Ancalagon The Black

To add my $0.02, in top schools in India for masters degrees, if you get admitted you do not need to pay tuition and you get a stipend. Its mucho cheaper than studying masters in the US.

Indeed it does. :P

Well, the learning curve is pretty steep at Cornell. They love theory and I do a lot of statistical modeling and algorithmic game theory sort of work as applied to social networks. Luckily, with the help of one's doctoral committee, one can waive out of almost any requirement.

Sure. I am in at, an arguably top 5 place. I have no CS background. My undergrad is in finance and masters is in information science. My interests are in social network analysis. If I can get in, anyone can.

Get a provisional degree certificate ASAP from PTU. That will work.

Mathematical Statistics by Miller and Miller and Probability Models by Ross would be good for an introduction.

Which Indian universities are we talking about here?

I am a doctoral student in, arguably, a top 5 US department. I am also an Indian. I come from a very well known Indian school (non IIT/non engineering) which has placed students into top schools (although not CS departments) for a very, very long time. I had good (not great) GRE scores, very strong LORs from well published faculty and significant, published research experience. I believe these are the factors which adcoms look for in order to admit potential doctoral students.

MS in CS in US schools are not difficult to get through at all. As long as you show enough funding, and get great GRE scores, for Indians, it is not difficult. MS (CS) in top schools are basically the money rakers. Therefore, they admit a lot of students.

I will take a stab at this if only for completeness. I applied to b-schools, i-schools and cs departments for IS/MIS PhDs Undergrad GPA: ~Top 1% Grad GPA: ~Top 1% (Ranked 1st in class) GMAT/GRE: 800Q/790V/6.0 Age: 24 International/US: International Research Experience: 2 years as RA in grad school. Accepts: Cornell, CMU, Berkeley, Northwestern, Iowa State, Michigan, UIUC, UMD, UWA, Penn State, U Pittsburgh Withdrew: UC Irvine, Eller Rejects: Stanford, Stern (not heard back from) Anything Else notable: 4 Journal publications in tier B journals/11 tier 1 conference publications/1 book chapter

I will agree with chimerical and figuringout here. Some reseach experience is always good. If you have publications (they don't have to be Management Science or OR types), then as long as they are in international journals or conferences with well known rostrums (like IEEE/ACM/ ICIS etc) then they add to your profile as well. I don't have a strong academic background as most of the applicants here but I managed to hold my own in the admissions cycle due to my research experience and publications all of which were referred to and asked about in the various interviews that I have had by different adcoms and POIs.

In another development, I was actually told by a potential adviser to state in detail, the reasons why I did not accept their offer as it would help in next year's recruitment efforts. I wrote her a detailed email and she was very pleased with it. :)

I wrote emails to a POI (if I had contact with any) or the person who sent me the admit email.

I should also probably mention that I made detailed reasons for the 2 schools which really wanted me. The rest, I haven't officially declined yet or had withdrawn my application before they made any decisions.

Very good point figuringout but I was hounded by a couple of schools which just wouldn't let me decline so I had to go into specifics thinking that 5 years down the line I might be a job seeker at this very institution and at the very least, I should be civil. :P

Best of luck for the future figuringout !! ;)

Well, I am declining offers via email. I am actually putting a lot of effort into making detailed cases as to why I am rejecting the offers. I believe that since the schools put a lot of effort into the interview and recruitment phases, I should also state strong reasons behind my rejections.

The only time I was "endorsed" by the director of a b-school, he lived up to his words. In fact, much more than he originally promised.

Stanford like most other private schools is short of money so it needs money.

I have no idea about it other than the excellent reputation of the Sloan school. Maybe chimerical has some thoughts. However, since I also know you personally. :D . You will do very good there. :)

I have actually read this article in our informetrics course. It is a very thorough study.

Congratulations chimerical !! Yet another feather in your cap !! Now your choices become even more difficult, or do they? :D :D

I would choose a university based on the following non-exhaustive factors which are not ranked in any particular order: 1. Probable thesis advisor. 2. Probable doctoral committee. 3. Productivity of departmental faculty. 4. Productivity of cohort and present students. 5. Overall rank of university. 6. Location and non academic factors (for instance a college town is very favorable for my non academic interests like theater and playing music) 7. Funding package. 8. Rank of university in field. 9. Placements after PhD. 10. Co-publication of probable thesis advisor with doctoral students. If all academic factors were to remain equal, then for me, the non academic factors would tip the balance in my favor. For instance, right now, I am having to choose between Ithaca, Pittsburgh and Evanston. I am having a pretty tough time of it but I am definitely leaning towards Ithaca given my personal interests and choices.

I was interviewed by Stern in mid Feb but in IS, not management. I don't know what the final decisions are nor when and how they are going to be made. Thanks for the pm chimerical. Much appreciated !! :)

Nope. Still radio silence from them. :) I am sure I must be out by now. :)