ShogunT

How was it going?

I agree on this. MIT EECS stopped requiring GRE when I applied years ago (because all applicants had maximized GRE scores I guess) lol

You can call them (Payroll in your school) in work days if you are currently on vacation. They are CPAs/professionals who get paid to consult or answer your questions on tax matters. I know tax return can be daunting at times. Good luck!

If you are in CSE or ECE, you may be interested in this linear algebra book: "Coding the Matrix: Linear Algebra through Applications to Computer Science," by Philip N. Klein.

They roamed the engineering buildings as they were the driving forces of the universe. They ate all the free foods, i.e. pizza, drinks, cookies etc., and took all the free yet limited T-shirts at the events in September and November. :-|

Visit your Payroll Services ASAP. They are responsible for handling tax in your school. Why did you apply for a SSN already?

My advice for you would be to wait until the orientation in your new school. Many public schools (I don't know the private ones) work with banks to provide students with student bank account. This kind of account, you don't need to maintain a thousand or so dollars in the bank. The enrolled information will be handed out to new students in the orientation or similar events.

Publications are the materialized evidence that illustrates one's capability of doing meaningful research. Unless the conference/journal acceptance rate is 100%, why not publish? If you are worrying your research being considered as immature, one way to test it is to publish the top/high-tier conferences; and it is also recommended to do so as soon as you can. If the submitted research is deemed immature, the paper would be rejected in the rigorous peer-reviewing process in those conferences. At least you would get some feedback on improving your manuscript. Yes, in my field there is a rule similar to that, but the other way around.

I think we agree to disagree. There are outliers as I already said in my original post; a friend of mine went to Cornell with a mediocre GRE. And I never said there were interview by-passing. Are there any reliable sources for no-longer use of GRE cutoffs in the top 10 programs?

Just want to share my understanding of the ad process (some of the top 20 schools in my field) to you: - Screening: Standardized tests, i.e. GRE, and TOEFL for students international, are used to cut the majority of thousand of applicants off the list. GPA may also be involved in this screening process. - Reviewing: GPA, publication, awards, recognitions (e.g. highest honor for thesis, graduating with a summa/magna cum laude) --> SOP, LoR. The order of which criteria being checked first varies among schools. Then the minority of candidates are offered interviewed, site visits while the rest goes to the waiting list. Exceptional candidates may by-pass some reviewing rounds. They are those who earn the high place in international competitions, e.g. IMO(Maths) for Maths/ECE/CSE programs, ACM programming for CSE/ECE programs. That being said, unless you have a paper published in Nature or Cell, your chance getting into interviewing, in a top program, with a low GRE is not good. Similar logic applies to low GPA. Some outliers with great publication credential may also be offered admission with mediocre GRE, which is known but not common. However, the more years of relevant industry work or experience in a research lab you have, the less important your GPA contributes to the Ph.D. application process. GPA is more crucial to screen students applying straight from college. In addition, publication in prestige journals can possibly offset low GPA. Hope it helps.

Then I would recommend that you focus on improving your GRE, do your volunteering work with your undergrad PI. Hopefully, you can get your name in the co-author list of a decent paper by the time you interview for admission next year. I don't think that 1-year MA at Columbia benefits you that much. Good luck!

Do you think this 65K one-year investment is gonna get you into any top programs? When it comes to Ph.D. applications, the things ad com people look for are your research capability materialized by publication or scientist potential illustrated through course works / interesting projects you have done. Connections are important, but without the required credentials you are not getting in any top programs, I am sorry. I think you have to reconsider your priorities and make different questions. Have you explored other leverage such as doing voluntary work in a research lab, becoming a lab technician, getting few years industry experience under your belt, etc.?

That's a good thing to do. Wish you all the best!

Are you the first author of that manuscript or co-author? If you are the first author, then yes, it is not the obligation but academic etiquette that you revise your paper based on the revision unless you transfer the first-authorship to one the other co-authors. Otherwise, I personally think you should still lend a hand if the first author needs your support that he/she cannot do your part. It is a proof of your professional customer service although it is not mandatory. Disclaimer: I am a Ph.D. student who has worked with many Master's students as their thesis mentor. Most of them stopped working with me once they landed full-time jobs. This is reasonable and I am completely good with that. However, there were few already-graduated students who had continued doing the incomplete research with me on weekends until it was done (just about one or at most two months after they graduated). I really appreciated such act. All in all, I think that once you start something, you should finish it.

I store my MSWord/LaTeX in a synchronized folder managed by Dropbox (there is a desktop app for it). The edition I make to the documents automatically get updated into the data server. I can easily retrieve the most updated version literally anywhere.

Projects match my interest and expertise > work environment > job security > salary > rest First, I am confident that I could do good in any jobs and do best in those in my expertise. Second, I want to be part of or lead an energetic and synergetic team, not a chaotic collection of highly skilled individuals. Moreover, many (famous/big name) PhDs I have had chances to work with (when I did my internship) were kind, modest and really cooperative. They have imprinted an impression to me that an open and cooperative work environment is the prerequisites to individual success. Third, the current market is volatile, so, I would not risk myself in an irrelevant position in a sinking ship even I get paid more (opportunity cost). Fourth, it is obvious. (3) seems to be the best out of three. 5-yr turnover seems like a long period of time. Many non-contract employments end within one to two years. Which one of them offers you the mean to advance your career? If you can set salary aside for a while..

I think you are in the right position to voice your concern. Get other students with the similar situation on board to make your case stronger. Proceed carefully and gently as it involves people with high status (and ego). It is good to test the water by talking to a trusted senior professor your know first. Good luck!

There should be some constraints that your professor has used to select the first author in a collaboration. Can be round-robin, or the person with the most contribution or something else. I think that one way to find out is to talk to your PI regarding your concern. Also, ask the PI what research/work/writing/etc. can be done from your side for you to be the first author of the in-progress manuscript or future works. Your PI can deny a clear answer, but he/she will probably give you some hints to improve at least. In my opinion, as the project is coming from your PI (and I guess the PI was also the one giving the topic idea), and if you don't have any significant contribution over other two co-authors, it's not your call to make but your PI to select the first author.

I would give additional comments. Looking into your brief profile introduction, I would suggest that you consider retaking the GRE if you want higher chance getting into more interviews. In general, high-ranked schools use GRE to cut off the pool of candidates. Plus, if your research internships are all relevant to your applications, then I don't think it would be a problem applying directly to PhD. However, if you are not sure what you want to do / your research topics, then working through a warming up PhD study, i.e. Master's, can be helpful. But funding for Master's is much less promising. Instead of thinking about going to do a Master's as a warm up, you may want to consider working voluntarily in a research lab and get a publication or two, which will strengthen your application.

If you can funding yourself in the first year, it is a little bit easier for you. I think you can go ahead and talk to your "current" supervisor that if he/she gives you some sort of funding, then you will work for him/her. Otherwise, ask him/her to let your work under that one's supervision for a year without funding. During the first year, you can look for someone else. When you arrive to the university, you can even talk to many professors in your prospective department including the one you refer to as being abusive to see if there is any chance of funding opportunity. You also need to consider the worst case scenario that there is no professors with funding that you want to work with, and your pocket may dry up before you can find a funding source. Btw, have you considered to forfeit this admission cycle, spend a year to improve your profile and apply again hoping for a stable funding offer? There are lot of things to ponder when getting an admission with no funding. Really sorry! Good luck!

@SAhmed: that's the common situation in academia. The Profs with funding (from research grants, private funds, etc.) are bound to complete their research proposals that got their money. Therefore, they tend to be kind of pushy and very demanding when it comes to get the job done. Moreover, many of those rich guys don't have much time for their grad students. It is also tricky if you follow the funding without knowing exactly the working/management style of the potential advisor you want to be switching to. Other Profs, usually one with tenure or full professorship, are more laid back and can give you their attention and caring, but they may not have much money at their disposal. Have you promised or signed anything with the current advisor? Do you have full funding for at least one semester/quarter with the current supervisor?

Changing PhD advisor is a big decision. Because you did not give enough information, I list some possible questions to ponder over. 1) What is the policy of changing advisor/ co-advisor in your department? Many departments have clearly written policy that PhD students are eligible to, at lest one time in the program, change advisor or adopt a co-advisor without any problem, and the students are protected from any possible retaliation caused by the former advisor. But you will definitely burn some bridges if you decide to fire your advisor and adopt another one for funding reason. 2) How stable is the funding given by your potential advisor that you current want to switch to? Does it have a long-term guarantee funding for you? If you just respond to the call of money, there is a chance that you may end up switching to another advisor if the funding from the potential advisor dries up or is terminated in the worst case scenario. 3) Does the new research topic that has funding interests you or it is just for getting more stipend? 4) How is your relationship with to current advisor going? Is he/she caring for you? How is the research topic with him/her you are doing (good or bad)? 5) How many years have you been in your PhD program? If you have to switch to another research topic with the new advisor, how many year do you think it will set you back? After answering those questions, we may continue to evaluate the pro and con of your decision.

I would definitely follow the school guideline regarding word length. But if such requirement is not listed on their website, then you should be on the lookout. Many schools incorporate their guideline/instruction, including SOP word limit, in their online application. Once you complete some prior parts of the application and get to the essay/SOP section, you will know if it is 1500 words or 1000 words or no restriction at all. If you know the typical word limit for a SOP in your field, like 1000 words, then write a SOP with 900-950 words. You will have little problems expanding your SOP if it turns out that the actual limit is over 1000 words for an accepted essay.

@shadowclaw: apologize for my inaccurate assumption about the double-blind process, which is the norm in my sub-field. In this case, I agree with others that contacting the editor is the good way to move forward.

@TakeruK already put up a good pile of information. I just want to add one more. The EB-1 visa (Green card) does not require the any company to sponsor your VISA. You "just" have to be at the top of the food chain in your field.