S.S

Okay, I'm pretty sure that I've finished getting acceptances now, so here's my results (for PhD Fall '11): Accepted: Carnegie Mellon (HCI), Georgia Tech (HCC), Maryland- College Park (CS) Rejected: Stanford (CS), Cornell (IS) Pending (and probably rejected): Harvard (CS), Northwestern (Technology and Social Behavior) I'm ridiculously torn between CMU and Georgia Tech... will probably have to make a spreadsheet and talk my friends' ears off for the next month or so.

Most likely we did meet, everyone was meeting everyone there. =) And hey! I just got an acceptance letter over email, so it looks like they've started rollin' them out. Funding, yaaaaaay! You should check your inbox.

Nope for HCC... and things seemed really favorable at the visiting weekend, too. =/ I'm guessing they're still behind in processing the applications.

As far as I've been able to tell, there are no distinct rankings of HCI programs, but CMU, Stanford, Georgia Tech, and MIT have some of the best-known ones (I'm sure that I missed some big examples- anyone have any other suggestions?). It's hard to compare the programs to each other since they all specialize in different areas (MIT focuses on creating awesome new technologies, Georgia Tech has a bunch of topic-centered labs but doesn't do as much with design, etc.)- you just have to look for the program that fits you best.

I'm applying to the HCC program and got invited to the visiting weekend a week ago. I had talked to my POI a few weeks before, though, and he had said that he'd make sure I was invited to the weekend, so I'm not sure if HCC in general is looking for students to visit. Best of luck to you in any case!