leogk

so coooooooooool! guys! I didn't hear anything from Berkeley, which means I'm very unlikely.... By the way,... michigantrumpet, I would say you are "the 2009 com arch applicant of the year". PCP, you "the 2009 theory applicant of the year".

Ooooops... octav1an, how did you know that? Are you in MIT, too? I met him three times today but I didn't hear anything about the admission and I didn't even know today is a decision day. No students know anything about admission.... so I cannot find anyone who I can ask of it. (On the other hand, in CMU, PhD students can also participate in admission committee.)

I totally agree with alice, especially, "higher standard for MS holders" and "tricky funding issues". Some of MS students can get awarded financial support, but they are much less than a half. (surely, it depends on schools.) And, merely getting high GPA during MS is not that helpful. If you have MS, the committees expect you very strong research experience up to publish top conference papers.

hmmm.... A lot of people started posting they've got admission notification. It is not a good sign for me because I've got no message.... I know UC Berkeley and Stanford are two most toughest schools to get in in CS.

congrats octav1an ! I also applied to UMich but I don't hear any news.... I don't think internship at MIT helps a lot. I'm just about to start (from Feb 1st), when the decision is almost finalized. (I mean I don't have any chance to show who I am.... :shock: ) And my PI doesn't say a single word about admission.

Cool ! PCP. You are one of the typical students who professors like most. - summa cum lauder from a top undergraduate school with promising research potentials. You should collect more offers from other top schools ! My brief profile is 1. a Korean Univ. BS ME, MS ME, CMU Robotics MS 2. Internship @ MIT CSAIL, Honda Research, Intel Research, CMU BME 3. One top conf (acceptance ratio:4%), one mediocre ACM conf (8%), 3 robotics journals, 7 robotics conf. (All of them except one: 1st author)

To mav3rick and PCP: Congrats guys ! and congrats on interview offer, too. (I also applied to Berkeley but I don't hear anything.....) I may miss the open house because I was a student at CMU for two years and I don't need to be oriented any more By the way, what are your research fields? (I'm working on Computer Vision, Machine Learning, and Data mining.) From next week, I'll working at MIT as a visiting scientist. But I don't hear any news from MIT (neither officially nor personally). My PI doesn't seem to like talking about the admission thing..

Well... After first MS degree in Korea, 5 year work at National Lab in Korea + 2 year MS at CMU (back to academia and change my field from ME to CS ) + 1 year work (Intel+Honda+MIT) + about to start PhD (I hope to finish it within 3~4 yr). I know it was a long and winding road...

...

To longhorn: Thank you! I have no idea (because I already left Pittsburgh one year ago )... But I don't think so. I guess this year CSD decision is so fast given their patterns for last several years. I know it's really annoying to wait for the result but you may need to allow them a few more weeks. Good luck to your application!

My area is computer vision, machine learning, and data mining. I was a MS student of CMU for two years, so I'm very well aware of almost everything... I was told that this year they've got much more applications.... Congrat again to win a very tough competition !!

Congratulations to all guys who've got accepted !! To michigantrumpet : I've got admission from CMU CSD yesterday, too. Very glad to see someone in the same boat ! Do you plan to go to the Open House?

Oh I see. I didn't know it. Thank god. I haven't log in that site with his id/passwd ever. I don't delete the email yet, but I may need to do it. (Because it's very important for me to keep good relation with him unless I quit my current field of research.)

I am in the same situation. One of my recommenders emailed me his id/password of embark system. I'm not sure whether it was an accident or not. Anyhow, it empowered me to read his recommendation to other people, too ! I didn't read it because I didn't want to be all nerves and as you guys said, it would change nothing about my odds. But one of professors I contacted said my application is very competitive, so I'm just guessing it is good.

I also work in Cambridge area, too (more specifically Kendal square). My major is CS. I only applied to MIT in Boston Area, because the other schools like harvard, bc, bu, tufts has no professors I'm interested in. My first impression on Boston is.. it's like a bio-tech city. A lot of bio-related labs, hospitals, and companies...

I think, whether contacting professors or not should be considered not because you are interested in them but because they seem to be interested in you. If you are sure that your recommenders, background, particular papers, or lab experience are intriguing to them, you'd better do it. Otherwise, your email would be seen as just one of thousands of deleted-without-reading emails .

I think my case is not ordinary because I already have MS, three internships, and two top conference papers. I have a couple of very specific professors in each school I'd like to work with. I don't want to change my field, so it was quite important for me to know whether the specific professors have openings before applying. In my case, contacting looked like successful - all except one gave me a kind reply, about half of them recognized me, and had two interviews until now. 20 is a big number, but my last year experience has me do it. (I applied to about 6, but all of them rejected me.) These days, I would say the CS admission is like a war....

I didn't contact professors to know my odds of getting in but to know whether they have "opening". If they said "highly encourage to apply", it means they have openings, and some professors replied they would be on leave so not hire new students. Those are exactly what I wanted to know before applying. I totally understand that it's their right to select the best student among their candidates pool, and it is not necessarily me. (So, I don't want to beg admission.) As a by-product, I had two interviews with professors I contacted. (Of course, I didn't I ask my odds but just talked about how we can align our research interests.) Yeah, I agree that 20 is a big number. But no recomenders of mine did not say it's too large (ALL of them are professors in US) given the fact that these days CS admission is extremely competitive.

It is understandable that he is not in position to tell you about admission because as he said he has no secure money for you right now. Plus, in some schools, an individual profession may not guarantee any admission decision. I also had interviews with two different professors, and we only discussed about how well our research interests are aligned. I would say you'd better think your odd is about a half. It would be good to your mental health in case things go bad (ex. his funding application is denied, or any other never expectable situations.)

I applied to 20 schools (CS, ECE), and most of them are chosen because professors I contacted said "highly entourage to apply to our schools." That guarantees at least I'm not going to be rejected merely due to no slots this year. Of course, I don't think contacting may get me in but it doesn't hurt anything.

After making sure that all letters were completed, I sent $25 amazon gift cards to all of my 5 professors. But, two of them returned it to me, and the others looked like feeling uncomfortable. (I thought it might be good because all were finished and $25 is not big.) In sum, I'd like to recommend you that (1) if you are still in the school, visit them and say thank you, (2) if you are not, send a short-email or a snail mail.

To glasscandie. It's my tiny advice from last year experience. Do not believe professors. Positive feedback from them does mean nothing until you've got admission letter on your hands. I had been heard a lot of positive comments in last year application, but the results were horrible. (That may be partially caused by my major CS, which is one of most competitive fields to get in.) The point is that you are certainly a very good candidate but there are five times more strong candidates like you than slots. It's like a coin flipping...