darkestfog

I wrote "George Tech" instead of "Georgia Tech" and still got in

Last fall I submitted applications to 5 PhD programs and 3 master's programs. This sounds strange, but I made mistakes in which schools I chose because of personal reasons and did not choose schools by research fit as I should have. The three master's programs I applied to were done in haste to schools with late deadlines when I realized I had made a mistake in the 5 phd programs I applied to. I thought going through the application process was just about the most omfg-im-going-to-shoot-myself process I've been through, but now it's time to choose a place to go and I'm reconsidering that view. I got rejected from my top four choices, haven't heard back from two (one makes decisions late, the other f'd up my application but it's too late to consider them now since it would be unfunded). I got accepted to my bottom choice safety school for a fully funded PhD (I won't name the school but it ranks in the 50s). This school is great in a secondary interest of mine and good in my primary interest, but if I decide to change my interests I would be in a bad situation - their impact in other areas is not nearly as good. On the plus side, its location is wonderful and I would have good research freedom, as well as an enthusiastic advisor to mentor me. I got accepted for a 3/4 funded master's at a respected ivy league. Only problem is, the guy who offered to fund me does work in the area that I'm currently doing research in, but I want to move to a different area, and he's my only ticket to funding and would expect me to switch straight to the PhD program under him. I got rejected from the funded PhD program at UMich Ann Arbor but was accepted to their master's program with no funding. I really like their program and could use it as a way to refine my research interests, not to mention get into the right PhD program for me in the 2010-2011 application season (I would do the applications right this time). I have not visited the campus itself because I only found out about the admission three weeks ago, but from what I have heard from friends it's a great place. But do I seriously want to go $100k into debt? It's pretty ridiculous what happened to me this application season - 3/6 admits, each of which has their own positives and negatives but none of which are good enough for me to be sure I'm making the right choice. I had stellar grades upon applying, decent gre (80s%), and even published a paper (but in a different area of CS than I was appyling for). Sorry if that sounded a little ranty, but now it's time for me to make a decision and I'm freaking out a little bit . If anyone out there feels my pain, feel free to post here . Any advice would be appreciated too!

to anyone who is going to reject an offer from umich: pleaseeee do it soon!

I Finally got the rejection from them yesterday. The only way I can possibly justify why they took so long is they wanted to see if applicants received fellowships before they rejected them.

Caltech rejections haven't come out yet, but I think their applications are growing mold and rotting as we speak. Word on the street is decisions will be sent out the last week of march - can't be too long now. WHO'S READY?!? *pops a bottle of urbana-champaign*

I'm in the same boat, friend, I also applied to EECS CSE PhD. It seems like quite a number of us have not heard anything. It may be a wait list, but I HAVE heard that Umich's admission process is very decentralized and goes on a professor-by-professor basis. I only remember seeing 3 or 4 umich rejections on the results page, which does not sound like enough given their volume of applicants, so it's possible that those rejections were just from one or two professors. By the way, I called the department and the conversation went like this... umich: "CSE!" me: "Hello, I'm calling to try to get a little information about my admission status - can you help me?" umich: "NOPE! :) :)" me: "I'm sorry to probe... I received no rejection but I know your visit weekend was earlier this month. Does this mean I don't have a chance?" umich: "NOPE! :) Decisions are still being made!" The kind of tone she gave me made me think many people have called with the same question. It will be fun to see what happens!

I'm still "waiting" on umich and caltech. Both already had their visit/interview weekends, but after calling, they say decisions are still being made even if you were not invited to those visits. What the...? Have you tried calling them and asking what's up? And congrats on your gatech offer by the way

UCSB has a decent security lab. Vigna and Kreugel are dedicated security system researchers, and quite a few other professors are active in security in combination with their other interests, such as Zhao. There is also a crypto professor, Koc.

For those who went, is it safe to say that those who were not invited to interview are rejected?

I just received a rejection from Stanford today and am beginning to question my confidence in my choice of programs. I'm still waiting on Cal Tech, UMich, and Berkeley, but I am sensing encroaching doom. I haven't heard anything from the prior three programs I mentioned. Does anyone know what's going on with Cal Tech? I know a few emails were sent for interviews... does this mean that I don't have a chance at this point if I haven't been contacted? Also, the same for UMich? Of course, I am wondering like many others about Berkeley, since many people were contacted for interviews, but there's no point in discussing that here since there is another thread dedicated to that. Finally, a question for those that have been in my situation before and then ended up being rejected from everywhere they applied to: should I be doing anything right now to prepare for this possibility, like researching masters programs with late deadlines? I do have a great job semi lined up in case all else fails (I got an offer which I declined, but they asked me to get in touch with them again if my grad school plans flop) but I overwhelmingly prefer grad school as the next step in my career.