jimmy_01

Don't be discouraged by the rejections from the so called "brand name" schools...Usually, entry into these schools is extremely tough, and you usually have to know someone/have connections with someone in the inside to get in. But just remember this, it's not where you go that matters, it's what YOU make out of the education and research experience. Brand name schools just help you get in the door, but the rest is on YOU. The education you receive from the top 200 universities is essentially identical. I know this because I have friends who have attended Harvard and Stanford, and they use THE EXACT SAME textbooks that low ranked universities used....It's all a big business...

Just thought I should share some of the stats for you MIT applicants out there...Note that this data is for the entire grad department from 2012, and not for any specific department...so take this info with a grain of salt... Applications for graduate study were received from 22,588 candidates. Admission was offered to 3,504 candidates, of whom 2,229 (64 percent) registered in advanced degree programs. So it looks like the acceptance rate is 3504/22588 ≈ 15.5% source: http://web.mit.edu/facts/admission.html

Yes it is possible to be admitted without being interviewed. It depends if the POI is the type to interview before an admit or not. Obviously, the stronger your application, the less your POI will feel the need to interview you before he/she admits you. That being said, some departments require interviews, while others do not.

Make a Pugh matrix to make your decision....it helped me

Lol, ok we got some short and sweet answers here, haha....

Yea apps were already due (for most departments at least)...

Caltech seems to require a GRE score (for essentially every department). But on their application this year, I noticed something very strange....In the GRE reports section, there is an option which states: "I do not plan to take the GRE" You can actually choose this option... What is this madness??? Some sort of reverse psychology?

So I'm currently pursuing a PhD university in Europe (for EE), and was wondering if it's worth switching to another program if the opportunity arises...Here are some stats of the university I'm at right now: - QS University ranks this university in the top 10 for Engineering (Top 20 for general rankings) - ARWU ranks it in the top 20 for Engineering - My advisor is pretty good...He has an h-index between 20 and 30. I just recently started the program. I'm pretty happy right now...But I applied to MIT and Caltech, and was wondering if it's worth switching to one of these institutions if an offer is made....Research compatibility with POI's at these institutions is quite good. Any suggestions?

I would definitely add Berkeley to your "Ambitious" list

bumping this! QS World University Rankings has now ranked EPFL 8th in the world for engineering...any thoughts?

Ok, thanks for the clarification guys

This may seem like a very dumb question to most of you, but I wanted to clarify the notion of what exactly a fellowship is... I've been looking around in this site, and people assert that they got "NSF fellowships" or "2 week fellowship at a university". I mean what exactly constitutes as a fellowship (or fellowship award)? According to Google, a fellowship is basically a financial award that is given to an individual as part of a graduate/work program. If that's the case, then does being accepted into a fully funded PhD program constitute as a fellowship?

You guys are making it sound like it's almost impossible to get a good job in academia, that you need "lots of luck" and need to be "at the right place at the right time".....I mean, if that's the case, then getting a PhD with aspirations of getting an academic job after graduation is basically a huge gamble, and IMO not worth the effort....Mind you, I'm strictly talking about academic related jobs (Associate Prof, Prof, etc...). Obviously, if one is interested in working for an industry in research after a PhD, then thats a completely different scenario...

In your opinion, how important is it to get a Ms or PhD at a big name school, like Stanford, MIT, Harvard, Berkeley, Cornell, etc.....? I was looking at Prof's from some of these institutions, and about 98% of them have degrees from one of the institutions mentioned above...So it looks like if you want to become a professor at MIT (for example), you have to either be an MIT grad, or a grad from a top 5 institution....I guess that you form special connections at these schools that open more doors...

Imperial and ETH are definitely superior in terms of name recognition and international exposure (over the other institutions your considering). But I would choose Imperial....The connections you get from this university will help you in securing a nice job after graduation. My brother went to ETH for his Msc and Imperial/Oxford for this PhD (collaborated with both universities), and he told me that you get a lot more connections at Imperial, which is really important since the job market in Europe isn't going too good.