Civil_Engineer

Wait until April 14/15. If school B has not made an offer by then, accept the offer from School A. Don't decline A unless B already has an offer on the table.

Princeton because there are more pros for you and it seems like you would rather go there. This is far more important than some silly US News rankings.

It's my understanding that UIUC is the most "prestigious" of the three, but if CMU is the only one that offered you funding than there isn't really a decision to make. You should go there.

You should treat is as a dead option if they don't get back to you before April 15, and if the other offers expire on that date.

I was in a similar situation and I chose the masters. It's gives you more opportunities in two years and you will be going to a much better school in the meantime. If you do well at Cornell and produce some good research you'll put yourself in a much better situation in two years applying for PhD than you were now. And ultimately doing the masters you'll take more courses and do more research, putting yourself in a better situation when it comes time to pick a career.

I got the elusive acceptance to Cornell... but with no funding. Looks like I'm still heading to Princeton next year.

UT is more prestigious and generally considered better in structural engineering. Apart from prestige, which one is a better fit for you in terms of research, comfort, etc? Did you visit both schools?

MIT probably gets more applicants than any other CEE program in the country, yet their program is much smaller than a lot of the others. So it isn't surprising to see so many rejects. Their programs are not only for MIT alumni but they will almost always 100% of the time take one of their undergrads over someone from another program. And I'm sure a lot of their undergrads do decide to continue there. Your professor is right. Also, there are so many qualified candidates out there that admission can sometimes seem very random.

I would go with Princeton. You shouldn't enter a PhD program without funding. If they didn't offer you funding then it means they don't want you or don't think they need you. You should go to a school where they really want you badly. Also, if you can't get funding at Stanford you risk putting yourself in a ton of debt.

It's worth a try. I'm still waiting on two decisions (although I already know where I'm going in the fall) and if April 15 comes before their decision, I'll be sure to ask for the application fee back. Worse case scenario, they will say no.

I'll be there for Civil and Environmental Engineering (MSE).

Here's my admission stats: Princeton (MSE): Accepted w/ funding Johns Hopkins (PhD): Accepted w/ funding UIUC (MS): Accepted (waiting on funding decision) Georgia Tech (Phd): Accepted (waiting on funding decision) MIT (MS): Rejected Cornell (MS/Phd): Still haven't heard anything Purdue (MS): Still haven't heard anything I'll probably be heading to Princeton next semester