was1984

More or less... but the type of engineering I wanted to do required a more informed decision. As a kid I wanted to build bridges and stuff like that.

Do stuff that you enjoy doing instead of just going to a gym. I stay extremely physically fit and I haven't lifted weights in years. There is so much fun stuff that you can do to stay fit, why make it boring?

PODS are overpriced. There is a moving company called ABF which has a similar product (U-pack) for much cheaper. As a point of reference, I have reserved one of these for my upcoming move from Salt Lake City to Seattle (around 900 miles) for 800 bucks. Uhaul and other truck companies quote me prices around $1000 to rent a truck for this trip, and that doesn't include fuel. It's still going to be expensive to move cross country, but I'd have a look at U-pack. It's about half what PODS wanted for the same move. http://www.upack.com

gtmshine here is proof that plenty of dumbasses get into even places like Stanford. Get over yourself dude.

Wachovia was purchased by Wells Fargo, so you can use a Wells Fargo if you already have a Wachovia account.

This is a tough choice... I'm in analog circuits too and I'd hate to make this decision. I think for me it would come down to which of the faculty had the most interesting research to me. I'd agree UCLA has a slight leg up reputation wise in analog circuits, but both are very strong programs and I don't really think there is a significant difference in reputation. If you're going to be working with Razavi, I'd go to UCLA.

The inability of people to use deductive reasoning to make these decisions is astonishing. It's especially scary to consider that these people should already have a 4 year degree in engineering that trains them to think critically and make decisions.

Choose between the schools you are accepted to, and notify the schools that you don't want to attend. Wait until you receive all decisions to notify the school that you have decided to accept. Obviously you have to decide by April 15th, and if Berkeley doesn't notify you by then, you have to accept your other offer. If Berkeley doesn't respond until late April, you can't back out of a decision after April 15th without burning a lot of bridges and looking bad. That's the way it is. At this point you are probably on an unofficial waitlist at Berkeley if you haven't heard back. I'd email or call them to ask your status.

I'd focus more on a theoretical understanding of computer science than on which programming language to use. You can get a basic grasp of some of the more important algorithms pretty quickly. Concepts can easily be translated from one programming language to the next, but without those concepts you will always write crappy code in whatever language you choose.

Fit.

The city is pretty bike friendly, but I don't think it would be particularly pleasant during the winter, and it's probably more than a little bit dangerous on some days. You'd probably want to ride the bus in the winter.

My understanding is that it's hard to get funding before you pass quals.

[quote name=hello! ' timestamp='1301190638' post='232576] No need to feel bad for her. My prediction is that she will survive just fine. There are plenty of other states in the USA that will be more than happy to welcome her, unfortunately.

I haven't lived in Austin for a couple of years, so I'm a little out of date. Someone else will have to address this.

Far West is the way to go. Alternatively, look further up Speedway around 38th 1/2 or 45th. There's a bus that goes up there too, and some less pricy apartments.