belowthree

Focus on the upper level classes, you'll need them. Other than that, I'd say you have a better shot than you think you do. Just you may not end up getting in the top schools in your field, but if you're willing to accept a place at a quieter program then you should do just fine. Just tell them what you told us in your SoP.

Social scene? What are you, an undergrad?

Dear belowthree, Unfortunately we weren't able to sneak your application by the pencil pushers that demand things like a GPA less frightening than a note in the mail from the selective service. However, let us know where you end up as just because we couldn't sneak you into our school doesn't mean we aren't interested in doing fabulous research with you in the future. See you around, ~Adcom.

This is entirely different. What you're talking about is a professor recommending you and the adcom not supporting your admission. That happens all the time. The OP is talking about the *department* recommending them but the graduate division not admitting. Technically at most schools it's not completely up to the department who they admit. This happens very rarely.

I'm still here because I'm waiting for the NSF to get back to me even though they likely won't by the 15th and I'll have to tell one program on the 15th even though I may get a 3 year grant for a project I built at another institution. (Which I haven't even been accepted to...) Awkward! I have no idea what I'll do if this actually happens. We've just been assuming our proposal will get rejected. It's a very safe assumption given the NSF funding rates, but if I feel like I have to wait as long as possible just to make sure because I'd feel terrible if we found out and I had already told them yes and would have to change etc etc etc... On reflection, maybe we shouldn't have applied for it...

This happens to be false. Lecturer appointments are still available to people with lots of industry experience and an MS in this particular field. Now getting them is another story. Usually you have to know someone or be on the staff (non-teaching) for a few years and get really lucky. But you don't absolutely *need* a PhD unless you want a professor title. (In which case you have to have one because if you don't they go down in their rankings. Although departments have been known to hire people and then they don't actually get their PhD until a few years after because they were so lax in filling out paperwork... *cough*) I am actually of the opinion that a master's degree in CS in particular happens to be fairly useless, but it sounds like the OP has a pretty good theory on what he wants to use it and is one of the few students who has a clue on what he can actually expect it to get him.

Just dance like your avatar and they'll swarm like locusts.

All I can say is you really sound like you'd regret it if you went to School B.

And then we can get together afterwards and decide which research grants won't get funded! DUDE You bring the grant proposals, I'll bring the red stamp that says "rejected" and we'll show those research people what we think about improving our world with our money! Yeah! It'll be a BLAST!

Indeed.

To be terribly honest I went to UMich Ann Arbor's website got a bad taste in my mouth, remembered that it snowed there and immediately stopped looking very far. Michigantrumpet could probably provide a much more informative view. That said if you're interested: my initial impressions was that UMich is a great school for architecture and the rest of their programs aren't as excellent. I didn't really see a whole lot of security work going on here, but there might be some stuff I didn't catch. However, if you were interested in doing hardware security, this wouldn't be a bad place to go as their hardware group is exceptionally strong. In the list above I'd probably have put it somewhere in the vicinity of Princeton. I should mention again that everything I've said in this thread is based on my own impressions and changes depending on what I happen to find interesting while browsing a program's website or looking through a conference archive. Your own research interests are not going to be the same as mine and you're going to find different value in different programs. I ended up selecting a fairly low-ranked institution with an almost non-existent security group because I felt I would get more freedom to do my own work there and I think they have a chance of putting together a good security group over the next few years and I'd like to be a part of that. Your mileage not only may vary, but will.

A PhD program in EE isn't going to have an even balance in any school you go to. That said, if you're going to a large state school you could always just date the undergrads. That seems to be what a lot of the graduate students I know seem to end up doing... Not what you were really hoping to hear, was it?

In my experience these requirements are often able to be waived if the admissions committee decides they like you. Since we're talking about UCSC, I can state with certainty that this is the case as I was offered admission there this last cycle and will be starting their PhD program in the fall. Then again, I had a decent number of random factors in my favor and some nice letters of rec. Still, my GPA is only a quarter point above yours and unlike you, I'm still in undergrad, so it's not like this is something that could be explained away by me as an "error of my youth." I'm not sure going to an online university would be the most effective use of your time. As long as you're not expecting funding, it might be more wise to invest that time in working on open-source projects or even doing some research.

I use the moderncv LaTeX template.

I didn't take the GRE subject test and my grades were low so in theory I probably should have. If you don't want to take the test, don't take the test. If your letters are good, your GPA is decent and you have your name on papers whether or not you took the GRE subject test isn't going to be the deciding factor unless you totally bomb it. I'd say it could only hurt you.

Has anyone said no to a school only to receive an e-mail a bit afterwards offering funding? (More funding, different funding, whatever kind of funding, but some sort of change in funding after declining?) A school just did this to me, doesn't actually change my decision, but I'm wondering how common this is and trying to judge the likelihood it was intentional...

The strongest rule about alcohol at any age is "don't be dumb." If you follow this no one is likely going to take issue. It's a commonly broken law and there's a small movement among leading college and university presidents to reconsider the issue. There are actually a few jurisdictions within the US that allow underage drinking under very specific circumstances. (See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Under ... p_2007.gif) For the international crowd unfamiliar with US alcohol laws, the following page might be helpful: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_co ... ted_States

This thread was the one that made me finally write e-mails to the programs I won't be attending this fall and let them know. I only made my decision recently, but I was having some trouble getting to the point where I was willing to close the other doors. Once you get going it's not that bad. I only thought I was going to let one of the places know, (and then slowly close the others as I became absolutely sure) but then once I got rolling I realized I was already sure and I ended up sending five e-mails to three institutions. (Usually the prof I was in contact with + the grad coordinator.) I thanked everyone involved and 30 minutes later I had both let the programs know and made a steak for breakfast. It's painless once you start. I'm going to eat my breakfast now.

Long thread short: Yes, it is customary. Gift optional.

Having taken the opposite route and drank in academic settings while under 21, I'd have to say it doesn't matter all that much. There was actually some really excellent wine at someone's thesis defense party I would have been loathe to miss. I mean do what you'd want, but from my experience no one particularly concerns themselves with those things.

Well other alternatives to "pulling a name out of a hat" could be to pick your most important trivial criteria and go with that. For instance, if I can't decide between two schools, I go with the one with the better weather.

Also just in terms of traveling distance Berkeley happens to be *closer* to the region. Not sure that really matters, but if you want a silly reason to decide, that's one! Though I think the 43k/yr difference would be much better. Berkeley is a good school and an utter steal at the prices they charge. If Harvard isn't willing to fund you then I should hardly think you'd be willing to go there just to have them charge you over 6 times as much. Especially if they're both good programs. Also the advantage of going to a place that doesn't have an established prof in the particular subfield is if you want you can help lead it there.

Looks like decisions just started going out.

It might be a bit silly, but at every school that's accepted me I'm trying to figure out who I'd be working with and what they'd want me to be doing, so it's taking a lot longer to figure anything out. It seems that a lot of people and schools expect folks to just decide based on the school and the program without actually contacting the faculty members the person expects to work with... some of my programs have been very good about hooking me up with the people who were interested in working with me and others have been pretty atrocious. There's probably two offers I should just let go at this point as I've found someone at one of the schools who I want to work with, so the rest can go take a hike if they want to continue to be troublesome... I mean you'd think most schools would be able to easily point you at the faculty member(s) interested in your app, but I guess admissions doesn't work like that in some places. Unfortunate. I suppose by the time I've added a potential future advisor to my buddy list on my IM client I probably know enough to rule out some of the schools that accepted me. (Oh and a question... I know it's important to let schools know as soon as possible that you probably won't go there if you have a funding offers outstanding, but if they didn't offer you funding how important to let them know that quickly? Seems like the answer would be "less" but how much less?)

And here I thought faculty candidates got more points for scoring lower on EQ tests! You learn something new every day... (No, I really don't have an opinion on this thread, I'm just butting into your argument to provide some humor that's in poor taste but might serve to provide a break in the conversation anyways.)