blackswan13

Just got mine as well. Praise the Lord!

Nsf is weird! I really thought I had a really good shot. Perfect grades, really good research and personal statement (got excellent and one very good from all three reviewers) still didnt get it. It's government and very much about the demographics as well so don't lose heart

So I really like boston area and I am tempted to choose MIT (I also have a Harvard admit so I got to explore the area twice) but the glitch is that I dont have any advisor in MIT. Most students come without advisors and apparently "find" one later on. For Berkeley I have three good advisor choices, its an as-good school but I absolutely disliked the area. I am also from east coast and hate heat and get summer blues :(. Any advice suggestions of someone just willing to make my choice for me ...

I am not in robotics but I am in UMD BS/MS so you can totally ignore my advice if you wish but... UMD is better ranked than BU in almost everything in electrical engineering. UMD has the best control systems area which is what a lot my friends in robotics choose to complement their education with as well as aerospace engineering. Proximity to the capital and just being a good school we have huge and I mean HUGE career fairs with a gazillion employers come every fall spring and summer (twice in fall and spring). Also, close ties and proximity with NIST, ARL and NASA makes your advisor pool better as well.

I recently denied purdue so if you were on waitlist there is still chance

I know but when I went to openhouse they expect you to find one yourself...

So I have been admitted to MIT but have no potential advisor yet and I am freaking out before making a final decision about whether I should choose MIT or just go to Berkeley where I do have around three choices. I had a couple of questions for seasoned graduate students about how to approach professors. First, the area I am interested in, I dont have much research experience in it. Do professors expect you to have experience in that already? Also, is it ok to attach a resume? Furthermore, I am not sure what the email subject should look like. Till now I have been using "potential graduate student" etc. Most forums have emailing before admission discussion but I would love to see some email tempelates or advice for when you have already been admitted.

Did anyone hear about funding yet?

I sent them an email and Stanford admissions said they are still making decisions based on when the faculty is getting back to them. Not counting on it but for those who still care...

are we supposed to find a research advisor upon arrival? If you want I can send you the funding information they sent me via pvt message but it did not seem like we need to find advisor or TA first semester

I am not sure about who I want to meet. I was so stuck on going to Stanford I really did not consider any other options. I met with my undergrad advisor today and asked him for recommendations and he recommended ~5 people. Do we have a deadline for that form submission? I look forward to seeing you there as well

Thats wonderful. I am in photonics/quantum optics. The admission letter said I was fully funded so I am not too worried about finding an advisor before I go in. I have a fellowship at UCB and also got contacted by two very well known people there but I guess MIT will beat Berkeley in my case. Decisions will be super hard

I guess this is the universal law. I got into MIT, UCB and Harvard (applied physics) and other schools and I am still upset about Stanford. Did MIT send out rejects yet? If not you dont know that you did not get in for sure. Congratulations on your asmissions though

No i did not and I dont know anyone who did get an interview. I will probably reach out to people now. What area are you into and are you planning to attend?

Well it means I did not get. Congratulations to the admits