<p>joaoa,</p>
<p>I have heard that getting into Philosophy PhD's is fairly hard compared to basically every other major field aside from clinical psychology. It just sounds extremely competitive, that's all. This is only the impression I get from reading about Philosophy applications online. Is it not that way?</p>
<p>I hope Cambirdge comes through with some type of Aid for you. I am sure you would make the most of it.</p>
<p>CT,</p>
<p>Are CS programs that hard to get into? Your stats sound amazing and your research experience also looks good. What's the deal?</p>
<p>PhD programs are generally highly difficult to get into. I accpted an offer with a program ranked around 25 in the discipline, and there were roughly 50 applicants for 3 funded spots. </p>
<p>People don't realize this, but PhD admissions are almost as competitive as MD admissions.</p>
<p>jmleadpipe, i'm only surprised that i got rejected from duke... i was kind of hoping for uiuc too since they aren't as popular. i believe my weaknesses were (a) not taking the cs gre test, (b) low gre score (i took it twice... 1st time only got a 730 or so on the math). (c) and i suspect my main LOR wasn't that great. it was insanely important b/c i've done work under him for 2.5 yrs... he never gave me the impression that he really like me (or any human being). :-( oh well. i tried.</p>
<p>i'm trying to remain optimistic and happy that ill intern at google this summer and just go to nearby ucla. i might just stay in that area for a few yrs... start a life there... scary!</p>
<p>U of Minnesota - EE - MS - accepted
U of Washington - EE - MS - rejected
U of Michigan - EE: Systems - MS/Ph.D. - accepted
Stanford - EE - MS - accepted
**Carnegie Mellon - EE - MS - accepted
Cornell - EE - MS/Ph.D. - waiting...
Northwestern - EE - MS - waiting...</p>
<p>el mundo es loco.</p>
<p>Cornell - MAE - Accepted
Princeton - MAE - Accepted
Michigan - AE - Accepted
Ga Tech - AE - Accepted
Berkeley - ME - Accepted
Northwestern - ME - Accepted
Caltech - ME - Accepted
Stanford - ME - Accepted</p>
<p>I can't believe I was this successful, I will be going to Stanford next fall with full financial support!</p>
<p>Wow vienna, congrats! You must have had some crazy stats.</p>
<p>Are those Masters?</p>
<p>They are all for PhD programs, I'll be a slave for the next 5 years of my life</p>
<p>For those of you who didn't post your stats..PLEASE do. It will really help people who plan on applying to these schools in the future.</p>
<p>wow vienna how did you manage to pull it off?
btw congrats</p>
<p>update (all for biomedical engineering):</p>
<p>Dartmouth College - MS w/interest in PhD - waiting
Brown - Msc forPhD - waiting
UNC Chapel Hill - MS - waiting</p>
<p>Vanderbilt - PhD - rejected (~10% acceptance rate)</p>
<p>UC Irvine - PhD - waiting
**Marquette - PhD - accepted (no funding yet)
Rutgers - PhD - Denied via website</p>
<p>USC - Masters - applying</p>
<p>-Does anyone have any ideas about what to do for funding? Is it common to ask for a second review for grants, etc.? I could actually get an awesome letter of rec from my current lab if that would help...
Ive also heard that getting funding in the second year onward is really likely; but Id like to know before I commit for 5+ years</p>
<p>I think a lot of it had to do with my past research experiences and letters of recommendations (which reflected on my past research). I was told by one of the programs that I applied to that 2 of the LORs had me as the top 2 or 3 students that the recommender had ever worked with, the 3rd letter had me in the top 5%. And when it comes down to it, I know for a fact that one of the recommenders personally wrote an additional 3 letters to his colleagues to get me funding at Stanford. I guess it goes a long way getting to know your Profs very well since I was told that it was his input that got me money there. </p>
<p>As far as my stats are concerened:</p>
<p>White male, top 20 engineering school</p>
<p>Overall GPA: 3.91/4.0
Major GPA: 3.98/4.0</p>
<p>800/740/6.0 GRE (math/verbal/writing)</p>
<p>3 years of research during the school year (no publications, I actually hardly got involved with anything during the year, more of a lab rat that came in 2-3 hours a week)</p>
<p>TA'd 2 classes for a Prof</p>
<p>1 summer at a research program, 1 summer doing an internship (2 publications from the internship) </p>
<p>I thought that my lack of intense involvement in research would hurt me come admissions time. Those 3 years above were under 3 different faculty, 2 of which didn't write me LORs because I didn't think they knew me that well. But I guess it is more important that you simply show an interest in research as oppose to publishing before you graduate.</p>
<p>"I'm not worthy! I'm not worthy!"</p>
<p>Very impressive, viennariver!</p>
<p>People like vienna make me question my decision to even think about grad school!!</p>
<p>Grats vienna!!</p>
<p>pinku2002,</p>
<p>Don't worry. There's still room for us plebes. If I managed to get into a decent program, so can anyone else!</p>
<p>i assume that a lot of us are similar position right now: a month until final decisions have to be made. so i was wondering how people are going to approach this. i've been going to visit days and so far there is something about each school that i love and profs i'd gladly work with. </p>
<p>i am curious to hear what other people are thinking ....</p>
<p>again, my info:
CS PhD - harvard, MIT, CMU, Princeton, Stanford, UW, UCSB</p>
<p>Hey aft3 how was your visit at Princeton and UWashington?
I was at the MIT visit as well, I missed out on the Saturday's activities but came just in time for dinner at the Chinese restaurant. I hope I didn't miss too much. </p>
<p>Yes, I'm having a hard time deciding where to go as well. Less than a month to go!</p>
<p>I know where I want to go, but it depends on whether or not they offer me funding. They are taking their time in letting me know one way or the other....I should find out soon though.</p>
<p>One place offered me funding, one I'm waiting on funding decisions. If both fund me, I'll be evaluating cost of living, child care in the area, etc.</p>
<p>
[quote]
"I'm not worthy! I'm not worthy!"</p>
<p>Very impressive, viennariver!
[/quote]
</p>
<p>What he said :)</p>