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coolio

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Everything posted by coolio

  1. Hi guys, just wondering if anyone has any insight to share as to what would be the best way to establish a credit history with the US financial institutions so that I can get a credit card? If you open an account with a bank that also issues credit cards, do they normally give you a credit card with a low limit as long as you keep a specific balance in your bank account or something? Appreciate any tips or suggestions. Thanks.
  2. I got accepted to the industrial engineering M.S. programs at both Stevens Institute of Technology (SIT) and Rutgers University (RU), New Brunswick and I am looking to move to be near one of these school. (I assume that most classes at RU would take place at the Busch Campus in Piscataway.) I want to stay off-campus in a surrounding neighborhood, hopefully within 3 miles of campus. If I have to go by neighborhoods alone, which universities would offer better personal and home safety? I am not looking for the cheapest suggestion, as I am willing to pay a bit more for the comfort of safety, or the perceived better safety... I am always vigilant anyway. I will have a car, too. Not sure if house/car break & enter is more prominent some of these neighborhoods over the others?
  3. I currently have 2 offers for an M.S. without financial aid (Fall 17) and I am waiting to hear the results from 3 more schools. My situation is - School A gave me a 1-month deadline from the offer date to make a decision, and if I say yes then I have to pay a deposit. After that, I will need to send a copy of my passport along with the financial docs for them to issue my I-20. - School B said I have been recommended for admission, and the next step is for me to mail in a copy of passports and financial docs for them. Then my I-20 will arrive with the official acceptance packet. They did not mention anything about me notifying them with a yes/no response, or the deadline that I must abide by, or the need for a deposit. I called and asked if there was a hard deadline for the financial docs and they said there really wasn't one either. So school A and B are the safety schools for me. I really hope to hear good news from the remaining 3 schools. I heard that some people would just say yes to multiple schools, get multiple I-20 documents, and make the final decision by declining the offers that they don't want later. My problem is that I just don't want all these schools to have a copy of my passport and bank account info if it turns out that I will not attend there. Plus my spouse will be going with me, so they will also have a copy of my spouse's passport too if I want an i-20 from them. I am just not comfortable with the idea because I think it could be a privacy issue. And then there is the issue of paying a non-refundable deposit to hold your place. Since the timeline for the decision will spread out over the next few months, I just hate the idea of paying a deposit on safety school as a fallback plan. Do all schools really follow that April 15th deadline? Does it apply to an admission without financial aid? My plan right now is to wait a month to see if other school's results will come through. If any of you have a good risk management process for dealing with multiple offers, please share. Thanks.
  4. Hi guys. I have a question about deferring admission that probably has been asked so many times already, so I want to apologize in advance. I just feel that my situation has a slightly different angle and would like some advice. Let's just say I am a B candidate. Not an A+, not a C-, but somewhere in the middle. I have been applying to many M.S. programs at B's and C's schools for next Fall semester. Then the "D" school came along inviting me to apply to their M.S. program with a fee waiver (thanks to the annoying GRE Search Service). But this program is for a different term, i.e., Spring, not Fall. Long story short, I caved and applied to the D school and now I got accepted with no funding. Now, just so you know I am really grateful, and yes I would be happy to enroll at the D school if nothing else come along. Also, I am working and has no time constraint. I can quit work to attend school any time whether it is Spring or Fall. But I have already submitted 5 applications to the B's and C's schools and won't hear the decision from them until next Feb or March. I mean, I spent hundreds of dollars on those applications, and I really want to know the decision from those schools. My problem is timing (and I admit, poor judgment) because I wouldn't be in this situation today if I would just pay the darn fee and apply for the Fall semester at the D school. So what I really want to do is deferring admission at the D school by a semester so that I get to hear decisions from B's and C's. I would have to pay the $500 deposit, and would probably lose it if I go to one of the B's and C's schools instead (which is not ideal but I am prepared to do so). Should I even mention my dilemma to the D school or should I just defer their admission and pay? I don't want the D school to think that they are my fall back school, although that is precisely what I think of them at the moment. I am hoping it is more common that people defer admission, decide not to attend,and then forfeit a deposit, because I certainly don't want to be one of the select few who are ever known to do it.
  5. I will be taking a TOEFL for the first time and I am now finding out that the four free score reports have to be designated before the test day. I have heard conflicting info regarding whether or not you will see the complete TOEFL scores at the end of the test. ETS only mentioned on the website that you would have the opportunity to cancel the scores at the end of the test including that your score would be available to view online after 10 days. So my question is ... At the end of the TOEFL test before you decide to send or cancel the scores, do you get to see (1) all 4 sub-scores, i.e., Reading, Listening, Speaking, and Writing, or (2) some of the sub-scores, e.g., Reading and Listening perhaps, or (3) no score at all? Having taken the GRE where you could see the Verbal and Quant score right away, I feel that I should at least be able to see the TOEFL Reading and Listening score right after the test... Sorry guys this was a pretty worthless question but I was just curious to know. Thanks.
  6. First off, let me just say that this is a hypothetical question. I am curious to know if anyone has ever rescinded their accepted offer from grad school and are there any negative ramifications associated with doing so? I am just wondering because I see that some schools can make an offer for admission as early as December but I don't really know how much time they give you to respond. What if you accept an offer too early and you have a change of heart later on in April when you also get accepted by your dream school? I can see that it will reflect poorly if one chooses to rescind an offer but are there any real acute consequences?
  7. Hi everyone, I am applying to Ph.D. program for Fall 2017 start and I am planning to make a few visits to universities and profs between now until then. My hope really is that I could make a few connections with profs in the lab that I want to work in. The application process will open in September 2016 and will close around December 2016. In your opinion, is it considered more opportune to visit schools before or after submitting the application? Are there certain times of the year (months or semesters) that are more conducive? I have seen the open house of some programs are scheduled in the November time frame. If I already submit my application in September, I am not sure if November is considered too late. If you can share your experience on when is considered a good time to visit schools and talk to profs, that would be appreciated. Thanks.
  8. Hi guys, My background is chemical engineering. I did my M.Sc. right after my B.Sc., and I have been working in the industry for about 10 years since. I have had 4 jobs altogether. All of them are related to engineering, but they are not exactly relevant to what I want to do for a PhD. For example, I have done a lot of process engineering, process simulation, equipment design and sizing, hydraulic calculations, etc., etc. These jobs all require chemical engineering as a foundation, but they don't qualify as a full-time research experience. So I feel that the work experience is not exactly going to be relevant if I want to go after, say, monte carlo optimization as a PhD (although I know full well that I can do it). So, do you think the 10 years of work experience in a (semi-related but) irrelevant field to the research interest would be helpful to a certain degree? If I mention in the SOP that I find the monte carlo subject to be very interesting and I have the required skills to be successful at it, would that suffice? And some of my jobs are less relevant to grad study, but they are not by choice. I got laid off a couple of times and had to take what was best available to me given the situation at the time. I feel that addressing this in the SOP would sound very whiny and negative. I mean, the fact that I still manage to be in my profession after all the volatile job market situation should count for something. Or should I point that out too in the SOP to make for a more survival story? Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks.
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