emmm

1) Neither of these things makes a letter unprofessional.
2) This is why applicants should totally waive their right to read letters because you're stressing out about this unnecessarily.

When you think a student is going to do pretty well on a paper, but they completely miss part of the directions and then give their opinions that aren't based in any fact whatsoever 
:-( Sad stuff.
Also, what do students have against a conclusion paragraph? Their papers just end abruptly with no warning. It's like stepping off the edge of a cliff (maybe not a very tall one though).

I hear you! This is my first time applying to grad school (economics PhD programs) and based on gradcafe's results and other sources, I expected to hear back from most programs around mid-February, so I had prepared myself for that and wasn't thinking much about it before then. Totally out of the blue, I got a decision from one of my programs (Ohio State) a week ago, and it has seriously messed with my head. Now I'm checking every day obsessively even though most, if not all, of my other 12 applications will stick to that mid-February timetable.
For others who haven't heard anything: if you haven't already, one thing that helped me is searching through previous years of gradcafe results for particular programs and schools (e.g. searching for "ohio state economics"). That will give you an idea of their general timetable--each department within each school notifies at a different time, and looking at historical results will give you an idea of the first wave, second wave, waitlist, etc. It's no guarantee, but it looks like most schools are fairly consistent.

If admissions decisions are made by a committee, the person who interviewed you, even if he's your potential PI, probably doesn't have the "power" to just admit you. So, he can't make any promises. It sounds as though things went well, and he'll be submitting a favorable report/arguing for your acceptance. Just my opinion (of course). Best of luck!

If you study mathematics then you probably are already too old.

Okay. When I was making a list of schools, I only applied to places ranked in the top 50. I had a reasonable distribution. I also made a list of some schools ranked around 50-100 to apply to in case I didn't get in anywhere. Lots of the schools ranked below 50 have very late deadlines (like July). I already got in somewhere, but here's a list of schools with late deadlines off the top of my head (again, these aren't top schools -- if I weren't good enough to get in to a top school, I would have accepted that): NC State, Florida, UI Chicago, Delaware, UT Dallas, FSU, UNM.
If you want better schools with open deadlines (meaning 2/1 or later, not 4/15 or later), there's still GT, UPenn, Colorado State, Minnesota, UNC.

I teach part-time at local CCs. In some classes, I have complete control --  i.e. I decide what to include, I make all exams. In others, I still control what material I present, but the final exam is the same for all sections of the class, so I have to make sure the students are prepared for that. I try to mix up the format of my classes. Some days are all lecture, others are hands-on activities. If I miss a day, I can condense or skip some of the in class activities. I have also scheduled make-up classes on Saturdays (often optional review sessions). Students actually DO come! That's not my favorite solution, but students actually seem to appreciate it.

I want to link to this excellent post because I think we all need to reminded when we lose perspective and confidence in ourselves that this is a time that will pass. I've never heard it phrased this way before but, the sentiment is excellent. Hopefully, it'll help the community out!

What is UC Santa Clara? I'm not familiar with CGPA numbers, but your stats look pretty bad, and getting in will be a stretch at most if not all of these schools.

I think this is mostly a question of who you are as a researcher and what your needs are of the advising relationship. In my opinion, having a strong advising relationship that you are happy with is absolutely crucial for maintaining your health and being successful in graduate school.
Some people, like rising_star, are happy with the hands-off approach, and would therefore be happy with an advisor like yours, OP. I personally enjoyed meeting with my advisors on a regular basis, usually once a week or every other week, and I could count on them to read and comment on my ongoing work, conference abstracts, etc. For me, this was a much better arrangement, just based on my personality and theirs. I can also count on my advisors to write numerous glowing (I am told by those who read them) letters of recommendation for grants, jobs, etc.
I don't think any particular advising style is better than any others, I think it's all about compatibility between how you work best and what your advisor can give you. 
Since it's only been a semester, it might be worth giving it more time. That said, if this is how the professor operates with all of their students, and you aren't happy with that, then if it were me, I would consider switching to a new advisor soon. Since you're only in your first year, you have more than enough time to change the direction of your research. The topic you choose should still be something you care about, but personally if I had to choose between my favorite topic with an advisor I don't quite get along with and a less favorite (but still interesting!) topic with an advisor I enjoy talking to, I would choose the latter. Your dissertation research will be the first step in a long research career, it's not the final thing you get to say. You can grow and expand in different directions post-PhD, and to me, being happy means being more successful, so having a better chance of getting to pursue all those other ideas. 
So, I would think a possible next step is to talk to more senior students of your advisor's about how s/he operates with them and whether they enjoy it, and similarly, if you can, with senior students of the advisor you're considering switching to. Also, if you're unsure about your compatibility with this other advisor, this is something to figure out before you make any drastic moves. Then, you'll need to sit down and think about what you need out of your advisor, and what happens if s/he can't give you some of the things you'd ideally like to have, and at the same time about whether the topics you'd work on with each potential advisor are exciting and appealing to you. If you can't have everything, you'll need to choose what matters more. 

Hello All,

I am Adwait Jog graduated with B.Tech (Electronics and Instrumentation) from NIT Rourkela, India in 2009 and then went ahead to complete my Ph.D. in computer science from Penn State University, USA.

I am now an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the College of William and Mary (W&M) in Virginia, USA. It is one of the few public ivies (2nd oldest institution in the US), currently ranked as 6th among US public schools, 33rd among national universities, and 70th in computer science (as per US news rankings).

I am starting a new computer architecture research group at W&M with the goal of designing future computing systems more energy-efficient, reliable, secure, capable, and useful. For my start-up, I am looking for highly self-motivated, talented, and creative students, who have interests in the broad areas of computer architecture, systems, software, and circuits. I am also excited to explore opportunities that can lead to solid cross-disciplinary research work. Therefore, I am also on the lookout for students having interests in other disciplines such as (but not limited to) biology, economics, machine learning, security, and theory.

After satisfying all the course/admission requirements of the CS Ph.D. program of W&M and contributing significantly, students will receive Ph.D., thereby opening up several new avenues for them in academia or industry research labs. Note that GRE and TOEFL exams are required for the formal admission to W&M. If admitted to the Ph.D. program, tuition waiver and reasonable stipend are generally awarded. 

Feel free to contact me via email, if you are interested to discuss the
possibilities of joining my group.


Thanks,
Adwait Jog
Assistant Professor
College of William and Mary
Email: adwait@cs.wm.edu
http://www.cs.wm.edu/~adwait

Firstly, what is your sub-field of interest? From what I have heard, evaluations are done very differently for different sub-fields.
It is unlikely that you would be simply eliminated just because you don't have 1 or 2 required courses. However, you need to really show them something special to keep your app in consideration. For example, relevant publications, stellar recommendations, a very unique internship or work experience etc. Secondly, the type of courses that will be considered seriously depend on the sub-field. For example, if you are interested in robotics, having a few ME courses on control, kinematics, dynamics etc. could actually be more advantageous than having 4-5 courses on compilers, computer architecture, or operating systems. Having a low GPA is definitely not a positive whichever way you look at it. The extent to which it will hurt depends on the courses in which your grades were low, the university to which you are applying etc. Subject GRE may not actually add any value, but considering it is 80+% it will certainly not hurt. If you aren't concerned about a few extra $$, it's better to send. MS is almost always easier compared to PhD. But MS programs don't boost your PhD chances by a lot. Yes, your coursework problem can be taken care of, but the bar for admission will also be much higher for MS students. So unless you publish 1-2 top tier papers, a good PhD program will not be interested. Doing research during MS is not easy, and depends a lot on university. For small programs which take in just 20-30 MS candidates, chances of working with a faculty are bright. However, for large cash cow programs, most faculty aren't bothered about MS students. Funding is also essentially ruled out. So if you want to go the MS route, you must be very careful in your choice of programs. MS programs in Canada are research based, and cracking them is just as difficult as cracking PhD programs at a decent US school (top 30). From what I gather, CS PhD programs are currently extremely competitive. The amount of effort and aptitude needed to crack a 25-30 ranked CS program is comparable to cracking a top 10 program in most other engineering areas like ME. Added to this is the fact that you don't have the proper diploma. I'd suggest you have good backup plans like a CS MS program in India or be ready to shell some money for a CS MS at a top 30 US program.

^Yep, describe the ordering in the SOP, and add a footnote to the paper saying "authors contributed equally." If you have a professor who is aware of your contributions to the paper and knows about your arrangements with your classmates, it'd be helpful to have her/him describe that in a LOR. 

It's really hard for anyone to chance you. I know I have no idea how to determine what my chances would be at any given school....
From what I have seen, your GRE Q might be a little on the low side for international students, but since you're applying for MS rather than PhD, that's probably fine (and I also don't know what schools consider "acceptable" for their programs). There are schools with separate programs for HCI -- have you looked at any of those? They might be a bit easier to get into than CS programs. You have publications, and most don't -- so that is a big plus in your favor, I'd say. LORs are important, and there's no way to know how effective yours are. Bottom line -- we're all in the same boat :-) Waiting and biting our nails until we hear something. It sounds like you are a very credible applicant whose application should get serious consideration. Good luck!

Hi there, this forum is not intended to assist students with their homework, but rather for students who are applying to graduate school or are currently attending graduate school, to talk about their experiences. This is a question that you should address to your instructor or TA. 

I've taken up scrapbooking. I hate scrapbooking. But I hate obsessively checking my e-mail every 5 minutes even more.

Had an interaction/interview with PoI at UWashington yesterday (over phone). He said first batch of admits would be sent by this Friday (notified at the dept. level), and another batch would be done sometime around Feb 2nd week. Really nervous right now! He told me that he liked my application, and our interests match. But he didn't say outright "admit". Don't know how much to read into the conversation, but it is safe to assume that I will not get any sleep this week.

From what I've heard, your LORs are really important. I have heard that many programs want to see letters from people they are familiar with and whose opinions they respect. A hastily (sloppy) LOR doesn't sound as though it will help your application at all. If possible, try to find some professors who will write you good letters. It is not easy to know, when you're asking, who will or will not help you, but I'd like to think a professor wouldn't agree to write for you unless he/she intended to support your application. Given you essentially have to waive your right to see your letters, you could be sending in an application with a weak LOR without knowing it. Here, however, you KNOW you are not getting a great LOR -- and you really do want them all to be very good/great. Why would you knowingly do this to yourself?

Yes, your grades do matter, since they are a reflection of how your professors view your work. You sound a bit immature complaining about the professor's "subjective BS." Maybe some of that attitude is coming across in your classwork? Even if it's true, it's part of life, and everyone has to learn to deal with it. However, first year is stressful, and there's a lot to adjust to. It's entirely possible that your grades will improve as you get used to your program. While you shouldn't ignore your grades, you should not obsess about this one, either. It is satisfactory for your program, and you should move on -- strive to learn what you need to learn and to make the right impression on people in your program. They will be your network later, when you need advice, recommendation letters, etc. Congrats for making it through your first term of grad school!

I had to work 100+ weeks in my past life as a resident (worst period of my life), and while it is *technically* do-able, it is not in any way, shape, or form healthy. I had to learn how to keep compulsive checklists because my memory was unreliable due to exhaustion and my mind tried to play tricks on me to convince me my work was done when it wasn't. It was really weird feeling as though I could not trust my "memories" and it's something I never experienced before or since that period. When your mind and body desperately need sleep, I guess weird things do happen. Also, I frequently had trouble staying awake while driving home, and I switched my route to one that was pretty deserted (country backroads), so that if I hit something, it would most likely be a tree and I hopefully wouldn't kill anyone other than myself. I was too caught up in the residency "experience" to realize that this was not a healthy solution to the problem. So, ANY program that thinks you should be there 80-100 weeks or more is insane and abusive, in my opinion.

Ignore them -- you're working much harder than they are, and you know much more than they do. What they really want is for you to do all their work for them.
Then they would think you were a good TA, but then you'd REALLY be a bad one.

You have to realize that admissions are very competitive for everyone, but even more so for international students. It seems as though you almost have to be perfect. I don't think lack of a publication is enough to disqualify you, but all the aspects of your application need to be strong, including your statement of purpose and your recommendations (and your GREs).

I reiterate: Before you drop the money on retaking the GRE, contact the program and ask what they think. It benefits them to have highly qualified applicants, and they will be honest with you about where you stand and how you can improve.

I would also recommend avoiding the for-profit school route. They are not generally well-regarded.

I hope your "highest grade possible" has renewed your strength in your ability to quell those demons who tell you "you were just not born with the mental hardware capable of keeping up with everyone else.  There is nothing you can ever do to perform as well as your peers." You are awesome and that grade is just some measurable proof of your awesomeness lol    Good luck with everything.