Brown

Name:- Age: 26 M/F: M Location when applying: Iran Major(s) in undergrad: ECE Undergraduate institution: Tehran Azad Univ. Major(s) applying for: ECE Area of specialization: Computer Arch. Degree(s) earned: MS (Sharif University) Degree(s) applying for: PHD Undergrad GPA (try to adjust to 4.0 system): 3.7 Class Rank (if applicable): - GRE Verbal: 370 GRE Math: 800 GRE Writing: 3.5 How many months did you study for GRE general: 1 GRE Subject (if applicable): N/A How many months did you study for GRE subject: - Researched as undergrad in University (y/n & years): 0 Researched as undergrad in Industry (y/n & years): 1 Published (y/n & # of articles): 6 (IEEE or LNCS) Other: Advice to those applying to grad school: If your grades aren't that high, focus on publications and try to contact professors. Accepted Schools (aid: y/n and how much and what form): - NCSU ($16k, full RA) - UMD ($8k, half TA) Rejected Schools: - UCSD - U Texas Austin - Wisconsin Madison - UPenn Waitlisted Schools: Chosen School: - NCSU

I don't think you will have any problems with your old profs. I mean, there is nothing wrong or unethical about declining an admission no matter what the reason. If you want to apply to the same schools, well they may look you up in their records and that could be negative point. But that is solvable too, by adding an explenation in your SOP. By the way, you didn't accept the admission offers and then not, go did you? That could make things worse at that school. And you didn't get a visa and then not go, did you (considering that you applied to the US)? Because that could make things tough when you want to reapply for a visa. Its inspiring to see people like your self who are thinking of starting again after a delay. I wish you good luck.

Thank you for pointing that out ritwik. I agree that the title is a bit flamboyant :D. But in the initial post, I make it clear that the intent of this thread is to gain insight into whether other nationals are also being rejected on the basis of over qualification.

Hi Gforce, Actually, he has been admitted to the CS department. I can't think of any CS research field that can be considered an acute security threat. But then again, AI, Robotics, VLSI, Sensor networks, game theory, can all in someway be considered to have potential military applications. No wonder the DOD gives out so many grants for CS research. But if that was the problem, I’m sure that they would have had the courtesy to tell him so and not make up excuses such as over-qualification.

Congrats on the great admits umamakesh, tough choice to make, it comes down to things like which one is giving you more aid and which one is stronger in the actual focus you intend on working on, and then even your geographical and climate tendencies. Good luck

Hi all, I've just heard of a guy in our school who had a full 4-year PHD fellowship from stanford who had his visa rejected. The reason: He was told that he is "over qualified" :rolleyes: and will definetly stay on when his study is over! I wanted to know if anyone else has heard of similar attitude by visa interviewers towards other nationalities?

Hi all, I've just heard of a guy in our school who had a full 4-year PHD fellowship from stanford who had his visa rejected. The reason: He was told that he is "over qualified" :rolleyes: and will definetly stay on when his study is over! I wanted to know if anyone else has heard of similar attitude by visa interviewers towards other nationalities?

In addition, I think that its also bad to have the F word in your SOP

I'm not sure if CE departments are focused on "inventing stuff" at the graduate level. The difference is more apparent at the undergrad level. The courses taught at CE departments at the BS level are intend to educate an engineer by teaching him/her the princilpes and tools necessary to construct hardware/software systems. When there is enough novelty in the constructed system it can most probably be considered an invention. Courses taught in CS departments are however focused on educating scientists through teaching them the principles. But when it comes to the grad level, CE departments aren't educating engineers any more. They are educating scientists, just as the CS departments are, and there is thus no different between the two. That's why you can see so many people graduating from CS departments and ending up as a faculty member at a CE department, or visa versa. An intersting instance is the "Computer Architecture and VLSI" group at the CS department of Wisconsin-Madison. Why the devil is research in VLSI being conducted in a CS department? Mind you, its one of the strongest research groups in the feild. There is a similar group in the CE depatment, and both groups are doing exactly the same type of research.

I'm going to NCSU for a PHD in CE with a full RA. I also had an offer for a half-TA at UMD. But NCSU seems to be stronger in the specific research feild I want to work in (microarch.).

Thanks markiv81 & Stuart, I'm still trying to figure out how much the first year will cost me with a half TA. If its modest, I'll be heading for Maryland. I joined the Yahoo group. There aren't very many posts (like TM)! Stuart, sorry to hear about so many good admits with no aid. I guess it’s at times like this that we sympathize with Marxist views. But then West Virginia is a pretty good place to get an MS, and go on to higher places for your PHD.

Hey, I just noticed, we're in that thread :blush:.

Hi, Gforce, I thought your opinion was that “NCSU rocks” :D ? Anyway, do you remember this thread: http://www.www.urch.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24174 I remember reading it and saying to my self, “Is this guy for real, or is he kiding us?” (no offence to tty1). Well obviously Gatech is much better than UMD :crazy: . But now I’m in the same situation :blush: . I know that UMD is much higher than NCSU. But then again a full RA is very temptations. In addition, I’m not sure how much I’ll be able to take with me with if I take UMD’s offer. I mean I don’t want to end up eating “baked beans” for a year (I'd end up looking like this --> :eek: ). Oh, and you’re right about my location.

Hi, Diablo (You're the guy who got an I-20 from a school that had rejected you?), They told me to apply for a TA possition, and some results came out yesterday; I got a half TA. Now I'm wondering whether I shoud go to NCSU with a full RA or UMD with a half TA.

Let me revive this thread. I just got a half TA from UMD. It's 7k$ pluse 5 units waived. Does anyone know approximately how much I will need to cover the rest of the expenses?

Hey, tty1 I just got a half TA from UMD :tup:.

Hey, that gives me an idea. I'm going to write to all the schools that rejected me and ask: "Why havent I received my I-20 yet".

Congrats dude [clap]. Don't tell me you were considering anywhere higher in VLSI than Austin :doh:. Take it from me man, "go for UT", from there you can make it to the very very top (where ever you consider that to be). Do anything it takes (rob a bank or something :D), just get in to Austin. .... Maybe I should add a disclaimer message in connection with the methods I'm suggesting :whistle:.

By the way, you're not checking this address are you: https://www.sis.umd.edu/gradapp/ You have to check this one: https://apra.umd.edu

A guy I know got his admit for CS PHD at UMD way back in March by snail mail.

In addition, I think it would be interesting if those posting their admits would indecate if their application was being backed by a prof with whom they had spoken to.

They probably took a look at your record and said "well this guy is gonna get admitted to better places and not come here, so lets not debase our selves and reject him" [clap].

Actually you've got more than six months, I'd say more like nine, because you have right up until the very last day before submitting your application to add a publication to your resume. Spend three or four months finding a subject. Focus on a professor at one of the universities you'd like to get admitted to, read his/her recent papers and try to make an extension or variation to their work (get a proper understanding of their work and you'll be amazed how easy it is to come up with an extension or variation of a theory). Try to contact the professor and ask for observations, you could get lucky. Professors are usually more easier to get through to when you have a question about their work (don't try anything cheezy like attaching your resume or ending your email with "how is your position on admission and financial aid?"). Spend a month or so documenting your idea and submit the paper. Good conferences usually respond in less than three months. And there you go. Spend the same amount of time trying to strengthen your vocab by learning a couple of thousand words, and you'll end up in a mental hospital instead of UCB or Stanford :D. And one more thing, focus on quality not on the number of your publications. Professors know all the tricks of the trade and wont be fooled by a long list of papers published in easy conferences (the mistake I made :(). Good luck

I had the feeling something was missing.

Hay, Raven & Siddh Don't worry about the low verbals. I got into UMD with 370(verbal)/800/3.5. If I were you I wouldn't even put time on the verbal (I took the GRE twice and I got 370 on the verbal both times). Instead of putting time on the verbal try to get some papers out. If you want to get into a place like UCB or stanford with average acads you'll definetly need strong papers from strong conferences.