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ritendra · 04-01-2004, 03:19 PM

Hello,

I have just received an offer for CS PhD from SUNy at Stonybrook. This one comes with full-TA plus a University fellowship. I am unable to decide between this, and my previous offer from Penn State. The CS department has a slightly better reputation with some better faculty members, but in terms of overall College of Engineering rankings and University rankings , Penn State is in the top bracket, and Stonybrook doesn't compare. There is more diverse research going on at Stonybrook , but in my area they are more or less same. The financial package , however , is better in Penn State. Please give inputs and advice me on which offer to accept.

Thanks in advance.

Ritendra

vishwa · 04-01-2004, 04:07 PM

Ritendra - Your advisor is the most important person you will know for the next n years as you work towards your Ph.D. As a consequence depending on the amount of time you have (which I guess is April 15), you could try writing to some of the faculty and students in your area to get a pulse for how good the research environment is. That may help cement your decision. As you rightly point out, SUNY has a better CS reputation than Penn State with Penn State being the overall engineering leader of the two. But then, since you are in CS it does not matter what the overall engineering standing is. Get to know what the faculty that interest you are working on, write to them and then decide. Remember - considering you have a fellowship at SUNY, faculty will be more than willing to talk to you as they don't have to spend their grants to get you funded!

jaideep · 04-01-2004, 04:10 PM

Hi,

Given a chance I would have selected Penn state. My reason for doing so

1) Better school overall which makes this easier for me in the long run.
2) Bigger and better usually equals more exposure for overall development
3) Quality of students around you is more competitive
4) More money to spend

CONGRATULATIONS !!! for the offer. Can you please let us know your acads and things that you think affected your admission in Penn state.

Jaideep

ritendra · 04-01-2004, 04:55 PM

Hello,

Vishwa: I have partial fellowships in both, but this amount is much less in Stonybrook. I still have to work as a TA for the tution-waiver and stipend. The stipend also happens to be less in Stonybrook. So overall the money factor is always there, coz NY is as such much more expensive than PA, same goes for these university locations. Both have open offers in the sense that I can choose my advisor and research area after I go. So that's the thing. There are reputed profs in both, but that number I think is more in Stonybrook. I would hope you give me some more insights :-).

Jaideep: Are you a bengali? Where are you and what are you doing now? Thanks a lot. It always sounds good to be congratulated. My profile I have posted in an earlier posting (when I got the Penn State offer). I have 82% in my bachelors (6 semester average) in Information Technology from Bengal Engineering College, Shibpur,India. GRE:800Q,630V, AWA5.0, TOEFL:293, TSE 60. Research experience : Mostly independent research, but one vital Summer internship in a Petrochem company in West Bengal. wrote a few papers, sent them with my app, but had no publications nor sent any for review (basically because I thought they weren't worth publishing). Recommendation letters: were very very specific from my college profs: I did not see them but I gave the profs my SOP and resume, and requested them to be specific , and I think they could easily do it because I chose my fave profs. This was vital.

I would say I take most credit for my Stonybrook schol, because they presently have no more than 1-2 students who got a direct PhD from a BE from India other than from IIT. Competition for these have these and lack of funding had become a noram in the last 2-3 years in the US. The main thing was my SOP, the specific recos, and yes, TSE (If you wan't aid, take it). But I beleive what's most vital is your genuine interest in going into research and finishing a PhD if you are applying for one. In my case that was always there, and it got well reflected in my SOP and recos. For PhD, research potential and experience comes FIRST, and everything else (including the GREs etc) come next. Ofcourse it is important to have decent GREs so that your applications go into the round where Profs get to see it, otherwise it is pointless. Ofcourse it also helped that I have world-rank 851 in ACM UVa Problems Solving System, 56th in Bitwise 2k4, and cam 6th in ACM ICPC. What makes me feel good is that now I know that their admissions process is unbiased, and that I proved many wrong who told me that getting into direct PhD with aid in good CS Schools from a relatively unknown school in India was tough.

Phew..that was long ... but still more-or-less undecided abt my choice. But as far as admissions in CS PhD in general is concerned (don't know about MS much though - that is a different ball-game!!) you can ask more specific questions and I will try to see if I have an answer.

Any comparison about location, social life and living cost of both would be helpful

Thanks for the congratulations !

Ritendra

BigMo · 04-01-2004, 06:23 PM

congratulations on your admit!

I also got admitted in to SUNY Stony Brook for MS in Applied Mathematics; I got so lucky cause thats the only school I had applied for.....I can give you some information about Stony Brook. First the CS department there is perfect, they have truly outstanding scholar like Prof Joseph Mitchell, Arie Kauffman, Steve Skiena...those guys are amazing in alrogithms and computational geometry...I am not sure if thats your interests...but anyways Stony Brook is good for CS....the only downside about stony brook is cost of living...its very High!!!!!Its in Long Island, its expensive

...but you are given money so don't worry about that...anyways hope you got some feedback

BigMo · 04-02-2004, 12:38 AM

I don't beleive you can compare Penn State to Stony Brook when it comes to CS, no way...you can do your own search and u will see...stony brook is far better

thaiva · 04-02-2004, 02:46 AM

Yea... you gotta research before you decided take everything into context....

ritendra · 04-02-2004, 04:18 PM

Hello BigMO,

Congrats on your admit ! Yes my interest is in Algorithms and comp. geom. I know these guys are outstanding. Infact I had a lot of correspondence with Dr.Skiena. But right now I am more interested in Comp. Vision and that's what I want to do my PhD in. Penn State has a strong Comp. Vision group, it has moved to a new hi-tech building, it is hiring 5 new faculty members this fall, that would make the number of faculty members almost equal. Penn State has a Natl Acad of Engg member in Mary Jane Irwin. Stonybrook certainly has a much better histrory, but Penn State presently seems more promising. I am basically trying to justify because Penn State's financial offer is much much better and cost of living is lower Stonybrook (both together making it very stropng financially), and there is an extreme arroagnce among Stonybrook grad secy and the faculty, something that is totally missing in the Penn State guys. I know these are not directly academically related, but I personally feel these might matter in the long run if I am to stay in a dept. for 5-6 years.

Actually I don't know and yur message has confused me in my decision further. But thanks anyway. I wish I could see the future :-)

Ritendra

BigMo · 04-02-2004, 09:09 PM

Hi Ritendra,

I agree with you there is some kinda of arrogance among those folks at SUNY Stony Brook. But you know what, I think your decision should not be as hard as it seems, go for Penn State for the following reasons: More money being offered, more friendly staff. Sincerely, it will not make a big difference if you have a PHd from Penn State or Stony Brook, you will get equal opportunitties from prospective employers and schools when it comes to job offers, and Computer Vision is a great field, lots of research opportunities especially in the applications to medicine and biology. Lets compare Stony Brook and Penn State rankings:
-US News
Stony Brook #32
Penn State # 36

But anyways I don't beleive in US News ranking at all, its commercial, its bogus (no objective method of ranking), and its irrelevant. What matters is your Phd thesis advisor. So I think you should go for Penn State, my friend visited the school; he loved it

sh123sh · 04-05-2004, 03:51 AM

I think you should compare the 2 schools from 'USnews cmopare schools' link. That will present all the facts very objectively. Then yu can see for yourself , which factor is nore inportant to u .

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04-01-2004, 03:19 PM	#1 (permalink)
ritendra Trying to make mom and pop proud Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: India Posts: 15	Hello, I have just received an offer for CS PhD from SUNy at Stonybrook. This one comes with full-TA plus a University fellowship. I am unable to decide between this, and my previous offer from Penn State. The CS department has a slightly better reputation with some better faculty members, but in terms of overall College of Engineering rankings and University rankings , Penn State is in the top bracket, and Stonybrook doesn't compare. There is more diverse research going on at Stonybrook , but in my area they are more or less same. The financial package , however , is better in Penn State. Please give inputs and advice me on which offer to accept. Thanks in advance. Ritendra

04-01-2004, 04:07 PM	#2 (permalink)
vishwa Trying to make mom and pop proud Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: USA Posts: 27	Ritendra - Your advisor is the most important person you will know for the next n years as you work towards your Ph.D. As a consequence depending on the amount of time you have (which I guess is April 15), you could try writing to some of the faculty and students in your area to get a pulse for how good the research environment is. That may help cement your decision. As you rightly point out, SUNY has a better CS reputation than Penn State with Penn State being the overall engineering leader of the two. But then, since you are in CS it does not matter what the overall engineering standing is. Get to know what the faculty that interest you are working on, write to them and then decide. Remember - considering you have a fellowship at SUNY, faculty will be more than willing to talk to you as they don't have to spend their grants to get you funded!

04-01-2004, 04:10 PM	#3 (permalink)
jaideep Within my grasp! Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 137	Hi, Given a chance I would have selected Penn state. My reason for doing so 1) Better school overall which makes this easier for me in the long run. 2) Bigger and better usually equals more exposure for overall development 3) Quality of students around you is more competitive 4) More money to spend CONGRATULATIONS !!! for the offer. Can you please let us know your acads and things that you think affected your admission in Penn state. Jaideep

04-01-2004, 04:55 PM	#4 (permalink)
ritendra Trying to make mom and pop proud Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: India Posts: 15	Hello, Vishwa: I have partial fellowships in both, but this amount is much less in Stonybrook. I still have to work as a TA for the tution-waiver and stipend. The stipend also happens to be less in Stonybrook. So overall the money factor is always there, coz NY is as such much more expensive than PA, same goes for these university locations. Both have open offers in the sense that I can choose my advisor and research area after I go. So that's the thing. There are reputed profs in both, but that number I think is more in Stonybrook. I would hope you give me some more insights :-). Jaideep: Are you a bengali? Where are you and what are you doing now? Thanks a lot. It always sounds good to be congratulated. My profile I have posted in an earlier posting (when I got the Penn State offer). I have 82% in my bachelors (6 semester average) in Information Technology from Bengal Engineering College, Shibpur,India. GRE:800Q,630V, AWA5.0, TOEFL:293, TSE 60. Research experience : Mostly independent research, but one vital Summer internship in a Petrochem company in West Bengal. wrote a few papers, sent them with my app, but had no publications nor sent any for review (basically because I thought they weren't worth publishing). Recommendation letters: were very very specific from my college profs: I did not see them but I gave the profs my SOP and resume, and requested them to be specific , and I think they could easily do it because I chose my fave profs. This was vital. I would say I take most credit for my Stonybrook schol, because they presently have no more than 1-2 students who got a direct PhD from a BE from India other than from IIT. Competition for these have these and lack of funding had become a noram in the last 2-3 years in the US. The main thing was my SOP, the specific recos, and yes, TSE (If you wan't aid, take it). But I beleive what's most vital is your genuine interest in going into research and finishing a PhD if you are applying for one. In my case that was always there, and it got well reflected in my SOP and recos. For PhD, research potential and experience comes FIRST, and everything else (including the GREs etc) come next. Ofcourse it is important to have decent GREs so that your applications go into the round where Profs get to see it, otherwise it is pointless. Ofcourse it also helped that I have world-rank 851 in ACM UVa Problems Solving System, 56th in Bitwise 2k4, and cam 6th in ACM ICPC. What makes me feel good is that now I know that their admissions process is unbiased, and that I proved many wrong who told me that getting into direct PhD with aid in good CS Schools from a relatively unknown school in India was tough. Phew..that was long ... but still more-or-less undecided abt my choice. But as far as admissions in CS PhD in general is concerned (don't know about MS much though - that is a different ball-game!!) you can ask more specific questions and I will try to see if I have an answer. Any comparison about location, social life and living cost of both would be helpful Thanks for the congratulations ! Ritendra

04-01-2004, 06:23 PM	#5 (permalink)
BigMo Trying to make mom and pop proud Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 23	congratulations on your admit! I also got admitted in to SUNY Stony Brook for MS in Applied Mathematics; I got so lucky cause thats the only school I had applied for.....I can give you some information about Stony Brook. First the CS department there is perfect, they have truly outstanding scholar like Prof Joseph Mitchell, Arie Kauffman, Steve Skiena...those guys are amazing in alrogithms and computational geometry...I am not sure if thats your interests...but anyways Stony Brook is good for CS....the only downside about stony brook is cost of living...its very High!!!!!Its in Long Island, its expensive ...but you are given money so don't worry about that...anyways hope you got some feedback

04-02-2004, 12:38 AM	#6 (permalink)
BigMo Trying to make mom and pop proud Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 23	I don't beleive you can compare Penn State to Stony Brook when it comes to CS, no way...you can do your own search and u will see...stony brook is far better

04-02-2004, 02:46 AM	#7 (permalink)
thaiva TM Guru-in-Training Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: New Zealand Posts: 761	Yea... you gotta research before you decided take everything into context....

04-02-2004, 04:18 PM	#8 (permalink)
ritendra Trying to make mom and pop proud Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: India Posts: 15	Hello BigMO, Congrats on your admit ! Yes my interest is in Algorithms and comp. geom. I know these guys are outstanding. Infact I had a lot of correspondence with Dr.Skiena. But right now I am more interested in Comp. Vision and that's what I want to do my PhD in. Penn State has a strong Comp. Vision group, it has moved to a new hi-tech building, it is hiring 5 new faculty members this fall, that would make the number of faculty members almost equal. Penn State has a Natl Acad of Engg member in Mary Jane Irwin. Stonybrook certainly has a much better histrory, but Penn State presently seems more promising. I am basically trying to justify because Penn State's financial offer is much much better and cost of living is lower Stonybrook (both together making it very stropng financially), and there is an extreme arroagnce among Stonybrook grad secy and the faculty, something that is totally missing in the Penn State guys. I know these are not directly academically related, but I personally feel these might matter in the long run if I am to stay in a dept. for 5-6 years. Actually I don't know and yur message has confused me in my decision further. But thanks anyway. I wish I could see the future :-) Ritendra

04-02-2004, 09:09 PM	#9 (permalink)
BigMo Trying to make mom and pop proud Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 23	Hi Ritendra, I agree with you there is some kinda of arrogance among those folks at SUNY Stony Brook. But you know what, I think your decision should not be as hard as it seems, go for Penn State for the following reasons: More money being offered, more friendly staff. Sincerely, it will not make a big difference if you have a PHd from Penn State or Stony Brook, you will get equal opportunitties from prospective employers and schools when it comes to job offers, and Computer Vision is a great field, lots of research opportunities especially in the applications to medicine and biology. Lets compare Stony Brook and Penn State rankings: -US News Stony Brook #32 Penn State # 36 But anyways I don't beleive in US News ranking at all, its commercial, its bogus (no objective method of ranking), and its irrelevant. What matters is your Phd thesis advisor. So I think you should go for Penn State, my friend visited the school; he loved it

04-05-2004, 03:51 AM	#10 (permalink)
sh123sh Eager! Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 34	I think you should compare the 2 schools from 'USnews cmopare schools' link. That will present all the facts very objectively. Then yu can see for yourself , which factor is nore inportant to u .

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