u/Old-Relation-7614

I have heard the MSR in GTech is funded. Is it true?

Does it look unprofessional to put links on the SoP? Such as links to project pages.

Hello,

I am working with a CMU RI Lab this summer and will continue the work at least until March 2027. I am planning to apply for MSR. To those who have previously applied to MSR, what advice do you have for me? I dont have any publications and wont have any at the time of application. How competitive is MSR for students who have already worked in CMU? Also, about my CMU lab, I am mostly working with postdoc and PI probably doesnt know me and my project well so I'm a little skeptical about my PI's impression of me (PI is really busy, so I didnt get any chance to have an interaction with the PI).

Hello,

I am working with a CMU RI Lab this summer and will continue the work at least until March 2027. I am planning to apply for MSR. To those who have previously applied to MSR, what advice do you have for me? I dont have any publications and wont have any at the time of application. How competitive is MSR for students who have already worked in CMU? Also, about my CMU lab, I am mostly working with postdoc and PI probably doesnt know me and my project well so I'm a little skeptical about my PI's impression of me (PI is really busy, so I didnt get any chance to have an interaction with the PI).

Hello,

I am working with a CMU RI Lab this summer and will continue the work at least until March 2027. I am planning to apply for MSR. To those who have previously applied to MSR, what advice do you have for me? I dont have any publications and wont have any at the time of application. How competitive is MSR for students who have already worked in CMU? Also, about my CMU lab, I am mostly working with postdoc and PI probably doesnt know me and my project well so I'm a little skeptical about my PI's impression of me (PI is really busy, so I didnt get any chance to have an interaction with the PI).

i checked a few CS PhD programs and they dont seem to provide fee waivers for intl students... i have heard they give out fee waiver codes in info sessions.. could anyone pls let me know if they had gotten any fee waivers from programs like mit eecs, mit aero aestro, cmu ri, cmu meche, cmu ece, etc

How is KAIST for robotics? What's the startup ecosystem here? Does KAIST fund MS programs for international students?

To current MSR students -- what does the admissions committee look in your application? What should an applicant focus on? What advice would you give to prospective MSR students?

How much of an influence does a faculty have in admitting PhD students to AeroAestro department? Are they able to hire directly?

I am working on a safe formation control project, where I have a varying number of static and dynamic obstacles. Plan is to use traditional formation control algorithms and AdaCBFs for ensuring safety. Mostly done but the main part now is how to couple the formation control laws with AdaCBF penalty variables. Then we will extend the project to ensure safety and task completion in "formation control of geometric shapes". There is an advisor for the project but I am looking for a collaborator who can work closely with me. Plan is to submit paper to IROS 2027. Dm if interested.

PS. I am a rising undergrad senior studying CS. There can also be an opportunity to earn $500/semester since I get that funding from my uni to pay collaborators.

I will graduate in May 2027. I am planning to stay in the US during my OPT and STEM OPT. For post completion OPT, do I need to have a job guaranteed for 1 year?

Or can it be something like having a job from May 2027 to August 2027 and then looking for another job during that period for August 2027 onwards?

I am an international student graduating from my undergrad program in May 2027. I am planning to apply to PhD programs this fall (in CS, Robotics). This fall, I'm planning to apply to just the top schools in robotics like MIT, CMU, Berkeley, Stanford, and a few other big names like UPenn. I know it's super competitive, so I might not get in there in the first cycle. If that' happens to be the case, I'm planning to find some paid/unpaid research assistant jobs for May 2026 onwards for my OPT and then apply again to PhDs next year (to ~20 unis including reach, target, and safety). Has anyone done something like this before (applying to just top schools in first cycle, taking a gap year on OPT, and then applying to a mixture of top-mid schools)? I'd appreciate any suggestion regarding my plan, such as if it's worth waiting one more year to try to get to my dream schools if I dont get in the first cycle.

I am an international student graduating from my undergrad program in May 2027. I am planning to apply to PhD programs this fall (in CS, Robotics). This fall, I'm planning to apply to just the top schools in robotics like MIT, CMU, Berkeley, Stanford, and a few other big names like UPenn. I know it's super competitive, so I might not get in there in the first cycle. If that' happens to be the case, I'm planning to find some paid/unpaid research assistant jobs for May 2026 onwards for my OPT and then apply again to PhDs next year (to ~20 unis including reach, target, and safety). Has anyone done something like this before (applying to just top schools in first cycle, taking a gap year on OPT, and then applying to a mixture of top-mid schools)? I'd appreciate any suggestion regarding my plan, such as if it's worth waiting one more year to try to get to my dream schools if I dont get in the first cycle.

I am an international student graduating from my undergrad program in May 2027. I am planning to apply to PhD programs this fall (in CS, Robotics). This fall, I'm planning to apply to just the top schools in robotics like MIT, CMU, Berkeley, Stanford, and a few other big names like UPenn. I know it's super competitive, so I might not get in there in the first cycle. If that' happens to be the case, I'm planning to find some paid/unpaid research assistant jobs for May 2026 onwards for my OPT and then apply again to PhDs next year (to ~20 unis including reach, target, and safety). Has anyone done something like this before (applying to just top schools in first cycle, taking a gap year on OPT, and then applying to a mixture of top-mid schools)? I'd appreciate any suggestion regarding my plan, such as if it's worth waiting one more year to try to get to my dream schools if I dont get in the first cycle.

How does admissions work here? Is it through department like RI (where faculty don't have any influence on who to admit)? Or can the professors directly admit students to PhD?

Has anyone gotten to MSR directly without applying? That is, finding an advisor who agreed to advise you for MSR and then starting MSR directly without formal application.

How is MSR funding situation for Fall 2027 semester? I'm working as an undergrad RA in RI this summer and would continue it over through AY 2026-2027 and Summer 2027. I'm wondering if I should ask my PI about the funding situation for MSR for Fall 2027 semester. I wanted to ask here before I ask my PI about it. In general, how is the MSR funding situation for starting in Fall 2026 or Fall 2027?

Coming from a third-world country, what did you do after completing your undergrad in the US when your main plan didn't work out? For example, my plan is to apply for CS PhD but don't know what to do if I don't get into CS PhD? In the worst case, if I need to return to my home country due to both PhD and backup plan not working out for me, I'd feel that I'm a failure because I really want to do a PhD. Would appreciate if anyone could share their experiences.

GPA: 4.0/4.0

Papers: None but I'll have 3 submitted for review by the PhD app deadlines. 2 in robotics and 1 in ML. 1 robotics and 1 ML paper are from my liberal arts, non-R1 university while the 2nd robotics paper would be from CMU. 1st author in all three papers.

LoRs: 2 from my home university research supervisors and 1 from CMU professor.

I am looking to apply to around 20 universities. Can anyone suggest some universities where I might have a chance? I'll apply to top programs like CMU, MIT but I dont think I have a chance there, so I am looking for some target universities

GPA: 4.0/4.0

Papers: None but I'll have 3 submitted for review by the PhD app deadlines. 2 in robotics and 1 in ML. 1 robotics and 1 ML paper are from my liberal arts, non-R1 university while the 2nd robotics paper would be from CMU. 1st author in all three papers.

LoRs: 2 from my home university research supervisors and 1 from CMU professor.

Interests: Multi agent robotics, safety critical autonomy, control theory, robotics development

I am looking to apply to around 20 universities. Can anyone suggest some universities where I might have a chance? I'll apply to top programs like CMU, MIT but I dont think I have a chance there, so I am looking for some target universities.