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Hey David, thanks for replying. My status checking page hasn't been updated yet. I called my the graduate office but they just told me to wait ("yes, we know. We're very busy. Please wait"). I'm an international student (dunno about you) so I doubt the letter is in the mail. But I'll call the program advisor. Thanks !

So this is gonna sound silly, I got an admit from GATech and I wanna accept it. But the admit says "wait for the graduate office to contact you. Also, send us your response by the 15th of April". It was from the portal, so no return address. I'd call the department.. but they've explicitly requested students not to call. That was the 1st. Today is the 8th. 8 days to go and no reply from the graduate office. No replies to my emails. No change on the portal. I know there are 8 days to go but kinda freaking out. Help ?

I sat down to write a detailed response. Then I saw that you posted the EXACT same question here: Only 3 days ago ! Did you take kcyc's advice and research a bit more ? That is bad. Very bad.

So no one from GATech ??

Have you already applied ? Many colleges accept students from fields that are non-CS but related. IMHO, it would be very difficult to compete if you have no past CS/programming experience whatsoever (formal or otherwise). As far as GRE scores.. I've heard of students with 315+ get in (this is one case, not the cutoff), but they are CS/IT/ECE people with internships and publications and projects. GPA doesn't really count in your case. The probability of getting into the program is directly propotional to the potential for graduate study displayed in your application. Have you any related experience ? Intersting projects ? I believe some departments would (assuming you get in) reuqire you to take some undergraduate courses during/before your first year. You should really check with the department regarding their requirements though. No idea about the value of the degree in terms of job prospects. USNews does rank it 20th or something, but I don't know how much value anyone places on that anymore. All the best !

Or.... get an equally lazy cat. I keep my cat on my lap while studying. If I have to get up, she'll scratch me. If I fall asleep on the table, she'll scratch me. All the best !

Hey eamaro ! I'm going for CS too Not really sure about housing, but I've heard the dorms are filled with sulky 18year olds who don't really wanna be there. It would be cheaper to get an appartment and a roomate though, wouldnt it ?

Hey ! Anyone there attending Georgia Tech for Fall 2014 ?

Haha ! Thanks for this thread. My personal favourite is something my training officer told me when I went to him to ask for help getting an internship. " Why do you want an internship ? Don't you have enough work to do ? For graduate school ? Why the hell do you want to do an MS ?! Get a job at a consultancy here (the pay is toughly 500$ mo) and maybe they'll put you in an offshore project. Then you can have fun" Damn. I'm sad again.

1) Are you the first in your family to pursue graduate education? Are you the first to pursue higher education in general? Not exactly. Both my parents have masters degrees (dad in mathematics and mum in traditional medicine) and my sister is a doctor. But I am the first to go abroad for a higher education degree. Not sure whether that makes me a "first generation applicant". 2) What struggles have you faced as a first-generation applicant? Well, no one ever expected me to do anything. Everyone was like "you have good grades, you'll get a job, get married and settle down. What more do you want ?" I don't know what more I want, but I know I want more. I guess my personal challenge was lack of guidance. I have support, but no guidance, and definitely nothing in the form of encouragement. 3) What have you accomplished as a first-generation applicant? My UG college isn't very reputed and when I was doing my UG, extra curricula's and internships were unheard of. I've lost count of the number of times someone laughed at me saying "Don't you have enough work to do that you want to take up more?" It took some doing, but a hundred slammed doors and thousand smirks later - 2 internships Small ones at startups, but it was a big deal for me. 4) What has helped you reach your educational goals? I don't know. I'm just terrified that one day I'll wake up and realise I never did anything worth doing.

Hey, I have asked for LORs from 2 former professors and my former project lead. But my project lead, having now left the organisation, cannot give me the letter on the company letter head. Is that okay ?

I was researching the GATech website and couldn't really find anything, so I'm hoping someone out there can give me a better understanding of their program. I want to do an MS in CS. I'm pretty sure I want to specialize in AI (but I want to take non-AI courses for breadth) Within AI, I want a wide breadth of courses (I'm planning on a PhD later, but I need to find my niche first) THE PROBLEM: Looking over GA Tech's site... I see a program very robotics-centric. I like robotics, I have experience in it.. but I don't like the limitation. All extra-curriculars are robotics oriented. All research projects, competitions and seminars. Did I make a mistake ? Is there a GaTech grad out there who can vouch for the all-round development provided by the college to its MASTER'S students ? I'm really hoping there is. I always liked the idea of being a GA Tech grad :/ Thanks !

It really depends. On one hand the falling rupee won't make "much" of a difference if you get aid. Of course, living expenses will increase. If you do not have aid, you're paying a s***load anyway and (obviously) hoping to recover it after your degree. On the other hand, if getting the degree isn't urgent and you feel comfortable putting it off for a while, that would be easier on your pocket. You can choose to work for a year, earn some cash and expereince and pray it doesn't become 1USD = Rs. 200000000 which is as sane a plan as any. As for me, I've decided to cash in my chips and pray that I get a job/TA there. ( But that's cause I want to go this year ) Since you want a yes/no answer, this forum can't help. We're all a bunch of really confused kids (perhaps a few confused parents thrown into the mix). I guess the best guy to ask would be Chidambaram, but I doubt he has any idea either. :/

Is running your small internet business, writing, blogging or doing freelance work considered a violation of the "you cant work outside your university" rule ? What if the said business or blog was started while the person was in another country ?

This all sounds very bleak :/ Anyone out there with some good news ? Also, I think someone asked before .. I am going in for a masters degree in CS.

I read somewhere that the GRE CS Subject test is being scrapped. Does it still make sense to take it ? Also, I dont believe the subject test is a requirement for many of the above listed institutes. Slightly confused

First of all, thank you all for your replies. It has been very educational. But I cant help but wonder ... if the laws are so stringent and anti-immigration.... how are so many people flowing into that country ? Is it better then to work in my own country for a while and then let them sponsor my visa (etc) so that I have a job waiting for me ?And there are thousands of people there, Indians and others. They don't all come back. I guess what I'm trying to ask is whether I'm missing some critical piece of information regarding how to get a job there once I incur considerable debt getting an education. Also, do institutions help one get jobs ? Here, we have something called campus placement which is basically a job fair. Anything similar ?

Thanks for you reply. But in that case I would have to ask... why ? What are international students doing wrong or lacking that makes them unemployable ?

Hey, I am going for my MS next year (i.e. 2014 in CS) and although I have spent the past 4 years really debating the merits and demerits of this... I have one final kink to sort out that not many people really talk about. What about Jobs ? Everyone (other students) has an opinion that I have a hard time accepting. Mostly since their opinion is not based on fact. One told me that while there are many many jobs in CS, most of them go to citizens, leaving few positions for the smart alecs of Uk, China, Japan and India (in that order of preference) to compete over. Another told me that there are no jobs. Period. Another said that there are plenty to go around. Another said the recession cant last forever. One said "look at the silicon valley" So I am asking a wider, more varied audience. What about jobs? And more importantly, how do I go about finding out whether the job market in a particular area is good or not. Whether there is internal politics and preferences toward a certain country (yeah, yeah, fairness and all but lets be practical for a minute) PS: Please list your references.

The US, I heard has come up with this rule that makes it necessary for every US citizen to be placed before international students are... Even on the international students list, Europeans will be preferred over Asians. I just want to know whether this is true... and if it is... How do I find the real .. not projected by the tourism dept... the REAL job scenario in the US ?? I am going for a masters in CS course... specialization in AI.. I know that no college will guarantee a job, duh... but how difficult is it to get one... and how tough is it if you want to stay there, for a while at least..

So I'm a final year IT student doing a four year undergraduate course and I'm applying to grad schools in 2014 (late, i know.. but I wanted to make sure I have the best possible profile) I was wondering whether to make a portfolio of the work I've done in the past four years which is substantial in volume but ... well.. its not complete. Its basically a collection of many many ideas (which are awesome ,if i can say so myself), some work I did for a start up (summer internship) and entries to design contests, etc. I want to show the admission committee that I have a good imagination which I believe is essential. But .. and this is gonna sound dumb.. I don't know anything about the legalities of putting content on the web. Once its out there, its not yours anymore, right ?Some of this work is just "ideas under construction" and some of it belongs to companies I've worked for ( I cant put up the source code). So can I or can I not, should I or should I not put this up online ? I don't want to share my ideas with my competitors ( I still participate in national robotic competitions with these) but I do want to show the admissions committee ... My apologies if I'm coming off like a D-bag; The work may not be great, but its mine and i'd like credit for it.

not that i have a lot of experience in this area... but what you wrote up there... its a pretty good description in itself.

I feel STUPID writing an SOP. Have you made mistakes ? I've made a tonne. And i have spent the last 3.5 years in a ***** college trying to make up for it. And I tried... I got more involved, did some small work, participated in everything I came across and now, that I sit down to write about it... I know how much it pales in comparison to all that great awesome stuff others do... Is it possible that once you get into a C-grade college , you can never get in an A-grade one ? I have done stuff, stuff that is huge for me, but minuscule for those guys. You think they sit around and laugh at lame SOPs ? Go "LOL!!! Can you believe this looser actually thought he could GET in ?!?! " Does anyone else out there feel stupid ? Like we are jumping burning hoops while blindfolded ? That the audience is not cheering but Jeering ! I'm sorry this is so negative. But I have to believe that there is someone out there desperately trying to get in a new league and failing miserably. Coming to the point *finally* - my question is this. How do you write about a series SMALL achievement while making it sound not-so-stupid and ensuring they don't start rofl ? thanks a lot