khaled

If you contact the tenant union they will provide you with complaint records of landlords : )

Any ideas about one-north apartments?

J-1 visa holders can get a social security number without having a job ...

I find a lot of the topics in controls fascinating, but generally, I'd prefer working on the applications of controls and optimization in smart grids and renewable energy sources. Also, there are some topics that i don't want to work on ( robotics and biomedical applications)

I totally agree with zabius. One more thing, I don't see finishing your PhD in 5-6 years at school B a waste of time. You will get exposed to a better department, a new city, and a new life experience. If I where you, I'd definitely go to school B. IMHO, having a better school for your PhD gives a good indication because basically "upgraded" to a better department. I think what's holding you from school B is that you prefer not to "adjust" to a new place compared to a place where you know everyone, in addition to the extra 1-2 years that you are going to spend. You don't need to worry much about these things because once you arrive, a new experience/exposure is waiting for you

Thank you. Actually I accepted the offer from UIUC before hearing back from Berkeley. My area is control systems and I like the work the people in UIUC do in controls. Also, the professor who will supervise me has significant contributions in the area. I'm really happy with UIUC and the rejection from Berkeley wasn't an issue for me.

You were right. I just received my rejection letter. UIUC it is <3 !

Is the difference worth the thousands you will pay from your pocket (keep in mind the living expenses in California are high)? think of it ...

I made a request to join ...

I was thinking that everyone shared his/her "expectations vs. reality" regarding the admission decisions, and what he/she learned out of them ... I'll start: Acceptances: University of Minnesota (Expected), UCLA & UMich (I was 60% confident), UIUC (surprised and thought of it as out of my league !!!) Rejections: MIT (expected), CalTech (expected), Purdue (i thought i'd make it), UPenn (not expected), Stanford (expected) What I learned: there is a lot of randomness, and if you are an international student, your admission decision is affected by how much they know your school, here's why: one of my undergrad school's alumni did his PhD at UCLA at the same department in the same area, and he did very well, so maybe because of that they have a good impression about my undergrad school my undergrad's university rector did his BS and MS in the same university, and then went to UMich for his PhD, and he ranked first among 60+ students in the department I know that some professors at UIUC know about my undergrad school

I didn't hear anything yet (applied for the MS/PhD program)

I was confused too, but in the end i found a way to put in a way that is not boring, or at least they won't say (he's repeating known info). I remember one of my professors told me it is important to mention you name/name of program/area on the top of the SOP. Because it might be sent to someone who doesn't have your complete file. I'm not 100% sure if that's true, but I remember some schools asked for such information on the top of the SOP I did something like this: Statement of Purpose Name: My name Program of Interest: Name of graduate program (Ex: MS in Electrical Engineering) Area of Interest: .... (insert a horizontal line here, by using MS Word) Blah blah blah

I guess that you are not rejected nor admitted yet. Maybe it's an interview

Thanks guys. Instead of worrying about the cold winter now I'm excited for the experience !!! @pears: I won't bring a car but I'm planning to buy one (thinking of a new subaru impreza). it is likely that I'll be there for about 5 years and I want to avoid getting an old car and unexpected maintenance costs. Also, as far as I understood the subarus can be sold easily with good prices in cold places like Illinois (correct me if I'm wrong) so it is going to be worth it. do u think the new impreza is a good choice?

Thank you very much guys. It seems that there's nothing to worry about as long as I have good winter clothes/shoes I do have a concern about driving in winter. I'd appreciate it if you share your experiences.