Go to #14 school for CS PhD or do year-long internship and try applying again next year?

[SymmetryOfImperfection]

I like the downvotes on basically all of the OP's posts (not).

A clear lack of understanding of her background is prevalent in basically all the responses.

She's asian, probably has overbearing parents (Phillip Guo did his PhD at MIT in CS, see his many posts on this subject here - http://www.pgbovine....ian-parents.htm) and simply has different values than most of you.

Unless you're asian, you won't get it. Asians don't have equal opportunity for advancement in a foreign country without "prestige".

Granted, gauging your advisor from a shaky index like ratemyprofessor is beyond stupid.

I recommend the OP to apply to prestigious master's programs, accumulate more research experience and go from there. Top PhD programs in CS are beyond hard to get into unless you're a prodigy or a stellar fit. I would also warn the OP to lean more towards the side of what you're inherently interested in and less to the side of "what do employers want to see / what looks prestigious".

She sounds like she herself is interested in the prestige for its own sake.

Also you should distinguish between overseas and native Asians, since the former show significant self selection.

[ponylevel]

She sounds like she herself is interested in the prestige for its own sake.

Also you should distinguish between overseas and native Asians, since the former show significant self selection.

She actually sounds confused and unsure and and probably in a host of other places.

It sounds like she wants prestige so that people will immediately think she's awesome. But she's reached an impasse since she doesn't have the option of attending a top 10, so she's come to these boards for advice.

There are differences between overseas and native asians, but in the presented context distinguishing makes little difference. In the former case there is a language barrier, in the latter a more lax upbringing. In either case, there is often enormous parental/societal pressure to be "prestigious".

[ghanada]

I like the downvotes on basically all of the OP's posts (not).

A clear lack of understanding of her background is prevalent in basically all the responses.

She's asian, probably has overbearing parents (Phillip Guo did his PhD at MIT in CS, see his many posts on this subject here - http://www.pgbovine....ian-parents.htm) and simply has different values than most of you.

Unless you're asian, you won't get it. Asians don't have equal opportunity for advancement in a foreign country without "prestige".

Granted, gauging your advisor from a shaky index like ratemyprofessor is beyond stupid.

I recommend the OP to apply to prestigious master's programs, accumulate more research experience and go from there. Top PhD programs in CS are beyond hard to get into unless you're a prodigy or a stellar fit. I would also warn the OP to lean more towards the side of what you're inherently interested in and less to the side of "what do employers want to see / what looks prestigious".

Uhhh I'm Asian, but I don't agree with you. I get where you are going with the model minority stereotype, but I think you are jumping to conclusions way too quickly. There is a big difference between trying to please your family and wanting to hobnob with ivy leaguers (which she said earlier that she wanted to do). I also don't use "being Asian" as any type of excuse for prestige chasing. If you aren't mature enough to do whatever it is you want to do regardless of what your family thinks, than you prob aren't mature enough to be going for a PhD degree. Putting yourself through a program you don't care about because your parents are impressed would be miserable.

There are differences between overseas and native asians, but in the presented context distinguishing makes little difference. In the former case there is a language barrier, in the latter a more lax upbringing. In either case, there is often enormous parental/societal pressure to be "prestigious".

Again, I think this is generalizing way to much. To me there is a HUGE difference in being from Asian and being Asian American. Foreign students often come to the US for grad school because they want to go back to their own country and having an American degree (especially because it is in English) is a huge deal. It actually makes sense for them that going to big name schools will help a lot because a name like Harvard is known internationally whereas a small state school is not.

The attitude is completely different if you are a domestic citizen and plan to work in the US. For a research based (non-professional) PhD, everyone knows that research fit is the most important factor and that US News rankings don't carry a lot of weight. Clearly the OP has no intention of going to one of these top schools because of the research fit or professors there. It is solely because of the name. So if you are that obsessed with school name than that is your self absorbed issue you need to work out. And I think that is what everyone here has been trying to do.

[ponylevel]

Uhhh I'm Asian, but I don't agree with you. I get where you are going with the model minority stereotype, but I think you are jumping to conclusions way too quickly. There is a big difference between trying to please your family and wanting to hobnob with ivy leaguers (which she said earlier that she wanted to do). I also don't use "being Asian" as any type of excuse for prestige chasing. If you aren't mature enough to do whatever it is you want to do regardless of what your family thinks, than you prob aren't mature enough to be going for a PhD degree. Putting yourself through a program you don't care about because your parents are impressed would be miserable.

Again, I think this is generalizing way to much. To me there is a HUGE difference in being from Asian and being Asian American. Foreign students often come to the US for grad school because they want to go back to their own country and having an American degree (especially because it is in English) is a huge deal. It actually makes sense for them that going to big name schools will help a lot because a name like Harvard is known internationally whereas a small state school is not.

The attitude is completely different if you are a domestic citizen and plan to work in the US. For a research based (non-professional) PhD, everyone knows that research fit is the most important factor and that US News rankings don't carry a lot of weight. Clearly the OP has no intention of going to one of these top schools because of the research fit or professors there. It is solely because of the name. So if you are that obsessed with school name than that is your self absorbed issue you need to work out. And I think that is what everyone here has been trying to do.

It's not an excuse for prestige chasing. I'm saying you can get a better idea of where she's coming from.

A big name school is just as helpful domestically as overseas.

I think you're understating the importance of brand, research PhD or not.

I didn't go to a brand name school, but I wholly disagree with the majority of the points you made.

[ghanada]

It's not an excuse for prestige chasing. I'm saying you can get a better idea of where she's coming from.

A big name school is just as helpful domestically as overseas.

I think you're understating the importance of brand, research PhD or not.

I didn't go to a brand name school, but I wholly disagree with the majority of the points you made.

Yeah I mean I guess brand importance might vary field by field. I was speaking toward the science/engineering fields since this post was about CS. You can read thousands of posts on this forum and others that echo how brand name matters much less than the research work, professors, or even sub-field specialty rankings. I have also confirmed this with many tenured professors and industry engineering managers (who do the hiring) and they have all stated the same thing. They care much more about your actual skills and the training you have more than what school you came from. And if anything, if at all, school name could help you for your first job out of school, but nobody cares after that.

Now I will agree that the brand name has a bit more importance if the OP is planning on staying in academia, and moreso if she tries to get a TT professorship at an ivy, but even stil I would be hard pressed to think that those reasons would be strong enough to give up admissions to 3 top tier schools. I could even understand the brand name thing if we were comparing like cal state LA to Harvard, but my arguments are based on the fact that she has offers at UMD, UCLA, and UCSD. Also note that in overseas world rankings in engineering and technology, UCLA is #8 according to TImes Higher Education. Harvard is not in the top 50.

Again, I am only speaking toward the engineering side of PhDs so your experiences might be different.