SixFender

This is a nice thing to read today. Thanks!

CS for University of Chicago is March 9-10

For those of us trying to have a life and plan multiple visits, what dates have you heard for your area of study? I'll start! --------- University of Chicago - Computer Science, PHD: March 8, 9

I called UC Riverside and was told responses should be coming soon, and Northeastern didn't pick up the phone. Went to voicemail. Sigh. Maybe they're waiting for rejections, to offer any leftover spots to others? We really need to get someone in here that has been a part of this selection process!

I'm still waiting for 2 myself :\

Plain and simple, if you want to succeed, you will. And yes, lots of coffee.

I asked my accepting school if there was any financial assistance available for visitation to the university, and was told the next day that they'd like to (on their dime) fly me out, all expenses paid to visit the university for a recruiting weekend. I was surprised they did this! I thought that was just for college athletes but apparently not! Just ask. What's the worst they could say? No? Get the time off work(if you have to lie cheat or steal!) if the school offers to pay for your visit— this is the next 5 years of your life after all!

I think you'll get used to it, and will get over it. It rains, a lot, but assuming you're busting your butt inside, it'll just be a small environmental blip. And an excuse to drink coffee or tea, admire the beautiful landscape from a window... I bet you'd not be able to stand LA traffic and the smog more than the cold! And you have a friend already (see above). Plus the building where the CS department is located is really nice and they have a cafe on the first floor 7 cafe's I believe on campus! if you're torn for that reason alone, Virgin America has a sale on flights there right now- go for the weekend and get a feel for it. Personally, I loved it. Wish WSU has wanted me though! *tear*

No idea but plenty of people have been rejected early on, so I don't think there's any way to be certain. I'm still awaiting responses from 3 schools myself. I guess all we can do is wait :\

i was accepted to their cs phd program - i received my acceptance notification via professor email on march 6th and was told responses are due by april 15th. i haven't heard back from 3 other schools myself. :\ hang in there!

great idea

Withdraw! WSU is a beautiful school, great people, great city. And yes, most importantly, amazing research opportunities there. It sound sunds like you already know what you should do, but I have a soft spot for WSU since they were my #1 pick and rejected me. Go Huskies! (and down with LA traffic—yuck).

Wish I knew. I'm still waiting for UC Riverside, Northeastern U in Boston, and Standford's MS. I've seen some results in the survey with acceptances this late, not all negative, but I suppose there is still some hope.

I'm still waiting on 3 schools... THREE!! out of 5 total. This is agony.

I'd think it depends on what your area of study is, e.g., programming. While UCLA is ranked higher overall in Computer Science in general, UCSD may have a stronger program in the area your plan to study. Do your research. On a more suvillian note, Los Angeles traffic is horrible, has lots of smog, and housing is likely more expensive. If they're having a recruitment weekend, I recommend visiting to weigh out all the pros and cons if you feel that the area itself may have an impact on your decision.

I'm having similar concerns, though with much less debt, but I've been debating the need to it pay down before going into this. On top of that issue, my signifigant other is in a position where she needs to work and make good money to pay down debt, and the city for my potential phd is not one that will be great for her career at all. I think the question really lies in knowing how bad you want the phd and whether or not you really feel you're determined enough to get one. What kind of student were you for your undergrad (disciplined or sluggish)? Are you just coming out of your undergrad studies now? How old are you? How is the job market in Michigan? How much do you expect to be making per year in Michigan with your exisiting education? Will you need to do more research or work while you're working your 9-5 to be able to, or to better prepared to, reapply in 2-5 years? How much do you think you'd be able to pay down on your debt? 15k? 20k? All things to take into consideration. If you are truly comitted to getting the phd, you can always reapply, perhaps with a better result and more than one acceptance and with more experience, be it life or work related. And it would be nice to emerge from the phd with less debt, especially considering how much you have. You know yourself best and what you are capable of. Maybe some questions to ask yourself are whether or not you suspect it would be easier for you to get a job after your p.h.d. and most importantly, how much you could pay off in those 2-5 years, etc. I would map out some estimated financial scenarios based on what you'd expect to be making in S. Michigan. Btw, I mention how easily you could find work because that's a pretty signifigant amount of debt to have if you're not employed, and the while economy is getting better now, but who knows where we'll be in 2-5 years. If your scenarios result in not paying off a signifigant amount of debt, I would probably go forward with the phd. The one thing I know is that people without a plan and priorities probabaly account for most of that 50% phd retention rate. If you can keep those priorities in order, make a monthly plan for paying down your debt, and clearly map out your repayment goals and how you will make that happen on a monthly basis, you can make the most of that time off and it may be worth the deferment of your education. If not, you may otherwise get stuck in the habit and routine of working and not find the motivation to reach your goals of reapplying and returning.

I chose to ask about this for a PhD at North Carolina State from a professor/director. I didn't get the warmest response about it, but it wasn't necessarily cold either. I'd like to think they don't want to jump to conclusions about why you would ask. I simply asked saying that I heard that they do allow for it, and asked what the implications of that would be, because I've been offered funding/financial aid. They responded saying they'd have to think about holding on to the funding for me, but we could talk about it further. I suspect because they want to know the circumstances for which I'd choose to defer. I get the feeling that convenience isn't something they're worried about. I was reading around here elsewhere, and it sounded like typically people only defer in the event that they MUST (death in the family, some extrodinary circumstances). I think for them, it's more about the funding dispersment, not so much about your actually being there. I also allowed other schools I hadn't been accepted/denied admissions to yet about this via the department and they responded. It might posibly be on the schools' program's website, or the FAQs for the department or program, so look there first.