samoe

I noticed that Columbia has been significantly rising in the US News rankings. From 23 to 20 to 15 in a couple of years, how is that possible? What changed? A quick google search came up with some articles showing an administration struggle and issues with the current Dean of SEAS. I am planning to apply to Columbia however I am just worried that administration issues might affect my experience when and if it was a Fall 2013 option for me. I do understand that rankings are not everything but I am just intrigued as to how volatile it is since it jumped 8 spots in 2-3 years. That seemed remarkable to me. Also, what do you guys think of Dartmouth? Some of the research there is interesting but it seems like an extremely small department.

Thanks all. I am still going to apply to that list but will include other top 30 schools as backup. I still want to do a PhD regardless of this external funding opportunity but will hope for the best. I understand that nothing is impossible here but I also have to be realistic and should not expect an acceptance from those top schools.

The GPA and Major GPA are from my undergraduate. I have an equivalent of above 3.6 in my master's. Without diverging too much, getting that external funding is not just about money but it fits my future career plans when I head back to my country. jjsakurai: My chances are close to zero for the top 4 schools or for each school I listed? blankslate: Which schools do you think I would have a chance at if I work with what I currently have? I have seen a lot of candidates planning to have two rounds of applying. For example applying to Fall 2013 to test the waters and then reapplying in Fall 2014. Is this a good strategy?

My external funding is conditional upon acceptance into one those schools in addition I really like the research being done in those schools.

Do you guys think that my GPA and lack of research experience would render my chances close to zero? What would be more of a reach for me?

Hello all, I am an international student from a central asian country-not a lot of us here in the U.S. with external funding Major: CS bachelors from Berkeley, CS masters from Harvard GPA: 3.11 Major GPA: 3.10 GRE: 790 M, 490 V Experience: Two years at Cisco in California as a software engineer, no research or any publications Good SOP and letters of recommendation from professors based on coursework and industry. What are my chances at each of these schools for Systems? Should I forget about MIT and Stanford because I have no research experience? MIT, Stanford, Berkeley, Harvard, Princeton, Caltech, Columbia, Yale I am considering Cornell, USC and UWashington

Hello all, I am an international student from a central asian country-not a lot of us here in the U.S. with external funding Major: CS bachelors from Berkeley, CS masters from Harvard GPA: 3.11 Major GPA: 3.10 GRE: 790 M, 490 V Experience: Two years at Cisco in California as a software engineer, no research or any publications Good SOP and letters of recommendation from professors based on coursework and industry. What are my chances at each of these schools for Systems? Should I forget about MIT and Stanford because I have no research experience? MIT, Stanford, Berkeley, Harvard, Princeton, Caltech, Columbia, Yale I am considering Cornell, USC and UWashington