Already be rejected by 9 programs, not sure about the future?

[Wayne Yang]

Hi, everyone!

I am an senior international student from China. Though I major in computational mathematics, I do have a strong interest in HCI. That is why I paid my most of my attention to HCI application instead of financial engineering which seems to "closer" to my major. I applied master of HCI and METALs at CMU(rejected by both), HCID and HCDE(rejected by both), Media lab(rejected), Umich, Cornell, NYU ITP, and Gatech(no update from these yet). I also applied some MFE programs (also got rejected). 

I paid so much efforts to my application. I spent 4 months on designing and writing my SOPs, but the results are depressing. The rejection letter from HCDE said that the admission rate is around 20%, which means my efforts and backgrounds didn't even get my into that percentile...

My undergrad major is applied mathematics(3.84/4). I also studied some CS courses with all As, but I am only familiar with scientific computing softwares like MATLAB and R and some front-end languages like HTML and CSS while my skills in C++ and Python are just basic. I have 3 research experiences in HCI(I wrote a workshop paper as the 2nd author and it was accepted in CHI2015). I have aTOEFL score over 110 and GRE score 324. I wrote in my SOP that I would like to focus on computational social science and learning technology in my graduate stud so I think my SOP would appear research-oriented. I think my biggest weakness in my application is that I don't have professional working experience and I don't have any experience in design and psychology.

I am having a hard time waiting for results from remaining schools( based on present outcomes, I don't have much expectation on remaining programs). I am not sure what I should do if I want to apply for the next year? Is it better for me to change my direction to finance engineering or keep my chasing my interests?

I do appreciate any help! 

[szsz]

Hi Wayne, sorry about the rejections. I feel like you are having really nice academic records and have put much effort on the application process. However, it seems like you've focused too much on the application materials (scores, papers) instead of on expressing your passion towards HCI or your motivation to apply for such programs. Anyway, there is still time for the rest programs to update their results so I'd say don't be too depressed and just wait for the good news. FYI: I am also an international applicant and got accepted to HCDE.

Good luck!

Edited March 20, 2017 by szsz

[Wayne Yang]

Hi szsz! Glad to hear the good news from you. I am very interested in HCDE(though I was rejected), so would you mind telling me your background and any experience in HCI so I can learn something and improve myself?

[siitrasn]

You have a fantastic profile and a really strong record, including some publications in HCI which is amazing. So I think your qualifications are pretty good and you don't really need to worry about never making it into HCI  I'm a U.S. student accepted to MHCI and HCDE, and your research background is much stronger than mine even though my goal is to become a researcher.

On 3/15/2017 at 5:55 PM, Wayne Yang said:

I wrote in my SOP that I would like to focus on computational social science and learning technology in my graduate stud so I think my SOP would appear research-oriented. I think my biggest weakness in my application is that I don't have professional working experience and I don't have any experience in design and psychology.

I would say szsz is probably correct that you may have needed to word your SoP a bit differently. From your background and goal stated in your post, it sounds like you would be a great fit in a PhD program at an HCI institution that allows you to train your math background into research specifically for HCI, particularly in areas where computational work (log/corpus analysis, data visualization) would be used much more in depth than at a masters program. A lot of Masters programs in HCI ask specifically about your career goals after graduation since these programs are not designed to be research-oriented, but rather industry-focused to get you a job. If your career goals are not articulated in your application I think that can be a strong factor in how committees view you. In my case, I am still thinking about a PhD but I avoided mentioning any of that in my applications and only talked about my intended career in industry since these programs are not preparation for a PhD.

Also, there are people that join Masters in HCI programs with 0 background in engineering/design/psychology like biology or other fields. I do not think having a different background hurts you, but using your outside experience to convince people that you are ready for a masters program is something you can consider reviewing if you decide to stick with HCI.

I understand that in China it is very crucial to find a job before graduation, and that the job market can be very tough if you don't have enough 'guanxi' to help you get a job. If you are really hoping to get employment, if you are willing to do more programming (particularly learning languages like Python, Swift, etc.) I am sure there are a ton of opportunities in the software industry to do HCI-related work in China at places big or small. 

Edited March 23, 2017 by siitrasn

[qkhitai]

What tier of university did you attend in China? It unfortunately can matter quite a lot. A lot easier to go abroad if you studied at 浙大 instead of 浙师大, for example.

[szsz]

On 2017/3/22 at 6:13 AM, Wayne Yang said:

Hi szsz! Glad to hear the good news from you. I am very interested in HCDE(though I was rejected), so would you mind telling me your background and any experience in HCI so I can learn something and improve myself?

 

I've sent you a message of my WeChat ID if you wish to discuss that.

[Wayne Yang]

Hi qkhitai, I'm studying at a 985 university, but not a top tier one like Zheda. I guess that can also be a reason. 

[Wayne Yang]

8 hours ago, szsz said:

I've sent you a message of my WeChat ID if you wish to discuss that.

Hi szsz, thanks for reply, I have sent you the invitation.

[Wayne Yang]

On 2017年3月23日 at 10:19 AM, siitrasn said:

You have a fantastic profile and a really strong record, including some publications in HCI which is amazing. So I think your qualifications are pretty good and you don't really need to worry about never making it into HCI  I'm a U.S. student accepted to MHCI and HCDE, and your research background is much stronger than mine even though my goal is to become a researcher.

I would say szsz is probably correct that you may have needed to word your SoP a bit differently. From your background and goal stated in your post, it sounds like you would be a great fit in a PhD program at an HCI institution that allows you to train your math background into research specifically for HCI, particularly in areas where computational work (log/corpus analysis, data visualization) would be used much more in depth than at a masters program. A lot of Masters programs in HCI ask specifically about your career goals after graduation since these programs are not designed to be research-oriented, but rather industry-focused to get you a job. If your career goals are not articulated in your application I think that can be a strong factor in how committees view you. In my case, I am still thinking about a PhD but I avoided mentioning any of that in my applications and only talked about my intended career in industry since these programs are not preparation for a PhD.

Also, there are people that join Masters in HCI programs with 0 background in engineering/design/psychology like biology or other fields. I do not think having a different background hurts you, but using your outside experience to convince people that you are ready for a masters program is something you can consider reviewing if you decide to stick with HCI.

I understand that in China it is very crucial to find a job before graduation, and that the job market can be very tough if you don't have enough 'guanxi' to help you get a job. If you are really hoping to get employment, if you are willing to do more programming (particularly learning languages like Python, Swift, etc.) I am sure there are a ton of opportunities in the software industry to do HCI-related work in China at places big or small. 

Hi siitrasn, thanks for your advice. Now I realize my strategies of ps might lead to some misconceptions of my profile to admission committee, I also read my friend's ps (he has been accepted to MHCI, HCDE too) and found that he clearly showed his career goal and his entrepreneurial characteristics. I guess my PS is not a successful one. But things get better, recently I was admitted into MPS of Cornell Infosci and Master of information science at UT Austin, any suggestion on these two places? I prefer the reputation of Cornell, but the program is only one-year long and the location is far from any big city. I don't know Austin a lot, so any advice will be very helpful!

[Katie6]

Hi @Wayne Yang, I applied to UMich and was accepted to their Information program (but I am planning on going for archiving). I just wanted to let you know not to be discouraged, I know a lot of people who haven't heard back from them yet! They don't have a deadline, so they are much more relaxed and slow in their admittance. Congrats on Cornell! That's excellent. I also applied to UT at Austin (again for archiving), but I am either planning on going to UMich or UNC. Good luck!

 

[dumbunny]

I realize it's a different situation altogether, but after finishing my undergrad in political science, I got turned down by ten schools before finally getting admitted to two programs this year (and a potential third). You never know what's going to happen.

[siitrasn]

17 hours ago, Wayne Yang said:

Hi siitrasn, thanks for your advice. Now I realize my strategies of ps might lead to some misconceptions of my profile to admission committee, I also read my friend's ps (he has been accepted to MHCI, HCDE too) and found that he clearly showed his career goal and his entrepreneurial characteristics. I guess my PS is not a successful one. But things get better, recently I was admitted into MPS of Cornell Infosci and Master of information science at UT Austin, any suggestion on these two places? I prefer the reputation of Cornell, but the program is only one-year long and the location is far from any big city. I don't know Austin a lot, so any advice will be very helpful!

I would say Cornell Tech has a stronger program in HCI and their location isn't too bad since their campus is in NYU, but I'm not sure if the MPS of Cornell InfoSci is at the same school. If you're talking about their main campus in Ithaca, you might want to consider UT Austin since that location is still very good for getting into the Tech industry. Also, big cities in Texas are fine places and can be liberal if you are worried about being an international student.

[Wayne Yang]

On 2017年3月30日 at 4:37 AM, siitrasn said:

I would say Cornell Tech has a stronger program in HCI and their location isn't too bad since their campus is in NYU, but I'm not sure if the MPS of Cornell InfoSci is at the same school. If you're talking about their main campus in Ithaca, you might want to consider UT Austin since that location is still very good for getting into the Tech industry. Also, big cities in Texas are fine places and can be liberal if you are worried about being an international student.

Thanks, siitrasn. I think UT Austin is better than the one offered in the main campus of Cornell since Infosci at Cornell is too short (1year) and the location is far away from any Tech industry.

[Wayne Yang]

On 2017年3月30日 at 0:53 AM, dumbunny said:

I realize it's a different situation altogether, but after finishing my undergrad in political science, I got turned down by ten schools before finally getting admitted to two programs this year (and a potential third). You never know what's going to happen.

Thanks bunny! Now there are already 12 rejections, but I feel better now since I have been receiving admissions as well. You never now what's about to happen.

[Wayne Yang]

On 2017年3月29日 at 9:47 PM, Herringk said:

Hi @Wayne Yang, I applied to UMich and was accepted to their Information program (but I am planning on going for archiving). I just wanted to let you know not to be discouraged, I know a lot of people who haven't heard back from them yet! They don't have a deadline, so they are much more relaxed and slow in their admittance. Congrats on Cornell! That's excellent. I also applied to UT at Austin (again for archiving), but I am either planning on going to UMich or UNC. Good luck!

 

Thanks, man. Good luck for your new study! Umich and UNC are both awesome schools.

[MeMadO]

On 2017-03-15 at 5:55 PM, Wayne Yang said:

Hi, everyone!

I am an senior international student from China. Though I major in computational mathematics, I do have a strong interest in HCI. That is why I paid my most of my attention to HCI application instead of financial engineering which seems to "closer" to my major. I applied master of HCI and METALs at CMU(rejected by both), HCID and HCDE(rejected by both), Media lab(rejected), Umich, Cornell, NYU ITP, and Gatech(no update from these yet). I also applied some MFE programs (also got rejected). 

I paid so much efforts to my application. I spent 4 months on designing and writing my SOPs, but the results are depressing. The rejection letter from HCDE said that the admission rate is around 20%, which means my efforts and backgrounds didn't even get my into that percentile...

My undergrad major is applied mathematics(3.84/4). I also studied some CS courses with all As, but I am only familiar with scientific computing softwares like MATLAB and R and some front-end languages like HTML and CSS while my skills in C++ and Python are just basic. I have 3 research experiences in HCI(I wrote a workshop paper as the 2nd author and it was accepted in CHI2015). I have aTOEFL score over 110 and GRE score 324. I wrote in my SOP that I would like to focus on computational social science and learning technology in my graduate stud so I think my SOP would appear research-oriented. I think my biggest weakness in my application is that I don't have professional working experience and I don't have any experience in design and psychology.

I am having a hard time waiting for results from remaining schools( based on present outcomes, I don't have much expectation on remaining programs). I am not sure what I should do if I want to apply for the next year? Is it better for me to change my direction to finance engineering or keep my chasing my interests?

I do appreciate any help! 

try yo apply to the master of Quantative finance at Waterloo University in Canada. I believe they will accept you based on your background