u/North-Mix9763

We’re beginning our search for a home and would appreciate your recommendations. Here’s a summary of what we’re looking for:
Budget: Up to $1.1M (open to both new construction and pre-owned homes)
Key priorities:
• Top-rated schools — we have a one-year-old, so a strong school district is essential for the long term
• A shorter, more manageable commute
• A location that avoids the heavy US-380 traffic corridor
Given these criteria, we’d love your recommendations on communities

We’re beginning our search for a home and would appreciate your recommendations. Here’s a summary of what we’re looking for:
Budget: Up to $1.1M (open to both new construction and pre-owned homes)
Key priorities:
• Top-rated schools — we have a one-year-old, so a strong school district is essential for the long term
• A shorter, more manageable commute
• A location that avoids the heavy US-380 traffic corridor
Given these criteria, we’d love your recommendations on communities

**EB1A self-eval — AI governance / agentic systems researcher**

Filing target Feb 2027, PD (current). Independent researcher track. Want to stress-test my evidence before my attorney finalizes the petition. Going for 6 criteria — would love brutal feedback on weak spots.

**Criterion 2 — Memberships requiring outstanding achievement**
- IEEE Senior Member application in review (3 references submitted)
- ACM Professional Member
*Question: Is IEEE SM alone enough, or do I need a second qualifying membership?*

**Criterion 4 — Judging the work of others**
- In reviewer pools at: IEEE Access, IEEE Intelligent Systems, Springer Applied Intelligence, Elsevier Expert Systems with Applications
- Applied to ICMLA 2026 Program Committee
- Plan: 3+ completed reviews with confirmation emails by filing
*Question: Do journal reviewer invitations count without completed reviews? Or do I need the actual review submissions?*

**Criterion 5 — Original contributions of major significance**
- Multiple USPTO patent applications in AI governance
- Plan to add reference letters from independent industry leaders attesting to impact
*Question: This is my biggest risk. Patents without heavy external citations yet — how heavy do reference letters need to lean?*

**Criterion 6 — Scholarly articles**
- 1 paper in IEEE Access (under review)
- 5 more in pipeline: Springer AI & Ethics, IEEE Big Data 2026, NeurIPS workshop, AI & Society, plus one open
- Target: 3+ accepted by filing, all peer-reviewed
*Question: Workshop papers — counted or discounted?*

**Criterion 8 — Critical role for distinguished organizations**
- Senior Technical Architect at a Fortune 500 company
- Leading AI governance architecture for agentic systems platform
- Will get org-chart letter + customer impact metrics
*Question: Architect role, no direct reports — has anyone gotten this approved as IC? What language worked in the supporting letter?*

**Criterion 9 — High salary**
- Top-decile total comp (base + RSU + bonus) per BLS OEWS + levels.fyi for the role
*Question: Do adjudicators accept levels.fyi as supplementary, or BLS only?*

**Dropped criteria:** 1 (no major awards), 3 (no press), 7 (N/A), 10 (N/A)

**Overall worry:** 6 criteria looks ambitious on paper but each has a gap I'm racing to close in 9 months. Would you collapse this to 4 strong criteria or push all 6?

Not asking for legal advice — my attorney is solid. Just want gut reactions from people who've been through the process. Thanks in advance.