timkartar Posted January 10, 2019 Posted January 10, 2019 Since our applications are getting reviewed and SGS status updated to "under review", I think it a good time start this thread. My worries: I did not mention POI's name in SOP. Mentioned in departmental form though. Shall I not get picked up? When will the decisions start to be dished out? Should I contact my POI? Does it really matter? So, people, share your worries too and if possible answer some of mine. cs_103 1
cs_103 Posted January 11, 2019 Posted January 11, 2019 "Shouldn't the departmental form have status as "complete" ? And why don't you guys come over to the forum instead of spamming the results page. There's a thread for utoronto computer science in the "waiting it out" section." Well, the guy on the results page is right, I didn't see this thread. BTW, on the "View your application" page (in the Departmental Form), on top I have "Application (Complete)", and on the fourth row I have "Application status: In progress". Nonetheless, on the SGS application, the Departmental Form is labeled as "Received".
cs_103 Posted January 11, 2019 Posted January 11, 2019 (edited) On 1/10/2019 at 10:33 AM, timkartar said: Since our applications are getting reviewed and SGS status updated to "under review", I think it a good time start this thread. My worries: I did not mention POI's name in SOP. Mentioned in departmental form though. Shall I not get picked up? When will the decisions start to be dished out? Should I contact my POI? Does it really matter? So, people, share your worries too and if possible answer some of mine. I listed all the POIs in my SOP, as well as in the application, also because in my SOP I explained the reasons for my interest in them. Last year's results page shows that the first acceptances went out at the beginning of January, and the last ones in April (if I remember well), thus there is a huge time period during which to be anxious ? The only POI I (kind of) contacted is a professor that explicitly stated to submit a form if interested in being supervised by him, but I haven't heard back from him yet (even though I think he visited my homepage) and I haven't had direct contact, such as an e-mail, with him. I think it is not that necessary to contact them, even because on the department's FAQ it's stated that "Your application will be read by one or more members of our Admissions Committee. The best applications are then sent to faculty members in each applicant's research area(s) for additional comments. Some applicants are contacted for additional information or for a telephone interview." Thus, I think that, if we pass the first screening, our applications will be forwarded to the POIs as well. My biggest worry is that I come from a kind of unknown Engineering School (even though it is one of the top ones in Europe), and I have no clue about my GPA conversion (of course I checked with their tool that is greater than B+, but I don't know how much greater it is). Moreover, I listed my POIs in the form with the format "Prof. Name Surname", and not by surname as stated before. I realized it a week ago, and I hope it won't affect me in any way ? Edited January 11, 2019 by cs_103
nz1996 Posted January 12, 2019 Posted January 12, 2019 Anyone here has applied for PhD-direct? Is it possible that we get offers from more than one professor? Right now, the professor whose name I hade mentioned as the first potential supervisor has contacted me but I have found out that I am more interested in working with another professor whose name was second in my potential supervisors' list. Besides, how strict is the provisional offer thing of UofT because they have mentioned on their website that they will give provisional offers to whoever is studying for their final year. They say that they will not accept a student is his/her GPA of the final year is not above B+/A-.
cs_103 Posted January 12, 2019 Posted January 12, 2019 (edited) 48 minutes ago, nz1996 said: Anyone here has applied for PhD-direct? Is it possible that we get offers from more than one professor? Right now, the professor whose name I hade mentioned as the first potential supervisor has contacted me but I have found out that I am more interested in working with another professor whose name was second in my potential supervisors' list. Besides, how strict is the provisional offer thing of UofT because they have mentioned on their website that they will give provisional offers to whoever is studying for their final year. They say that they will not accept a student is his/her GPA of the final year is not above B+/A-. I applied for MSc. However, on the department's website, it's written than you can change supervisor during the studies. Regarding the provisional offer thing, I sincerely don't know. I suppose they'll require that admitted students keep more or less the same GPA they applied with. Btw this (https://edition.cnn.com/2019/01/10/world/canada-immigration-trnd/index.html) is a hope for international students ? Edited January 12, 2019 by cs_103
timkartar Posted January 12, 2019 Author Posted January 12, 2019 17 hours ago, cs_103 said: I listed all the POIs in my SOP, as well as in the application, also because in my SOP I explained the reasons for my interest in them. Last year's results page shows that the first acceptances went out at the beginning of January, and the last ones in April (if I remember well), thus there is a huge time period during which to be anxious ? The only POI I (kind of) contacted is a professor that explicitly stated to submit a form if interested in being supervised by him, but I haven't heard back from him yet (even though I think he visited my homepage) and I haven't had direct contact, such as an e-mail, with him. I think it is not that necessary to contact them, even because on the department's FAQ it's stated that "Your application will be read by one or more members of our Admissions Committee. The best applications are then sent to faculty members in each applicant's research area(s) for additional comments. Some applicants are contacted for additional information or for a telephone interview." Thus, I think that, if we pass the first screening, our applications will be forwarded to the POIs as well. My biggest worry is that I come from a kind of unknown Engineering School (even though it is one of the top ones in Europe), and I have no clue about my GPA conversion (of course I checked with their tool that is greater than B+, but I don't know how much greater it is). Moreover, I listed my POIs in the form with the format "Prof. Name Surname", and not by surname as stated before. I realized it a week ago, and I hope it won't affect me in any way ? Hi. Thanks for your response. I am heavily relying on one strong LOR from Max Planck and my bachelors is from a top IIT (i hope that is somewhat known, obviously still not among the top schools in the world ) with good GPA. Best Wishes ? cs_103 1
cs_103 Posted January 12, 2019 Posted January 12, 2019 1 hour ago, timkartar said: Hi. Thanks for your response. I am heavily relying on one strong LOR from Max Planck and my bachelors is from a top IIT (i hope that is somewhat known, obviously still not among the top schools in the world ) with good GPA. Best Wishes ? What research area are you applying for? I'm applying for ML.
timkartar Posted January 12, 2019 Author Posted January 12, 2019 Just now, cs_103 said: What research area are you applying for? I'm applying for ML. computational biology, 2nd pref ML
GokuUI Posted January 12, 2019 Posted January 12, 2019 Hey guys, How big of a setback do you think not giving the GRE Scores will be? Some info about me: graduated from a nationally ranked #119 university in the US and I have a good GPA (3.988/4.0) with great LOR's, a good SOP. I have done a lot of individual projects as well which I listed on my resume. Do you think not providing GRE scores should pose a problem? Thanks in advance!
weldon_m Posted January 14, 2019 Posted January 14, 2019 On 1/12/2019 at 3:32 PM, GokuUI said: Hey guys, How big of a setback do you think not giving the GRE Scores will be? Some info about me: graduated from a nationally ranked #119 university in the US and I have a good GPA (3.988/4.0) with great LOR's, a good SOP. I have done a lot of individual projects as well which I listed on my resume. Do you think not providing GRE scores should pose a problem? Thanks in advance! Shouldn't be a big problem if you have strong connections with POIs, e.g they know your recommenders. Honestly, I think GRE is the least important among TOEFL(if needed), LOR, GPA and Research. However, I heard if there are too many applications they may use English score as a filter.
GokuUI Posted January 14, 2019 Posted January 14, 2019 16 minutes ago, weldon_m said: Shouldn't be a big problem if you have strong connections with POIs, e.g they know your recommenders. Honestly, I think GRE is the least important among TOEFL(if needed), LOR, GPA and Research. However, I heard if there are too many applications they may use English score as a filter. Thanks for replying! Really calmed me down to know that it isn't as big a deal as I thought it would be! I get a sort of waiver from TOEFL cause I graduated from a US university. I really hope it boils down to LOR, GPA and projects (fingers crossed).
timkartar Posted January 14, 2019 Author Posted January 14, 2019 2 hours ago, GokuUI said: Thanks for replying! Really calmed me down to know that it isn't as big a deal as I thought it would be! I get a sort of waiver from TOEFL cause I graduated from a US university. I really hope it boils down to LOR, GPA and projects (fingers crossed). I Like your name ? Goku Ultra Instinct !!!
GokuUI Posted January 14, 2019 Posted January 14, 2019 1 hour ago, timkartar said: I Like your name ? Goku Ultra Instinct !!! Haha! A Dragonball Super fan amidst the anxiety! Can't wait till it comes back, the Broly movie was amazing!
Zeroh Posted January 15, 2019 Posted January 15, 2019 (edited) Did anyone who is an International applicant here receive requests for interviews? Specifically, the Theory and ML group. EDIT: Also, does anyone have any idea about a whatsapp group for related discussions? Edited January 15, 2019 by Zeroh
kh04 Posted January 15, 2019 Posted January 15, 2019 Hello @Zeroh, I didn't receive anything yet, and I'm an international applicant to the ML group.
timkartar Posted January 17, 2019 Author Posted January 17, 2019 In departmental form, until yesterday my top two research interest was locked and top POI. I.e. unchangeable. Today suddenly they have become changeable again. What does it mean? Has anybody else experienced this? (i know at this point changing them will not matter much) cs_103 and merlinyx 2
GokuUI Posted January 17, 2019 Posted January 17, 2019 1 hour ago, timkartar said: In departmental form, until yesterday my top two research interest was locked and top POI. I.e. unchangeable. Today suddenly they have become changeable again. What does it mean? Has anybody else experienced this? (i know at this point changing them will not matter much) Same here, that's weird. My first POI was locked and not he's not anymore. Same with my research interests, the top two aren't locked anymore as they were before.
timkartar Posted January 17, 2019 Author Posted January 17, 2019 Does this mean review has finished ? ? Well, at least it signifies some progress. LOL
GokuUI Posted January 17, 2019 Posted January 17, 2019 No idea, I think they finished phase one of the applications. I saw that the selections aren't ensured but they don't exactly preclude us from working with other faculty members. So I think this may just be the initial phase of the people who got selected; at least, that's what I'm hoping. timkartar 1
cs_103 Posted January 17, 2019 Posted January 17, 2019 Same here, I think it doesn't mean much ? timkartar 1
smodest41 Posted January 18, 2019 Posted January 18, 2019 I saw the same change too. Now the top two POIs and areas of interest can be changed, don't know what it means either.
timkartar Posted January 18, 2019 Author Posted January 18, 2019 Today is exactly 1 month from when reviewing began (Dec 18) ? ! Hope good things follow soon. cs_103 1
timkartar Posted January 18, 2019 Author Posted January 18, 2019 So, I was going through last year's result posts and saw there were interviews starting from early January to even early March! Have any of you been invited for an interview so far?
merlinyx Posted January 18, 2019 Posted January 18, 2019 I didn't even notice the change of PI & research interests being changeable until I saw this discussion! thanks @timkartar I got interviews from profs I listed in the form and my SoP! cs_103 1
cs_103 Posted January 18, 2019 Posted January 18, 2019 33 minutes ago, merlinyx said: I didn't even notice the change of PI & research interests being changeable until I saw this discussion! thanks @timkartar I got interviews from profs I listed in the form and my SoP! Have you applied for PhD or MSc? Domestic or international?
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