betun

I formally accepted UIUC's offer based on my comfort with my advisor. Wish everyone is well!

Thanks @Phoenix88 I hope that you arrived at decision comfortably in that case. Best of luck with grad school!

Congratulations! Way to go! You must be over the moon!

So sorry that you did not get in and this was your only application for this season. You must be disappointed but I wish you the best with your other efforts. If you wish to use this forum as a sounding board for your plans, absolutely do so. I for one am certainly curious to know more.

Thanks, I don't know yet though if you had make me choose this moment, I would say UIUC because my probable future advisor reached out to me and has been very engaged in giving me information about the lab and the research and she is also very ope-minded about research ideas; so I think she might be a good match. Having said that, I am going to going learn more about the Penn State programs from students and faculty/ Thanks! It does feel good because I am moving between streams, and it is not even my first transition. So, I did not know whether I would make it. That way, I am really glad that I saved an year.

Yes, a generic phrase was fine here and your phrase does the job. Being transparent with the professor would not have hurt either as long as you did not specifically illustrate why you think they are better choices than his university.

I am uncertain about whether this applies only to PhD but as I understand it, the resolution of the Council of Graduate Schools basically means that the offer has to remain valid till April 15. In the part you quote from their letter, the second line contradicts the first. You must have already made your decision by now. What did you decide?

Hi congratulations on UIUC, good going! I won't be able to comment on the merits of the two programs as I haven't attended either though in the Stanford section, you ought to add industry presence of CS as an advantage. However, I don't see why you need to rush into your decision here when you have not even heard from Stanford. In case you need more time to decide, ask for it. Deadlines for decision do get extended. I have rushed into accepting offers in the past for Master's and lost deposits unnecessarily because I realized later on that I could have easily have asked for more time.Top US universities are interested in having students who really want to be there. Most times, they are very considerate. Take your time deciding. It is a big decision.

It is ok to tell them whenever you have decided for sure. It really, really helps the admissions team in making decisions. They are well aware that only a percentage of admits will matriculate and so, do not worry about telling them too early. It saves them a hassle. Visits are meant to help in decisions but they are by no means necessary. For internationals, it is often practically impossible to make visits in advance and so, the point of using the weekend to make a decision is not that critical to the process (after all, many applicants are internationals). I will strongly suggest at least looking at all the stuff you can gather about living in the place of your program and talking to students or others in the place, so that you can take an informed decision even without making an actual visit. I'd caution against officially accepting too early if there is still anything left in terms of results, or there are people you haven't talked to yet, and such conversations could materially influence your decision to join.

Thanks Jimmy. Best of luck to you too! I don't expect such quick results though as the deadline for Heinz was a month after other schools.

It seems that everyone here is focused on Drexel. Best of luck! I got accepted into UIUC and Penn State's iSchools so far for the Information Science PhD programs, and I have also interviewed with Syracuse but am yet to get the result. While, there are still schools I am yet to hear from, I do know that I am going somewhere this year.

Hi I just stumbled upon this thread. I have made quite a few applications and only have started hearing back. Two rejects and two interview requests thus far. Many more left to hear from. Stay strong, fellow applicants!

Yes, I applied to the Information Management and Systems PhD program HCI, AI, ML. Can't say I am too hopeful as I did not send in my transcript with credential evaluation and I am an international applicant. Let's see though. Best of luck to you!

Thank you for starting this thread. I am nervous in solidarity as well. I have received 2 interview requests so far and have not heard from other programs. Apart from this, one reject decision had arrived in December itself. I applied to UMich InfoSci as well but have not heard back.

I agree with GeorgiaTechPhD in this regard. Some universities explicitly state their expectations about transcripts that could be updated at a later stage and thus have a section for coursework that is currently in progress. Where they don't, as in this case, it is implicitly understood because it would be clear from your application that you are still taking classes. Universities that have deadlines by December 15th are very aware of this; for example, at Cornell, my last exam was on the 17th and so it would have been impossible for me to submit the final GPA of the semester by 15th. The admission materials are usually looked at only at the department level. So, I do not see the need to worry about a difference in transcripts between departments.