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Sitting Pretty (?)

Posted by mallorn, 16 January 2012 · 176 views

Well, that's that. All my applications have been successfully sent to all of my schools, all my recommenders were able to submit on time (although I had a scare which involved much texting, calling, a a personal visit), recommendations and sundries have been mailed to one school that insisted on paper recommendations and a english proficiency form (signed by an english teacher) for foreigners even though the TOEFL is one of the requirements. Only waiting for a school that is due on December 31 and another which is due in March.

Since only one of my schools had a December deadline, and sent an email saying they were going to start applications review only this week, I guess I'm sitting pretty for now. Well, not so pretty since my work is killing me. The wind-down of one of our projects means logging hours of overtime, working at home, waking up on weekdays bleary-eyed, and my hand stiffening up because of too much use. On the upside, this has kept my mind firmly off grad school- until now, I didn't have the time even to check thegradcafe, and only snuck a few minutes each day to check if my materials, letters, and scores have been received. I'm also very thankful that this period of busyness happened now and not last month, where I was scrambling to submit my applications, pester recommenders, and send scores before christmas break.

Now I guess there is nothing to do but wait. So far, only one of my POIs has set up an interview with me, where of course I stuttered, stammered, and managed to look like a complete dunce in my proposed field of study. The upside is that he said that he did have a slot for a student next year, with funding, the project is something that I'm interested in, and he is very much willing to take me on as an advisee. The downside is that he's from my least-favored school. Certainly, I won't get the chance to do that kind of research here in my country, so I think my pride is getting in the way of better judgement. With my GPA one fingernail above the required minimum and zero publications whatsoever (compared to the people I saw in the Results section of TGC, describing 3.5 as a low GPA, gulp is there no hope for me?), can I afford to be prideful? No, I can't. Still, I'm crossing my fingers hoping my applications to other schools yield positive results.

So everyone, here's to us, the waiting! Now time to go back to sleep, as I have to wake up early tomorrow and try to meet a deadline by Thursday that can only be finished if a miracle happens.

lslavic12

Jan 16 2012 08:44 PM

With my GPA one fingernail above the required minimum and zero publications whatsoever (compared to the people I saw in the Results section of TGC, describing 3.5 as a low GPA, gulp is there no hope for me?), can I afford to be prideful? No, I can't. Still, I'm crossing my fingers hoping my applications to other schools yield positive results.

What you say makes sense- to be a bit worried when seeing such competition. But depending on your program, a 3.5 gpa, or publications, etc are all relative. Perhaps that gpa is low from a few first year courses when you were in the wrong field and that is how you realized you didn't belong in the sciences (just an example... from experience

) Also- smaller programs, I think, will look more carefully at your application as an entity. Sometimes big fields like medical school or law school ONLY look at numbers to start off. Then of course that fraction of a point is a big deal.

I think you aren't safe or pretty, but sitting comfortably hopeful (does that make sense?) when you have a professor who wants to work with you. Hopefully he/she will fight for you on the decision!

mallorn

Jan 17 2012 01:50 PM

Well, I guess it helps that the programs I'm applying to are certainly not big-gun ones like physics, engineering, psych, and others. When I searched it and other related keywords on the TGC results all time database, only 2 pages worth of results popped up.

I might not have to worry as much about batch rejects based on numbers when compared with people applying to super competitive programs, but I worry about funding, as I'll have to compete with people who have stronger 'numbers' than me and there's no way I can attend grad school without it. Still keeping it positive though.

Feel the same way about the postive response from the prof- like you said, I'm hopeful but I won't be at rest until I have an acceptance letter in my hand or on my screen.

lslavic12

Jan 18 2012 11:47 AM

Well, I guess it helps that the programs I'm applying to are certainly not big-gun ones like physics, engineering, psych, and others. When I searched it and other related keywords on the TGC results all time database, only 2 pages worth of results popped up. I might not have to worry as much about batch rejects based on numbers when compared with people applying to super competitive programs, but I worry about funding, as I'll have to compete with people who have stronger 'numbers' than me and there's no way I can attend grad school without it. Still keeping it positive though.Feel the same way about the postive response from the prof- like you said, I'm hopeful but I won't be at rest until I have an acceptance letter in my hand or on my screen.

That's true- I've heard of instances where applicants talk to Professors who sound enthusiastic, and then don't get in. The Professor was probably either super nice or just couldn't swing it due to funding. But in a small program, I think it is definitely encouraging!

aberrant

Jan 19 2012 07:50 PM

i think that your research experience can compensate your low GPA (i supposed you have a sub-3.5 GPA). while lslavic12 was right about numbers are relative, it is almost-always true that international applicants require better statistics for any applications for any schools in the U.S. if you are into physical/natural science, sub-3.5 GPA may put you in a worse position compare to other applicants. However, it can be made up by 1. strong recommendation letters, 2. great SOP, 3. impressive GRE scores. Bottom line is that you got interview so that is great. It is not easy to get interview even if the school isn't top-tier - simply for the fact that you are competing with applicants from the entire world.

I don't know about programs outside of my interested field, but it seems to me that a big/large program will put you in a better position. for instance, my GPA is weak, my GRE scores isn't outstanding (again, from my blog, my verbal score is considered "detrimental" by Yale GSAS standard). so even though my SOP maybe alright and LOR are strong, this school that I applied to rejected me because they will only accept 1 international student. According the peterson's, which provided some stats, this program that I applied to only accept 6 students and it is all because of the program is a small program, even if they have funding and reputation (it's in ivy). therefore, I hope the professor that you talked to did not sugarcoated anything from you.

i hope you will get into school(s) that you wanna go.

mallorn

Jan 21 2012 11:54 AM

Thanks for the good wishes! Actually, the downside of being an international student was one of the reasons I was initially thinking of not applying for grad school. My sister just finished her PhD in the US this year and told me that due to funding problems, her department hasn't funded an international student yet after her. But when I asked her if I should delay my application (she and I have different fields), she told me waiting a year or so wouldn't make any difference, and said that I should still try, so here I am! I'm well aware that I'm going up against other international students with say 4.0 GPAs and stellar GREs and to be honest, I tried not to dwell too much on that when I was applying or else I probably would have scrapped the whole thing.

I have done the best that I can in my application though- studied hard for the GRE and got pretty good scores, talked to professors who I know would give me good recommendation letters, drafted 4 copies of my SOP after consultation with other people. Another thing was sending feelers to potential POIs, some of whom responded even when I included my god-awful GPA in the e-mail. I'm sure most of them were the generic 'I encourage you to apply' type of e-mail, but I'm crossing my fingers that some of them will have space for me. Can't stop the feeling after pressing the 'Submit Application' button that my app is just not good enough, but in the end I can tell myself that at least I wasn't half-hearted about the application at all.