csApplicant

heheman3000, when did you hear from harvard? and what's your specialty? did you have an interview with them?

c'mon michigantrumpet. enjoy a little humour. don't be a sore winner have a little mercy for those of us who haven't gotten into top 10 and have received rejection letters. do you seriously think we're expecting you to turn down schools you are really considering without doing your research? right.

dang. i don't think helpdesk experience will hurt. maybe it paid his/her way through college. as long as you've done interesting stuff, it doesn't matter. else, you won't get it - but i don't think it boils down to helpdesk experience. it's more lack of other interesting aspects.

how can you say this already??? don't throw in the towel yet. you haven't heard, it seems, from at least five programs. stay optimistic, you never know!!!

looks like MIT is starting to send out rejection notifications. i'm really freaking out - no news from many of the schools i applied to is seeming to be bad news. no news yet from jhu, penn, mit, berkeley, michigan...

ya'll who have already been accepted to top 10 are getting GREEDY!!! you should just take one and be done with it! may spots open up for the rest of us!

i'll start working with an advisor immediately at the school i plan on accepting from. i did let him know that i was talking with other schools. i'd prefer to not share with my advisor or my school who else i was talking to. how do i avoid this awkward situation if it comes up?

one last thing. to be honest, there are a LOT of people with your stats out there. a TON of people. i'm sorry to say it. you would need something that really stands out. if you think about it... at least for my specialty, each top-ranked school only has like three openings, IF even. there are 10 programs i would consider in my specialty. this makes approximately 20 or so openings out of thousands and thousands of applicants.

i really do think this year there are very very few acceptances in top programs, as funding is down. top schools only like to accept students they can fund. take cmu, for example. they fund everyone, but i'm sure that means they are going to be more cautious with admits. also, don't give up hope. it's not over yet. it seems a lot of applicants that post here that are getting accepted have published. i have not published either. i honestly feel that many schools just dump people into piles without really considering them. in some sense, i hope they consider that we each paid very expensive application fees and that we deserve consideration because that is exactly what we paid for. also, very few people have mentioned essays. but i think essays play a huge role in all of this as well - that is, if they even bother to read them (dammit). what did you write about? i'm not hearing as many responses as i wished, but i'm in at least a few top 20 programs, so i am happy. hang on and keep focused on the fact that a few spots ARE bound too open up and probably schools are starting a little conservative this year. don't give up quite yet. it's only february 12. you can officially start freaking out around march 1. but even then, there will be a few spots open. and also remember, all it takes is ONE. ONE acceptance with good funding, and you're gold. i'm not in the position you are in, so i can't completely understand. but i do know that i haven't given up on schools i have not yet heard from yet.

negotiate in a not-negotiating way. write to someone at the school and explain that you really wnat to come but yo've been offered so much more elsewhere. be ready to lose your position with this type of negotiation, but if you are serious about going to the other school, you have nothing to lose. if they wnat you bad enough, they'll give you more.

Yes, these boards are sweet, but it's been killing my study time.... I am addicted!

honestly, i wouldn't go to cuny if you wanted to get into academia. keep waiting, a better offer may come through.

by thte way, if you want to do reseearch in academia, i highly suggest going to usc for your masters and trying agian in two years for your phd. no insult to cuny graduate center, but if you may find yourself unable to find a job upon graduation since academia is highly competitive.

i believe cuny graduate center has a few decent vision guys, but the problem with cuny graduate center might be funding - less than other schools. usc is well-funded, but, of course, you're not receiving funding. i'd say either is a viable choice for you. i think usc would have a better quality program, and thus, i would tend to choose usc if i could afford it. it depends on what you want to do? phd or masters? big difference.these two choices are vastly different, in my opinion.

longhorn, your signature says you were rejected from cmu. i wasn't aware they were sending rejections out already? could you tell me what your specialty is and when you received your reject email/letter?

was it you that was upset about not getting into mit? you got into berkeley? who CARES?! go to berkeley! by the way, do you know if berkeley is done accepting candidates? they say not, but ... any news? also, can you post your stats, pcp? want to know what berkeley was looking for?

actually, i'm kind of glad. i wouldn't want to work with those people because they are way too intense for me. i'd rather be somewhere more laid back and about the intellect.

j still want to write to the professor i want to work with and state my case. what do you think??? bad form? what do i have to lose at this point?

danggit, belowthree! give a candidate some hope! i've realized i'm not up to the level of mit or probably berkeley, so i'm letting to at this point and ready to make an accept at my third choice.

ok seriously. i just checked those people's resumes and i'm now ready for my reject letter. those people are seriously qualified and there's no way they would look at me. mit seems to be very by the book and seems to only accept one type of student. others might disagree with me. seriously depressing. i'm now very happy and grateful for the accepts that i have received.

Is it too late for me to contact the professors I said that I wanted to review my application? I have nothing to lose at this point, right?

tedjj, was unable to locate the computer science student profiles. do you know where i might go to find this?

well, michigan, i must say. you got like five accepts, which means four spots open there are more like you out there! i don't mind being second choice as long as i get funding. so as far as i am concerned, you can't go to all five... and other people like you cannot go to all the programs they are accepted to. that leaves at least four possible slots open and no rejects means i still have a chance!!! thanks for responding!

This site is seriously addicting. I happened to come across it yesterday and since then haven't done anything but scour the boards. Bad addiction. In 30 minutes, I'm off and will only check it once a day at the end of the day so it won't distract me from my studies!!!

michiganTrumpet, when did you hear from berkeley and cmu? have you posted your stats somewhere? what is your specialty? it seems cmu has only sent acceptances for certain sects of their cs department. if i haven't heard from berkeley or cmu yet, is this a bad sign? also, is it bad form to call these schools to ask for results ? i've heard of people doing that , but their departments must get quite annoyed if too many applicants bombard them with calls.