JavaGuy147 Posted March 1, 2014 Share Posted March 1, 2014 Hey, I was there! What did you think? The department feels like a great fit for me, but I'm visiting one other school before I make a decision. It was very nice, and it looks like a good fit for me as well. Its looking like I'll be deciding between UIUC and Penn. Its going to be a hard decision because the ranking disparity is a bit large, but Penn is still top 20 and has lots of other perks (general name recongition, still great grad placement, alumni network, in Philly, smaller class, could get a MS in stats from Wharton on the way, etc). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JavaGuy147 Posted March 1, 2014 Share Posted March 1, 2014 Hey, I was there! What did you think? The department feels like a great fit for me, but I'm visiting one other school before I make a decision. Also, did you read the one pamphlet we recieved in our folders? It says the average starting salary for MS is like 102k-ish and that PhD was over 130k. Does that even sound reasonable? I almost look at it and don't believe it. I'm not sure if grads from the top 4 make that much so I'm a little skeptical. Then again, maybe they do, or maybe UIUCs industry relations does put them ahead pay-wise. Any insight? Of course I'm not in it for the money but if thats true then GOD DAMN. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Icydubloon Posted March 2, 2014 Share Posted March 2, 2014 Also, did you read the one pamphlet we recieved in our folders? It says the average starting salary for MS is like 102k-ish and that PhD was over 130k. Does that even sound reasonable? I almost look at it and don't believe it. I'm not sure if grads from the top 4 make that much so I'm a little skeptical. Then again, maybe they do, or maybe UIUCs industry relations does put them ahead pay-wise. Any insight? Of course I'm not in it for the money but if thats true then GOD DAMN. Depends on what you do. If you become a data scientist then sure you can expect north of $130K. However, I don't believe that $130K is the average for all PhD graduate at a particular school. If you factor the people that go into academia, the average should be lower. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JavaGuy147 Posted March 2, 2014 Share Posted March 2, 2014 Depends on what you do. If you become a data scientist then sure you can expect north of $130K. However, I don't believe that $130K is the average for all PhD graduate at a particular school. If you factor the people that go into academia, the average should be lower. This is why I am skeptical, but the materials clearly stated that as the average starting salary for PhD graduates. I think most people from UIUC go to industry so academia shouldn't skew it too much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
compiler_guy Posted March 2, 2014 Share Posted March 2, 2014 Just in case somebody wonders. I got e-mails from profs at Northwestern and UNC. Both more or less offered me admissions. So, it seems they are still looking at applications. However, afaik UNC has rolling admissons. However, I told both that I will most likely accept Cornells offer. I am still certain that the systems group at Cornell is the best choice for me. One reason is that I am not 100% sure yet what area I want to specialise in (probably either Networks or Distributed Systems but I still have a "thing" for AI) and Cornell does department admissions that let me choose freely between profs when I am in Ithaca. Maybe I could gamble into a higher stipend but I don't really care about money that much. Thanks for the update! keep us posted. Looks like you have a very interesting choices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSA Posted March 2, 2014 Share Posted March 2, 2014 Well, I guess the waiting will need to be over very soon for me. My current best choice (the only school that accepted me to the PhD program with funding so far) needs to hear back from me this week in order for me to be able to do a summer RA position with my advisor. Last week I tried poking the grad office of my #1 choice, got no answer, so sent another email poking them again. Basically laying out the other offer I've got and the deadline, in hopes that I can get at least some info about my application before I have to make this decision. I hope it didn't come across as too bothersome, but at this point there's nothing for me to lose from being needy with this other school, because if they get back to me with an offer that's not good enough, or an offer that comes too late, I won't be going there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eien Posted March 2, 2014 Share Posted March 2, 2014 (edited) Well, I guess the waiting will need to be over very soon for me. My current best choice (the only school that accepted me to the PhD program with funding so far) needs to hear back from me this week in order for me to be able to do a summer RA position with my advisor. Last week I tried poking the grad office of my #1 choice, got no answer, so sent another email poking them again. Basically laying out the other offer I've got and the deadline, in hopes that I can get at least some info about my application before I have to make this decision. I hope it didn't come across as too bothersome, but at this point there's nothing for me to lose from being needy with this other school, because if they get back to me with an offer that's not good enough, or an offer that comes too late, I won't be going there. Beware! They are not respecting the April 15th deadline for funded decisions. Yes, it may be dressed like a secondary thing (a summer RA position), but it is a pressure as well. If you are willing to accept the offer so early because of this unfair pressure, be informed: you can cancel it later (but not after April 15th) to accept another offer without any punishment. EDIT: Basically, what I would do in your case is to accept your current best offer just to keep the RA position, and then cancel it if your #1 gives you a funded offer. Edited March 2, 2014 by eien Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSA Posted March 2, 2014 Share Posted March 2, 2014 Beware! They are not respecting the April 15th deadline for funded decisions. Yes, it may be dressed like a secondary thing (a summer RA position), but it is a pressure as well. If you are willing to accept the offer so early because of this unfair pressure, be informed: you can cancel it later (but not after April 15th) to accept another offer without any punishment. EDIT: Basically, what I would do in your case is to accept your current best offer just to keep the RA position, and then cancel it if your #1 gives you a funded offer. Thanks for the advice -- I admit I'm pretty uninformed on a lot of this. When it comes to the whole April 15th deadline, what does it mean by "punishment" in these cases? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eien Posted March 2, 2014 Share Posted March 2, 2014 Thanks for the advice -- I admit I'm pretty uninformed on a lot of this. When it comes to the whole April 15th deadline, what does it mean by "punishment" in these cases? The April 15th deadline is part of an agreement through almost all universities offering graduate studies that you may read here: https://www.cgsnet.org/ckfinder/userfiles/files/CGS_Resolution.pdf Basically it states that funded offers must be preserved in wait of the student's acceptance until April 15th. They have no right to pressure or force -directly- to make a decision before that date. You may also accept an offer, and then decide to cancel it and take another before the deadline. After the April 15th deadline, funded offers are not guaranteed anymore (most likely your offer is given to a waitlisted student), although some universities may provide extensions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSA Posted March 2, 2014 Share Posted March 2, 2014 The April 15th deadline is part of an agreement through almost all universities offering graduate studies that you may read here: https://www.cgsnet.org/ckfinder/userfiles/files/CGS_Resolution.pdf Basically it states that funded offers must be preserved in wait of the student's acceptance until April 15th. They have no right to pressure or force -directly- to make a decision before that date. You may also accept an offer, and then decide to cancel it and take another before the deadline. After the April 15th deadline, funded offers are not guaranteed anymore (most likely your offer is given to a waitlisted student), although some universities may provide extensions. Thanks for the info -- I admit it all seems like a weird edge case to me; the funding offer is there and guaranteed, though whether it's an RA or TA position or whatever is still up in the air. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeleteMePlease Posted March 2, 2014 Author Share Posted March 2, 2014 (edited) Basically it states that funded offers must be preserved in wait of the student's acceptance until April 15th. They have no right to pressure or force -directly- to make a decision before that date. You may also accept an offer, and then decide to cancel it and take another before the deadline Really? I thought as soon a I have accepted I have to stick with the school, but the school cannot pressure me into accepting. EDIT: Nevermind I read the resolution again Edited March 2, 2014 by GermanStudent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSA Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 Well, I finally bit the bullet and accepted Purdue's offer. Gonna be a Boilermaker...whatever that is! Now to figure out all the crazy details of moving to a new place, before May... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhDerp Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 Well, I finally bit the bullet and accepted Purdue's offer. Gonna be a Boilermaker...whatever that is! Now to figure out all the crazy details of moving to a new place, before May... Congrats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tamer Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 (edited) Hi all, Anybody here also waiting for Stanford MSCS decisions? They said the results will be out by the end of March but they said the same for PhD (end of February) and I see results were out in the second week of February so let's hope they'll be out sooner Edited March 7, 2014 by Tamer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snkanon Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 @Tamer, yep, I'm waiting too. Nerve-wracking. I hope they come out with decisions sooner, too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhDerp Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 Oh my goodness, just discovered Microsoft's research rankings... USC's rank in USNews ignores their research institutions. Including ISI and ICT, there are WAY more publications, especially in NLP!!! This school is an even better opportunity than I realized!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeleteMePlease Posted March 11, 2014 Author Share Posted March 11, 2014 Got my first rejection today from Georgia Tech. Guess it is only downhill from here. Was waiting for a decision from UIUC, but as the visit days have passed I guess it will most likely be negative. However, I accepted Cornell's offer a few days ago. Time to look for a place in Ithaca! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
compiler_guy Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Got my first rejection today from Georgia Tech. Guess it is only downhill from here. Was waiting for a decision from UIUC, but as the visit days have passed I guess it will most likely be negative. However, I accepted Cornell's offer a few days ago. Time to look for a place in Ithaca! Congrats and good luck! :-) What was your area of research, and do you have to pick and advisor right away? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeleteMePlease Posted March 12, 2014 Author Share Posted March 12, 2014 Congrats and good luck! :-) What was your area of research, and do you have to pick and advisor right away? I am interested in distributed systems and especially peer to peer networks. No I don't have to choose yet but there are two very interesting professors and one of them already approached me. Really excited. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exe163 Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 Hi all, Anybody here also waiting for Stanford MSCS decisions? They said the results will be out by the end of March but they said the same for PhD (end of February) and I see results were out in the second week of February so let's hope they'll be out sooner I applied for Stanford Ph.D. and had been rejected. I remember checking the box for MSCS. I am not sure how this is going to work since my SoP is tailored toward PhD and not for terminal masters. As a side question, anyone remember which of the top 20 also had MSCS attached to the PhD application? Suma and JavaGuy147 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eien Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 Just updating to let you guys know of my final status and decision. Good game to you all and have fun with your PhD careers! Going to beautiful San Diego!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
compiler_guy Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 Just updating to let you guys know of my final status and decision. Good game to you all and have fun with your PhD careers! Going to beautiful San Diego!! Awesome! Congrats and good luck. BTW what is your intended field of research? eien 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
complexbongo Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 Just updating to let you guys know of my final status and decision. Good game to you all and have fun with your PhD careers! Going to beautiful San Diego!! Congratulations! Best of luck to you! eien 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhDerp Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 Just updating to let you guys know of my final status and decision. Good game to you all and have fun with your PhD careers! Going to beautiful San Diego!! Awesome!! I'm still waiting to hear from them, but I found out that the other school is better for my particular research interests (which I hadn't known when I applied). So I won't be joining you! Enjoy beautiful San Diego, and the amazing program there! eien 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kleene Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 Wow, I have been accepted to Oxford's pure maths and CS course. I am already dreading the tough decision I will have to make.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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