Mechanician2015

I think that connection with a PI *should* be more important than your GPA. Even if there is an "unstated" cutoff, if a faculty member want you to do research in his group, an exception can be made. PD: I am arguing based on references, not experience. I have a below 3.5 GPA too, but never had contact with PI's in advance.

Agree. I think math is so much more than what the GRE "measures" The thing is that for those of us will little to no research experience and limited opportunities to do it... a stellar GRE/GPA is pretty much the core of good funding when applying(because once in, I don't think it matters at all).

I would say the GRE quant is more about the time constrain than anything else... you could learn all the math content in a couple weeks, and even score perfect if it's time-free, the issue is the pace. It measures quantitative reasoning, NOT mathematical skills/knowledge. I would value more your academic accomplishments for sure. Let us know about the response!

The fact that the university asked you for the financial guarantee is not a sign that you won't be funded. Simply put, the person that process the I-20 has no way to know if you will provide your own funding, or if you have an external sponsor, or if you were offered a position in the university as TA or RA(the person that works with the I-20 is not part of the department that funds/accepts you). As far as I know, when you are funded, the department sends you a document that you need to sign and return, accepting the offer. Then, you can send a copy of that offer to the person that works with the I-20(assuming that the offer meets the required minimum, which is not always the case). It is the department that accepted you, or the admissions office in some cases, that is in a position to tell you if there is funding or not.

In the "results" section you can see people fully funded with V=Q=60%... To what extent is it true? No way to know... but if true, I guess it just shows that graduate school is more about research and network, than standarized tests.

Congratz buddy! Well deserved admission! =) There is no deadline, but the visa process is rather long and( as everything involving mailing) full of uncertainties and delays. Once you provide the financial guarantee for the university to work out your I-20, you need to wait for the document to be mailed to you, apply for a VISA interview(which is not immediate) and then it takes some time for the visa to be emitted and mailed/delivered to you. I've been researching on the matter, and end-of-april is the safe time to get this process started(otherwise you run with the risk of being late for classes or, worse, late for induction or any sort of training required for TA or RA ships). And yeah, I would prefer a plain "No funding" status, but not even that... it's just "we are still in the process...".(For what's worth, I personally would have preferred a straight rejection).

"Common" words are supposed to appear more often than the others. If you think about it, as the GRE is section adaptive, you want to handle as many common words as possible to "ace" the first section and then get a hard second section(where the "advanced" questions would come, ideally). If you have 3 months, I think you can finish the full deck of Magoosh words by test date. That being said, keep in mind that knowing words is not the goal. Your goal is to learn how to answer questions correctly. You will need practice to infer meaning from context just as much as knowing words, so balance your preparation.

Urgh... I am an International... If I don't get a funding decision by the end of the month(which is week and a half from now) it won't matter anymore, since the visa process wouldn't allow me to be in USA before classes start. I think I'll just prepare myself to apply again in F2016(and contact faculty this time... EARLY...).

To solve a problem in linear algebra, you usually need to apply an algorithm( Is the system Lineary independent? do A, then B, then C, then repeat C until X happens or Y happens... if X, it is lineary independent, if Y, it is not). It seems that the course you describe(numerical L.A.) is nothing but the application of concepts of L.A. to create code to solve the problems( by my experience, Matlab, mathematica or C++). By reading your description, L.A. contains the theoretical foundation and N.L.A. is a very applied course. I would take L.A., and with a basic course on programming or computer science, you can achieve what N.L.A. describes. That is way better than knowing how to code without understanding the deeper concept.

If A is treating you that way NOW, imagine when you are in... I would risk going with B. What would they do? Rescind their offer? I don't think it works that way... Schools do compete for the best applicants and it's not like you are in the middle of the program.

Some schools are sensitive about the AWA for international students(non-native english speakers). I would aim for: - AWA of at least 4.0. - Verbal of at least 155. - Keep your Q=170. I scored V=163 and AWA=4.0(about 40 hours of work). The key point is to build a strong vocab while practicing the speed of your reading. There are many online sources with vocabulary builders(I used Magoosh vocab app). Also, for the AWA, use a mix of reading strong essays(essays graded with a 5 or 6) and practice. I wrote 1 essay daily. The issue with my 4.0 was that I inherently write in a succint form. Try not to fall in the same error. Add examples, elaborate on these examples. Include counterexamples and to what extent they apply. Try to read a lot in english, every day, and try to identify the type of question that gives you problems( it's usually the Reading Comprehension), and work on it. The TOEFL is a tricky issue. Most schools will ask iBT=80 for a masters. Some may ask for a 90. Others would ask for an specific score in the speaking section to consider you for TA positions. You will need to check on the "requirements" website of your intended programs.(UIUC asked for 102! the highest I've seen! Luckily I got 115 and got rejected for the rest of my application ). Keep in mind that an admissions decision is a very complex result. It goes from GPA and GRE scores, to your research interests(assuming you are applying for a thesis MSc). You may be applying to schools out of your range( this statement is not about your capability, is about your profile and the profile of your competition). Try to relax your ranking( instead of setting the limit to the top 10, try with the top 20 or 40. These are excellent programs too, with less competition). I would suggest WPI for your area of interest.

An undergrad course in Numerical analysis won't focus on demonstrations nor proofs. You basically implement algorithms to solve problems through arithmetic operations(it often involves coding/programming).[Paradoxical. A first course in Numerical analysis is actually more about "Numerical methods" than about the actual analysis of convergence/proof of such methods]. It won't serve to show your analytical skills, but whenever you read "simulation", "computational", "numerical", you are dealing with a branch that requires some knowledge on numerical analysis. It might not impress the AdComm, but it can be a major advantage once you are in(depending on what you want to do).

This is common, and it is called a "plateau". TakeruK pretty much summarized the solution. Don't take a prep-test daily. Give yourself at least a couple days( I would use 1 week) to identify your errors and get more practice on those.(take days off tests, not off practice). Usually, after that you will see a boost in your score(my verbal jumped from 157 steady to 161 after. I ended with 163 on the real test). Manhattan prep will allow you to see the wrong answers and the time it took you to reply. That way you will see where you need to improve/practice.

A good starting point is to check here on grad cafe the stats of those admitted in previous years(in the "Results search" feature). It is a good idea to spend some time defining the research/study area you are interested in, and then look at the programs of different universities to see if they do research on that area. 1- Try to get as high of a GRE as possible. I know a lot of people will tell you that GRE is just one parameter, but it helps with funding and giving a good first impression to some faculty members. Since you are still a student and the GRE is pretty basic( unlike me, that took the GRE 3 years after my last class) I would aim for a 90th percentile in quant and an 80th percentile in verbal( 166 quant, 160 verbal) at the least. I don't doubt you can score perfect on the quant(170). 2- The school you apply to should depend on your research interests. Your GPA looks a bit low(by USA standards... I wonder if they(Americans) have an inflated grading system or what). That might be a limit on top 10 programs. I would recommend that you take one of those "top graduate schools in aerospace engineering" lists around the internet, take the first 50 or 100, and start looking at the focus/research track on each one. Beware of the top 15, since those have many applicants with nearly 4.0 GPA and 2-4 years of research experience, some with publications already on highly ranked journals. Some programs post on their website the average GRE/GPA of accepted applicants on previous years. Try to focus on researching potential programs early. I didn't do this and ended up applying to 3 programs where my chances of admission were negligible. Assuming you get the GRE score I suggest, I would suggest: - Rensselaer polytechnic institute - University of southern California - University of california Los Angeles - Virginia Tech - University of Notre Dame

I try to be very strict at managing hope. For what you write, you have two strong recommendations and research experience. I would argue that this is even more important than any grades. Keep in mind that the issue here might not be pushing because of your merits/lack of them, it may be because fund allocation or seats available. As a general rule, most of the students that get offers from competitive programs, get more than one of such offers( for instance, kids that got into MIT usually got into CMU, GaTech and so on). After this date, applicants with financial offers MUST reply and stick with a single institution, thus releasing places. I've seen admissions for Fall as late as mid-may. So keep in touch, manage your hope( as in, try to sketch a "plan b"), but you absolutely have a chance.

Just as madbiochemist said. It is not a must. You don't have to go to campus( I got 2 admissions to relatively respected programs and I didn't even had skype interviews with them... I guess it depends on how competitive the programs really are, and how your profile stands as compared to the rest). However, based on every source I've seen, (1) visiting campus, (2)meeting faculty in person, (3)contacting them through email or a (4)brief phone interview are all "boosters" of your chances of admission. If you already had planned your summer in the USA, do visit campus. Otherwise, I don't think it's worth the resources. Emails/phone/skype should suffice.

- I might get something published by next December, namely my undergrad thesis with some new details on the system dynamics(things I've learned after graduation). It would be hard, but I think I have a chance( one of my recommenders is actively publishing on high impact journals, but she is an applied mathematician). - It would be relatively easy to secure funding from my country for a MSc.(like, full funding, even living expenses). However, that funding comes with a 2-year compromise of working in my home country. This would be a major delay on my plans to pursuit a PhD. - My GPA is indeed low as compared to other applicants(don't feel bad for pointing it out, how can I improve if I don't recognize my weaknesses first?) As I said, I could compensate that partially with a higher GRE. This would be relatively easy for me(I realized too late that I could have improved my score a lot by taking a couple more practice tests). - After a deep analysis on the main journals that I read, I've come to the conclusion that I don't necessarily need a top 10 program. I was amazed to see how programs below top 10 had a high publishing frequency(in my area of interest, often higher than some top 10 for the last couple years). Appreciate your suggestions.

It's really painful when you are accepted in programs you really want to go, but you can't secure funding. And the idea of applying next year just because of that is even more painful :-(

Wow...

The thing is that you usually need to schedule a meeting with any faculty member. You might want to contact the program director or the administrative assistant/secretary of the department to request help on doing this(if prospective advisors are not replying emails, of course). As far as I know, any university would welcome a visit, but none that I know will offer acommodation( unless you are invited to an open house/interview).

This is an extrange situation... one would think that Admission requirement <<Scholarship requirement. I don't think you are losing anything by contacting them(admissions) on this topic. However, if I was you, I would contact the department that notified you about the scholarship first, to confirm.

Usually, the mention of a professor in an SOP doesn't bind you to work with him. It should be Ok to contact other faculty members. As a general rule you must keep in mind that the people you contact should be doing research in your area of interest(else you will come accross as undecided). Are you sure that the program allows contacting faculty prior/during application? It some times happens.

I would take her/his reliance on horoscope for such decisions as a strong indicator of the cause of rejection :-|