TKassis

Here's what happens. You financial aid office will determine what type of financial aid you will receive... including any loans you are entitled to. They will send you something called an 'award letter', this letter is required to apply for federal loans. When you receive your award letter it will state how much in loans you are qualified to take out so then you apply to your bank of preference. My university for example sends out these letters in June. You have to ask your financial aid office when they send them out. You can't really apply for your loans until you have that letter in hand. Hope that helps.

I wouldn't really say my records are awesome (not even close) but if you insist I'll accept the compliment Wish you all the best with your applications.

I agree. When you are deciding between two excellent universities in the field then the deciding factor for a PhD student has to be the supervisor (assuming you have adequate funding from both).

I don't have a GPA as my undergraduate university was in the UK and they don't use the GPA system. My GRE scores were 760 Q, 530 V (English is my second language) and 4.5 A. I don't have much research experience, but I'm doing an M.S. not PhD so they don't really expect much research history.

gah, the point I'm trying to make is that you do not know if the adviser is interested or not just by what she said (during a single encounter). People express themselves very differently. You can't just assume that people are only interested if they give you a big smile and try to flatter you. That is why the best indication is her actions, which according to 'void' have been very good with other students. Appearances can be very deceiving. Another adviser who might be good at 'acting' might give you a huge smile and flatter you for hours, only to find out later that he/she is words and no action.

Don't be so superficial. It is not about what a person says but what he/she does. Just because she didn't 'sound' welcoming you don't need to go through all these judgmental self thoughts about her. Besides, what you think is 'welcoming' varies a lot from culture to culture, from person to person.

Thank you BMCGirl10, I hadn't realized that before. Emm... well let me rephrase my question then; Are there any reasons I SHOULD live in the Graduate Living Center?

Thank you greekthunder76 for the advice. From reading their contract it was clear to me that they were a terrible department. In short their contract can be summarized as 'don't blame us for anything and you have no right to leave'. Ridiculous. I've never seen a housing contract so inconsiderate, especially for a university. Campus housing should be for the interest of the student and nothing else. It should be cheap, convenient and flexible. At least that is the case with most universities I know. I'll keep in mind the areas you mentioned. As I've never really been to Atlanta, I can use all the advice I can get about areas to consider/avoid.

Well, unless you have more funding from Cornell I don't see why you should choose it over Georgia Tech.

I'm considering my housing options for Georgia Tech. Has anyone lived in the Graduate Living Center dorms? Each two rooms share a bathroom and each four share a kitchen. From what I found online is that for the same price you can have your own room, bathroom and small kitchen off campus. Are there any advantages I am overlooking? (other than being on campus). Any ideas what the best option might be?

I agree. It is the qualify of work you do that counts. However, keep in mind that rankings usually reflect the quality of work at the institution. If, however, you think you can do just as well at a low ranked school then go for it. Besides, an employer will look at your work and not the name of the university. If he/she actually prioritizes the name of your university over your work, then you obviously do not want to work for such a superficial employer.

I am in a similar situation. I need to find an RA not just for funding but I really want the research experience as part of my M.S. I've contacted, by email, several faculty members who's research I thought was interesting to me. Many of them have not replied, but the ones who did cannot offer me anything at this point in time and I need to wait until I start the semester. So, I guess, you can email some faculty, and as you are doing a Ph.D I am sure it will be much easier for you to find an RA.

Sugiri, With universities there is no program that is far-fetched. As long as you have reasonable grades (which you do) you can apply to any program you like. Remember there are many factors that influence a university's decision. For example if you are from a country that is underrepresented in the university it will be very easy for you to get an acceptance. Other factors that play a role are your gender, undergraduate university... so apply to any program you like, but make sure you also apply to some 'safe universities' so that you make sure you get into at least one university.

The following is a list of the top ten US universities in Computer Engineering according to the latest US News and World Report rankings: 1- Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2- Stanford University 3- University of California--Berkeley 4- Carnegie Mellon University 5- University of Illinois--Urbana-Champaign 6- University of Michigan--Ann Arbor 7- California Institute of Technology 8- Georgia Institute of Technology 9- University of Texas--Austin (Cockrell) 10- Cornell University and this is for Electronic/Electrical Engineering 1- Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2- Stanford University 3- University of California--Berkeley 4- University of Illinois--Urbana-Champaign 5- California Institute of Technology 6- Georgia Institute of Technology 7- University of Michigan--Ann Arbor 8- Carnegie Mellon University 9- Cornell University 10- Princeton University Not really sure about the accuracy of the methodology used, but it does take into account things like faculty publications, employer preference...

Thank you! I will check them out.

I've heard from ECE (Bioengineering) at Georgia Tech from the first week of February. I think you should contact them.

I don't know much about Duke's BME program, but in general PhDs and MS are put into the same bucket. You have the same lecturers, save labs, same facilities. Thus if a university is well regarded for a certain graduate program, that means both PhD and MS. Ranking for example do not differentiate between PhDs and MSs, they are both graduate study.

I'm also looking for housing options around Georgia Tech. The Georgia Tech housing website has a pdf file with nearby accommodation. From what I've seen it is cheaper to rent off campus as you can get your own bathroom and small kitchen for the same price as you would pay for campus housing which gives you a shared bathroom and kitchen (Graduate Living Center). I'm considering living off campus, but I currently live in Ohio and it is proving to be hard to find something reasonable. I don't want to sign a lease without seeing the room first :-) Good luck with your hunting.

Many people have still not heard from Ohio State University regarding their application to the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, please discuss it hear.

I do not think so. Overall the Georgia Institute of Technology (Gatech) is better ranked than CMU. Paying so much for CMU doesn't make much sense when you have an equally (or even better) admit from another university. There is too much cost difference between the two considering the overall teaching/research quality is probably the same.

I've applied for the M.S. and still waiting. It is getting quite frustrating as I need to make up my mind soon and send my offer decision letters. I don't understand why they are taking so long. Other universities I've applied to probably had more applicants and they both got back to me a long time ago. I also want to know about funding as accepting the Ohio State ECE offer depends on whether I get funded or not as I already have a non-funded offer from a much better university.

I assume you are talking about a graduate degree. Well, with the little information you supplied I would have to say that unless that private university you are talking about gave you a very great advantage in terms of future opportunities, high salary... then it is not worth it. By the end of the day, an employer is going to look at your degree, your grades and your past experiences. Only in few instances is he really going to base his/her decision on the name of the university you graduated from. So no it is not worth the 60,000. Go to a cheap university, study well, earn good grades, publish something and that is all you need.