Anything But Ordinaryapplication http://abowow.com 感性的光芒，理性的光辉 Wed, 28 Jul 2010 15:15:09 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 2010 FALL Computer Science申请总结 http://abowow.com/2010/04/2010-fall-computer-science-look-back/ http://abowow.com/2010/04/2010-fall-computer-science-look-back/#comments Tue, 20 Apr 2010 16:51:39 +0000 Shark Chaos http://abowow.com/?p=450 漫长的申请，从去年10月开始，一直到现在算是可以画上句号了。

先大致介绍下自己的背景。

  • 211+985非传统牛校计算机本科
  • overall GPA 84/100
  • 0906G 1450+4.5
  • 0908T 102 (22 for speaking)
  • 实验室/项目经验若干，无paper无牛推

在申请开始之时，我对自己的判断是，除了GRE成绩，其他背景全面平庸，申Ph.D吃力。咨询了活跃在各留学论坛上的W大，他给的定位是M.S. Top 30/ Ph.D 30-80。从最后的结果来看，W大的定位真的是非常准确。

我是一个懒人，且绝对算不上ambitious的那种类型，自信心一般，但却贪图学校的名声，所以在选校的过程中，我的目标从只申请Ph.D逐渐过渡到主要申请M.S.，辅以Ph.D申请。最终的选校结果也混乱无比。

下面是申请的项目与结果（绿色ad/offer，红色rej，黑色pending）。

United States Ph.D program

  1. University of Minnesota, Twin Cities / Computer Science
  2. Texas A&M University / Computer Engineering
  3. Michigan State University / Computer Science
  4. University of California, Riverside / Computer Science

可以看出，Ph.D的项目纯属瞎选的。其中TAMU是有上届的师兄去，MSU是有本校的老师利用关系直接推荐，另外两个完全是拍脑门选的，和某朝政府领导做决策完全是一个方式。目前拿到了MSU的offer，对有关系的小ap进行过简单套磁，但是最终拿到的offer确是另外一个完全没联系过的印度老板给的。被UCR拒了有点意外，听说由于UCR没钱，召国际生非常少。另外两所学校依然pending，UMN希望渺茫，TAMU可能最终会给个M.S.的AD。

United States M.S. program

  1. University of Texas, Austin / Computer Science
  2. University of California, San Diego / Computer Science and Engineering
  3. Columbia University / Computer Science
  4. University of Southern California / Computer Science
  5. Pennsylvania State University /  Computer Science
  6. University of California, Irvine / Information and Computer Science
  7. North Carolina State University / Computer Science

这部分选校还是比较用心的，考虑了学校排名，项目质量，就业环境等多种因素。但是从结果来看选校还是缺乏自信。比如，我以为自己申UCSD会比较悬，所以申了同质化的UCI。USC/NCSU这种把握较大的学校也可以少申一所。此外，我没有敢于尝试CMU的M.Eng.项目，遗憾了。比较失望的是：1. 没有拿到UTAustin。Austin的项目性价比非常高，但是也异常的selective。 2. 没拿到哥大。事实证明，哥大并不水。 3. 没拿到任何一个带奖学金的录取。

Canada program

  1. University of Toronto / Computer Science M.S.
  2. University of Waterloo / Computer Science M.Math.
  3. University of British Columbia / Computer Science M.Sc.

当时申请加拿大的学校的时候也比较盲目，只是考虑到加国的学校会给硕士生奖学金，于是就申了3所顶级的学校，最终全部悲剧。我感觉，在没有研究经历亮点的前提下，加拿大的学校更看重本科出身和GPA。

最终决定去UCSD，学校声誉，科研水平，招生数量，就业机会等都令人满意，缺点是学费实在贵得离谱。放弃了MSU的offer有点可惜，那个印度老板人很nice，但是我对他的研究不是很感兴趣，而且学校的排名不是很令人满意（深受周围同学的“要读就读名校”的想法的影响）。

最后总结一下教训：

  1. 本科阶段没有闪光的研究经历
  2. 选校缺乏针对性
  3. 没有套磁，不够主动

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]]> http://abowow.com/2010/04/2010-fall-computer-science-look-back/feed/ 21 U.S.News最新2010年Computer Science排名PDF打印版 http://abowow.com/2010/04/usnew-2010-computer-science-ranking-pdf/ http://abowow.com/2010/04/usnew-2010-computer-science-ranking-pdf/#comments Thu, 15 Apr 2010 13:53:39 +0000 Shark Chaos http://abowow.com/?p=448 2010 U.S.News Graduate School Ranking–Computer Science

原始链接 http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-computer-science-schools/rankings

Rank College name Location Score
1 Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA 5.0
1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA 5.0
1 Stanford University Stanford, CA 5.0
1 University of California–Berkeley Berkeley, CA 5.0
5 Cornell University Ithaca, NY 4.6
5 University of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign Urbana, IL 4.6
7 University of Washington Seattle, WA 4.5
8 Princeton University Princeton, NJ 4.4
8 University of Texas–Austin Austin, TX 4.4
10 Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, GA 4.3
11 California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA 4.2
11 University of Wisconsin–Madison Madison, WI 4.2
13 University of Michigan–Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI 4.1
14 University of California–Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA 4.0
14 University of California–San Diego La Jolla, CA 4.0
14 University of Maryland–College Park College Park, MD 4.0
17 Columbia University New York, NY 3.9
17 Harvard University Cambridge, MA 3.9
17 University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 3.9
20 Brown University Providence, RI 3.7
20 Purdue University–West Lafayette West Lafayette, IN 3.7
20 Rice University Houston, TX 3.7
20 University of Massachusetts–Amherst Amherst, MA 3.7
20 University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC 3.7
20 University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA 3.7
20 Yale University New Haven, CT 3.7
27 Duke University Durham, NC 3.6
28 Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD 3.4
28 New York University New York, NY 3.4
28 Ohio State University Columbus, OH 3.4
28 Pennsylvania State University–University Park University Park, PA 3.4
28 Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey–New Brunswick Piscataway, NJ 3.4
28 University of California–Irvine Irvine, CA 3.4
28 University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA 3.4
35 Northwestern University Evanston, IL 3.4
35 University of California–Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA 3.3
35 University of Chicago Chicago, IL 3.3
35 University of Minnesota–Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN 3.3
39 University of California–Davis Davis, CA 3.2
39 University of Colorado–Boulder Boulder, CO 3.2
39 University of Florida Gainesville, FL 3.2
39 University of Utah Salt Lake City , UT 3.2
39 Washington University in St. Louis St. Louis, MO 3.2
44 Dartmouth College Hanover, NH 3.1
44 SUNY–Stony Brook Stony Brook, NY 3.1
44 Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA 3.1
47 Boston University Boston, MA 3.0
47 North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC 3.0
47 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, NY 3.0
47 Texas A&M University–College Station College Station, TX 3.0
47 University of Arizona Tucson, AZ 3.0
47 University of Rochester Rochester, NY 3.0
53 Arizona State University Tempe, AZ 2.9
53 Indiana University–Bloomington Bloomington, IN 2.9
53 University of California–Riverside Riverside, CA 2.9
53 University of California–Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, CA 2.9
53 University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA 2.9
58 Michigan State University East Lansing, MI 2.8
58 University of Illinois–Chicago Chicago, IL 2.8
58 Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN 2.8
61 Northeastern University Boston, MA 2.7
61 University at Buffalo–SUNY Buffalo, NY 2.7
63 Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH 2.6
63 George Mason University Arlington, VA 2.6
63 Iowa State University Ames, IA 2.6
63 Oregon State University Corvallis, OR 2.6
63 Syracuse University Syracuse, NY 2.6
63 University of Iowa Iowa City, IA 2.6
63 University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN 2.6
63 University of Oregon Eugene, OR 2.6
63 University of Tennessee–Knoxville Knoxville, TN 2.6
72 Brandeis University Waltham, MA 2.5
72 Naval Postgraduate School Monterey, CA 2.5
72 Polytechnic Institute of New York University Brooklyn , NY 2.5
72 Tufts University Medford, MA 2.5
72 University of Connecticut Storrs, CT 2.5
72 University of Delaware Newark, DE 2.5
72 University of Maryland–Baltimore County Baltimore, MD 2.5
79 CUNY Graduate School and University Center New York , NY 2.4
79 Clemson University Clemson, SC 2.4
79 College of William and Mary Williamsburg, VA 2.4
79 Colorado State University Fort Collins, CO 2.4
79 Florida State University Tallahassee, FL 2.4
79 George Washington University Washington, DC 2.4
79 Oregon Health and Science University Beaverton, OR 2.4
79 University of Kansas Lawrence, KS 2.4
79 University of Nebraska–Lincoln Lincoln, NE 2.4
79 University of New Mexico Albuquerque, NM 2.4
79 University of Texas–Dallas Richardson, TX 2.4
79 Washington State University Pullman, WA 2.4
91 Auburn University Auburn, AL 2.3
91 Brigham Young University Provo, UT 2.3
91 New Jersey Institute of Technology Newark, NJ 2.3
91 University at Albany–SUNY Albany, NY 2.3
91 University of Central Florida Orlando, FL 2.3
91 University of Georgia Athens, GA 2.3
91 University of Kentucky Lexington, KY 2.3
91 Worcester Polytechnic Institute Worcester, MA 2.3
99 Drexel University Philadelphia, PA 2.2
99 Georgia State University Atlanta, GA 2.2
99 Kansas State University Manhattan, KS 2.2
99 Lehigh University Bethlehem, PA 2.2
99 Louisiana State University–Baton Rouge Baton Rouge, LA 2.2
99 Stevens Institute of Technology Hoboken, NJ 2.2
99 University of Cincinnati Cincinnati, OH 2.2
99 University of North Carolina–Charlotte Charlotte, NC 2.2
99 University of South Carolina Columbia, SC 2.2
99 University of South Florida Tampa, FL 2.2
99 University of Texas–Arlington Arlington, TX 2.2
110 Binghamton University–SUNY Binghamton, NY 2.1
110 Colorado School of Mines Golden, CO 2.1
110 Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago, IL 2.1
110 Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX 2.1
110 Temple University Philadelphia, PA 2.1
110 University of Houston Houston, TX 2.1
110 University of Missouri Columbia, MO 2.1
110 University of Oklahoma Norman, OK 2.1
110 University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee Milwaukee, WI 2.1
110 Wayne State University Detroit, MI 2.1
110 West Virginia University Morgantown, WV 2.1
121 Claremont Graduate University Claremont, CA 2.0
121 Mississippi State University Mississippi State, MS 2.0
121 Missouri University of Science & Technology Rolla, MO 2.0
121 New Mexico State University Las Cruces, NM 2.0
121 Texas Tech University Lubbock, TX 2.0
121 Wright State University Dayton, OH 2.0

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]]> http://abowow.com/2010/04/usnew-2010-computer-science-ranking-pdf/feed/ 10 【用数据说话】我所申请的一些美国学校计算机专业硕士录取人数及随想 http://abowow.com/2010/04/enrollments-of-computer-science-programs/ http://abowow.com/2010/04/enrollments-of-computer-science-programs/#comments Thu, 08 Apr 2010 05:46:44 +0000 Shark Chaos http://abowow.com/?p=447

所有数字来自AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR ENGINEERING EDUCATION

注意：下表仅仅列举了我所申请的各校的2009年Computer Science M.S.项目的数据，不含Computer Engineering M.Eng.等其他相近专业的数据；如果某校项目不叫Computer Science，则取Computer Science and Engineering之类的名称相近的项目的数据；由于不知各校使用的统计方法是否存在重复统计，所以不包含Computer Science – Computer Networks/Multimedia 之类的分方向专业的数据。

学校 性别 全日制 兼 职
The University of Texas at Austin(德州大学奥斯汀分校) 男 65 7
女 25 1
Columbia University(哥伦比亚大学) 男 92 113
女 25 22
University of California, San Diego(加州大学圣迭戈分校) 男 63 0
女 17 0
University of Southern California(南加州大学) 男 299 182
女 98 47
The Pennsylvania State University(宾州州立大学) 男 28 10
女 5 1
University of California, Irvine(加州大学欧文分校) 男 27 0
女 7 0
North Carolina State University(北卡州立大学) 男 135 62
女 55 8

值得注意的是，所谓的几个”水校”——Columbia，USC和NCSU，虽然其硕士招生人数很巨大，但是与其所招收的博士(Ph.D) 人数相比，就不显得那么大了，参考下表的Computer Science Ph.D项目的数据。

学校 性别 全 日制 兼职
Columbia University(哥伦比亚大学) 男 89 0
女 25 0
University of Southern California(南加州大学) 男 168 12
女 32 0
North Carolina State University(北卡州立大学) 男 118 29
女 27 4

另外，不要再猜疑招生较多的学校是否在全球经济危机的情况下“扩招”了。这里仅以USC的数据说事儿，到底 有没有扩招不言自明。

年份 性别 全 日制 兼职
2009 男 299 182
女 98 47
2008 男 280 182
女 79 54
2007 男 308 183
女 101 42
2006 男 301 188
女 75 56
2005 男 284 166
女 61 61

所以，根据一个项目的招生人数去判断该项目水或不水，是很不公平的，因为招生人数明显和各校计算机系的规模 有关。私以为更好的方法是去询问已经在参加这些项目的学生或是毕业的学生关于教学质量和就业前景的看法。毕竟，多数硕士项目的主要内容是上课，多数读硕士的学生的目的是就业。

P.S. 其他学校/其它工程科学专业的数据请移步AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR ENGINEERING EDUCATION去查询，首 先输入学校名称点search，然后点击页面左侧的Enrollments by Class

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]]> http://abowow.com/2010/04/enrollments-of-computer-science-programs/feed/ 3 如何填写托福/GRE免费送分学校 http://abowow.com/2010/01/how-to-choose-school-of-free-score-report/ http://abowow.com/2010/01/how-to-choose-school-of-free-score-report/#comments Sat, 23 Jan 2010 14:52:39 +0000 Shark Chaos http://abowow.com/?p=442

好久不写与留学相关的文章了，今天想谈论的话题是“如何填写托福/GRE免费送分学校”。请注意，这篇文章不是教你怎样在ETS或是NEEA的web系统上操作，而是教你怎样选择填写的学校。

首先，陈述一下申请北美研究生的同学多数会遇到的问题，那就是填写的托福/GRE那四所免费送分学校到最后很少有能用上的。当时我填写送分学校的时候试图从网上搜索一些具有指导意义的文章，收获甚少，只好随便填写了CS除四大金刚外的四所名校，最终一所学校都没用上。按照GRE送分$23（2010年新调价）和托福送分￥136来计算，我浪费了大约$23*4 + ￥136*4 = ￥1 172。我相信这对大多数的中国学生来说不是一个小数字。而当弄完申请之后再回过头来考虑这个问题，我有一些自己的想法，虽然没有付诸过实践，但是我相信会有帮助的。

对于一个典型的秋季(FALL)入学申请者，GRE机考安排在入学之前一年的4月，托福安排在入学之前一年的8月，而填写免费送分学校要在这两个时间节点之前。考虑到大多数学生在12月之后才能完成选校的工作，因此，如何能在选校敲定之前几个月的时候就能‘压中’几个月后要申请的学校呢？问题的答案似乎很简单，填自己一定会申请的学校呗。可是，怎样确定“一定会申请的学校”呢？

对于各种牛人，这个问题确实不算难，各种top 10，relationship，填就是了。

可是对于一般的非牛同学，在准备GT的时候恐怕连美国前100的大学名字都不熟悉，这个问题似乎无解。

既然问题不能直接求解，我们能否找个近似解？其实，我们可以把“一定会申请的学校”转变为“申请的概率比较大的学校”。

这样，我们可能很快就有了答案，比如所谓的dream school，大众情人校，AD水校。不论专业方向，个人背景，这些学校是我们在申请的过程中非常有可能申请的。所以，填写这些学校就可以把风险降到最低，尽量减少浪费的金钱。

dream school不用我多说，每个人心中肯定都有。

大众情人校和AD水校可以多上各种留学论坛看往年的学校申请统计以及AD/offer/rej统计，我在这里就不给出列表了，以免将某几所学校放得不合适而招来鄙视。

来看看我申请的14所学校中这三类学校各有多少(仅供参考，切忌模仿；其中某几所学校被归入两类并重复统计)

dream school   2/14   14%

大众情人校   7/14   50%

AD水校   3/14   21%


希望这篇文章中的点子能帮各位同学少给ETS送点钱。 ;)

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]]> http://abowow.com/2010/01/how-to-choose-school-of-free-score-report/feed/ 6 【转载】一位UM的心理学Ph.D给的写PS的建议 http://abowow.com/2009/10/suggestions-for-ps-from-a-umich-phd/ http://abowow.com/2009/10/suggestions-for-ps-from-a-umich-phd/#comments Tue, 27 Oct 2009 08:29:38 +0000 Shark Chaos http://abowow.com/?p=436

  • Leave roughly 1/3 of the essay to talk about the future
    In this section you can describe your interests, goals, career plans after graduate school, and why the school you are applying to is a good choice to pursue these interests. If there is a stringent word limit, make sure you include this part, even at the expense of leaving out some of your past. Your history should be reflected elsewhere in the applications, through your recommendations, cv, etc.
  • Don’t list experiences and awards
    If awards are listed elsewhere in the application (which they are according to nearly all forms), don’t put them here again! Not only is it a waste of space but it also makes you sound arrogant. If there is something listed on your c.v. that deserves explanation, you can put it in here, but even then it could be better to have a letter writer mention it, if the award is something s/he is familiar with.
  • Write for each school
    Your statement should read as though you wrote it specifically for the school to which you are applying. This may mean that you can leave 5 paragraphs the same for each school and change just the 6th for each application. However, sometimes it means tweaking other parts of the essay as well. I did this for 19 schools, and it was definitely worth it! You should definitely mention specific professors you would like to work with. If you do not do this, your application may be missed altogether (one school said they worked this way, even though they didn’t warn applicants ahead of time!) You may even mention how your interests are specifically aligned to work that some of the professors have done. This step should not be hard if you have already done your research on the schools you’re applying to.
  • Show, don’t tell
    Sometimes the best way to demonstrate your passion for or knowledge of your field is to include an anecdote. It takes up space, but it can be engaging to the reader, and is much more convincing than saying, “I love reading about…”. Instead, say, “One night I stayed up until 8am doing non-required reading on XXX because I was so curious as to why….”
  • Don’t get too personal
    Remember, it’s called a “statement of purpose”, NOT a “personal statement.” This is not an essay about your emotional development. If something in your personal life is integral to your studies, then you should include it. However, most of the time, professors do not want to read about your personal life. The statment of purpose should read more like a professional document. However, there are exceptions to this:
  • DO mention/explain rough areas
    If there is a specific reason you had a semester where your GPA was a 2.0 or your math GRE section was a 520, then very briefly mention it in the statement. However, if there is a separate optional essay for this sort of thing, include it there and don’t mention it in the statement. If there is a reason you should mention it somewhere, because otherwise professors will not give you the benefit of the doubt. However, be as quick as possible and do not make excuses for yourself.
  • Use professional language
    Convey passion, but avoid using “passion,” “love,” and similar words to describe your research. Also avoid superlatives. Don’t say, “this is the best program for me” unless you’re absolutely sure it is. Instead, say, “ideal program,” which may be true of more than one school. Do not use colloquial language in your statement.
  • Avoid cliches
    Many students will say, “I’ve always wanted to be a psychologist/scientist/writer/historian,” or, “ever since I went to the ___ museum when I was five, I knew I wanted to ___.” These stories will make the committee members’ eyes roll and they don’t do anything to explain your current knowledge, ideas, and goals. It is ok to start off with a “boring” introduction in order to avoid these openings. If you start with a meaningful anecdote that demonstrates your intellectual development, that is a great idea, but avoid throw-away sentences.
  • Be concise
    Many applications will have a page or word limit which is usually about 1 page single-spaced or 2 pages double-spaced. Adhere to these guidelines, unless they sound unreasonable, in which case you should call the department to ask whether the guideline is strict. (One of my applications called for a 500 word limit, which is quite short! When I called about it, they said there was no actual limit.) Even if an application does not have a word limit, you should cut unecessary information and verbiage wherever possible. A committee member is more likely to read your essay thoroughly if it is no more than 2-3 pages long.

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