In at UCSC (PhD in Computer Science)

[CalmLogic]

Two articles mentioning Dr. Akella:

August '07 Newsletter | CITRIS
University of California - UC Newsroom | Landmark NASA contract to expand presence in Silicon Valley

A great quote in the second article:

"Our laboratories are the high-tech industries. We are like anthropologists, only the tribes we study are here in Silicon Valley," Akella said.

BTW, more cool faculty members at UCSC:
Faculty - Database Research at UC Santa Cruz
Faculty @ SSRC

Not significantly:
LinkedIn: Ram Akella
Ram Akella, Professor & Director - Spoke's business directory

[Ancalagon The Black]

I bow to thee !!! These links are proving to be invaluable !!

[rjt]

Hey !!
Seems I have found you! So you are the one who got funded in UCSC. And I am the first Acceptance poster at grad cafe for UCSC CS PhD. But sadly enough, I didn't get funded.

Any one suggests what to do now? I know I cannot survive there without funding. But is it that worth that I should convert my degree to MS and take a loan ?

Also, since I didn't get funded, I am sure the funding scenario is not that bright currently. Can anyone give any inputs to this?

[Ancalagon The Black]

rjt:

Hey there !! I reckon that I should be thankful to you since I checked my website only after I saw yours on gradcafe !! Well, not getting funding from UCSC is kind of strange because generally they fund all their PhD students and there is not reason why PhD students shouldn't be funded but I reckon that people like CalmLogic et al can speak better on those issues.

Which professor did you apply under? I applied to the Technology and Information Management track. Does your letter say anything about future funding? Maybe if you contact the department or the professor you might learn about second year TA or RA which would support you. An alternative strategy then could be to take a loan for the first year and get RA/TA for second year. I know that many MS students do it - don't know about PhD.

Do you know anyone else who got into UCSC CS PhD with/without funding?

Also, I am rather curious, I don't have a CS degree but only a BBA degree but I still got admission into CS PhD - could you share your profile with us here please? Did you get admission anywhere else?

My friend's brother is in the same department at UCSC and he advised me to apply under Professor Akella as he has a lot of industry funding.

[CalmLogic]

My friend's brother is in the same department at UCSC and he advised me to apply under Professor Akella as he has a lot of industry funding.

Wow, I seriously never thought of that. Dr. Akella seems so good on so many different levels.

[Ancalagon The Black]

Yeah, I would have gone for Dr. Zhang otherwise as I didn't particularly want to apply under an Indian advisor / professor if I could help it. There were too many factors involved. But, when me contact said that Dr. Akella has lots of industry funding, I decided, that if anyone could or would accept me, it was with him that I had a better chance.

[rjt]

Originally Posted by Ancalagon The Black

rjt:

Hey there !! I reckon that I should be thankful to you since I checked my website only after I saw yours on gradcafe !!

You are welcome!

Well, not getting funding from UCSC is kind of strange because generally they fund all their PhD students and there is not reason why PhD students shouldn't be funded but I reckon that people like CalmLogic et al can speak better on those issues.

I saw a couple admits even last year which were unfunded.

Which professor did you apply under?

Well, Helbold, Achlioptas and Manfred. Helmbold mailed me after I contacted him, saying he has no funds for this year.

I applied to the Technology and Information Management track. Does your letter say anything about future funding?

Yeah, they said that for future funding please contact the department. The department says it was unfortunate that they could not fund me. But they offer TA positions every quarter and I can apply for them after enrolling. However, they dont gurantee me any position either now or in future.

Maybe if you contact the department or the professor you might learn about second year TA or RA which would support you. An alternative strategy then could be to take a loan for the first year and get RA/TA for second year. I know that many MS students do it - don't know about PhD.

Do you know anyone else who got into UCSC CS PhD with/without funding?

Nopes.

Also, I am rather curious, I don't have a CS degree but only a BBA degree but I still got admission into CS PhD - could you share your profile with us here please? Did you get admission anywhere else?

Transfer the offer to me then :P Well, I need this one badly as this was the only PhD I applied. I am from NIT Allahabad, GRE 1430 (640V), I have a journal paper and 2 conference papers. I am from Computer Science background.

My friend's brother is in the same department at UCSC and he advised me to apply under Professor Akella as he has a lot of industry funding.

I was initially thinking of applying under Ram Akella. Even I am aware of his fame in Silicon Valley. But I was skeptic about this course as it is new. I also have acquaintances in CS PhD at UCSC. And yeah, my sister also lives 45 minutes away from Santa Cruz. One more thing, I am a bong and from the same state you are! (Just curious: Are you a bong as well )

Waiting to hear.

[Ancalagon The Black]

Very very strange. Curious more like. Of course I am a bong. I am from Jadavpur University, which as I am sure, has the requisite fame as does NIT - although the adcoms make sure that we bow our heads down to the IITs. However, after having admission to UCSC, I will have you know that we must have beaten some of those guys since UCSC is full of them. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Where does your sister work in Silicon Valley? To be more specific, my sister lives in San Mateo. You can check my profile on this forum - quite similar to yours in the sense although I am no engineer I have a concurrent PGDCA with my BBA thus solving the 4 year requirement (actually making it 5 years)

Also, I presume you did your AIEEE? Which school were you from if you were in ol' Cal. IMHO, you will get those TA positions since obviously, as an enrolled student, you will be given preference and then for the second year, you can obviously get a RA or full time TA if you chat up the professors well enough. So, the best option right now for you (provided you are as poor as I am and cannot afford to go to a school without funding) would be to enroll and then apply for a fall 2008 TA right?

Tell you what, I am expecting some more admissions notifications and if I get into a better school, I will reject this one immediately. Then, you can contact the department or Professor Akella and he just might be able to use up the freed funds to divert to your cause but hang on until (if) I get another full funded admission. I will keep this forum updated.

Which other schools did you apply to btw?

My family's zipped actually because I got admission into CS PhD which according to them I shouldn't have got since I am a wee little business major. Most of all my sister is zipped since she is a CS and Econ major from a top 5 LAC in the US and kept on telling me how difficult CS admissions is and that I had no chance in UCSC.

[rjt]

Originally Posted by Ancalagon The Black

Where does your sister work in Silicon Valley? To be more specific, my sister lives in San Mateo.

She is in Santa Clara. She is married and is working there.

Also, I presume you did your AIEEE?

No, WBJEE. It was the last year of admissions through WBJEE. I opted for NIT Allahabad over Jadavpur EE and Shibpur CS/ECE.

Which school were you from if you were in ol' Cal.

I am not from Cal. I am from Asansol.

IMHO, you will get those TA positions since obviously, as an enrolled student, you will be given preference and then for the second year, you can obviously get a RA or full time TA if you chat up the professors well enough. So, the best option right now for you (provided you are as poor as I am and cannot afford to go to a school without funding) would be to enroll and then apply for a fall 2008 TA right?

I am currently proff-letting. But mostly its negative responses from them. I am getting hopeless everyday!! Taking a loan and expecting a TA is too risky as CA is a but too damn expensive.

Tell you what, I am expecting some more admissions notifications and if I get into a better school, I will reject this one immediately. Then, you can contact the department or Professor Akella and he just might be able to use up the freed funds to divert to your cause but hang on until (if) I get another full funded admission. I will keep this forum updated.

I hope you get through others as well. Please inform me if you get through. You can PM me.

Which other schools did you apply to btw?

Austin,TAMU,SB,Toronto,VTech - All For MS.

My family's zipped actually because I got admission into CS PhD which according to them I shouldn't have got since I am a wee little business major. Most of all my sister is zipped since she is a CS and Econ major from a top 5 LAC in the US and kept on telling me how difficult CS admissions is and that I had no chance in UCSC.

Congrats to you once again. Its a great achievement! You got through because I have come to know that Akella works with students with a blend of mgmt and CS backgrounds.

Getting an unfunded PhD is as good as a reject I feel!

[Ancalagon The Black]

I will hazard a guess and say that you were from St. Patrick's eh?

Did you receive any more offers of admission. With your profile, Vtech, TAMU and SB should be a cakewalk. But, I am curious, why did you choose NIT over JU or BE college - moving far away from home? Was it because EE wasn't your cup of tea?

California schools are known to be rather stingy since their non resident tuition is so high that they can easily support 2 residents or more rather than a non resident. This is a particularly horrible situation. I wonder why this policy exists in California. Their non resident tuition is the highest at around 15K per year.