Lucky14

Hi, this is Kim.
Isn't it frustrating to get into grad school and pursue something you love? Reading this thread, I can feel the struggle and all the effort you have been putting into your own career. PLEASE DO NOT GIVE UP! Two years ago I got rejected by all schools, I cried and started to think that I wasn't worth it. Last year I didn't make the cut and I was depressed. It got worse since everyone was telling me to quit and stick with my Bachelor degree. I don't have a very high GPA btw, my GRE was acceptable (I'm an international student). At the time I started to think negatively and was about to quit. Sometimes I felt like I was getting used to being rejected it doesn't really hurt that much. 
Even when you failed or you feel like you want to quit, KEEP REMIND YOURSELF NOT TO AND STAY ON TRACK. Not everyone has the same advantage. I understand some have it easier than others. This is why we should prove that we are worth it. Life is a bitch. She tried to take you down and she may have won a few times. But in the end, bitches cannot win unless you let her! Yes you were rejected, cry your eyes out, then get back on track! Please!
This year I applied for one grad school only because I love that program and that I want to study there. I made it! Be like a pug dog who doesn't know how and when to quit! I am sure you will get what you want eventually! I'm sending all the best wishes to you who will apply next year and BEST OF LUCK!

Hi, this is Kim.
Isn't it frustrating to get into grad school and pursue something you love? Reading this thread, I can feel the struggle and all the effort you have been putting into your own career. PLEASE DO NOT GIVE UP! Two years ago I got rejected by all schools, I cried and started to think that I wasn't worth it. Last year I didn't make the cut and I was depressed. It got worse since everyone was telling me to quit and stick with my Bachelor degree. I don't have a very high GPA btw, my GRE was acceptable (I'm an international student). At the time I started to think negatively and was about to quit. Sometimes I felt like I was getting used to being rejected it doesn't really hurt that much. 
Even when you failed or you feel like you want to quit, KEEP REMIND YOURSELF NOT TO AND STAY ON TRACK. Not everyone has the same advantage. I understand some have it easier than others. This is why we should prove that we are worth it. Life is a bitch. She tried to take you down and she may have won a few times. But in the end, bitches cannot win unless you let her! Yes you were rejected, cry your eyes out, then get back on track! Please!
This year I applied for one grad school only because I love that program and that I want to study there. I made it! Be like a pug dog who doesn't know how and when to quit! I am sure you will get what you want eventually! I'm sending all the best wishes to you who will apply next year and BEST OF LUCK!

Hi, this is Kim.
Isn't it frustrating to get into grad school and pursue something you love? Reading this thread, I can feel the struggle and all the effort you have been putting into your own career. PLEASE DO NOT GIVE UP! Two years ago I got rejected by all schools, I cried and started to think that I wasn't worth it. Last year I didn't make the cut and I was depressed. It got worse since everyone was telling me to quit and stick with my Bachelor degree. I don't have a very high GPA btw, my GRE was acceptable (I'm an international student). At the time I started to think negatively and was about to quit. Sometimes I felt like I was getting used to being rejected it doesn't really hurt that much. 
Even when you failed or you feel like you want to quit, KEEP REMIND YOURSELF NOT TO AND STAY ON TRACK. Not everyone has the same advantage. I understand some have it easier than others. This is why we should prove that we are worth it. Life is a bitch. She tried to take you down and she may have won a few times. But in the end, bitches cannot win unless you let her! Yes you were rejected, cry your eyes out, then get back on track! Please!
This year I applied for one grad school only because I love that program and that I want to study there. I made it! Be like a pug dog who doesn't know how and when to quit! I am sure you will get what you want eventually! I'm sending all the best wishes to you who will apply next year and BEST OF LUCK!

Hi, this is Kim.
Isn't it frustrating to get into grad school and pursue something you love? Reading this thread, I can feel the struggle and all the effort you have been putting into your own career. PLEASE DO NOT GIVE UP! Two years ago I got rejected by all schools, I cried and started to think that I wasn't worth it. Last year I didn't make the cut and I was depressed. It got worse since everyone was telling me to quit and stick with my Bachelor degree. I don't have a very high GPA btw, my GRE was acceptable (I'm an international student). At the time I started to think negatively and was about to quit. Sometimes I felt like I was getting used to being rejected it doesn't really hurt that much. 
Even when you failed or you feel like you want to quit, KEEP REMIND YOURSELF NOT TO AND STAY ON TRACK. Not everyone has the same advantage. I understand some have it easier than others. This is why we should prove that we are worth it. Life is a bitch. She tried to take you down and she may have won a few times. But in the end, bitches cannot win unless you let her! Yes you were rejected, cry your eyes out, then get back on track! Please!
This year I applied for one grad school only because I love that program and that I want to study there. I made it! Be like a pug dog who doesn't know how and when to quit! I am sure you will get what you want eventually! I'm sending all the best wishes to you who will apply next year and BEST OF LUCK!

@Adequate Philosopher yah me too. I am looking for housing options amd literally have no idea. I will be moving to College Station too. Did you apply for on-campus housing?

@Adequate Philosopher Thank you! Congrats to you too! Considering the fact that not all grad students who applied for on-campus housing will be accepted, we should probably look for off-campus housing. I don't know about Bryan and haven't researched its housing yet.
I am currently residing outside the States and will not be there until July. I don't own a car in the US so I guess I will depend on the bus to take me to school. I have no problem whether the room is fully furnished or not. Shall we look for available housing (as a team, yes!), that may do nothing but increasing chances of getting better deal . I would do anything to stay away from undergrads' parties
Does anyone have any suggestions? I don't own a car, prefer places with shared kitchen and bathroom. If there is a gym or a pool to swim that will be lovely but it is totally optional. Safety is a must! I will spend most of my time on campus so it would be nice if that place is near a bus stop/ or well-lit and safe to walk at night. Any suggestions will be really appreciated!! Thank you guys

Y'all:

I thought I could breathe a bit of new life into this thread. I haven't read through all of it, so I may overlap with what other posters have said. Forgive me for that, but I thought I could provide a bit of insight, as I will be graduating with a B.S. in civil engineering in August and going elsewhere. I have done research and have heard quite a bit of input from the graduate students I worked with. I will try to share some of my own perspective.
 
Also, some of my points are about Texas A&M University, but there is no reason that anyone would go to College Station if they weren't going to TAMU, so that shouldn't be an issue.
 
First of all, my perspective is that of a kid who has lived in several different places, so I won't have a *native* outlook.
 
Pros:
College Station is very quiet. If you are a person who likes to study plenty or are content with hanging out with friends, it is a very welcoming suburban-type area. Even the rowdier part of town (Northgate, which has plenty of bars adjacent to campus), is very mild. Depending upon your major and how much effort you put in, you can get a high class education. I am only familiar with engineering, which is pretty well ranked in all disciplines. I know the business school is also well respected. That being said, I would say that you can coast through without anyone really checking if you have learned anything. To counter that, there are always professors who will bend over backwards to teach something to you, should you have questions. No one is really out to get you. I mean that in the sense that people will not be competing with you for things, directly. No one will want to sabotage your experiment/research. No one wants to see you fail. It leads to a pretty relaxed environment. The physical university is beautiful. The construction work has recently been trying to make a more uniform feel to the campus, and I would say that they are succeeding. Traffic is no big issue, transit works. The bus transit system is very effective if you live on a bus route. Bike routes are convenient, but there are few which extend out more than 2 or 3 miles from the university. The cost of living is very reasonable. Rent for me (about 1 mile from campus) was $750 total from my roommate and I for a 2 bed/2 bath, 1000 sq.ft. apartment. Utilities run about $100-150 per month. College Station is growing. Some people aren't happy about this, but it means that there will be more apartments closer to campus, and newer apartments all together.  Cons:
College Station might be too quiet. My brother goes to UT Austin (tu), and his constant jabs of "Aggies study because there is nothing else to do" holds some truth. There are no big bands that come here, no really large festivals or such. College Station is only 2 hours from Houston, or about 3.5 hours from Dallas, so plenty of students drive elsewhere to engage in some fun activities. You can slip through the cracks. This point ties in with the large size of the university. The university is even looking to expand significantly, and already it seems like professors are overloaded. A professor I worked for had 20 Ph.D. and Masters students at the same time, though it was an extenuating circumstance. I know for undergrad that no body really ever checked if I was learning, or just regurgitating. For grad, I don't think it would be too unreasonable to take 7 years to get a Ph.D. just because no one ever really checked what you were doing. Aggies are a little crazy. I should know this because I am an Aggie. It's a warming, family experience in some ways, but it is a little cloistering in other ways. I know that I enjoyed it, but it could be a hard cup to drink if you find the Aggie life isn't quite what you wanted. Just as an example, pretty much everyone is gung-ho to get their Aggie Ring. It's important, but it's also 1000 dollars or so for men, 800 for women. As much as I liked Aggieland and consider myself an Aggie, the pricetag was hard to swallow. If you have any questions about Aggieland, feel free to ask.

If you want to present such an image of yours in front of everyone else, that is fine. But you have no right to impose and categorize other people.
Just because Indians succeed in their academic endeavors doesn't make it justifiable for someone coming from the same system (or anyone for that matter) to denigrate their accomplishments, does it? 
 
Consider this : You know the situation isn't the best out in India. Considering you haven't had similar opportunities as compared to someone from a more organized educational system, you come here and you work your ass off in graduate school and make it big eventually. Well, congratulations to you! How would you like it when a person who has no clue whatsoever what it takes to reach that stage and what you had to go through tells you that 'it doesn't matter because Indians always succeed?'. No one chooses to succeed in life. You have to endure failures even with your 100% efforts to get there. So learn to be more appreciative of others is all I ask. 

Hi, this is Kim.
Isn't it frustrating to get into grad school and pursue something you love? Reading this thread, I can feel the struggle and all the effort you have been putting into your own career. PLEASE DO NOT GIVE UP! Two years ago I got rejected by all schools, I cried and started to think that I wasn't worth it. Last year I didn't make the cut and I was depressed. It got worse since everyone was telling me to quit and stick with my Bachelor degree. I don't have a very high GPA btw, my GRE was acceptable (I'm an international student). At the time I started to think negatively and was about to quit. Sometimes I felt like I was getting used to being rejected it doesn't really hurt that much. 
Even when you failed or you feel like you want to quit, KEEP REMIND YOURSELF NOT TO AND STAY ON TRACK. Not everyone has the same advantage. I understand some have it easier than others. This is why we should prove that we are worth it. Life is a bitch. She tried to take you down and she may have won a few times. But in the end, bitches cannot win unless you let her! Yes you were rejected, cry your eyes out, then get back on track! Please!
This year I applied for one grad school only because I love that program and that I want to study there. I made it! Be like a pug dog who doesn't know how and when to quit! I am sure you will get what you want eventually! I'm sending all the best wishes to you who will apply next year and BEST OF LUCK!

Hi, this is Kim.
Isn't it frustrating to get into grad school and pursue something you love? Reading this thread, I can feel the struggle and all the effort you have been putting into your own career. PLEASE DO NOT GIVE UP! Two years ago I got rejected by all schools, I cried and started to think that I wasn't worth it. Last year I didn't make the cut and I was depressed. It got worse since everyone was telling me to quit and stick with my Bachelor degree. I don't have a very high GPA btw, my GRE was acceptable (I'm an international student). At the time I started to think negatively and was about to quit. Sometimes I felt like I was getting used to being rejected it doesn't really hurt that much. 
Even when you failed or you feel like you want to quit, KEEP REMIND YOURSELF NOT TO AND STAY ON TRACK. Not everyone has the same advantage. I understand some have it easier than others. This is why we should prove that we are worth it. Life is a bitch. She tried to take you down and she may have won a few times. But in the end, bitches cannot win unless you let her! Yes you were rejected, cry your eyes out, then get back on track! Please!
This year I applied for one grad school only because I love that program and that I want to study there. I made it! Be like a pug dog who doesn't know how and when to quit! I am sure you will get what you want eventually! I'm sending all the best wishes to you who will apply next year and BEST OF LUCK!

Hi, this is Kim.
Isn't it frustrating to get into grad school and pursue something you love? Reading this thread, I can feel the struggle and all the effort you have been putting into your own career. PLEASE DO NOT GIVE UP! Two years ago I got rejected by all schools, I cried and started to think that I wasn't worth it. Last year I didn't make the cut and I was depressed. It got worse since everyone was telling me to quit and stick with my Bachelor degree. I don't have a very high GPA btw, my GRE was acceptable (I'm an international student). At the time I started to think negatively and was about to quit. Sometimes I felt like I was getting used to being rejected it doesn't really hurt that much. 
Even when you failed or you feel like you want to quit, KEEP REMIND YOURSELF NOT TO AND STAY ON TRACK. Not everyone has the same advantage. I understand some have it easier than others. This is why we should prove that we are worth it. Life is a bitch. She tried to take you down and she may have won a few times. But in the end, bitches cannot win unless you let her! Yes you were rejected, cry your eyes out, then get back on track! Please!
This year I applied for one grad school only because I love that program and that I want to study there. I made it! Be like a pug dog who doesn't know how and when to quit! I am sure you will get what you want eventually! I'm sending all the best wishes to you who will apply next year and BEST OF LUCK!

Hi, this is Kim.
Isn't it frustrating to get into grad school and pursue something you love? Reading this thread, I can feel the struggle and all the effort you have been putting into your own career. PLEASE DO NOT GIVE UP! Two years ago I got rejected by all schools, I cried and started to think that I wasn't worth it. Last year I didn't make the cut and I was depressed. It got worse since everyone was telling me to quit and stick with my Bachelor degree. I don't have a very high GPA btw, my GRE was acceptable (I'm an international student). At the time I started to think negatively and was about to quit. Sometimes I felt like I was getting used to being rejected it doesn't really hurt that much. 
Even when you failed or you feel like you want to quit, KEEP REMIND YOURSELF NOT TO AND STAY ON TRACK. Not everyone has the same advantage. I understand some have it easier than others. This is why we should prove that we are worth it. Life is a bitch. She tried to take you down and she may have won a few times. But in the end, bitches cannot win unless you let her! Yes you were rejected, cry your eyes out, then get back on track! Please!
This year I applied for one grad school only because I love that program and that I want to study there. I made it! Be like a pug dog who doesn't know how and when to quit! I am sure you will get what you want eventually! I'm sending all the best wishes to you who will apply next year and BEST OF LUCK!

TAMU actually pratises "holistic" admission policy. They don't merely look at your GPA or GRE scores. Trust me! I would have been rejected if they just looked at my academic performance in college. I believe they will read your Statement of Purpose, your letters of recommendations and consider every supporting documents (Well, that's what an international student like me experienced). 
Maybe you should contact your department/ program coordinator. They are very professional and helpful. The one that assisted me to apply for Fall 2016 is working in College of Architecture. Your AIS status are from "Office of Admission", they will change it as soon as your department accepts you. Don't sit around and assume, compose an email and ask your coordinator. Honestly I was very interested in one program at TAMU and I applied to that one grad school ONLY (brave, I know!!!). I was blessed to get admitted.

@alligator Hey! This you should find really helpful https://engineering.tamu.edu/petroleum/people/staff
Look for someone who is responsible for graduate admission process (aka Coordinator). Remember your department is the one who makes the decision, not Office of Admission. I will suggest you contact Betty Robbins or Eleanor Schuler. If they had too much to handle, they will forward your inquiries to their assistants. I suggest you do that now. Best of luck!
 

@JDeane I am just curious. Will you be attending TAMU grad school this Fall? I literally know no one! Did you apply for housing yet? Because I haven't. Any advice?
@thunderfly I actually applied to TAMU in Feb 16 (the day I clicked "Submit" button). The admission decision came early after 2 weeks through an email from the department. They also sent an official letter through snail mail and it just got here in Vietnam. My status in AIS did not change immediately right after the department accepts me. I don't know about you, but I honestly believe it is more time-consuming than we think. So it is best to contact them, email them or call them up. Good luck!