, the higher ranked school is probably the right answer. Otherwise, ask yourself what research you'd be doing so each school, ask where people end up going after their PhD at both places, and then try to gather up as much info as you can to make a decision. With regards to research, the two fields overlap a lot, but the viewpoints are rather different.

Schools B and C wouldn't accept you if they felt you weren't a good fit. The truth of the matter is that most people will change their research interests as time goes by. What may be perfect know may not be perfect 6 months, a year, two years from now, so on and so forth. I think as long as there is a good research fit and you can see yourself being happy there then that's what matters, and in that case I'd choose between B and C personally unless there are other secondary factors in play (location, significant other, etc.)

Someone posted on the results board. Looks like we have a liar http://www.thegradcafe.com/survey/index.php?q=nsf&t=a&o=&pp=25

Never mind I pretty much made my decision and have since deleted the huge block of text. Thanks for stopping by!

I assume you won't have a chance to visit, but if you do I'd highly recommend it. Both are excellent options (so, congratulations!!!) and you really won't go wrong, so it's going to likely come down to "secondary" factors, a lot of which you'll be able to get a feel of if you visit.

I'm sorry to hear about the rejection and hope you have other wonderful offers to choose from. I'm not sure why they wouldn't have emailed you, although looking on the results board it seems that this has been a persistent issue in the past (mostly for international students, it looks like). Really though, there is no reasonable chance that she removed your application; she doesn't have those privileges, and this question is asked all the time. All the best to you as well!

No, no! They wouldn't be pissed off at all. I emailed them a few weeks before I got notified, and they were very friendly. Don't worry about that at all. Just be polite. Best of luck! Also, I'd be pretty certain the graduate program coordinator has no ability to touch the status of your application -- she's just going to pull your name up in the system and see what your status is. I really enjoyed my visit. The department was significantly more interdisciplinary than I imagined, which was a plus for me, and the faculty were great to talk to.

I'd email them (there's a contact for Clare Egan on the webpage). The visiting weekend was last weekend, so perhaps you're on a wait list.

I'd pick Harvard. The name will definitely open up doors, and reputation (perhaps unfortunately) matters a lot in this world. Also, Harvard has a ton of money coming in. I can only assume this means that the facilities for research and otherwise are top-notch. Harvard isn't going to hire faculty who are just mediocre in the field. Regardless of ranking they only want the best. Unless the location of the school is a major factor (which is totally reasonable), I'd go to Harvard in a heart-beat, but that's just me.

My personal opinion is the top 15 school. Unless you're dead set on your interests, they're extremely likely to change or be flexible. Even a 70% match is huge. There is a reason that the school is top 15 versus top 75. Whatever that opens up for you (connections, resources, reputation, etc.), it is likely valuable. It's not like the professor in the top 15 school is just opening his lab either. Also, if you really want to get out of doing a TAship, perhaps try applying for external fellowships and see what you get.

Hopefully you do! If it's any solace, I just declined my offer, so hopefully they open up some spots as more people do so!

I'd say reputation matters, but both of those schools have equal/comparable reputations in the field. Congrats!

The visiting weekends are certainly more exhausting than you'd expect! I'd definitely keep that in mind when planning on how many to visit. I chose 4 to visit and I don't think any more would have been wise (and 1 is essentially in my backyard, so that doesn't count). They're going quite well though I didn't care for Berkeley in all honesty but still had a nice weekend!

I'm not in the same field, but I definitely agree with the advice about visiting. The Berkeley environment is absolutely fantastic for some people while others really hate it. I happen to fall into the latter, but I'd say I'm the minority. I completely didn't expect visiting to make much of a difference, but it truly did (I was making the choice between Berkeley and Princeton for ChemE).

UIUC is usually regarded as an incredibly respected institution for engineering (and science). I personally know many faculty in my field that did their PhD at UIUC, and they have one of the highest number of alumni + faculty in the National Academy of Engineering. UIUC is an absolutely respected university for graduate study with top-notch research. I honestly don't think you'd be doing yourself a disservice by attending with regards to job prospects. However, if you're not happy with UIUC then that's a different story. At least attend the visiting weekend if you feel you're on the fence. Everything you need is pretty much in the town of Champaign-Urbana, so it's not like you're in a barren wasteland (and Chicago is ~ 2 hours driving). It's not a big city though and maybe isn't for you.

Thank you! I hope you have some nice acceptances to choose from. It doesn't seem there's an alternate visit date since it's integrated with a department-wide Center for Computational Engineering (CCE) event for not only perspectives but also current CCE-affiliated students/faculty that only occurs on 3/12 (i.e. http://acses.mit.edu/2015-student-symposium/).Still, perhaps no news isn't so bad news. You're not out until you're out! Best of luck. They may send out more acceptances, but if you don't hear within the next few days it may be a waitlist of sorts. Just my $0.02.