Computer Science

today i finally registered for classes

and started the registered the laptop in teh RIT network as well, its first look at daylight..

a day of starts

it started off with me snoozing the alarm like 15 times and even then oversleeping
i thought i'd missed the only bus which would get me there on time but luckily after a hush hush job somehow i managed to catch it with what seemed like half the indian community at rustic village.

reached college at 0901

signed up for CS orientation where The professor HPBischoff confirmed all the rumours we were hearing from our seniors ;)

then after a very strange and heavy fully vegetarian lunch we set off for the CS building for registration of courses..
somewhere along the way and during the extended wait in line i decided the courses i would take in the first quarter.

and a few minutes later the laptop too got magically registered and working..
and then this.

it has been a hell of a 18 days in the US of A so far.. thouroughly enjoyable and i suppose i can now say that the feeling of being a tourist is slowly wearing away and more and more i feel liike a student..

one fear still plagues me
until a few days back i felt really keyed up to start studying here and was hoping to do well
but then recently ive discovered that this feeling is no different to the ones i would have at the beginning of each engineering semester anyway
in fact after seeing the way other students suck up to the professors in RIT its hard to believe that academically this is going to be any different than frcrce..

i just hope that the fairness and equality for all factor kicks in here in the US

what else..

where do i begin to describe the fun ive had the last couple and a half weeks..
i guess that will go down forever undocumented.. and so be it.. but i hope the memories live on forever..

anyway goodluck and goodnight..

day one of blogging

sunday: [is that all his family?]
--dorney park--



tuesday: [a big apple a day]
i'm saying this now and i will say it again repeatedly
i cannot begin to describe the merriment i have come to experience over the last week or two

here is a brief photo blog



z

heres how it happened

well it was always a UF v RIT battle..

and UF had a lot of things going for it..

i stuck my neck out with RIT.. much to everyone's bewilderment(i like doing that)..

amey and co. (basically a majority of comps a) have decided to go to UF and have already gotten their stuff complete..
akoy was going to OSU
jay to Case Western Reserve which sounded brilliant the way he described it
minita is going to Columbia U(NY)
nilay to NEU (rotten shit (not nilay))

then there came a time when i was fixed in the head that RIT was it for me..
then finally one day before i applied for the visa interview i felt the foundations of my belief shaking..
but still.. i stuck on..
now it was finalised when i drew up the paperwork for the visa application..

the next day just browsing through the documents i'd received from the universities i found out much to my surprise and a fleeting moment of dismay that UMASS Dartmouth had offered me a complete tuition waiver and a $6250 Teaching Assistanship for 10 hours a week.. which basically meant they were paying me to attend their college..

but i looked beyond it..

at the RIT meet i'd come to know quite a few people i'd be attending college with..
notably one Nayan B and a Rahul Z.. nice blokes.. hopefully things will work out well with them when it comes to housing and stuff..

then as the interview date approached things started to get a little edgy.. with random documents wishing to disappear at the wrong times and all.. finally a couple of days before the interview.. there was a mock interview conducted.. which i screwed up majorly.. sticking to the truth apparently was not a good idea.. this added tremendously to the nerves.. so with mental notes taken down i took one more the next day.. this one went off very smoothly.. and the confidence level went up a few notches.. yet nerves were still there.. there was a feeling that something would give.. and things mite go wrong..

then the day of the interview i entered the application office pretty much caught in between being a nervous wreck and being indifferent to the outcome.. then something changed.. as it has happened a few times before..

things became calm and it felt asif i belonged to the moment.. (drama ;))

and it comes to life

after four months..

today i finally received a students visa after the most uniquely interesting visa interview story i've heard so far..

incase u need to catch up..

i'm heading for Rochester Institute of Technology.

its been a brilliant journey so far and without sounding well.. without sounding..

only i know how magnificently things have fallen into place over the course of the last year to get me to where i am now..

realistically speaking last march (07) i had no clue as to what i would be doing next..
i could have chosen any field i wanted.. MBS thru CAT was an option..

one counseling session with a certain Madhavi Desai changed everything.. and the rest.. well is the rest..

and today as this blog comes to a renewed life..

cheers!

and thus it ended..

NeU and UIC rejects
well the decisions were out a long time back but just happened to check them today!

now its only RIT v UF

RIT requires me to send them a resume for me to be considered for graduate assistantship.. which i plan to do today..

silence broken

after a long period of inactivity, the inbox started ringing again..

Florida replied with one of the most amazingly confusing mails..
almost like blackmail..

they said that the department CISE has admitted you but they are awaiting the final decision from the Office of Admissions.. which could spell trouble.. coz i don't think that the recos have reached them yet.. i donno.. there was an error a fortnight ago.. i dono..

its like u can't even decide whether or not to rejoice..

RIT decision on my part is also pending.. i have to confirm my decision within the coming fortnight and also send them a request to consider me for a few campus jobs.. all this to be done by march31 latest.. earlier the better.. and i cannot evn decide what to do!

UMASS also wants to know if i'm interested in on-campus housing..

what to do.. wattudu!

PS:
i dont know why i dint update this blog earlier..
on the first of march.. a few hours after the previous post.. i did indeed goto linklabs to meet pankil and remind him to mail the recommendations.. luckily i caught him during his 'offday' and he managed to find ample time for me.. and sent them recos out immediately..

what the?

ok i'm not saying that i'm unhappy with my current situation (btw i passed in the 7th sem exams)
but attending NEU has always been my prime wink wink objective..
and the trouble is that it is in the hands of pankil submitting the online recommendation.. which he still for some reason had not done!
i have reminded him constantly since last week but to no avail!

i dono i'm planning to take more direct action in a few hours from now.

dreammare!

ok got the admission packet from RIT..
the dream/nightmare looks like a real possibility now..

its slightly.. or vastly.. unnerving..
i donno what to do and where to go..

i'm still hung out on other universities.. most of the applications aren't even complete yet..

and yes the other remaining 'completed application' universities too have sent in their replies..

got an email from UCB a week or so ago telling me that they were sorry.. and so forth.. damn!
and also from umass dartmouth.. which was well unusually expected.. an admit of course.. yep got in..
UMASS.. ah it makes me wonder..

anyway.. more pressing concerns.. gettin the applications complete.. have to talk to pankil soon.. and yep.. the RESULTs...

brrrrrr.. did someone turn the chill up??

Results.. any day now!

what the.. how the..

out of the blue.. i come online and see a mail from RIT..

fearing the worst.. i open it..
it says..

Congratulations..

You are in!(or something to that tune..)

hehe..

so now i'm waiting for the paperwork to arrive..
and then i also have to finish the applications to the remaining!

shocker!

i think its time to rename the blog
"chronicles of an idiot who thought aspiring is the same as becoming"

the last few days have been anything but a smooth ride..
i went online to check the application status to all the university websites..
and realised much to my horror that out of 12 univs, the application to only 4 were completely complete.. and of which one had already rejected me.. and one is UCB!

hehe.. (not funny!)

the reasons for incomplete applications are as unexpected as they come..
UIC did not receive the transcripts..
florida believes it recd transcripts from univ of mumbai when it shud have got it from univ of bombay..
USC has not got anything yet apparently!
Pankil has overturned the applecart in more than one univ.. USU, NEU, USC.. its my mistake anyhow.. coz i tried the stupid online reco shit..
UH does not allow me to log in to some super-secret status check site..
UTD sent me a letter telling me that they have not received a truckload of items..

donno what to do..
fired off a few emails yesterday but nothing had come off of it yet..

waiting!

here we go!

so got two mails today..

but only one that really mattered i guess!

University of Louisiana, Lafayette

rejected my application for admission on grounds of GPA, test scores and reco letters.. although that does not make complete sense..

anyway it was a shocker since i really expected to get in quite easily.. but i guess all my fears are being realised..
and i'm smiling through it..

peace.

unnatural reply

from UIC 2 weeks back stating that they did not receive my marksheets!
have to call them tonight and confirm and resend tomorrow!