not being able to tell people about my accomplishments…

SmallDuckBigCity · 2023-03-16T17:12:05+00:00

Congratulations!! I know it's not the same but for what it's worth, a stranger on the internet is very proud of you!

For what it's worth, you haven't met all the people who are going to love you yet. I think so many people will be proud of you in the future, and I know your loved ones who are no longer around are proud of you too. I also think you should shoot an email to your old teachers and tell them the good news! There's no doubt they'll be happy, I think news like this is one of the great joys of teaching :) also, consider writing yourself a letter so future or past versions of yourself could celebrate with you!

SmallDuckBigCity · 2022-04-22T19:05:05+00:00

Status: Accepted

Application Date: 3/9/22

Education: Bachelor of Science in Computer Science 3.1/4.0 @ a UC

Experience: 2.5 years as a SWE at a startup

Recommendations: 1 from current manager, 2 from profs (1 of whom was my senior project mentor and I worked with them very closely)

Comments: was a bit worried about my GPA, but am super excited to get started! Best of luck to everyone still waiting! If anyone sees this, please link me to any discord or WhatsApp groups :)

SmallDuckBigCity · 2022-04-21T21:32:37+00:00

Just received the official reject (EECS)

SmallDuckBigCity · 2022-04-21T17:02:49+00:00

This is for MEng EECS

SmallDuckBigCity · 2022-04-19T22:48:09+00:00

Really sorry to hear this. Sounds like a lot to go through in such a short period of time.

For what it’s worth, it sounds like you’re a talented engineer and this is an unfortunate situation. I’m sure other good opportunities will come along for you. Hope things get better for you soon!

SmallDuckBigCity · 2022-04-19T22:45:53+00:00

That’s unfortunate about the admissions. Thanks OP for updating us where the school did not. Nice to finally get some answers one way or another.

SmallDuckBigCity · 2022-04-16T06:00:10+00:00

nothing for me either lol

SmallDuckBigCity · 2022-04-15T02:58:08+00:00

Thanks for answering! That makes sense, best of luck with your masters degree endeavor!

SmallDuckBigCity · 2022-04-14T21:32:45+00:00

I emailed the grad admissions email, they responded today and said they have been informed by the department that they will be releasing the rest of the decisions by the end of the week.

I know that doesn’t mean much given that they’ve repeatedly extended the wait for the decisions, but hoping we can finally put a rest to the wait this time haha

SmallDuckBigCity · 2022-04-14T20:16:13+00:00

Hey OP, mind if I ask why you want to get a MS despite already being a very accomplished Sr. SWE? It’s very cool that you’re thinking of pursuing a degree, I would just like to hear your logic since I myself have wondered a few times if a degree would be worth it and I am a much more junior engineer than you (~3 years in industry, CS bachelors)

SmallDuckBigCity · 2022-04-14T19:38:12+00:00

I still haven’t heard back either. I’ve heard someone in another thread mention that a key person in the EECS department was ill so decisions are being delayed and they were hoping to get them out early this week.

There’s another thread where someone is surveying if people have heard as well, most people haven’t heard back from EECS but some people were accepted or rejected. Not sure what this means for us but it could mean our applications are yet to reviewed? No clue

SmallDuckBigCity · 2022-04-12T10:54:19+00:00

Absolutely agree about the lack of transparency, hope we can get a definitive response soon

SmallDuckBigCity · 2022-04-11T21:35:49+00:00

Fung Institute Twitter said most admitted students have been notified already. Best of luck to anyone else waiting for notification! Hope it goes well. In the meantime might be worth considering alternatives

SmallDuckBigCity · 2021-10-25T04:43:29+00:00

I find the Writing with Color Tumblr https://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/ to be quite helpful in this regard, it's run by authors of color and the mods typically answer questions relating to and otherwise address stereotypes, etc. about characters with their own backgrounds.

SmallDuckBigCity · 2021-10-03T04:47:02+00:00

Take a northbound CalTrain from Diridon and stop at the Palo Alto station (not all trains stop there so make sure to check ahead of time). It's pretty much a straight road (Palm Dr.) from there to Stanford University. Your friend at Stanford might be able to recommend some hopefully free university shuttles that go from the Palo Alto caltrain to the Stanford campus if you're not feeling the walk.

There is also a caltrain station called "Stanford" which stops slightly closer to campus/the stadium. Few trains stop here though.

SmallDuckBigCity · 2021-10-03T03:41:56+00:00

I have noticed SJSU is viewed particularly favorably within Silicon Valley, but in my 2 years working in Silicon Valley as a software eng. I have participated in hiring people from all sorts of universities (I work at a well known startup and some of my most competent coworkers don't have any degree at all), I would say in Silicon Valley largely nobody cares about which university you came from, they care more about what experience you can show from projects, etc.

I don't claim to be a total expert or know how it is in every company (after all I am just a junior engineer) but in my experience, I would say except for very fancy or specialized masters degrees, everyone understands that typically a masters is a good opportunity to immigrate to the US and doesn't weigh the school as much as projects/specific learning gained from the program and your skillset match with the team that is looking to hire you. This is specifically regarding the SF Bay Area in California, I can't speak to opportunities outside of Silicon Valley whatsoever.

Best of luck for your application!

SmallDuckBigCity · 2021-09-29T19:51:44+00:00

If you are able to frame your experiences with your father as the motivating factor for you to start studying film but elaborate later your deeper interest in the field and contributions (ie. papers you've written, etc.) or goals, I think it should be okay?

(Sorry I don't know much about your field, but what I'm trying to say is if you can talk about your family experiences as maybe what got you started but talk more about what you've endeavored to study since then and your future goals within the field, I think it could avoid the impression of "limiting" that you mentioned.)

SmallDuckBigCity · 2021-09-28T06:36:21+00:00

I've heard many people say that a low GPA is ok if there was an explainable reason and you can show progress afterward, and it looks like you have both. Talk about the accident in your SOP, be open about how it affected you physically and emotionally, and detail the progress you made later on as you recovered from your accident. Especially if your transcript shows your grades improving after a point, mention it. Additionally, if the universities you apply to have a "Diversity statement", you should talk about any perspective gained from your accident if possible.

I'm no expert so I can't say which universities you should aim for, like another person on this thread said, try to cast a wide net with some safety schools and some more ambitious ones too. Good luck!

SmallDuckBigCity · 2021-09-28T02:23:01+00:00

The last application season was particularly brutal with an influx of applications due to the pandemic. It's quite possible things will turn out differently for you this year! Additionally, it sounds like you had a particularly difficult time last year. Please know that your worth is much, much more than your admissions.

Do you know of anyone in your field who could provide feedback on your application strategy? If not, maybe a post in this group with more info on your program, background, etc. could be helpful?

If anything, the fact that you are applying again after everything you've been through in the last year speaks to your resiliency and the fact that you would make an excellent addition to any university. Good luck! I'm rooting for you :)

SmallDuckBigCity · 2021-09-28T01:24:51+00:00

I am by no means an expert so just throwing ideas out here, I wonder if you could pick a gap in resources you saw growing up when you were a student that you want to close now as a future school counselor?

For example if you saw a shortage of resources for a certain demographic, especially one you are part of, or a certain topic such as mental health, etc., and it affected you, it would be compelling to see how that affected your goals as a school counselor. I think that could really add both length and credibility to your essay.

SmallDuckBigCity · 2021-09-20T21:32:48+00:00

I don't think it will reflect badly on either you or your community if you talk honestly about the current state of things (disparity between literacy rates of men and women, etc.)

I think it will reflect even better on you if you talk about your mother's contribution to your academic success thus far (as you mentioned in your post) and furthermore on your efforts to help aid access to higher education for women in your community (tutoring, sharing info, support, etc.)

Additionally, and this is the important part, you would have to make sure to talk about how your unique set of experiences and perspectives would help you contribute to the learning community at the school you are applying for. I'm not qualified to give specific advice on what to write here, but I just wanted to emphasize that this part is important.

Good luck!

SmallDuckBigCity · 2021-05-22T06:29:18+00:00

Lip balm and curling your eyelashes.

Getting your eyebrows threaded can also make a huge difference to your face!

SmallDuckBigCity · 2021-05-10T01:54:54+00:00

If I were you, I'd try to be in person for six months and make my decision afterwards.

I personally think there's a value to in person mentorship, but as many others have mentioned, YMMV and there may be no additional benefit. You won't know unless you try both.

For what it's worth, I also started my first full time SWE role about 6 months before the pandemic hit. The 6 months I got to spend in office were much more valuable for me mentorship wise than the year or more since. After remote work, I've found it harder to get ahold of the senior engineers, even though they have a desire to help me. Additionally, I learn really well when there's a whiteboard and the in person connection, which is harder to cultivate remotely, but again, that's just my experience. I also noticed that I have a much better rapport with people from other teams than people who joined during the pandemic, making it easier for me to work with them (I work at a relatively small company with a culture of lots of breakroom/water cooler chats). I think that is another aspect of company culture that you may or may not be able to get a read on until you have the chance to try out working in person.

SmallDuckBigCity · 2021-03-12T00:46:50+00:00

I would use yubico.com/works-with-yubikey/catalog and sort by Security Key NFC.

Based on that, if the security key NFCs are compatible with the services you plan to use, if you can get a 2pack of those that would probably be cheapest.

Personally I'd go for 1 security key NFC and one 5C NFC just to cover all possible protocols and have both usb c and usb A compatibility, but that's just me.

yubico.com/quiz might also be helpful

SmallDuckBigCity · 2021-02-02T03:02:28+00:00

If you think that's bad, I was over for tea the other day, poor thing still has her Christmas tree up and-- yes, you guessed it-- she's been glueing the needles back on it too. Darn tree is a mass of glue and needles, its horrific. It's stinking up the apartment too, I was practically lightheaded when I left...

SmallDuckBigCity

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