Had an interview on Jan 07. I think it went well, chatted for 30 more mins. Got an email on Jan 21, from one of the POI, saying they like my profile and decide to move my application forward. I think.... accepted?

Got an email for an interview on Jan, 4th. 2 POIs interviewed me together. They said if I'm accepted, I'll work with both of them.

First acceptance!!

Interview with prof mentioned in SoP. ML / AI past research experience including conference papers, internship in Big Tech

Canadian UG (not Waterloo). No pubs just some research exp.

Interviewed by POIs. Area: Systems

CV/ML

No funding decision yet!

Final year cs undergrad (tier 3) from India, 9.5+ CGPA, 2 years of ML Research experience, 3 publications at decent venues (A*/A), average test scores, probably strong LoR's from advisors. Happy but the sheer intake of USC scares me :(

area: theory

Field: Programming Languages + Systems Verbal offer given on the spot after the interview. Current Masters Student at top 20 school. Undergrad from another top 20 school. 1 published paper, current research finalized with strong results waiting to be published. Open source contribution to two widely used programming languages. 2 years of full time industry experience + Twitter & VMware Internships. Founded a company.

Area: Database

Field: HCI