garbledy

I figure since April 15 is almost here, most people have made their decision. So where did you decide to go? What subfield? Was this your top choice? Or, have you decided to scrap grad school all together?! I am 95% certain I am going to UMD for HCI. I haven't visited yet, so I will do that first before committing. If it ends up being terrible, I will accept the offer to Tufts. Georgia Tech was my top choice, but UMD was second so I'm very pleased!

just as an update -- recieved a rejection email yesterday (they said official rejection is in the mail) and my app status is still the same as above (with "Action-Dept. Decision Pending").

I just used Google Docs and spreadsheets to make sure all my materials got in, what is left, etc. I also kept a text document of status websites, etc. It was pretty painless!

What specific neighborhoods/areas would you suggest for living within walking distance to Tufts? I'm not sure where to start looking, as I am not familiar with the area at all and there seem to be soo many neighborhoods!

it says Action-Dept. Decision Pending

This exact same thing happened to me a couple months ago (status changed to Dept. Decision Pending + two new docs in req. docs section) It hasn't changed since that! At first I thought it was a good sign, but now I agree with UFGator -- it's probably just the application has been forwarded from the university-wide grad office to the department.

Me and my bf are going to cook dinner together, and then watch Watson on Jeopardy! Pretty excited.

If I get in anywhere, I'll be obsessively planning for my move, researching things to do, places to go, where to live... probably won't be focusing on finishing my senior thesis & graduating as much as I should! Over the summer, I'll probably just keep a part time job and use the remaining time to try to relax and enjoy the calm before I start my new journey!

Oh geez. I've been keeping track in one of my many grad school spread sheets... Applied to 9 schools. App fees - $535 GRE - $140 Sending GRE scores - $207 (I wish I had picked my schools earlier so that I could take advantage of having 4 schools sent the scores for free!!) Sending transcripts - $74 For a grand total of.. $956. a little over $100 per school. blah!

You did well - this is probably EXACTLY what I'd want to hear. Especially the latter. And I wouldn't want a hug. That would make me feel pitiful.

"... but X and Y got in..... "

This reminds me of a scene from that horrible teen show The O.C... Marissa: "I love you." Boy whose name I forget: ".... Thank you"

I think the April 15 deadline is only for fall applications. Your info says you are applying for 2011 Spring, so I think April 15 is would be too late, since it would be half way through the semester by then (typically). I'm not sure if there is a commonly known deadline for spring admissions. I would definitely request an extension!

This is the exact boat I'm in! I applied to nine schools, and I'm at a point where I feel I shouldn't have even bothered with 4-5 of those nine schools. And NOW I'm at a point where I think the remaining 4-5 "safeties" will even reject me. The admissions process just seems so arbitrary, I feel like my application won't stand out and I'll just be cast off into the "reject" pile for all schools. BLAH.. the only think keeping me from applying to more schools is my $0 bank balance (as a result of applying to more and more schools) and not wanting to bother my recommenders for even MORE letters. I need to learn how not to be crazy...

I need 3 recommendations, and already know I will get the first two from my research advisors. These should be strong recommendations. For the third however, I am torn between two professors: Proffesor A: A researcher in the field I intent to pursue, but I only had one class with her, but no interaction outside of that. I did will in her class, and my advisor told me she says good things about me, so she definitely knows me and would be able to write me a positive LOR. She might know professors at the schools I am trying to apply to, so this is a plus. Professor B: Non-research professor that I have had 2 classes with, an independent study, and I have been her TA. I am close to this professor and have no doubt that she would have plenty of good things/stories to write about me, but since she does not do research, it may not hold much weight with the adcom. Is either better than the other, or does it not matter since I will already have two solid recommendations from my research advisors? Thanks!

@OH YEAH Thanks for your reply. It's really helpful, I will definitely look into the professors and departments you mentioned. All the schools you mentioned are ones that I would LOVE to go to.. now it's just a matter if I'm competitive enough to be accepted @timuralp I asked my advisors, but didn't think to ask more than the two... Now that I have a better idea about what areas to look into, I'll probably contact professors at my school in these areas. Thank you! On another note - does anyone have any good ways to determine which schools I would be competitive for? I've tried scouring the forums and finding a student with a similar profile for me, but my stats seem to be in the grey area of . I wish there was some sort of database for this type of thing! I know "chance me" threads can get annoying/are generally useless, so I didn't want to post one of those, but at the same time I don't want to waste my time/energy aiming for a school that I have no chance of getting into!

Hi everyone, I'm going to be a Senior in CS next year, and am looking to attend a Ph. D. program for Fall 2011. Right now, I'm trying to create a list of 8-11 schools to apply to, but I'm having difficulty doing so because I'm not even sure exactly to look for in a school based on my interests. I figured you guys are all very knowledgeable in this and would really appreciate it if you could help me out here! I am getting a B.S. in CS with a minor in math. At my school, we have to pock a "concentration" - mine is theory of computation (lots of math and logic courses) I am VERY interested in the following: - typical theory- and math-related things (logic, automata, graph theory) - optimizing algorithms based on complexity (as opposed to hardware/architecture/compilers) - linguistics and NLP (the research I am doing now focuses on this) I am NOT interested in: - architecture - operating systems - compilers - robotics - networks - databases - security - being someone else's code monkey I am curious about, but don't know if I am interested in: - cognitive science - human-computer interaction - category theory My questions: - What schools have good programs in these areas? Any professors in particular I should read more about? - Are there any more areas that you think I might enjoy based on what I've written above? And one last thing! My goal after grad school is to continue working on research, but not in academia. Ideally, I want to be implementing what I've researched as useful software, instead of just publishing papers about it. I'm worried that since my interests are primarily theory related, that I will not be able to fulfill my dream of writing awesome software. Is this the case, or are there applications for high-level research out there? Sorry for the ridiculously long post! Any help would be greatly appreciated, especially any recommendations on schools or professors I should look into!