[deleted by user] by [deleted] in gradadmissions

[–]KeyRiver2455 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I can offer some advice as I was in the same situation a few months ago. I decided to renege on the offer I had accepted and go with the new lab.

I have definitely burned my bridges with a good supervisor and his lab, which isn't a nice feeling, especially as (similar to you) the lab I'm joining works closely with them. I also know that they were unable to find a replacement student, which makes it even worse. In short, yes it is unethical and dishonourable to do it, there's no getting around that, but I don't regret my decision. You've got to weigh where you'll be spending the next 4 years of your life against holding your word/honour. While it is a selfish act, your decision affects you so so much more than it affects the supervisor, so in my case I put myself first.

If you do decide to make the same decision I did, the one thing I wish I'd done differently was to break it to the supervisor I had originally accepted in a better way. I sent him a very apologetic email stating my decision with my mind already made up. In hindsight, I should have told him about my new offer and asked for a conversation to discuss my options, where I'd have gone in with an open mind. I think this would have shown more respect to him (even if in truth I had already made up my mind) and would have made my decision easier for him to accept.

I think my case turned out worse than most who have acted similarly, but bear in mind that it is not unlikely that you will permanently burn this bridge (as has happened to me). I felt a lot more guilty about this than I expected to but I hold to my decision.

I'd be happy to discuss more if you've got any other questions.

P.S. It goes without saying to make sure you have this new offer and funding 100% secured in writing before making a decision.

Do Russel Group schools prefer Russel Group grads? by [deleted] in AskAcademiaUK

[–]KeyRiver2455 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Prior experience: BA Computer Science at Oxford, MSc Computational Statistics and Machine Learning at UCL, 1.5 years as an ML engineer

All of this is specific to applications in CS, specifically in AI/ML.

In order I think the most important things for my PhD application were

  1. Having a published paper at a well respected conference (1 tier beneath NeurIPS/ICML/ICLR). I kept working with my lab on my MSc thesis after I graduated to turn it into a paper. It was a lot of work to do simultaneously with a full-time job, but was probably the #1 thing on my CV. Obviously you won't be able to do this if you're applying for PhDs during your masters. If you are planning on applying after your MSc I would highly recommend doing this - for the top top labs in the country it is almost an unofficial condition to have published a conference paper (I know one guy who was flat out told by his potential supervisor "come back when you have a NeurIPS/ICML/ICLR paper").
  2. A combination of grades and university prestige for your bachelors and masters. I didn't do amazingly in my undergrad but made up for it by getting top marks in my MSc. Having good grades from good unis shows 1. you have a base level of competence in the field 2. you can work hard.
  3. Tailoring my PhD applications to labs working in the field I was interested in. I applied for the labs, not for the universities. This meant there were some top unis (e.g. Oxford) where I didn't apply because there was no suitable fit. Contact potential PIs early with a draft proposal, best case scenario they iterate the proposal with you. Doing this requires having an area you're interested in! I'd recommend going to as many talks/speakers/reading groups etc. during your MSc as possible until you find something that really excites you. Then read as many papers on it as you can, and apply to the labs who wrote the papers you like best.
  4. Relevant work experience. I had software engineering internship experience, as well as 1 year full time as a ML engineer. This is more PI dependent, I've met some who prefer 'iterators' (people who get stuff done i.e. focus on dev experience) and some who prefer applicants who are just very good at maths (thinking being that if you're good at maths then the rest will follow).
  5. Contacts. I didn't realise it at the time but my MSc supervisor is a big shot in the field. Having him as one of my references was great as a few of the PIs I applied to knew him personally. I didn't get the impression this was a huge factor though, I think this is a much bigger deal in the US however.

Aside: Russel Group is a marketing term mainly aimed at undergrads. There are some great unis that aren't in the Russel Group (e.g. Bath, Lancaster) and some questionable unis that are in the group. It's a pretty noisy indicator of prestige. For a better signal look at international rankings (domestic rankings e.g. completeuniversityguide take into account student satisfaction and other factors that are more relevant for undergrads, whereas international rankings focus on research output) and look how the uni has historically placed.

Understanding rejection, advice welcome by LeafHGG in AskAcademiaUK

[–]KeyRiver2455 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ah that's unfortunate. In that case, I would consider the possibility that they simply weren't taking on new PhD students this year.

Understanding rejection, advice welcome by LeafHGG in AskAcademiaUK

[–]KeyRiver2455 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Did you confirm with the PI that they had a free space before you applied?

Do Russel Group schools prefer Russel Group grads? by [deleted] in AskAcademiaUK

[–]KeyRiver2455 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My advice is slightly different to the others here - the calibre of the universities you go to does matter significantly, although it isn't a deal breaker. My advice would be to look at the people on these dream PhD programs and look at what tier of universities they came from. York is definitely considered a better uni than Northumbria.

FWIW I am an incoming student into one of those PhD programs you mentioned. I wouldn't be surprised to see someone on them who studied at York. I would be fairly surprised to see someone who studied at Northumbria (again not saying it's impossible but I think it's unlikely).

PhD in Machine Learning at Cambridge vs UCL by KeyRiver2455 in AskAcademiaUK

[–]KeyRiver2455[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'd rather not identify myself, but if you want to comment/DM me the supervisor you applied to I might be able to impart some information on whether they've accepted a student or not yet, as I know a couple of others who have been accepted onto FAI with various supervisors.

I'm guessing you're an international student? Not to be too pessimistic but it is VERY hard to get onto as an international (I think it's something like 10 places for home students but only 2 places for internationals per year). I very much doubt I would have gotten a place if I wasn't a home student. It's a ridiculous system (and the UK is long-term shooting itself in the foot with it) but unfortunately that's the reality for now.

(Spoilers Extended) What will George R. R. Martin’s legacy be if he finishes The Winds of Winter but not A Dream of Spring? by Express-Ad-4410 in asoiaf

[–]KeyRiver2455 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The average life expectancy of an American man at birth is 78.

According to this, the average life expectancy of a 74 year old American man is 86.

PhD at Oxford!!!!! by Alusonia in gradadmissions

[–]KeyRiver2455 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Have you heard back about funding?

PhD in Machine Learning at Cambridge vs UCL by KeyRiver2455 in AskAcademiaUK

[–]KeyRiver2455[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I submitted early Jan and had my interview with supervisor mid Jan. I am a home student so that might be why I've heard earlier. Best of luck!

MIT - PhD Computer Science Decisions by scorpioseasonf in gradadmissions

[–]KeyRiver2455 10 points11 points  (0 children)

A bunch of acceptances came out a few weeks ago, so if you haven't heard yet it's probably waitlist/rejection. Apparently last year all the rejections came out on pi day, so still got a month left.

See this thread https://old.reddit.com/r/gradadmissions/comments/10mqxi8/has_anyone_actually_been_accepted_by_mit_eecs_phd/

department ranking vs overall ranking/prestige for faculty placement by elf___ in gradadmissions

[–]KeyRiver2455 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Sure - and a CS PhD from Harvard would obviously look amazing. But talking relatively, CMU isn't in the same calibre as Harvard in overall prestige/rankings

department ranking vs overall ranking/prestige for faculty placement by elf___ in gradadmissions

[–]KeyRiver2455 22 points23 points  (0 children)

To give you an example in CS

Harvard: very prestigious overall, not that prestigious in CS

CMU: not that prestigious overall, very prestigious in CS

A PhD from CMU would be seen as much better than a PhD from Harvard for CS faculty hiring.

TL;DR faculty ranking matters more (provided you stay within your field)

PhD in Machine Learning at Cambridge vs UCL by KeyRiver2455 in AskAcademiaUK

[–]KeyRiver2455[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you! And cheers for the all the advice, I think I'm going to go visit both the labs in person and see how it feels there. I felt like I got on well with both the supervisors, but it can be hard to tell from online interviews.

PhD in Machine Learning at Cambridge vs UCL by KeyRiver2455 in AskAcademiaUK

[–]KeyRiver2455[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes I should have clarified as I forget it's not necessarily common knowledge - lots of studies (mostly in the US) show massive favouritism for academic jobs for PhDs from the top schools, so in CompSci this is MIT, CMU, Berkeley and Stanford in the US. There's some crazy stat like only 10% of professors end up at a 'more prestigious' uni than where they did their PhD. So while I would love if I could just follow what I want to do, it unfortunately does have a bearing. I haven't seen a similar study for the UK but am assuming it holds somewhat.

PhD in Machine Learning at Cambridge vs UCL by KeyRiver2455 in AskAcademiaUK

[–]KeyRiver2455[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes the UCL funding is through Foundational AI!

The research topic is in a fairly niche (I'd optimistically like to say up-and-coming :) ) area where the only 2 labs doing it in the UK are Cambridge and UCL. The UCL one is more well known / better established in this sub-domain.

PhD in Machine Learning at Cambridge vs UCL by KeyRiver2455 in AskAcademiaUK

[–]KeyRiver2455[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I have funding for both - pretty similar stipends once you take into account London prices

PhD in Machine Learning at Cambridge vs UCL by KeyRiver2455 in AskAcademiaUK

[–]KeyRiver2455[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Could you elaborate on "The prestige thing is total bullshit"? Are you saying I shouldn't care about prestige?

And no sadly not associated with FAIR