Exciting News!!

I am about 95% sure about where I'm going to grad school!

I just got back from a visit to Georgia Tech, and I really liked it. The math/ACO (algorithms, combinatorics, and optimization) program there is really a great fit for me. The ACO program is kind of set on top of the three departments of math, CS, and ISyE (Industrial Systems Engineering), and from what I gather, the ACO students are the "cream of the crop" of each department. Unlike most interdisciplinary programs, ACO is extremely alive and successful. Comparing ACO and Waterloo's C&O department also puts GA Tech on top for me: C&O seems like a small, secluded program, stuck in a back hall that makes up 1/4 of the 5th floor of the math building--one student refered to it as kind of the "hidden jewel" of Waterloo Math. Whereas, I see ACO as kind of the "crown jewel" of GA Tech Math--it's very much in plain sight of everyone, and it's "set on top of" the three departments rather than separated off. At Tech, professors often have 1-2 ACO students and 1-2 regular math students doing research for them at once--ACO students are part of the math (or CS, or ISyE) department, but just have different requirements and different comp exams.

The Tech visit was much nicer than the Waterloo visit, mainly because I got to meet a lot more current grad students, as well as some perspective students like me. I will say that the other prospectives kinda scared me at first (some pretty odd people!) but I got used to their personalities and ended up liking them. The current grad students were amazingly friendly and helpful; didn't seem like there was one really overbearing or arrogant person among them. All the professors seemed very smart, and a great many were into research that I'm interested in.

I also liked the area more than I expected to. Atlanta is a really nice city, and the neighborhoods around Tech campus are quite nice. There are some disadvantages (not excellent for bikes, few big parks) but I also really liked how there were trees everywhere--I don't think I've ever lived in a place that was originally all forest.

So, at the end of the day on Friday, I was already about 70-75% leaning towards Tech. But then came the kicker! Prof. Robin Thomas took me aside and asked me if I wanted to do research with him, starting either semester of my first year. This is a pretty big deal, because grad students at Tech usually don't start research until after about 2 years…and also Robin Thomas is pretty famous in the math world. He's a big force behind the best to-date version of the Four Color Theorem (a major problem in graph theory - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_color_theorem) and he lectures around the world about his work. He's also the new head of ACO, putting in a lot of effort to make the program even better than it was. And I heard good things about his teaching abilities from the current grad students.

This research assistantship would only add to my impressive financial package, which looks something like this:
$23100/yr Teaching Assistantship
$5500/yr President's Fellowship (renewable for up to 4 years)
$5000 ACO Graduate Student Award (first year only)
$?? Research Assistantship (I'm sure Robin Thomas has a lot of research money to get rid of)
-$1400/yr Fees
-$830/yr Health Insurance (after I turn 25)
In comparison, Waterloo is offering me about $21300 (converted to USD) for (teaching assistantship - tuition).

As a little added bonus, I mentioned to Prof. Thomas that I'm looking for something to do this summer, and he immediately told me he could definitely get me an RA. I would have to go to Georgia Tech for most of the summer. But Prof. Thomas is going to be away for the month of July, so I could leave for that month (as long as I still did some work in that time). This would work PERFECTLY in allowing me to go to the 4th of July week Kern reunion in Ouray! And after Ouray, I could spend the rest of July wherever I wanted.

So yeah, Georgia Tech is giving me an offer that's pretty difficult to refuse! Barring something big happening or occurring to me in the next couple days, I'll be sending out the acceptance of admission letter early this week!

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Edit: Check that. If I do the RA with Prof. Thomas, then that will take the place of the TA. So I'll earn the same amount of money, but will do research instead of teach.