closetgeek

Over the summer, I participated in an REU at one of my safety schools. The research that I did turned it to be pretty good. I worked on it even once classes started, submitted my work to a conference, and my paper actually got accepted! Well my mentor reallllly wants me to go to the school. I don't really want to go at all, but my mentor was great and has helped me out so much during the grad school process that I feel that I should at least consider going. Anyways, he talked to the department head about our research, and he wants me to come to his lab and present my work. He also said he wants to convince me to come to the school! He's actually one of the top researchers in the field I am interested in, but I was at the school for an entire summer and decided that it really wasn't where I wanted to be for 4-6 years. Anyways, I'm really nervous about presenting my work...I don't even really know what is expected of me. The university is about 14 hours away...I really don't want to go up there to present my work because I don't want to go to the school and its kind of a hassle, but I feel like I should, and would feel bad if I didn't. Anyways, do you think its worth it? I feel kind of weird about the situation :

So I've applied to grad school for computer science. I want to get a PhD with an emphasis in robotics or AI. Last week, out of nowhere, I got nervous that I wouldn't get accepted anywhere so I went to career builder and posted my resume, then I applied to a whole bunch of jobs. I also applied to some jobs through my school's career website. My friends that have graduated used to tell me that it took forever to hear back from employers, if they heard back at all. But surprisingly, I've gotten a lot of emails asking for interviews. I was expecting these to come after grad school decisions! My timing was waaaay off.. If I got a super good job offer, I'm not even sure if I would want to go straight to grad school. But if I got into a good grad school..well I'm getting my PhD for a reason. Should I tell these companies in the interview that I'm interested in grad school? Should I even interview so soon? Should I pull my resume and post it up later?? I feel so weird..I was sure I wanted to go to grad school, but the idea of working kind of intrigues me now :/

Hi, in one of my applications we can upload and other information we deem relevant. Should I upload a paper I have submitted, even if it has not been accepted yet? Or should I just mention that I've submitted a paper. Thanks

great, thanks for the advice guys! I was worried about leaving a page blank, but I will just upload any relevant information. Thanks!

One of my applications asks for employment history. I haven't actually worked during college, though. It states: "You may substitute employment with professional activities relevant to your academic goals." What qualifies as a professional activity? Here are some things I have done while in college: Webmaster for the school's student unionpresident of ACM-W for over a yearREU at UMass Summer 2009REU at Rutgers Summer 2010 Do any of these actually count? Or should I just skip this question? Thanks!

My friend just informed me . He said he had 8000 characters and I freaked out because I thought I was way behind with only 1400 (words). Until I realized I somehow have ~9000 characters! So I have a lot of chopping down to do!

Thanks! That makes sense.

Well I know there obviously some differences..but there seems to be an overlap. Heres the background question: Please describe your background (academic and extracurricular) and experience, including research, teaching, industry, and other relevant information. Your space is limited to 4000 characters and must be answered here. And the SOP: Please give a Statement of Purpose detailing your academic and research goals as well as career plans. Include your reasons for choosing the College of Computing as opposed to other programs and/or other universities. Your space is limited to 4000 characters and must be answered here. So does the SOP not want my previous research? I thought that was one of the main components of a SOP..How in the world am I supposed to come up with 4000 words for both of these sections?? I have a SOP written, but I think I may have to take out some things because of this ... I thought I had a lot more time for this application but just found it its due Dec 1!! I'm scared I may miss the deadline . I'm good at writing, though, so if I find out exactly what the differences between these two sections are, I think I will be okay.. Thanks!