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mrjd225

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    Computer Science, PhD

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  1. There are definitely benefits and drawbacks to both, but I think that there is a "right" one for each individual. I've seen both sides. My undergrad was done at a large public institution where research groups were usually relatively large, which contrasts greatly with Brown where research groups are usually very small (2-4 students). In a small research group, you will usually have more 1-1 time with your adviser (which in my opinion is priceless). In a larger group, I usually see a hierarchical approach where the younger PhDs work closely with the older PhDs who work closely with the adviser. Thats not to say that you would never get time with your adviser, just probably less (or at least less 1-1 time). Believe me, a professor's time is occupied by a LOT more than just research with his/her grad students, so time to discuss research is always a limited resource. However, working with other grad students in the beginning may not necessarily be a bad thing, as I think (remember I'm in a small group) it would be a gentler introduction to grad school (collaborating on existing project is usually easier than creating your own). Another thing I notice in large research groups is that because of that collaboration with each other's projects, the students usually have more 3rd/4th author publications (whether 3rd/4th author publications are worth anything is a topic I won't delve into here). Also important to note is that not all large groups or small groups are the same, i.e. just because a group is large doesn't mean it is hierarchical or just because a group is small doesn't mean you will always work 1-1 with the adviser. It depends greatly on the professor. Overall, I really think this is a matter of personal preference and you need to figure out what you think you would work best in. I chose Brown over some very large schools (e.g. Wisconsin, UW) simply because on the visit I really felt like I could work here and work well with my adviser. I was neutral to the large/small group thing before my visits, but after them I really got the sense that a small group was right for me. In particular, I thought my adviser was a good fit both research and personality wise. In the end, your adviser will be much more involved in your graduation than the school in general, so you should definitely find someone you think you could work with (again, the visits are important!). At Wisconsin I was looking at groups with 8-12 people, which now I couldn't imagine working in. Actually, I work with some people at MIT who are in 11 person groups so I see it first hand. Brown was right for me, but it may be different for you. Keep an open mind and hopefully eventually you'll "know". Hope this helps. Good luck!
  2. Obviously, that depends on the year, though I know it is not uncommon. In my research group, 3 of the students were originally Masters students. However, there are 2 sides to this. If you are a Masters student here you are going to have to do research with a professor and convince them that you are a better choice than any other applicant (the PhD students that I know that were originally Masters students are all amazing researchers). If you do that, you will be considered less of a gamble for your adviser, so your chances of moving into the PhD program would be improved. If you under-impress the adviser in your research, an acceptance might be pretty tough. Hope that helps.
  3. I really don't know the exact numbers. My intuition is that it is possible if you actively seek it out. I know several Masters students who are TA's and several more who are doing research with professors (though I'm not sure that all of these are hired as RAs). Overall, I think a lot of Masters students are involved in either TA or research positions, though I don't know their compensation/assistantship level. Sorry I can't offer more insight, but I'll ask around and possibly post a more informed reply later.
  4. It is actually fairly common here. I would say the majority of the students either were coming in after doing a masters or after a couple years in industry. Assuming you can still get strong LORs from at least one or two faculty from your previous institution, I think if anything it will help you. Think about it from their perspective. They want to accept students who are interested in, and capable to do research and you clearly know more about what you are interested in after being in industry. In some sense, every accepted PhD student is a gamble...they have to be fairly confident that you will be successful and won't leave with a masters (a waste of two years of funding for your adviser). Having been in industry, they may see you as less of a gamble than the idealistic undergrad who dreams of a life of research but hasn't spent any real time doing anything else (note to people applying from undergrad: I fell into this category myself, so don't despair). Anyways, this is all speculation and in the end a strong applicant is a strong applicant and that can depend on a vast amount of different factors. Believe me, the students coming in here are extremely varied so there is no guaranteed formula to getting accepted. In your application, sell yourself as a successful future PhD student and you'll be fine. Good luck.
  5. I definitely know where you're coming from on this one. I am from Florida, have lived there all my life, even did my undergrad there, so I had similar reservations. In short, I really like Providence now. I've heard stories from neighbors and professors that it has changed a LOT in the last 5-10 years (the city has adopted the name "The Renaissance City" to try to convey that change to people). Coming from Florida, Providence is very inexpensive, though it still has all the amenities you'd expect from a city. The food is amazing (thank you Johnson and Wales), and often very reasonably priced. It is also a great place for pubs, both Irish and not, which is also a plus in my opinion. The east side (where Brown is) is beautiful and has a very academic feel to it. Most students reside and go about their lives solely on the east side, but downtown and the west side are also cool places. I was also concerned about the weather, but honestly it is much milder than I expected. I have family in northern Michigan, and I think I expected something similar to that, but it isn't even close (i.e. much less snow and much warmer temps), mostly due to the close proximity of the ocean. I had several acceptances in California so it was a tough call but I am very happy with Providence and Brown, both have far exceeded my expectations. Overall, I think Providence is a great place to be in school. It's inexpensive, there are less distractions than in a big city (though still things to do), and it has a very academic feel. Plus, like you mentioned, Boston is just a short train/car ride away. I go to Boston quite a bit for talks at MIT/Harvard (our dept works very close with both schools) or just to go out at night...its very accessible. There are also several students/professors that live in Boston and commute on the train. Personally I like Providence more than Boston to live (Boston is EXPENSIVE), but it is another option. The best thing to do is visit again and see for yourself. If you do, feel free to message me so I can show you around. Good luck with the rest of the process!
  6. I'm not sure about the resources available for students with children, but I do know that there are several students with children in our dept so I'm sure its feasible. Sorry, but I can't offer much more than that. About the programming exam (good timing I'm in the process of taking it right now), I love it. I honestly think it's one of the best things about being a PhD student here and is really representative of the progressive attitude toward education that Brown is known for. The exam is very straight forward, and is meant to test your ability to think through a problem and code up with a solution. From what I have been told, it was originally much more difficult to solve (more like a puzzle), but in recent years it has become easier. The exam is more for people coming in without a CS background (there are always several) to make sure they can program. I've heard that most people pass on the first try and almost all pass on the second try (you get 2 tries), so I wouldn't worry about it at all. Comparing this to the qualifying exams that most people take at other schools and I'd definitely take this. For us, the absence of qualifying exams allows PhD students to focus on research from the very beginning rather than spending the first two years studying for a couple of pass/fail exams. In my opinion, that's why we came to grad school, so it's great to be able to jump right in. Hope that helps.
  7. Well that's quite the list of questions....I'll do my best but I can only answer about what I know (i.e. not the Brain Science or IGERT programs). I'm not sure what the attrition rate is, but from my experience the people that the reason PhD students leave or are considering leaving is because they realize that they don't want a life of research, not because of something wrong with Brown or our dept. I also think it's because companies (Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Microsoft, ...) are giving tech talks/recruiting pretty much every week here, so some people hear of something that interests them and leave for industry. I'm not sure how accurate the NRC numbers are, but the 61% with jobs lined up after graduation seems low. There is endless recruiting for both undergrads and grads and I couldn't imagine someone graduating without a job lined up, unless it was by choice. Most grads that I know have several lined up. Basically, if you want a job, you will have countless opportunities to get one. As for academic positions, that number seems right....there are a lot of grads who get tenure track faculty positions right out of Brown. I think this is somewhat to blame for the longer than average graduation times. The students that are going for faculty positions will stay for an extra year or two to boost their resume, which they can do because most professors here are very well-funded. However, I also know people headed for industry that have graduated in 4 years, so it all depends. Unfortunately, academic positions are getting more and more competitive so a successful candidate will need that extra year or two to boost their publications. Some PhDs will leave to do that at a postdoc and some (if funding is available) will just lengthen their time at their PhD institution. I think Brown PhDs typically fall into the latter category. Ultimately, a PhD is your work, and you will determine when you graduate, not the school. The relationship between grad students and faculty at Brown is the closest relationship of any dept I've ever seen. It is a very very relaxed dept with very little pretenses. From my experiences, faculty and PhDs work together as equals on a lot of projects. There are weekly faculty/grad get-togethers as well as several faculty/grad intramural sports teams both which promote an overall collaborative environment. It's amazing and in my opinion how grad school should be, but unfortunately often isn't. Along those lines, grad students have a HUGE say in how the dept is run. Every year we have several representatives that act as the liason between faculty and grad students. We also have our own funding for adding things to the dept that we see fit. Grad students also have a huge say in the faculty search process, as prospective faculty are requested to give a open talks to which the grad students will attend and submit their reviews of the candidate. My best advice is to forget about the numbers/rankings/percentages... and choose a school that you fit in at. Students (me included) get so caught up in that during the application process and its funny how little it matters when you are at your school. You are going to be there for a long time and if you are unhappy you will never finish. Brown was not my first choice when I was applying (probably 4th or 5th), and even though I got into several of my top choices I chose Brown because I could see myself being happy here. The visits are the most important part of this whole process. I couldn't imagine being anywhere other than Brown, and I am 100% sure I made the right choice. Anyways, I hope this helps. Please feel free to ask anything else. Good luck with the rest of the process.
  8. I realize I'm a little late to offer advice on application stuff, but feel free to ask about other parts of the decision (notifications, visits, ...), I'm happy to help.
  9. You're profile looks pretty good to me. I wouldn't say you are guaranteed to get in, but I think you would have a pretty good shot. Plus, what could you really do at this point to strengthen your app? I would focus on getting good gre scores (your previous ones are great) and getting LORs that focus on research potential, even if they are from people in industry. Good luck.
  10. I'm heading to Brown (PhD in Databases) next year. Feels good to have finally made that decision!
  11. I would say Penn State. Have you ever been to Gainesville? I'm from Florida and personally I wouldn't want to spend the next 4-6 years there. Plus, PSU is a better school. Good luck.
  12. Believe me I couldn't agree more, and I'm not basing any decision off this poll, I just thought it would be fun to know. I've already visited both, and am pretty sure which I am going to attend (I have been thinking about this for weeks). I just wanted to get the initial impressions of other people in the forum, because it was a really tough call for me. On one hand Wisconsin is a higher ranked program (for whatever thats worth) with a legendary database group, and on the other Brown is very selective, has a lot of ties in industry, and is situated in New England where they work a lot with the other Ivy Leagues. Just wondering what people thought...thanks for the concern though.
  13. Full funding guaranteed at both...
  14. Sorry just came across this post today. Yeah, I was accepted to JHU phd in database systems probably about a month ago. I got a call from a professor (informal interview I guess) and then an official email the next day.
  15. Just got accepted to UCLA but without funding for at least for first semester. Does anybody know how that works? Does that mean you have to pay all the tuition and fees for the first semester and then hopefully you get a TA or RA position after that? I had no idea that a top CS program would not fund all of the PhD students....sounds ridiculous.
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