check this shit out!

[paperclippy]

Note to self: fellowship apps. NSF is due first, then NDSEG.

Anyway, the point of this entry: http://www.eecs.cwru.edu/centers_and_groups

Dude. Case Western has (1) a Neuromechanics group, (2) a BioRobotics lab, and (3) a Dynamics of Adaptive Behavior research group (AKA BioRobotics for CS majors instead of engineers).

Can I write to them and say "YOU ARE DOING EXACTLY WHAT I WANT TO DO PLEASE LET ME IN PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE"? I'll be like, really, if you let me in then as soon as I get there I'll take electrical engineering and mechanical engineering to make up for not having taken that sort of stuff before . . . :P Maybe I should have been an engineer after all! I'm more convinced that I want to go to grad school when I get really excited looking at this stuff.

In other news, I have two people to write recs for me now, and hopefully I will soon have a third. I also have one sort-of. Speaking of which, I need to contact the grad student I worked with over the summer.

Right now my biggest concern about grad schools: what if once I get there, I freeze to death as soon as it gets to be winter? :P I'm such a cold wuss.

Comments

[csn.livejournal.com]

That looks pretty cool. Definitely something I'd be interested in.

[zixi.livejournal.com]

Saying something like that is totally what a statement of purpose is all about.
A good idea might be to email a prof in that group you're extra interested in and ask some good questions. GEt them on your side come admissions.

I actually almost went to Case for undergrad. Personally, I liked Cleveland a lot. But you and I have incredibly different tastes in things like that, I think.
In terms of cold, just make sure you're well-stocked. Get a good winter coat (buy it there, not in SoCal). If you get one that is long, you'll stay warmer. Also, snow-boots (thick) and mittens are warmer then gloves. So long as your'e careful to dress right and have enough blankets, you should manage the cold, though you may not be happy.
Also, Cleveland is right on Lake Erie (I think that's the one) and being right on a big lake tends to help a city have slightly more moderate temperatures (more snow, less cold).

Good luck! I would think you'd have a good shot at Case.

[2gouda4u.livejournal.com]

In terms of cold, just make sure you're well-stocked.

Also, I'm guessing they keep the buildings heavily heated in the winter. It seems the more extreme the weather is, the more extreme are the attempts to counteract it. Since it won't be in So Cal, I'm guessing the buildings will be at least a little more sensibly organized, to minimize travel outside. Although I suppose with any large campus, you have to have a lot of buildings with large distances between some buildings. But hey, then you'll have the excuse to drive that distance ; )

[iainuki.livejournal.com]

It also helps if you find a place to live where you don't pay for your own heat, so you can afford to keep your home heavily heated in the winter (particularly if the winter is bad).

As for sensible organization . . . I wouldn't count on it. Most colleges weren't planned, they grew with little to no emphasis on good design, particularly for small-scale features like minimizing the distances people might have to walk in the snow. This case may be an exception, but that's something you'd want to check.