adinutzyc

Can't really help you with advice, but was wondering: why Romanian (I come from Romania, the fact that anyone would want to learn Romanian is fascinating, though I have to admit you're not the first person I met who wanted to do that)? Anyway, is the MA a guarantee that you would also get a PhD from them? I noticed you said 2+3 years, so I would suspect you are expecting it to be. If it's not, I would think twice. The writing two dissertations point I find to be both a plus and a minus -- that's two publishable papers! Also, being closer or farther from home shouldn't be that important - is the city the school is in nice or not would make a better difference for me (then again, as I said, I am from Romania, so there is no "closer to home" for me ). The cold is not nice though... I also agree that you should visit, if possible.

I know this is not something you usually ask (or consider appropriate), but I am dying of curiosity and this is an online forum, so theoretically we're anonymous. I believe the average for CS is $18,000 (correct me if I am wrong). I also know awards may vary according to the living expenses close to the university, but do share with us what your highest award was until now, regardless of the city! Mine was $27,000. Edit: I messed up the title -- it should say "TA / RA Awards"

Folders? Folders within folders? Folders within folders within folders! Well, I have a big shortcut on my desktop called (suggestively) "Future", in which I have a SOPs folder, which has SOPs suggestively having as title the name of the school I applied to; I also have some research papers I wrote on various occasions there, that were needed for one of the applicationsa confirms folder, containing all the payment/submission confirmations I actually saved as pdfsa Documents folder, containing transcripts, midyear grades, my Resume, and which also has another folder called Extra Docs inside containing my old TOEFL score, scan of passport, and a "notes" doc (needed at one school)an Acceptances folder -- all awards etc.an Applications document, which lists all the schools I applied to, including deadlines, I color coded applications received, applications rejected and applications incompleteI actually didn't put these anywhere online, but used a memory stick... Hope that helps someone. It really worked well for me, I believe the Applications document was the most useful -- I had 16 applications I've successfully kept track of!

But... if I wasn't called for an interview, I am most likely rejected, right?

UNC Chapel Hill has a late deadline too, I think.

If they already accepted you, then it doesn't matter. Just tell them that you have to be at work during that time and that you regret not being able to attend etc. Otherwise, see if you can arrange a phone interview or something of the sort. Also, if you find a day or so some other time than the visiting weekends, you can talk to them and ask if you could visit then, if they would reimburse you etc. I am talking more so about the program you said would like to attend than the others. It is always nice to see the school you'll be spending your next 4-to-7 years at (if we're talking about a PhD).

I know someone who got an accept from Rice this year... But I really don't know more, I think they're in theory.

I'm pretty sure he means the results page here, on gradcafe: http://thegradcafe.com/survey/index.php?q=computer+yale&t=a&pp=25

Maybe you should hold off actually attaching anything to the email yet! Most professors have limited email quota on their emails ( not to mention time ), so maybe you should give a short overview of what you did and ask them whether they would like to receive those attachments before actually sending them.

People interested in research, this neat little thing sort of ranks professors based on publications and number of citations; the H index is a square measure, so the "distance" between a 7 and an 8 is actually pretty big. Anyway, have fun at it, but do not use it as the sole tool of deciding where to go! http://academic.research.microsoft.com/ I suppose it should work for other disciplines too, but I haven't tested it out. Also, note that recent publications don't seem to be counted immediately! Also, it's in beta.

[quote name='Old Man & the C(S)I will probably end up leaning more toward Education than CS (although any bridges/cross disciplinary programs you folks are aware of, please let me know).

Reply to their email, thank them, and ask about the visiting days. I think there shouldn't be any problem if you did so.

I'd take you! Did you only apply to GATech? I think you should have retaken the GREs though... you would have stood a way better chance with an above 700 for quant... some schools might not look at someone who has a below 700 there, though as far as I know GATech isn't one of them.

Hey guys! So, I'll be probably moving to St. Louis this fall, for the next 5 years or so... WUSTL made me an offer I can't refuse! I am really nervous about moving for the first time, but the school is great and it has made me the best offer as of yet. I was looking at UVA for a while (still considering it, but I doubt they can top the offer WUSTL made me) and got this idea that I want a house with everything included: furnished, pool, fitness center, garage parking. I was wondering if anyone was looking at those. I found some on various websites but was wondering if anyone has lived in one of those or is planning to live there. Do students often live in places like that? I think the prices are more than decent for the way the place look (but well, I spent my undergrad in NY) and I know I will have enough money to pay for it. I will also have a car (hopefully) while I'm staying there, so, although important, distance wouldn't be a huge problem. Plus I don't want to go through the hassle of finding a roommate to get along with... and the pool is extremely nice! I mean places like this: http://www.mansionhouse.com/photogallery.htm, http://www.covingtonplace.com/home.asp etc.Do you know what area has these types of places, is safe, and somewhat close to WUSTL? Thanks!

Hey! I don't think getting a visa to study in the US should be a problem, though I do not really know. About credit history, I have been here for 4 years (doing my undergraduate degree) and still haven't gotten any. Anyway, methods of getting it range from having a phone plan (even if you do pay $500 originally, you get then back at some point), getting car insurance to getting a credit card. Which I am going to try to do as soon as I get the time to go to a bank. I got into WashU also!!!

I really wished to get into one of those programs... but it seems to me that a lot of people received the admission offers already... Is there any hope? (I am quite OK if there isn't, they were my "reach" schools, but I would like to know, even if it's a "reject")

Or both. You can send both General and Subject with the same fee, if you're confident enough / know your subject scores are good!

I've just decided to apply. I am not sure whether I will be able to attend though, unless they'll be willing to pay for some expensive international travel... or unless I'll be in the USA... Oh God, but what's with all of those questions? I feel like I'm taking a personality test instead of anything else... What are the correct answers? What are they looking for? I am sort of replying truthfully, because I have no idea what would be bad and what would be good... :| Edit: Question 1: Easy - get into grad school! I am considering "past year" to mean "past 12 months". And although I was considering grad school since basically my freshman year, I "decided" to apply only the past year. And it's also a successful experience, so all for the better! Question 2: Easy also - I come from Romania, came to the States 4 years ago. Interacted with so many different people and changed my view on life completely. Just have to put this into words (250 of them)... Question 3: I have an idea, but I probably shouldn't write about it... So I'll probably write about something that happened last summer (which is, now that I think about it, more recent than last spring).

Yeah, I applied to 16 schools... spent all winter break writing applications, not to mention begging my recommenders to submit 16 LORs.... Probably overdid it.. Are you coming to the CS Weekend? I just got my flight reservation and am pretty excited! Yes, I am mainly interested in working with Jason Lawrence. I am also interested in the Computer Vision stuff right now though. The GPGPU project seems really cool too! I actually went to a lecture about something like that last summer!

Ujjawal, sorry to reply here but I think maybe this would help other people, some way or another. I did get an acceptance from UVA on February 4th, so I know that some decisions are in. They have an open weekend on the 24th but you probably wouldn't be able to attend anyway (I understand you're from India, right?). OK, so my profile wasn't quantitatively stellar (as in all maximums), but I believe I had an awesome SOP with a really cool research idea (that may or may not become reality, but which I would like to become reality, as I said in my SOP too) as well as 3 amazing LORs, 2 from people that were pretty well known (they were well known at at least two universities where I spoke with professors, so I assume they are well known; they are also very well published) and the third from a professor at my college (small liberal arts college) that pretty much loves me too These are the things that really matter in an application, and these are the things you really can't quantify. My stats were: GRE: Q - 750; V - 670; AW - 5.0 GPA: 3.63/4.0 (actually I think my transcript last semester was 3.62 but it doesn't matter) Research experience: 2 REUs (Research Experience for Undergraduates) + a paid summer internship in the same lab I did my first REU, as well as research lab assistant for a year in a lab at my college Publications: 0, but 2 are being prepared as we speak (I only said this to some schools, I don't remember if I said that to UVA) Other: I had some poster presentations, some at my school, some at the end of the REUs, and one at the university where I did my first REU after the REU About the master, I don't really know if that is a wise choice. If you want to accept a masters offer, you should check with the university if they would offer you the opportunity to move to PhD track after a year. I don't think other universities would view an incomplete masters positively.

Well, I think you don't *have to* take it. But, the big secret is that you can send your GREs in separately, i.e. you can take the CS GRE, see how well you score, and if you don't like it only send the general one. ETS gives you that option, which I think is great!! So yeah, no advice, but you can definitely take it and act as though you haven't.

I don't know a lot about this, but, contrary to what most people believe, gaming doesn't pay that well. Just my two cents.

"So-so GPA from an OK (that is if they actually heard about it) liberal arts college (wait, liberal arts college? for CS? uhm..); average GRE scores (well amazing verbal score considering she's not a native English speaker, but we don't really care about that); great LOR, decent amount of research experience - no publications?! Just coming out of college? And her SOP talks about this idea that would only be useful to 5% of the population? Who would fund that? Does she really know what she's doing? And what's with all these fancy words, she's international and applying for computer science!! Next." Didn't have time to actually worry though. I ended up getting responses fast and now I'm just worried about picking a program... and about funding...

Agreed! Really, what kind of typing is that? Anyway, with the admission you will probably also get a deadline by which you have to respond. Wait until as close to that deadline as you can, and then make up your mind... And learn to type!

Prepare some good questions to ask them! My interview today (sort of post admission, because I wasn't offered admission officially yet, but was assured I was in) consisted of the Chair of the program (Comp Sci) telling me how great the program is, and of me asking (hopefully pertinent) questions that would help me decide whether I want to go there or not. No question about anything else (well, he did ask me a question about my main field of interest, and about what other programs I've applied to). Thinking that you're international, and probably unable to attend any grad-student acceptance weekend, maybe he wants to do his best to impress you (while also gauging your ability to speak and comprehend English). Although, I am holding my decision until after I have been to those weekends (I am international too, but I went to college in the US).