preantepenultimate

I can't answer your question definitively, but I would expect your disciplinary record to be covered by FERPA. If so, your alma mater wouldn't be able to disclose it, nor would other schools be able to access it, without your consent. You could probably confirm that with your registrar. I also don't recall any questions about disciplinary records or incidents of academic dishonesty on any of my applications, and the only document required from undergrad was my official academic transcript.

Generally, the rule is that you should plan to only accept a funded offer (i.e., tuition is covered and a stipend is included). These are pretty much expected when there is a good match between the candidate and the program, so if you're right for a program, you will get funding. This may or may not be enough to cover most living expenses, but either way it will help you financially. You might be paid for working as a TA or instructor as well, but other jobs (outside of the university) are generally not allowed, and you wouldn't have time for them anyway. You'll need to fill any gaps with loans or savings. If money is going to be tight, consider working for a couple of years first. You can also see about getting your existing loans deferred when you return to school.

Sorry, that's what I meant. I have funding on the brain.

The decision to rescind the funding offer acceptance is entirely at their discretion. I don't know how they will handle it, but I can guarantee that ignoring it and hoping for the best is the wrong move. I'd recommend talking to your advisor ASAP for advice or assistance, then getting in touch with the program coordinator/contact person to make them aware of what happened and ask what the consequences will be, all things considered. The sooner you take care of this, the better.

Can anyone tell me about roads and traffic? Is it pretty easy to get from the surrounding neighborhoods to the UoR campus or shopping areas without going through congested areas, bad intersections, etc.? How bad is the midday traffic in the city?

I am! I'll be working on an MS in Electrical and Computer Engineering. Looking at housing options now.

Compare the fees you will be paying with the estimated fees on the public website for your program. Are they higher, lower, or equivalent? If you are paying more, or if the public page obscures or grossly misrepresents the actual fees, then you might have a good reason to complain, especially considering that you weren't notified of the details until after the deadline. Otherwise, as long as the fees aren't a significant percentage of your stipend, it doesn't sound too unreasonable.

I'm starting grad school this fall, but I'm thinking of forming a small business around some products/ideas for some supplementary income. Coming from an engineering background, I'm looking at an LLC since that seems to be the least hassle. I'm mainly interested in commercializing some apps/software I've developed, but I might do small runs of physical goods as well (electronic devices of my own design). Does anyone have any tips or advice for doing this sort of thing while simultaneously working on grad school? I know that time is going to be a huge issue, but otherwise I'm mainly concerned about things like intellectual property laws (will my university try to claim ownership of things I develop in my time as a student?) and residency issues (starting a company in a state where I'm not currently a resident).

You generally can't pick and choose the best scores from different GRE test sessions; you pick the best overall session and submit that set of scores only. That said, I'd be curious as to how the admissions department will respond to your question... Maybe they will let you submit both? If there are programs accepting applications, then they are probably not full, or at least they have a waitlist (in case accepted students decline to study there, making space for other applicants). I guess it's possible that they are full and are just collecting application fees before automatically rejecting, but I certainly hope that's not the case!

Wow. How common is that? I'm wondering now if that might be why I've been getting the silent treatment from one of my schools post-acceptance.

First of all, you generally shouldn't accept an offer without knowing what your funding will be. If you do, you lose any implicit leverage you have, and of course you are committing yourself somewhat blindly. If you have funding offers for other programs, then you are probably obligated to respond to them by April 15, so you need to know ASAP what your other funding offers will be in order to make an informed decision. In either case, you should definitely get in touch with your top choice again to see what their offer will be. If they haven't responded by tomorrow, consider giving the POI a phone call instead of emailing.

It doesn't answer your question directly, but you might be interested in reading the actual April 15 Resolution, especially if your programs are at schools which support the resolution (there is a list in the PDF). Here's the link: http://www.cgsnet.org/ckfinder/userfiles/files/CGS_Resolution.pdf FWIW, a program from one of the schools on the list specifically told me to respond before 11:59 PM (23:59) on April 15, but of course others may have a different interpretation of the resolution.

It affects me because I am obligated to respond to the first program since they made me an offer. I have to give them a definitive answer, and it's not going to be 'no' if nobody else has made an offer by then.

Thanks for the reply. -It's mixed for each program of course, but there is a lot of overlap between the committees, the contact persons, and department faculty/directors/etc. -That's fine for the unofficial acceptance at least, but I'm still worried about the unofficial offer, mainly because they are absolutely silent when I try to get in touch about the possibility. They were fine with communicating up to and just after my visit, but nothing since. -I'll still hope for the reimbursement, then! -The only problem with the definite offer is that I would still incur some debt, as I still have to pay a substantial chunk of tuition (and housing). I would really like to receive a full ride, especially since that's what I was expecting from the program I visited. For the other offer, I did follow up, and the response was that decisions are ongoing and I could receive an offer at anytime or not at all.

The deadline is getting so close and I'm pulling my hair out. I've been accepted to every program, but so far only one has made a solid offer (partial scholarship + assistantship). Another invited me as a 'top applicant' to visit the campus, and they made a generous unofficial offer while I was there (a full scholarship + fellowship was suggested), but they've been silent ever since; my financial aid page only shows a single federal loan offer. They've ignored my repeated (polite) attempts at follow-up communication over the recent months, and they haven't even reimbursed me for the trip like they said they would. Yet another program sent me an unofficial but enthusiastic acceptance notification via email a couple of weeks ago, but my official application page only says that I'm still being considered. Assuming I really am accepted, a funding offer could come at any time, but I have no idea what my chances are. Generic messages from the department discourage applicants from sending questions since this is apparently a busy time for them. Is all of this typical for the MS application process? I plan to hold out until April 15 in hopes of a better offer, but I'm starting to think that-- even if another program does make me a great offer-- the first program is the only one where I'm actually valued. Or maybe it's a question of competence. Should I take the behavior of the admissions folks as a general indication of how things will go once I'm admitted?

For those of you who are already into a PhD or MS program in engineering, how do you perceive the different cultures in your department? Is there a subtle or obvious division between PhD candidates and MS candidates, with the PhDs having a more "elite" status? Do they work separately, or is it more of a mixed, seamless group where everyone sees each other as another "grad student"? Do faculty show more respect to the PhD candidates?

I know where you're coming from, but would recommend that you avoid bringing it up on your own. There are just too many ways for it to be interpreted negatively (e.g., narcissistic, like you suggested), and I don't think it would cause them to value you any more than they already do from your application/interview. There might be an exception if you were using a funding offer at an Ivy as leverage for funding elsewhere, but if you are already funded, I'd leave it alone.

Look into culture/language clubs at your university. Often times, these clubs will have regular informal meetings where students can practice their language skills with each other or with native speakers (if there are any involved), and they are a great way to learn at any level.

It can't hurt you to wait, but if you are certain of your decision, then withdrawing yourself from consideration will make room for others at those programs and I think it would be a good thing to do. Some online application systems have an option to withdraw your application. For others, you can send an email to the appropriate contact person (this will vary depending on the program) to notify them that you have already accepted an offer from another program.

What is your general approach to deciding on which offer to accept?

I can't speak for European schools, but for a MS in the US at least you are in pretty good territory. My Q was exactly the same as yours (also on my first attempt, unprepared) and I was accepted to every top-20 MS program to which I applied, including Ivy League. Note that I'm in computer/electrical engineering, but ECE programs are usually in the same department as CS, at least, so that's some indicator. For you, I expect that decisions at US programs would come down to the rest of your application (transcript, relevant CS work, research, recommendations, etc.). Unless you are lacking in one of those areas, I don't think you would see much benefit here from a higher Q. If you have some idea of how competitive EU programs are relative to US programs, maybe you can extrapolate that to get some idea of your chances there. Hope that helps somewhat.

First of all, congratulations on getting accepted to both (plus Harvard)! If I were you, I would definitely go with MIT. I don't know how much of a difference it makes to have an advisor lined up already, but I imagine it's less important for PhDs, and it might even put you at a disadvantage (giving you less time to get to know potential advisors). Berkeley is great, but MIT stands alone in engineering. Cambridge is lovely, and it sounds like you want MIT deep down anyway, so go for it!

I'm preparing to start working toward an MS in engineering in the fall. My future plans possibly include a PhD, and either way I plan to start an R&D company to commercialize research. Ideally the PhD would be from a top school like MIT or Stanford, but I've applied to neither of those for my MS. So far I've been accepted into two schools... and now I have a dilemma. First, I've been accepted into a good public research school. It's R1 and at a pretty highly ranked university, much more so than my alma mater. I'm a top applicant there with a potential fellowships, stipends, and a tuition waiver, so I would hope to finish with very little debt or even some savings depending on how frugal I am. Next, I was accepted into an applied/engineering physics MS program at any Ivy League school. In the acceptance letter, they stated that there is absolutely no funding available for MS students. The best I can hope for is an hourly grading position, making less than 1% of my tuition. This is consistent with their public finaid page; there are no GRA/GTA positions or fellowships for MS students (M.Eng. and PhD students are a different story). I'd finish with a lot of debt. Maybe I'm too cynical, or maybe I'm just not good enough to qualify for some secret financial assistance package, but it almost feels like the Ivy League school is using its name as a honeypot to get MS students as a source of revenue, especially compared to the fanfare and offers that came with my acceptance to the other school. My question is: are the quality and prestige of an Ivy League education really worth it? Would it help me get into the top PhD programs more than the public university would? And would the networking and name recognition be that much more useful for securing loans/capital for a business venture? Is there something I'm missing? I feel like accepting the free ride at the public university would be the wise decision, but I'm not sure if I'd be missing a big opportunity with the prestigious school. I'd greatly welcome any advice.