anon1

ghanada-- cool that you went to UCLA:)

Or not. I just looked on ratemyprofessor. UCLA adviser: 5.0 helpfulness, 5.0 clarity, 1.0 easiness and glowing reviews (2), UCSD: 3.0 helpfulness, 2.0 clarity, 3.0 easiness (2 bad reviews) UCSD person was nicer, but he might be frustrating to work with if he's not clear... I have trouble dealing with supervisors like that.... and am unmotivated to work hard for them. Now UCLA is looking better. Only risk is: what if I end up not liking the work I'm doing with the prof there, then will have to find someone else to work with, and theory probably won't be an option... though I think they have some good graphics people, and strangely enough in 2009 I saw a networks prof give a talk in Rome, didn't know he was from UCLA, then saw him give a talk on my visit day, and remembered him! Such a cool moment. Some of my profs said they thought UCSD was a better school for CS, but the two schools are tied in the rankings. Plus I just visited SpaceX on Friday and asked our tour guide which school was better, and her response was, "UCLA is one of our favorites." While in CA I asked around, and everyone's response was that given the choice they'd pick UCLA. Two profs also said that SD is a much nicer city than LA, but really I found LA to be more exciting than SD... maybe after I live there a while it will seem dirty/dangerous? In any case, I have a prof whose daughter lives 2 miles from campus and says I can live there if I want to, which would make moving there less daunting...

Or not. I just looked on ratemyprofessor. UCLA adviser: 5.0 helpfulness, 5.0 clarity, 1.0 easiness and glowing reviews (2), UCSD: 3.0 helpfulness, 2.0 clarity, 3.0 easiness (2 bad reviews) UCSD person was nicer, but he might be frustrating to work with if he's not clear... I have trouble dealing with supervisors like that.... and am unmotivated to work hard for them. Now UCLA is looking better. Only risk is: what if I end up not liking the work I'm doing with the prof there, then will have to find someone else to work with, and theory probably won't be an option... though I think they have some good graphics people, and strangely enough in 2009 I saw a networks prof give a talk in Rome, didn't know he was from UCLA, then saw him give a talk on my visit day, and remembered him! Such a cool moment. Some of my profs said they thought UCSD was a better school for CS, but the two schools are tied in the rankings. Plus I just visited SpaceX on Friday and asked our tour guide which school was better, and her response was, "UCLA is one of our favorites." While in CA I asked around, and everyone's response was that given the choice they'd pick UCLA. Two profs also said that SD is a much nicer city than LA, but really I found LA to be more exciting than SD... maybe after I live there a while it will seem dirty/dangerous? In any case, I have a prof whose daughter lives 2 miles from campus and says I can live there if I want to, which would make moving there less daunting...

Thanks all for your advice. You've convinced me to go to grad school this year. The department at UCSD was significantly more friendly, so I think I should probably go there.

Upon further reflection, I am going with UCSD. The department was significantly more friendly when I visited.

After reading responses from this: thread, I am convinced that both schools are excellent options. I suppose now I am looking for advice on which to choose, though like you said, people have already given lots of advice, and have even voted: One of the schools just doesn't seem clearly better than the other..

I checked out the CSME program, but it doesn't look like there are any CS PhD students in it (it lists PhD students but none affiliated with CS)... My advisor at UCSD is involved in the group, but it looks like his research is more focused on parallel computing, using GPUs, and writing software to facilitate scientific research, than on the math side of scientific computing. Although, one of his recent grads was second in all of her country in a college math exam.... so there must be some math involved for her to gravitate to his group. His research sounds employable though, right? High performance computing? UCLA will still let me go. Research there is in AI algorithms, which seems more like pure math. Recent student publications are on efficiently solving the dots and boxes game, on rectangle packing, etc. A recent grad came from Berkeley with an undergrad GPA of 3.97. This prof has double the number of publications that the UCSD professor has, but he doesn't get anywhere near the number of government grants for his research (whereas the UCSD prof has two pages full of grants he's gotten-- most in conjunction with other research facilities, national research labs, etc.). UCSD is ranked much higher than UCLA in theoretical CS (the part of CS closest to math imo-- and my favorite part of cs), if I want to change advisors. Maybe I should be considering the entire department at each school as opposed to the professors who are interested in working with me now?

I really appreciate your advice. Sincerely. And getting someone to tell me what you just wrote, with such conviction, is exactly why I asked the question. One of my professors (who wrote my recommendations and who I really respect) told me that if my GRE math score had been slightly higher all of the schools would have loved me. He also said that the schools I got into are "good but not amazing." When I asked him if I should reapply he said, "I don't know," in a way that made it sound like he was deeply disappointed in me (specifically my GRE score). When I told another of my professors that I got into UCLA she said, "well that's not a very good school for computer science!" By the way, if you have any advice on UCLA vs UCSD, please do tell... these are my two remaining options, options that I apparently don't want to lose (it sounds like you think that my options could be worse if I apply again this year).

Wondering which is a better grad school focus. AI algorithms sound like more fun, but is AI less practical than HPC? HPC sounds more useful/employable, but also more frustrating/boring. Any advice? I'm willing to study something frustrating and possibly boring (though maybe I'll love it once I start working on it) if it will lead to good job prospects.

I'm wondering if I have a shot at CS PhD programs at any of the above schools? GPA: 3.66, double major at Vanderbilt in CS and math CS GPA: 3.94 GPA last two years: 3.89 (did degree program in 3 years since I have a previous liberal arts degree) GRE(assumed--need to take): 166 verbal, 166-170 quant, 5.5 writing Have previous degree from liberal arts college in art Have written ACT math questions for a textbook in all major bookstores Taught SAT classes in Thailand and in US Found mistake in national standardized test in high school Did internships at Harvard, MIT, NASA (all were in astro/aero, but I did CS work) (also admitted to internships at Princeton, Stanford, Caltech, Harvard--in CS) Published papers in philosophy, biology, physics, (might get an aerospace engineering pub by the fall) Run marathons Am female *** I applied last year but didn't study very much for the GRE and only got 160 math, (166 verbal, 5.5 writing), 2 great and 2 mediocre LOR, a really bad SOP (unfocused, fluffy), had a lower GPA: was only 3.5 when I applied, hadn't added a math major, didn't know I would be doing an internship at NASA, and didn't take the CS GRE (which I am considering taking this year) -- I had interviews at Columbia, Johns Hopkins, and Toronto, and ended up getting into Columbia for a Master's (no funding), UCLA, U of Maryland, and UC San Diego for funded PhD programs. I am considering applying again next year with improvements to the above credentials. The only risk seems to be losing UCLA/UCSD (my top choices), though hopefully I would get in next year (sounds like deferring may not be an option) too.

I'm wondering if I have a shot at CS PhD programs at any of the above schools? GPA: 3.66, double major at Vanderbilt in CS and math CS GPA: 3.94 GPA last two years: 3.89 (did degree program in 3 years) GRE(assumed--need to take): 166 verbal, 166-170 quant, 5.5 writing Have previous degree from liberal arts college in art Have written ACT math questions for a textbook in all major bookstores Taught SAT classes in Thailand and in US Found mistake in national standardized test in high school Did internships at Harvard, MIT, NASA (all were in astro/aero, but I did CS work) (also admitted to internships at Princeton, Stanford, Caltech, Harvard--in CS) Published papers in philosophy, biology, physics, (might get an aerospace engineering pub by the fall) Run marathons

*fail since his job is already in MD, not mentioned in this thread

I had that impression about UMD's scientific computing; but neither my fiance nor I wanted to stay in MD, plus I wouldn't have started out working with scientific computing people.... still though, this was perhaps an epic fail. I could try to contact UMD, but I doubt they would let me in now. Who knows though, maybe someone has decided not to go...

I have full funding for 1 year guaranteed at UCSD. It's doing high performance computing for scientific applications, so there is some math involved, but it sounds like I would be doing more programming (supporting scientists' research) than doing (math) research. I also got into UCLA (fully funded for 2 years guaranteed). I turned them down, but it sounds like I might be able to take them up on the offer if I want to. There I would be doing AI research that is more theoretical/mathy. But it might in fact be too late now. And I got into Columbia, but only for an unfunded Master's. I think I would like to take the year to think about this decision and to reapply, but a couple of my professors have encouraged me to just go because they think UCSD is a 'good enough' school. Which brings up another issue-- asking my recommenders to write for me again-- will they support my endeavor?... I'm also a bit worried that if I wait a year my options could get worse. But at least I will have the summer internship at NASA (maybe a year-long one as well-- I am free to work with anyone I can find who is willing to work with me, which includes someone doing applied math--I actually have one possible lead to follow up on), a higher GPA (my GPA when I applied was 3.5, now 3.66), and the additional math major (added during my final semester), all of which should be helpful whether I apply for CS or for applied math...

I am currently doing a summer internship at NASA and it sounds like I could extend my work for another year if I want to. Last year I got into internships at MIT(2 programs both of which I did), Harvard, NASA, Caltech, Stanford, and Princeton, but only got into 3 #14 ranked CS schools for PhD programs plus Columbia (#17) for a Master's. I think the mediocre turnout was due to 1. GRE score: 166 Verbal, only 160 quant (maybe my biggest problem), 5.5 writing, 2. Unfocused essay, 3. two strong recommendations (people who wrote them for all of the internships I got into) paired with two weaker recommendations-- all things that I could potentially change. I have a 3.66 GPA, 3.94 CS, and 3.89 overall for the last 2 years (did my program in 3 years because I already have another undergraduate degree that covered my liberal arts requirements), double major with math, plus publications in philosophy, biology, physics, coauthor of ACT math questions for prep book, etc. Two summers ago I interned at Harvard (center for astrophysics). I'm worried about going to a grad school that I'm not that excited to be attending. I have a fiance who is planning to move wherever I go and I would hate to have him move only to find out after a year that I really don't want to be in the program, or that I heavily regret not trying to raise my GRE score and apply again. In addition, if I could do anything, I would probably get a PhD in math, even given my low GRE score. And if I could do anything as a career, I would want to be doing scientific research: advancing the world's body of knowledge, specifically I guess, in the form of math research. I'm worried that a PhD in CS, given what I would be doing at UCSD, won't really fill the bill. Should I go ahead with UCSD, or try for the year-long internship (defer at UCSD if I can) and apply again...?

Thank you for the feedback, I do appreciate it. The thing is that this is a public forum and I don't want to identify myself, in case one of my potential advisers were to read this. I will say though: the adviser at UCSD is super nice and really seems to want me there. He even offered to help my fiance find a job. My two main interests are in scientific computing/mathematical modelling and algorithms/theory. His area deals with HPC which is tangentially related to scientific computing. I do like the idea of HPC though, because it sounds practical and enables new science (plus to be honest I'm not as confident in my algorithms ability). UCSD is also great in theory as others have mentioned, though since I will be starting out as an RA I'm not sure how easy it is to change advisers, if I want to. The adviser at UCLA was also nice, but didn't spend as much time trying to get me to go there. His area is theoretical AI, so it would be close to the theory/algorithms interest. He has also written textbook algorithms and is known as an excellent author of papers and teacher. The thing is though, I still will have time to change advisers after I'm there-- right? And I haven't had the chance to meet every professor at each school.

Academically: UCLA or UCSD? ...Or equal?

You make a good point about theory at UCSD, too. Thanks for all of the thoughts, I definitely appreciate them.

My fiance is an outdoorsy, adventurous person though, and would be happy to move along with me to UCSD or UCLA. Sounds like the consensus of those who've commented is UCSD. Is that because the city is just that much nicer?

I'm PhD track at UMCP, so if I did a Master's I'd have to duck out early. But I might decide to do the whole PhD there.

I was talking about getting a Master's at the University of Maryland, which would be funded and is #14, but I see your point. It's just that last year I was offered internships at Princeton, Caltech, Harvard, MIT (2), Stanford, University of Washington, NASA (2). And didn't get into one of the universities for grad school. I screwed up my GRE math score, didn't take the CS GRE, and wrote a crappy essay. My GPA has also gone up since I applied. So, all of these aspects can be changed by the next time I apply. I feel like my application was a complete mess. I just don't want to miss out on an opportunity to go to a place I've always wanted to. I've also thought about getting a job for a year and then re-applying. On the other hand, this forum is starting to convince me that what I have now is pretty good.

What about getting a Master's at Maryland and then trying to re-apply for PhD programs? I know it's probably a bad idea: re: a bird in the hand, and because it would make getting a PhD take that much longer... but I'm wondering what my chances would be of getting into a 1-5 school (or Ivy) after getting a Master's first...

Ok, I have decided against Columbia. UCLA is now my top choice. The only issue is moving my fiance to LA, but he already has a PhD in CS and previous work experience, so hopefully finding another job (albeit after only 1 year in his current job) will not be too hard.

Eventually I would like to do research of some kind, whether at a university or at a government lab. I like scientific computing, computational biology, theory, and the mathematical side of computer science. UCLA: RA in theoretical AI, UCSD: RA in high performance computing, Maryland: TA but recruited by theory person, Columbia has the advantage of being an Ivy. Since before high school it has been my dream to attend an Ivy-league school. Going to Columbia would fulfill that life-long dream, although I wonder how much going to Columbia for my Master's will help me when I apply for PhD programs (will it?)

Although I must say the terrain, weather, and plethora of activities in LA appeal to my fiancee and me a lot more than those corresponding aspects of Maryland.