NE Fall 2017 Applicants' Thread

[somebloke]

6 hours ago, GeorgeC07 said:

Okay guys, got an email from PSU today, offering me an offer with one year of half-time TA.  One terrible thing happening to me is that my master's degree supervisor wants me to delay my graduation, and if that does happen, I might not be able to enroll in the 2017 fall term. I don't think I'll be able to forget someone who ruins my dream. 

If the worst does happen, isn't deferring for a while and getting some experience as an RA an option? Maybe you'll get more funding next time 

[KRSG]

Oh congrats on the interview offer! Hope you get in too. I'm an international student so I'm not sure if Michigan will ask for an interview. UIUC didn't require an interview.

I submitted my UIUC application around 1st Jan along with my UW Madison application. Haven't heard from the other one. I applied for PhD in all of my applications.

For UIUC, I'm admitted into their MS programme with the opportunity to extend to a PhD. Is that the conventional offer for all PhD applicants?

And may I know what you heard about UIUC? Is it too sensitive to share on this thread? Thanks!

 

Edit: Tried to quote your reply but I can never figure out how lol

Edit2: Okay I figured it out but I can't edit it into this post

 

Edited March 2, 2017 by KRSG

[GeorgeC07]

32 minutes ago, lordofnumpties said:

If the worst does happen, isn't deferring for a while and getting some experience as an RA an option? Maybe you'll get more funding next time 

I don't know what would happen if I choose to defer until 2018 spring. They might not have funding then. Still I'll try to avoid delaying my graduation, gonna talk with my supervisor more frequently.

[GeorgeC07]

44 minutes ago, lordofnumpties said:

If the worst does happen, isn't deferring for a while and getting some experience as an RA an option? Maybe you'll get more funding next time 

Okay just as I was replying to you in the last post, I got a rejection from MIT. My friend who's applying to NE also got it. So if you haven't heard from them, you should be on the waiting list.

[somebloke]

1 hour ago, GeorgeC07 said:

I don't know what would happen if I choose to defer until 2018 spring. They might not have funding then. Still I'll try to avoid delaying my graduation, gonna talk with my supervisor more frequently.

Good luck!

Yeah, I got rejected too. And it hurt. I've no idea what kinda people get in. I thought I had a chance 

[somebloke]

1 hour ago, KRSG said:

Oh congrats on the interview offer! Hope you get in too. I'm an international student so I'm not sure if Michigan will ask for an interview. UIUC didn't require an interview.

I submitted my UIUC application around 1st Jan along with my UW Madison application. Haven't heard from the other one. I applied for PhD in all of my applications.

For UIUC, I'm admitted into their MS programme with the opportunity to extend to a PhD. Is that the conventional offer for all PhD applicants?

And may I know what you heard about UIUC? Is it too sensitive to share on this thread? Thanks!

 

Edit: Tried to quote your reply but I can never figure out how lol

Edit2: Okay I figured it out but I can't edit it into this post

 

 

Thanks! Fingers crossed. All the best to you too!

Yeah, it would put the personal info of those two people at risk. And it wouldn't make any sense without the context. But that's the gist of it, in my previous post.

Yes, I've seen similar offers in the results section. But it's not the norm everywhere. Only at UIUC.

[somebloke]

Anybody hear back from UCB? Did anyone call them?

[GeorgeC07]

Okay guys the waiting seems not so rewarding, and I haven't heard from the other schools other than the simple rejection from MIT. I'm about to make the final decision at the end of this month and right now I'm looking at offers from Penn State and NCSU. I'm having a hard time choosing from these two schools and talking with teachers and friends from different schools.    Both schools offered me admission with funding opportunities and the professor whose group I'd like to join transferred from Penn State to NCSU last year. I'm not sure what's left at Penn State would intrigue me and I haven't contacted any professor. It may be a good idea to communicate with professors and students from both schools but so far I haven't heard from them. Do you guys have any advice?

[babbit]

@GeorgeC07  I  may be a little too late to post if you've already made you're decision! I wanted to provide some extra info on PSU. I've previously done research there. I really like the campus. "Happy Valley" is beautiful, and great if you're into the outdoors.

If you are interested in reactor physics or neutronics in general there are two new professors at PSU worth contacting/checking out: Brown and Walters. If you're interested in detection, Flaska just joined from UMich. The department is really growing this year in number of faculty, and there should be a lot of new projects to work on. It's definitely worth contacting some of these professors if you aren't dead set on NCSU.

As for NCSU, I have never visited their campus. However, there program looks really strong! They are a big part of CASL.

Best of luck.

 

[GeorgeC07]

On 2017/3/30 at 9:57 AM, babbit said:

@GeorgeC07  I  may be a little too late to post if you've already made you're decision! I wanted to provide some extra info on PSU. I've previously done research there. I really like the campus. "Happy Valley" is beautiful, and great if you're into the outdoors.

If you are interested in reactor physics or neutronics in general there are two new professors at PSU worth contacting/checking out: Brown and Walters. If you're interested in detection, Flaska just joined from UMich. The department is really growing this year in number of faculty, and there should be a lot of new projects to work on. It's definitely worth contacting some of these professors if you aren't dead set on NCSU.

As for NCSU, I have never visited their campus. However, there program looks really strong! They are a big part of CASL.

Best of luck.

 

I haven't made my decision yet and I would wait for a few more days. I know that PSU is a great school and info from my friends actually makes me more torn on this. I'm more inclined to go to NCSU since I want to do multiphysics and projects in the multiphysics group at PSU is not so interesting after the professor transferred to NCSU to become the department head. 

I figure I'll make my decision in a couple of days. Thanks for the info.

[KRSG]

Hey guys! With the "official" deadline approaching I guess we'll be making our decisions soon.

Just wanna ask for a small favour here. I'm an international student so I didn't have the opportunity to visit the schools I'm interested in. Right now, I'm looking at umich, uiuc and uwm. Hoping you guys can share about your impressions of these schools? I'm interested in computational reactor physics for Gen4 reactors, or possibly severe accident simulations. Alternatively, you can drop me a PM too. Even a little info would be helpful because I didnt study nuclear engineering for my bachelors so I'm not as familiar with the field and the professors. Thanks in advance!

[nuclearkatie]

On 4/3/2017 at 11:41 AM, KRSG said:

Right now, I'm looking at umich, uiuc and uwm. Hoping you guys can share about your impressions of these schools? I'm interested in computational reactor physics for Gen4 reactors, or possibly severe accident simulations.

For starters, a little intro. I'm currently at UIUC in Nuclear Engineering, and I've accepted at UW-Madison, however if I chose based on which school I liked the most I would choose Michigan. Was looking at computational nuclear fuel cycle and reactor physics, so I can speak a bit about all three from both a school standpoint and research standpoint.

To be completely candid, I think you can't go wrong here. I work for Katy Huff at Illinois and will work for Paul Wilson at UW and I think they're two of the best professors and advisors you could ever find. Professor Tomasz Kozlowski at Illinois is also awesome. I don't know which country you're coming from but Illinois has a very high international population so if that's something you're interested in, that would probably be the best school. I don't know if you've gotten offers from specific professors at Michigan, but Professor Brian Kiedrowski, Professor Edward Larsen and Professor William Martin (the three of them offered me a joint offer) all seemed fantastic to me. So advisor wise... from the bottom of my heart, I mean it when I say you can't go wrong. I am a bit biased because I knew Katy Huff (Illinois) and Paul Wilson (Wisconsin) before applying to grad school, but all three were fantastic options.

So, I'll list some more info about the schools in general to help out as much as I can

Still being super candid, Michigan has the most money and offers the highest stipend (by a lot). They were practically throwing money at us during the visit weekend. UW is the lowest, lower than Illinois by about $200/mo

None of the three schools are located in large cities, but Madison is by far the largest. If you're looking for a small city feel, that's the way to go. Ann Arbor is in a good sized town, slightly larger than Champaign-Urbana area. Highest cost of living is probably Ann Arbor, then Madison (though not too far off, I think). Champaign is definitely the lowest, you can find apartments/houses not too far from campus in the $400-500 range without too much of a problem. For Illinois, most of the apartments are in Champaign (west of campus) and houses are in Urbana (east of campus). You can find either in both towns, but it's just overwhelmingly one or the other. 

Now for super random stuff that just popped into my head.

• If you care about sports/school pride, Michigan has the most, closely followed by UW-Madison. Illinois has some but you certainly have to search for it in the engineering community.
• If you're looking to fly a lot (on a budget), Ann Arbor might be the best because it's pretty close (half hour-ish) from Detroit. Madison has a decent sized airport, but only Delta and Frontier fly from there (I think). Might be better off flying from Milwaukee (1.5 hours away by driving) or Chicago (2-2.5 hours). For Champaign, it's usually better to fly out of Chicago (2.5 hours) unless you're willing to pay a much higher price.
• The ANS (American Nuclear Society) chapter at Illinois is really awesome, but doesn't get a large participation from grad students. UW Madison is also great, and might have a slightly larger level of graduate participation. University of Michigan has traditionally been not very active in ANS
• Illinois department might be slightly in flux (administratively) next year because the department head is changing. Don't know who yet so can't say if it's going to be a good or bad change. However, it'll definitely be a change since we've had the same department head since... 1998
• Wisconsin requires a lot of classes to get the PhD so you might be taking classes longer than you would be at other schools (that's what grad students told me), although I think 5 years is typical graduation time from all 3 schools

Sorry I just dropped a ton of info on you, but these were like my big 3 schools. I love Illinois, I'm suuper excited for Wisconsin, and I (kinda) wish the advisor was a better fit at Michigan because it was so nice and I fell in love with Ann Arbor, so I'm pretty passionate about all these schools. Feel free to ask me more questions!!!

[nuclearkatie]

Also... anyone heard from Berkeley yet? I've already accepted elsewhere but I just wanna hear back from them... (yes, I did receive the request to switch to MEng, in early Feb. But nothing since then)

[Dhruva]

I got rejected from 2/4 and still awaiting answers from the rest. 

It's already an year since I completed my B-tech. Any advice? should I get work experience or something?  

[GeorgeC07]

@KRSGI accepted the offer from NCSU last week. I'd say these programs are all very awesome and it's all about whether you could find something interesting for your phd. The professor I would like to work with transferred from Penn State to NCSU last year and Raleigh, NC is also a pretty nice city, so in the end I chose NCSU.

Know a student who's with Professor Kozlowski at UIUC and their work is promising. Also a few international students on his team. Never intend to apply to UW and Umich so I can't give you any advice. Check out their websites and recent works. Reach out to them, and find out what intrigues you. It's really important that you have something you find interesting for your phd!

@nuclearkatieAnd hey, I'm also working on computational reactor physics, multiphysics simulation to be specific. Maybe we'll meet on a conference someday.

[GeorgeC07]

1 hour ago, Dhruva said:

I got rejected from 2/4 and still awaiting answers from the rest. 

It's already an year since I completed my B-tech. Any advice? should I get work experience or something?  

I recently turned down offers from Penn State and UTK. If you applied to these schools, maybe there's a chance. Good luck!

[GeorgeC07]

@nuclearkatieBTW, also nothing from Berkeley, either. Curious why no one knows or posts anything. Anyway, that's $125 flying away.

[nuclearkatie]

@GeorgeC07 cool! You might be working in the same research group as one of my good friends at NC State.

I'd love to get your contact info, feel free to send me a message. I'm sure we'll absolutely cross paths, especially if you get/stay involved in the American Nuclear Society national meetings

Just out of curiosity, who do you know from Kozlowski's group? I did some work with them for a semester so I know at least most of the students in the group.

[GeorgeC07]

On 2017/4/20 at 3:13 PM, nuclearkatie said:

@GeorgeC07 cool! You might be working in the same research group as one of my good friends at NC State.

I'd love to get your contact info, feel free to send me a message or email me at radioactivekate@gmail.com. I'm sure we'll absolutely cross paths, especially if you get/stay involved in the American Nuclear Society national meetings

Just out of curiosity, who do you know from Kozlowski's group? I did some work with them for a semester so I know at least most of the students in the group.

Actually the phd student I know is on the material's group. He's from my undergrad college and did an intern at my institute a few months back. He mentioned Xu Wu when I was applying to UIUC but there's no news since then. I didn't even contact Prof. Kozlowski for this matter.