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ch_

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  • Location
    Chicago
  • Program
    Computer Science

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  1. Since I'm an undergrad from Chicago, I'll weigh in a little: it has a very good, albeit small theory department, and is well-respected within the community. Based on my limited experience here with taking graduate classes, the theory community here is small but tight. I haven't done any research or really know the graduate students well, so I don't know too much about working with specific professors (I've heard little things here and there, but it's rather inconsequential to list). My advice? Texas also has a very good but small department, so you should try as much as possible to base your decision on what type of theory you have interest in. As David Su said, theory at Texas does seem somewhat more "computer science", I guess as opposed to more "mathematical" and less applied at University of Chicago (these are all really vague labels and take it with a huge pinch of salt). If I were in your position, since I am leaning towards algebra and combinatorics (for now) and I am obviously biased, I would pick Chicago, if only for the chance to work with Babai. If prestige were an issue, for an industry job I would think Texas would be better since their CS department in general is very highly ranked. Unless the Babai reference on "Stargate Atlantis" is a huge factor . Also, where are you from? Consider other factors too.. don't underestimate the importance of things like the city, weather, food, etc. I love the city of Chicago, but it does get rather annoyingly cold and windy (unfortunately, I am headed somewhere colder. bah). Definitely try to visit these schools and get a feel of both the department and the environment. BTW, you can message me for more specific questions/concerns.
  2. According to your post history you started ten copies of this exact same thread in 8-9 separate forums. Not cool.
  3. Aha, my competition . It seems like I applied to a superset of your PhD schools. Good luck especially on WashU! Anyway, I think others have already said this, but I would really discourage you from taking up the Cornell M. Eng. It felt like everyone who got rejected got offered that, and it seems more like a professional degree than anything else, so unless you get the chance to do some truly great work in that one year (seems difficult since it sounds like a course-based program), there will probably be some sort of stigma attached with such a program. I think it might be preferable to work in industry or even as a research assistant for a while (my original backup plan) before applying again, if only because of the cost of the M. Eng.
  4. Thanks for the advice and encouragement guys! And congrats on the Cornell acceptance DJLamar! Yeah when I was choosing my schools my advisors/recommenders told me to aim somewhat high because of my grades in graduate classes, but they were a little concerned (flabbergasted?) by my lack of CS research experience. Looks like there's still hope haha. blon19, good to know that there are more people like us out there. Where are you applying to and where did you get?
  5. I applied to the ACO program at Gatech (under CS) and honestly I can't remember what I wrote for the SOP and who I specifically mentioned. Needless to say it couldn't have been too specific, but I did describe the types of results in Algorithms and Complexity I was interested in. I basically approached the SOP like how a Math major applying for Mathematics graduate school would. BTW, the masters program I got into at Toronto is fully funded (and hence more selective), and from what I gather the masters admit there is seems somewhat equivalent to a PhD admit in US: it's a lot more common to transfer into the PhD program rather than fighting for a few precious openings. In general it seems that for Canadian PhD programs, schools admit students after they've done their Masters unless they're really good.
  6. Just wondering if anyone is in the same boat as me. Would like to hear back from others. So I'm applying to schools for CS theory and I'm a Math/CS double major from a top 5 US college. I used to be a Math/Economics double major until halfway through my junior year, when I switched to this current combination. However, because of this late decision, I have absolutely no CS research experience, and the only kind of research experience I have is one mathematics REU that is tangentially related to CS theory. I did not choose to start on research this year, since I was basically scrambling for time to apply to graduate schools and finish up on both majors (and also because I think Math is awesome and want more exposure before I specialize). Of course, I have seriously considered why I'm embarking on this whole CS grad school thing. My Profile: Math/CS double major (more of a math major) 3.7 Math GPA, 4.0 CS GPA 6 graduate CS classes (all in CS theory) by the end of the year. Research: zero! (kind of) So I haven't heard back from most schools and I'm not expecting great news for my applications, but at least I've gotten a school I really wanted. Also, does anyone know if CS theory admissions works in a different way from other aspects of CS? BTW, I'm an international student, if that is at all relevant.
  7. waiting for more replies

  8. Well I was hoping to hear back from warmer places too, but looks like I'll just be heading further north haha. Started out in the tropics, Chicago for undergrad and looks like Canada for grad school.
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