Quazifuji

Well, Michigan wouldn't really be putting all my eggs in one basket. There were still other professors there that I liked. The main downside is they only have a couple robotics people, but they also have some areas I find interesting that were less present as CMU.

After visiting all of the schools I got accepted to (except for a couple that just accepted me this week, I'm still deciding what to do about those), I think my decision's come down to these two programs. I really liked both when I visited. At Michigan, there was a specific professor who stood out most. I felt like I got along with him well, he was trying to recruit me, and I really liked his research. I didn't get as much time to talk to his students, but they seemed nice when I met them. At Carnegie Mellon, on the other hand, I really, really loved the community and environment there. I've also spent time at Carnegie Mellon in the past (spent a Summer there in high school, nearly went there for undergrad, and worked there last Summer), and I feel kind of like I have a connection with the school and know that I feel comfortable there. On the other hand, no particular professors really stood out to me. There were professors that I liked and a lot of cool research in general, but nothing that jumped out like the one professor at Michigan. Part of this could be related to the timing of the two visits - there was a big robotics paper deadline coming up during the CMU visit, so most professors were busy with that, and they have a big advisor selection process in the Fall so most advisors aren't trying to actively recruit students during the visit weekend, while my meeting with the one professor at Michigan just happened to fall during a block when he had extra time - but there's not real way to know how that affected things. There's also the reputation factor - both are very good programs, but with CMU robotics being known as one of the top programs in the world in that field it's still hard to turn it down. Funding is similar for both and I like both locations, so neither of those are really factors. So I think for the most part the decision's coming down to choosing Michigan for a specific professor/research (there are other professors and projects I like there, so if things didn't work out with him it's not like I'd have no backup, but he's probably the main motivation for going there) or choosing Carnegie Mellon for most other important factors (environment, community, the overall school). There's also the fact that my actual research experience in the areas I want to do is fairly limited, so I don't know for sure I'll end up liking the things I think I want to do, and Carnegie Mellon does have a bigger variety of topics I might be interested in to fall back on if that happens. I'm learning towards Carnegie Mellon, and I kind of feel like I'm just looking for someone to tell me that it's the right choice (even writing this I feel kind of like I'm worried about the idea that people might tell me to go to Michigan), but a lot of people say you should pick your school based entirely on finding a professor you think you'd like working with, and going that route Michigan seems like the better choice, so I'm still not sure. Any advice?

I got an acceptance letter in the mail a couple days ago, which was the first I'd heard from them since submitting my application. Today I got some emails, one of which included the phrase "You have probably seen this admission letter (which should have been/was sent to you a few weeks ago as well)." So it seems like something may have gone wrong with their attempts to send out letters earlier in the month.

You can learn a lot about a school by visiting it. I've visited six schools, and nearly every visit affected my perspective on the school considerably. Some professors give a very different impression when you talk to them in person and when you just look over their website or email them, and you can also get a feel for the general environment and community of the school, which is almost impossible to see just through pre-application research, when you visit. I'm still deciding between a few schools, and the main factors in my decision are almost all things that I found out about the schools through visits (specific professors I got along with well, aspects of the community I liked). The actual details about the programs I could find out by just researching the schools are barely even factors in my decision anymore.

That's pretty similar to my situation. I've got a lot of visits total (visit three so far and doing three more), but I think the decision's probably going to come down to a top 10 school that I've visited already and loved (with a TA position plus some extra fellowship money on top) or a really prestigious school I haven't visited yet (although I worked there last Summer so still know a good deal about the program) with an RAship. The other schools always give the reasons that you might want to pick them over a really prestigious school just so they don't only get rejects from the top programs, and some of their reasons are fairly compelling. I'm hoping I just end up loving the school when I visit anyway, but April's going to be really stressful if I don't. (I'm coming straight from undergrad, though, so that part's different).

One of the acceptance emails I was sent at one point mentioned it. I didn't get the official invitation until today (which I imagine you may have also gotten).

5. Maybe we're waitlisted?

Visitation weekend is the 24th and 25th.