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Nocturnae

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Posts posted by Nocturnae

    Moving overseas - anyone else anxious and homesick?

    in The Lobby

    Posted

    I honestly never thought I would feel like this. I have never been particularly happy here in my country. And now I got accepted to a program I am really excited about, under the supervision of a professor that I really admire, in a country that I really like. However, with the moving date approaching, I am getting more and more nervous, and almost homesick already. It feels weird to leave my family behind as well as all things that are familiar to me.

    Does anyone else feel like this? I guess I am just looking to see if there are other people going through this. I feel like people tend to hide this side of the process while solely projecting the good stuff.

    How do you decide on a research topic with little research experience?

    in Research

    Posted

    I am trying to narrow down my research interests for my Master's research, and while I have a good idea about the subfield I would like to work on (natural language understanding and/or machine translation), I find it extremely challenging to identify a specific topic. As a recent computer science graduate with relatively little research experience (especially in terms of breadth), it seems impossible for me to come up with a decent idea. I don't know how anyone else does it, to be honest.

    I'm now trying to go through the major and recent papers in the said fields to develop a better sense. It definitely helps to get up-to-date with the field, but most certainly not enough to produce an interesting idea of my own.

    How did/would you go about doing this? Any ideas or suggestions?

    Thanks in advance!

    How much does the brand name / ranking of a grad school really matter?

    in Decisions, Decisions

    Posted · Edited by Nocturnae

    13 hours ago, juilletmercredi said:

    Yes, I agree - if you can at least give us the name of the schools and your broad field, we can be of more help. That's not enough information to really identify you.

    With that said, in a general sense - it kind of depends on your field and what you want to do after grad school. I can say that in industry, a "brand" name can help you career-wise, although what's considered a 'brand name' is pretty broad. That can include traditionally elite private schools (like the aforementioned Harvard or Cornell) as well as prestigious public universities (like Michigan, UCLA, Berkeley). And this is going to vary by field - North Dakota State, I have heard, is very good in aviation sciences. Rutgers is a powerhouse in philosophy, although not traditionally thought of when people name prestigious public universities. On the flip side, your PhD program's reputation may be very important if you want to get a tenure-track job in English or philosophy; maybe not so much if you are looking for industry positions in engineering. So the question is, are you talking about actual brand name or are you talking about reputation in your field?

    I would absolutely choose funding over brand name if the difference was large enough. If we're talking about full finding vs. no money at all, then absolutely I would take the full funding.

    Fair enough. I posted with more details earlier, and received no replies whatsoever, so I thought maybe I was doing it wrong :)

    I applied exclusively to Master's in Computer Science programs. My research interests lie in natural language processing and deep learning. I intend to pursue a PhD afterward, and probably try and become a research scientist at a company.

    I am trying to choose between EPFL (brand name and high academic output) and UWaterloo (great PI / lab and full funding).

    Would you still choose funding over brand name when there is a relatively large gap between the reputations of programs?

    How much does the brand name / ranking of a grad school really matter?

    in Decisions, Decisions

    Posted

    I am trying to choose between two offers, but I feel like the brand of one of the schools affects me too much. 

    Ultimately, how much does the brand name / ranking really matter in making a decision? Would you choose funding over brand name, or vice versa? Those of you who chose one over the other, do you have any regrets? What would you consider given what you know now?

    Thanks in advance!

    Master's in Computer Science: UWaterloo vs EPFL

    in Decisions, Decisions

    Posted

    Two unexpected admits later, I find myself utterly confused.

    To give you an idea about my profile: My research interests lie in natural language processing, information retrieval and deep learning. I intend to pursue a PhD right after my Master's degree. Ultimately, I would like to be working as a researcher at a R&D division of a larger company (such as Google), but that aspiration might well change in the upcoming years.

    I feel like UWaterloo is an excellent culture fit, but I frankly can't ignore EPFL's academic reputation. So, I decided to write down all the criteria that go into my decision-making. I appreciate any input regarding the following, or anything else that you think might be important:

    • The professor who accepted me as his student at UWaterloo is truly inspiring, and I am genuinely excited to work with him. Our research interests align well, he is very friendly and easy to talk to, and his academic productivity is just off the charts.
    • On the other hand, I feel like Master's programs in Europe are like a natural extension to undergrad, and too detached from research, and I might not get a chance to join a lab. (I could be wrong.) Since I wish to pursue further research, getting some actual research experience and publishing would be immensely helpful later in my life. That said, EPFL has an excellent NLP lab.
    • Switzerland is much closer to my original country, which would make any emergency trips (or any usual family visits, for that matter) much easier.
    • I am really happy about UWaterloo's great funding. EPFL is pretty affordable in terms of tuition, as well, but they offer no assistantship and only a few scholarships. Sure, money isn't the primary objective in attending grad school, but I know for a fact that struggling financially would take a toll on my mental health. I would much rather focus on my research than freak out about money.
    • By the same token, Lausanne is a damn expensive city.

    I am also curious about academic prospects after graduation, first-hand (or second-hand?) stories about student life in either, etc.

    Thank you so much in advance!

    Gift Ideas for Letter Writers?

    in The Lobby

    Posted

    2 hours ago, Psygeek said:

    If you know them well - a personal gift was nice.

    I had one professor who's a tea fanatic, so I got him some special tea.
    I gave a supernice bookstamp for another person because I knew he'd really appreciate it (which he did).
    The third one I just bought him some coupons for good coffee nearby his faculty since he's always complaining the coffeemachines are the worst. 

    All were very happy with their personalized gifts.

    I love those ideas!

    I feel like I am not close enough with my profs to get personal gifts, but I am not sure... How weird would it be for me to do it anyway?

    Any married grad students here?

    in Officially Grads

    Posted

    I've recently gotten engaged to my boyfriend of many years, and I have to admit I am a little nervous about people at grad school perceiving me differently because of my decision to get married at a relatively early age. The thing is we are a perfect team, we have supported each other during really tough times (and I am sure will continue to do so), and getting married just makes so much sense logistically as we are moving to another country together. I have no doubt in my mind about the marriage itself, but I am also clueless as to how it might affect my grad life.

    So, any (fellow) married grad students here? Have you had any issues, and if so, how did you deal with them? Or were there any surprising benefits? Any advice in general?

    Thanks!

    Waterloo MMath in CS Interview

    in Interviews and Visits

    Posted

    I have two interviews with my POIs next week, and I have no idea what to expect.

    Can anyone share their experiences? How long are interviews typically? What do they focus on - my relevant experience, the professor's respective research, etc.?

    I would appreciate any input at all, preferably Waterloo-specific but any advice pertaining to Master's interviews would be fantastic.

    Thanks in advance!

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