omaradib

Hi All, I have this question - when taking the ielts reading test, can I take notes on the question sheet, for example, underlining keywords from the reading passages? thanks

PROFILE: BSc in CS from a leading school in a South Asian Country with 3.77 cgpa and in top 30 percentile of all students of my class ( :(( ). GRE 560v 800q 3.5a AGRE CS 770 (65%) TOEFL 28R 28L 22S 25W (103/120) 1 yr experience in a financial computing firm. Work also relates data mining and machine learning. 1 publication in AI/Machine learning. Applied at (in order of preference): UT Austin PhD rejected UIUC PhD rejected Rutgers PhD pending Ohio SU PhD admitted without funding U of Alberta MSc admitted with funding U of British Columbia MSc admitted with funding University of Rochester PhD rejected UT Dallas PhD admitted without funding UIC PhD admitted without funding UC Riverside PhD Pending Decided to go to Alberta to do some AI/ML :D

Upenn: Computer & Information Science / Research Overview ML - 3 faculty from CIS, 1 from EE Lyle Ungar is both in ML & DM I think this school is good for ML, not sure about DM. USC: ML - 1 faculty and his lab. DM - 1 faculty and his lab. I believe it is UPenn.

I would go to UPenn for ML or AI without thinking. But, if I think, I have to search a bit. Wait please.

I am trying to figuring out few things: Factor CS: UBC better AI: Alberta better Weather: Vancouver (UBC) better (warmer) Some said, Vancouver is big city, so job will be a lot, (if it even matters) Another important factor is living cost. One said Both are costly places. I believe UBC will still be costlier, though it not only depends on living expense, but also on the stipend they will provide, which I have to figure out more definitively. Where can I find listing of living expenses of US/CA cities? I applied UBC in Data Mining, possibly DM is very strong in there, isn't it? And, is ML/AI research scarce in there? If I plan for switching to a better school for ML+AI after MS, does Alberta still hold the preference?

Now, UBC has offered me admission with financial support for CS MS.

Thanks to you both. Can you provide a ranking of US+Canadian schools on AI and/or machine learning? Additionally, how to consider UBC against UoA with respect to CS dept and AI+ML separately? It will help me decide whether to wait for UBC or accept UoA.

uiuc requires it during application. uic requires it after admission. So, it depends on the school & program. Ask them directly. In fact, many gets admission without funding and some shows such amount somehow and flies there. But, to show such amount, you have to plan from a long time ahead. Why don't you apply for PhD? Is it not still possible to cut it short after MS (claiming MS during PhD, when required courses are taken) and go to industry?

Dear friends, My prolonged ordeal has ended at last with the MS in CS admission offer with TAship at University of Alberta. I applied in AI and machine learning there. I would like to thank you all in this forum for helping me out always, specially CalmLogic, who have never stopped helping more. I also got admission without funding (:P) at University of Illinois at Chicago, PhD CS. Applied in AI here too. Given that, I can fund myself, where should I go?

If you follow thegradecafe.com , you can tune your expectations. For example, X is still sending acceptances and has not started sending rejections. And Y has not yet started sending decisions. But, the sample is skewed for sure, rejected people are a more unlikely to post their results there.

Now I know the way. Mail at : gre-info@ets.org Subject: Write: 1. Graduate Institution code: XXXX Department code: XXXX 2. Graduate Institution code: XXXX Department code: XXXX 3. Graduate Institution code: XXXX Department code: XXXX 4. Graduate Institution code: XXXX Department code: XXXX I did it and the response was very fast. I got it done.

In my SOP, I am describing detail of my research work. Now, can I put the URL to my publication inside the SOP? Does it look good? Can I also put the references/citation of others works at the end of SOP? Is it allowable too?

Usually they are efficient at matching offline package with online application with almost zero error. From your part, what you can do to help them is, pay the fee online first, obtain any application number they provide and attach it together with your name and DoB in the package. Of course do not panic, if they do not provide any ID number. They are still efficient at it.

Thanks CalmLogic. And I have again come with a bizarre and intricate situation. Consider this scenario: In the application form, I can only put 3 recommender. I have specified that my recommender are X, Y, Z. I have requested online recommendation to X and added offline LOR of Y, Z and W in my application package. Now the questions are: 1. I could not mention about W in the application form as it allows only 3. How would they consider W's LOR? 2. Somehow X missed to recommend online. Then I have still 3 LOR but missing 1 LOR from a specified recommender. Will they consider my application incomplete? 3. If X fills the online recommendation 2-3 weeks after deadline, will admission committee accept my application package? If you are curious about why I am expecting such a bizarre situation, X lives in a different country now and I am trying to minimize my risks. Hope my situations will not grow more intricate in future.

Usually most programs allow exactly 3 LORs in their . Is it allowed to solicit more than 3 LORs? I am in a situation. One of my recommender is residing abroad (away from my country) and I fear there might be a chance that he misses some of the requests or he may be available after deadlines. So, I want to request online requests to him and send 3 offline LORs with my package per school. I am curious if there is a situation where this method I am taking may hurt my application. For example, as I am sending total 4 LORs, information of one recommender will not be possible to put or fill in the referee information section of the application system. Would that be a problem in your opinion?

Ok, from my country it is not toll free. I have to depend on third party for the payment. The question is - is it possible to report both scores to one school by phone with only one $15? If yes, please describe one successful scenario that works in that matter.

When requesting score reporting by phone, does it ask whether I am reporting for general or subject score or it just need the inst/dept codes and delivers them both scores by default.

In my general GRE report, there is a section for subject GRE score. If I report general GRE score to a school, does ETS fill that section with my subject GRE score, too, if the score is ready by then? In that case, it means I can report both general and subject GRE with only one $15.

In short, I am: gpa: 3.75~3.80 gre: 560V 800Q 3.5A Toefl: 103, speaking 22 1 International publication on Machine Learning 1 Year job experience related to data mining (Time series analysis) My list of Universities: (PhD, Machine Learning & Data Mining) UIUC Rutgers UC Davis Rochester CSU U Pittsburgh UC Riverside Texas, Arlington UT Dallas Kansas U U Alberta CA U of British Columbia CA Any addition / deletion suggested? What are safe for me and what are really hopeless? OSU states a minimum AWA of 4, what do you think? Am I eligible for application?? Same question for U of Arizona that states a minimum verbal score of 580 What about U of Virginia? What is its requirements? I didn't find any.

I think, many of the topics are not really familiar to us, though they say so. Otherwise, coming of ideas would not have been a problem. Here improvising plays a good role. But, how far can you go without any guidance? It is really very tough to make an algorithm approach for improvising. It is an art. Such ability only develops through practice. Do not expect that a familiar topic will come. Rather learn how to improvise by practicing lots of topics. It must help. First of all, you may get a common topic in the exam. Secondly, if you practice a lot, you would understand, how to develop ideas when the topic is not familiar. Consider these topic lists: http://www.www.urch.com/forums/toefl-speaking/70180-toefl-ibt-speaking-section-topics.html http://www.www.urch.com/forums/toefl-speaking/75156-all-independant-speaking-topics-one-place.html http://www.www.urch.com/forums/toefl-speaking/70779-all-speaking-topics-1-place.html I practiced a little part of them. But, as you have enough time, make sure you do all. If you feel it boring or repelling, you are really gonna get less. You have to love it. Now, start practicing, recording your responses. Then listen to your own response. If you find any particular topic, in which you seriously lack in ideas, take 5 mins for that topic to create ideas. I am sure, if you have enough time, you will be able to come up with some good ideas. Now, give the speech again within 45 seconds. Do it everyday. Even, consider writing the ideas, as you got enough time, you may lose your accumulations. Review the topics and review your written ideas, in case the topic seems a bit hard, before the exam day. It should be enough. One of my independent topic was - "Tell me about an interesting career or a job you want." and it is in one of the topic lists above. And, about mp3, well, I have to think whether I should reveal my voice identification on the net :).

I am planning to retake. Can I take only the AWA section and go away? :| Serious !

Initially (14 days before test), my ability was exactly like the mid level sample responses. I practiced daily and made some improvement on improvising, smoothing out. Made it 22 in the test. The 8 that I left out is really tough to improve within this time frame I think. So, if you think your ability is like the mid level, practice each day and take it after 2 weeks, if 22 does for you.

@resu, sure you can. But, make it quick. If your test center is one of serious type (my gre test center was), they will take most of the break time in logging your name while entry and exit of the test room. Good luck!

I got V 560 Q 800 AWA 3.5. I think I need to improve it. I am looking for a test where I can only sit for the AWA section. Is there any such test? Please inform me, as it is very crucial for me.

R 28, L 28, S 22, W 25 I am happy with this score. In the test center, the monitor was blur, I had problem reading passages at the beginning. Passages are longer than Longman. Listening was comfortable, but tiresome. One girl beside me got so tired that tried to relax on her back, hit the cpu, that was on the floor, by her feet and got her monitor black. She was devastated by this, as the listening was still going as she heard. Someone came and put the monitor plug appropriately and the monitor came back. I will always remember it. I think a important thing is, you should try to be of your own and eliminate any pressure one feels for a test. Toefl is not mostly a preparation based test. Personal communication skills are very important. These work well under normal condition.