Interview from MS in HCI - Iowa State - Please Help !!

[CalmLogic]

BTW, for the record, another perspective on the HCI program at ISU:

We have a relatively new “virtual” department at Iowa State University (ISU) called Human Computer Interaction (HCI). What I mean by virtual department is, that in order to get a degree in HCI you must co-major in it and first have a home department. Also, most of the HCI faculty also have home departments somewhere else.

...I was first introduced to it by my advisor in the statistics department who is an HCI faculty member.

I was immediately interested in the field because there is a ton of statistics that goes into determining how successful the programs are, as well as the statistics that are incorporated into research in any field. One of the reason I like statistics so much is that it is applicable to any subject. Having unending interests in many different fields this appealed to me greatly. I soon decided that no matter what I got my PhD in, HCI would be part of it.

That was when I started asking around (I had many friends who were computer science majors). I soon found out that depending on who you asked, ISU either had a great or a horrible HCI department. This confused me because I was under the assumption, as I stated before, that the definition of HCI was the same across the board. After that I did a little asking around and searching on the internet and came up with a little more clarifying information.

At ISU we have a world renowned virtual reality lab (VRAC) and that is the driving force behind our HCI department.

Math Stats And Data Mining » Blog Archive » What does Human Computer Interaction really mean?

[Ancalagon The Black]

excellent stuff !! I am waiting on a decision from Iowa State - for spring 2009 though !!

[CalmLogic]

I am waiting on a decision from Iowa State - for spring 2009 though !!

Wow, that's bad news for the people applying this October for Spring 2009. I guess the moral of the story is to apply to their program ASAP.

[Ancalagon The Black]

Well, they have a free pre app form to fill out - probably the only pre app form I have seen that they allow international students to fill up. It was in Feb that I filled it up and put down Spring 2009 as the date of admittance. I was surprised when they contacted me !!

[CalmLogic]

Oh, ok. Thanks for clarifying. I'm learning something new everyday:

Students are accepted into the program throughout the year...

Human Computer Interaction (HCI): How to Apply

[Ancalagon The Black]

But I think that I have been convinced by doubtful to go to TAMU MIS.

[rjt]

Originally Posted by Ancalagon The Black

But I think that I have been convinced by doubtful to go to TAMU MIS.

So where are you heading finally?

[CalmLogic]

The Mays Business School at Texas A&M is looking good on an ever-upward trend:
Mays Business Online » Programs » Mays MBA program moves up U.S. News rankings
Mays Business Online » Programs » Mays Business School in the top ten in BusinessWeek national rankings

[Ancalagon The Black]

rjt:

TAMU is 90% certain right now. I am going to reject UCSC asap and leave a note with the graduate coordinator.

[rjt]

Originally Posted by Ancalagon The Black

rjt:

TAMU is 90% certain right now. I am going to reject UCSC asap and leave a note with the graduate coordinator.

I see.. it is the same with me. Even I am sure of TAMU as of now, unless of course I get aid from the two I am waiting for, or even UCSC for that matter. But this being the last week before April 15th, chances are very slim that I would get one from UCSC.