fangsout

GradSchoolBound, what school did you choose?

GradSchoolBound, Have you made your decision? I'm debating between UVA with guaranteed funding and UNC with a "good chance" of funding

UNC admitted me without guaranteed funding. On my own, I found an RA and thought my problem was solved. Apparently, I may not get my tuition waived, even though I have an RA position secured. In the past, all students without "guaranteed funding" have still had their tuition waived if they possessed an assistantship. This semester, NO student received a tuition waiver unless they were in the "guaranteed funding" category. If I don't get my tuition waived, I will have to pay $11,000 per semester. As soon as I pass quals, my status will change to "guaranteed funding". I have full funding at UVA and although I prefer UNC, I am considering going to UVA because it seems silly to pay for a PhD in CS, when it's not even guaranteed that I'll get a job making any more money than I do now with a masters. Are any other schools dealing with this? I have never heard of a situation where a student can have an assistantship but still have to pay tuition?!?

gradSchoolBound, I also am interested in working with Prof. Sarkar. That is a great opportunity and congratulations on the admit. Do you think you will accept the offer?

I just got admitted on the OSU website. I suspect they'll send out e-mails shortly.

I can only speak from an American perspective but it may be similar in other countries. You absolutely can make up for a poor undergrad gpa. In no particular order: - Take relevant CS and Math classes as a non-degree seeking student at the nearest college or a certificate program over distance learning at a decent school. - look for internships and apply to 100's of positions for jobs/projects that would give you valuable experience and take, if you can, the best opportunity you get regardless of location. - seriously study for and take the CS GRE. - contact professors, after thoroughly reading their papers, that are working on projects you find interesting and ask questions to try to figure out what specific topic or problem area you may be interested in.

Thank you for all of the replies. I agree. I just needed a sanity check.

I'm looking for opinions about my situation. My interests lie in parallel programming/computer graphics. I have the following 3 offers: 1. UVA (TA award) 2. UNC (RA guaranteed for 1 year, the rest pending grant proposals) 3. NC State ( guaranteed RA for 4.5 years to work on massive nuclear engineering project at ORNL, and set myself up nicely for job at ORNL working in computational NE) UVA: pro: is 28th and has a small department with a respected group in gpu architecture and hetero-computing. con: not highly regarded in general for CS and if I don't enjoy working in the gpu arch group, then my options are limited. UNC: pro: 20th and is well respected for graphics and gpu stuff, many research options, and there are lots of jobs in the Research Triangle. con: Only guaranteed funding for 1 year NC State: pro: has a top 10 NE dept that I would be working closely with and is also in the RTP area. guaranteed funding for school and could focus on research from start. Could directly result in good job at ORNL. con: wouldn't get a Nuc E degree so no NE jobs, not a pure CS focus so CS research jobs may not be impressed. I would possibly be pigeon-holing myself into HPC Nuclear Software on Supercomputers. Sorry for the brain dump, but I'm stressing over this. Any opinions on how much weight I should give to guaranteed funding, versus department reputation? Thanks in advance.

So, I'm planning on this being a reject. I wasn't invited to visitation weekend so I guess the reality is that I have an extremely slim shot of getting in at this point.

A theory is only as valuable as its implementation. I do understand where you're coming from though, just wanted to get a jab in for all the systems peeps

First off, I hope you are safe and sound after the earthquake last night! such a tragedy. Anyways, I just finished my MS at UT and am now working in the area. I would check www.rentutk.com for nice rentals close to campus. Renaissance 1 condos and Sullins Ridge Condos are nice and safe and very close to campus. message me what you are looking for and I can talk to the realtor that manages a ton of units close to campus. To answer your question in a more general sense, Fort Sanders is as close to campus as you can get but it suffers from occasional burglary. I lived in Fort Sanders last year and never saw a single crime. Basically, you don't want to live in one of the massive old homes because they are least secure. I would not live in south knoxville if you are going to bike to school. henley bridge is currently closed for construction and I don't think it will be done by fall. If you don't mind a 10 min. commute, then west knoxville is really nice and also north knoxville is cheap and safe.

I'm seriously considering UNC. I'm interested in gpu programming and visualization, and they're really strong in graphics. I'm not attending the visitation weekend but I may visit the weekend of April 8th.

I would look at how well the research projects at each school fit my interests. Also, which school has more professors working on interesting things, in case a professor cannot fund you. As for comparing extra-curricular stuff, OSU is a HUGE state school with great athletics, whereas UVA is a more selective state school that prides itself on being a "public ivy". Very different feel on each campus. Weather is colder at OSU, and UVA is close to the Blue Ridge Mountains for hiking and skiing.

I don't know, I hope we will start receiving results this week. Rice is a perfect fit for my interests so I am really anxious!

I'm sorry but I don't know anything else. My approach has always been to try to find a professor that I can communicate with and have similar interests, and then apply to the schools where I've found professors that seem interested in me. After applying, you're kind of stuck until you get admitted. After getting admitted I then focus on finding a research assistantship by contacting the professors that I previously mentioned. If I were in your shoes, I would try,it's tough I know, to not get too worried and maybe contact departments once per month to see where you stand.