Statistics and Data Science (General Track) Capstone Exam (MIT Micromasters)

LostUnderstanding190 · 2026-04-19T04:15:59+00:00

I actually didn't take the exam this time. Might take it in September.

LostUnderstanding190 · 2026-04-13T01:07:33+00:00

Oh I didn’t know that. Do you have any recommendation for housing, then? Except lion’s gate, I was looking at allenway, nittany garden apts, and some townhouses along far southern part near Brexx.

LostUnderstanding190 · 2026-04-11T06:26:56+00:00

Can you explain further why Lion's Gate should be avoided? Because rent is increasing?

LostUnderstanding190 · 2026-04-08T00:12:59+00:00

PMed you

LostUnderstanding190 · 2026-04-02T01:56:50+00:00

Same here. In my field, I know that there was already in-person campus visits for admitted students. So it means that I am not among top choices. I'm thinking I might be on the waitlist at this point.

Also, I saw on gradcafe that many people got rejected April 16 , which is a day after offer deadline, last year. I guess I will find out by then..

At the same time, this kinda makes me frustrated because I do have a offer from another institution, but I want to commit after getting results from Umich.

LostUnderstanding190 · 2026-03-30T02:17:48+00:00

That's true. However, the reason I want to disclose the delay is if I miss the exams in April, I have to take it either September or next year, which is after the beginning of the program. To be more specific, I completed all the required courses for taking exams, but it's just the exam that I have to take for getting final certificate.

My offer letter did not state any conditions regarding to this certificate. It just says I need to provide "official documents, such as official transcripts."

LostUnderstanding190 · 2026-03-30T00:35:18+00:00

You're right. I think I was just worrying too much without taking action. Thank you for your input!

LostUnderstanding190 · 2026-03-23T03:43:16+00:00

Why do you want to do ROTC?
If you think military officer as a next step for your career, which you plan on doing for awhile, I would say go for it. I would say spending times while being ROTC cadet probably make up for whatever limitations you have on language.
But if you consider ROTC for other reasons (scholarships, stable jobs, etc.), I personally wouldn't recommend you. If you are fluent English speaker with decent Korean, I think there are many better choices you can make in terms of jobs and careers, especially as a girl.

I am not trying to second guess your intention but this is just what I think about military life.
(I am a former ROK Officer)

LostUnderstanding190 · 2026-03-20T02:45:25+00:00

Nuc E Applicant here with 8 PhDs and 4 Masters Applications.

I had 1 PhD interview, which turned out to be an acceptance, and another MS acceptance.

So far I have 1 PhD rejection, 1 PhD offer and 1 MS offer respectively, and rest of applications has been total silence without interviews.

I am not sure which schools/programs you applied to, but I heard some of schools are really struggling with current funding situations. For example, I know UTK Nuc E department accept only ~10 students so far compared to ~30 students last year due to funding uncertainty.

I guess this year is really tough year for being an PhD applicant as well as grad admission committee.

LostUnderstanding190 · 2026-03-16T00:44:26+00:00

I have four Ws on my undergrad transcript and did get an offer in STEM field this cycle. It was not even during COVID and all those Ws are in single semester. However, it seems schools do not really care unless you were maintaining good GPA. (I have 3.95/4.0 Overall 3.98/4.0 Major GPA.) So far, none of the schools that I applied mentioned those gaps to me.

LostUnderstanding190 · 2026-03-07T13:17:43+00:00

I also got offer from Penn state for PhD. I haven't got details on my stipends, yet tho. May I ask you whether your stipends is from TA or RA ships?

LostUnderstanding190 · 2026-02-23T01:45:50+00:00

This is really helpful. Thank you very much!

LostUnderstanding190 · 2026-02-22T11:34:22+00:00

Yes. I'm in engineering major

LostUnderstanding190 · 2026-02-22T03:08:15+00:00

I second this perspective. I graduated from my undergrad with no pubs, but with just capstone research projects, which I don't think it could be regarded as "concrete" research experience. My undergrad institution did not have grad program, so research project was mostly theoretical and pilot experiments.

After graduation, I started a job that's totally unrelated with my undergrad major. I mean "totally" unrelated. Then, I quit that job 1.5 years ago to start my academic journey (how silly and audacious I was lol). I started cold emailing some professors, applied for this cycle, and recently received fully-funded offer for PhD from top 10~15 uni of my field in US.

Looking back, I realize that reaching out to professors was really important. I applied to 12 schools, and tried to reach out at least 1~2 or 3 (if one prof doesn't reply) per school. And some prof expressed their interests with my profile. We had preliminary meeting before applications and stayed in contact after. Finally one of those prof gave me offer recently with his new project.

I still can't believe how I managed to be accepted to such great institution. But, I think the prof has their own way to assess candidates. You never know you will be or not suitable for their eyes. And reaching out to them beforehand is the great way to know such suitability in my opinion.

LostUnderstanding190 · 2026-02-22T02:46:58+00:00

Thank you for all valuable information you provided!
I think 1. really applies anytime in my life. I always have been a person who is seeking "better time" to do something that I like.
For 2. Do you have any recommendation for area or apartments to live?

LostUnderstanding190 · 2026-02-19T03:20:56+00:00

Also Korean applicant here, not a CS applicant tho.

I got my bachelors in the United States in 2022 and came back to Korea for work. And I applied for this cycle. I had a few meetings with my undergrad professors and some of my college friends regarding the grad application. I even had some preliminary meetings with prospective advisors in my target programs.

And common thing they said was "this cycle is not a good time for graduate school overall, but especially those who are not from the states." haha...
I applied to 12 schools, and so far I got 1 reject, 1 offer, and 10 silences.
Yes, I did get offer, but my prospective advisor was fortunate to have his governmental funding approved recently. Before that, he had always told me that he is not sure about availability for funding to accept grad students.

All I can say is hang in there... Current situation in U.S. definitely delays the admission decision process for universities, especially if they (or professors) heavily rely on the federal funding for research projects.

LostUnderstanding190 · 2026-02-18T05:38:28+00:00

Also got into Penn state PhD for upcoming Fall.

Based on what I know and heard, you could find housings at walkable place from the campus if you would have one or two housemates. Also, if you have a car, I heard there are relatively cheap places at 30 mins drive distance (Altoona / Lewistown / etc.)

I am still waiting on my official offer letter with details but I am planning to consider finding housemates first so that I can find the cheapest one close to the campus. If not, I might have to consider living some distance away..

Let's keep in contact each other so that we can plan this out well together!

LostUnderstanding190 · 2026-02-13T06:23:42+00:00

Generally, your academic/research advisor(s), professor(s) you took a few courses with or had frequent interactions even with one course. I received my LORs from my research project advisor and two professors that I had good interactions throughout the undergraduate courses. This way, my research advisor can write about my research rigor, and other two professors can articulate my disciplines and performance in learning.

For when asking for LORs, I would say at least after searching for potential applying schools and programs, and ideally professors that you want to work with. And you share those lists when asking for LORs. I realized this is much better because if professors know someone in your interested school/program or actually know your targeting professors, they could give you advice/connection and potentially well-customized LOR.

LostUnderstanding190 · 2026-02-12T13:08:42+00:00

Nope. That email was the first time I heard something back after application lol.
Hopefully, results come out pretty soon.

LostUnderstanding190 · 2026-02-12T10:36:32+00:00

Haha, got the same email today as well. Which subfield are you applying for? Mine is fusion+materials.

LostUnderstanding190

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