Dear applicants,
First of all, my sincere apology that many of the answers below start with a "No". I don't mean to be rude, but many prospective students do not understand how PhD student admission works. These FAQs hopefully help you understand what happens on our side.
Are you recruiting new PhD students to your group?
Yes, every year I always recruit new student(s) to my group.
Can you guarantee admission? Can you please read my resume and tell me the likelihood that I can be admitted? Can you tell me how to prepare myself to have a higher chance to be admitted?
No, I'm sorry. No faculty in our department can guarantee admission. The admission decission is made by the admission committee of this particular year, not by individual faculty.
I understand that students want to apply "efficiently" to places that likely admit them. But it's hard to even measure such likelihood. It depends on so many other factors (the pool of student applications we receive, the graduate admission committee, funding situations, etc.). However, I must tell you that if I do reply your email and say you have a good resume, I do really mean it.
Finally, every faculty is busy advising many students here (undergrads, masters, and PhDs). Given our time limit, it's hard to reply every applicants' email and give advices.
Do you have other suggestions for me in terms of applying to UChicago CS Department?
Yes, usually it's a good idea that you mention a 2-3 faculty names whom you would like to work with in your SOP. Check the faculty research here.
My background is not in CS, but in another non-related field (e.g., EE, Business IT). Does this affect (negatively) my admission?
I would say yes. My group only accepts someone with a Computer Science or Computer Engineering background. That is either you (a) have a BS in CS/CE or (b) have a BS in a closely related field, plus an MS in CS. This just applies to my group. You can try other faculty who might be interested more in your non-CS background (e.g., computer architecture research often admits electrical engineering students).
Do I need to have an MS to be eligible to apply?
No, having an MS pre-admission is optional. BS is the minimum requirement.
Can I join in Spring semester (i.e. start in January)?
No, we only do Fall (September) admission. This means you submit your application in January, and the department will notify you in late March/early April. If you're admitted, you will start in September.
Can I ask you more questions? Can I give you continuous updates on my research?
I (just like other faculty) receive hundreds of emails about admission. Therefore, I sincerely apologize if I don't respond to your specific questions.
Also after you submit your application, you don't need to send me continuous updates about your research/readings/etc. Honestly, most faculty tend to skip reading those emails. We only read what you have in your application. One exception is if you have a paper that is accepted in a prestigious conference, then that would be a good update.
For other questions, you should visit: http://cs.uchicago.edu/programs, and don't forget to read all the deep nested links. More FAQs should be available there.
I already apply, when should I hear back from your department?
Either in late March or early April.
I haven't heard anything by March/April, am I in waiting list?
If you are in waiting list, you will be notified too. If you haven't been notified, it means that you can assume your case is stil alive. Sending emails to faculty typically will not help you because the fact that you haven't been notified means that we haven't made a final decision about you, and thus we cannot give you any new information.