myoranges

So the results came in: I was rejected. But the result isn't really the issue here. I am very upset with this school for how it treated me. When I told them of how I booked the flights, I was supposed to hear back from the directors of the Admissions Committee; the directors did not reply. When I told them what I should do based on the erroneous admissions decision, the directors did not reply. And now I get this generic bullshit 70-word e-mail, assuming that my $300 flight ticket + hotel fee + being out of office for the weekend + outrageous amount of time spent ... all of my efforts can be casually neglected. Yes, it must be because I've got no money for my damn research proposal! (Oh, so you want $tudents who can make it rain?!). Round of applause, ladies and gentlemen! Alas, I still needed to come here and at least say a thank you to everyone who provided much more support than I have ever received from the Admissions Committee. But -- where is the future of our academic pursuits? Our academic pursuits just seem to be a very perplexing faraway beauty. Is it now about comparing which professor rakes in more cash than others? Is it now about becoming famous for simply counting the number of publications? To scribble in one more line, squiggle in one more page of my Curriculum Vitae? So we cannot wonder the beauty of Milky Way if I were damned to eat bread crumbs every night for pursuing a field that I won't have money for? We want to choose a research topic that is popular; we want to choose what is convenient; we want to choose what makes us look charming. Maybe I am one of these unfortunate indentured slaves (or I mean, a en$laved $cholar) Of course, everybody would sneer at my thoughts -- I am just a 'lil whippersnapper who is not even in graduate school yet to begin with! But I thought the graduate schools were looking for students with some thoughts -- well, I have some of them! I was expecting the program to handle my situation at least a little more professionally when I was waiting for the results. Just a little bit. By the way, jullietmercredi, I am not writing this to argue with you. I am blaming the world that has made us this way.

For Columbia M.S. Industrial Engineering Interview... Does anybody have any experience with having an interview for Columbia's master's program admission? What are some of the questions or traits of the applicants that the admissions committee look for? Many thanks in advance!

Update: I just arrived in Boston this morning from LA via a red-eye flight. The day before I arrived in Boston, the admissions coordinator (the one with miscommunication) informed me with an extremely brief message that "unfortunately, wait-listed students cannot participate in the Open House Day". I slightly frowned. Well, the good news was that at least I had an informal interview with the professor of interest -- but there was no funding for my research area. But at least he gave me a very inspiring message -- funding is not important, but sometimes I shouldn't let funding seriously deter if I am serious about my research area (which is supply chain management for disaster management and response). He does pro-bono supply chain for a lot of his clients, and he, of course, seemed to enjoy his career. I also cautiously asked him, "do you think I could have done things differently in my application to this graduate program?" He answers, "no, I see that you're capable, in fact, very capable. You're one of the many capable students that I see, and I don't know why the graduate program you applied to decided to put you on the wait-list -- well, but I am not part of the committee, so I cannot answer that question". As the days pass by, I am suspecting that the reason for my wait-list is 1. my research area proposed in my application was way too specific, and 2. there might not be enough funding available for me -- both from the school and associated research labs. In a desolate hotel room (which was also paid out of my pocket), I look far ahead, where under the clear night sky lie a bubbly crowd of stars, neon sights and building lights. I started to slowly grin -- "I have not lived my life long enough yet, and there is so much to see in this world still" Just wanted to send out an update to everyone. Wanted to thank you all one more time for providing your support

Hi MaryShelley, I am sorry to disappoint you to say that I do not have much insights because I am just applying to graduate schools this year, but at least I can tell you that taking out a small portion of your time to immerse yourself in a completely different environment helps -- it might be visiting a nearby forest or mountain, aimlessly walking downtown, etc. Just make sure to empty your mind during that time. And again, you are not the only one -- everybody has troubles all the time (as I do), and I have a strong faith that your depression will just be a passing phase

Definitely retake it! GRE is a funny exam, and you never know how you would do if you studied for just 1-2 weeks, and the results might be a lot higher than you have expected. GOOD LUCK!

Hey everyone, Recently, I was told that I was wait-listed at one of the schools, and I would really like to improve my chance of getting in (I have a complicated story behind, but I even have a chance to visit the campus and interact with the admissions committee even though I am on the wait-list). I have re-looked at my application, and I am suspecting it's due to my low GRE score. I am applying to an engineering systems program, but it has a very strong policy component in it, and for that matter I started thinking that my verbal score might play a role. I took it two times, and I received 154V(62%)/167Q(98%)/4.5W and 152V(53%)/170Q(98%)/5.5W. So I am suspecting it might be due to my even lower verbal score on the second test. I am working full-time at the moment, but I think I will be able to take the test in three weeks. Any suggestions would be highly appreciated! Thank you and best of luck to all of you as well!

Everyone, You all SERIOUSLY HAVE NO IDEA HOW THANKFUL I am for ALL of your responses!!! (On a random side note, I do not usually capitalize things so that is how appreciative I am right now ). I am ready to save myself from a viscous swamp of depression and resume back to normal life with utmost confidence and power. Though, I think I found a way to leverage my acceptance rate -- I should film this into a movie and take the Oscars trophy instead, and that should get me into the school, right? Raverbear -- I am so glad to know that I am not alone! There seriously are way too many overwhelmingly preposterous things happening this year -- my friend who is a material science major that applied to MIT this year told me that EVERY material science applicant somehow all got an admissions letter by mistake, and I think there is a huge public apology stating how the admissions committee was trying out a new software and somehow the software resulted in an error. Your empathy is absolutely sufficient to bring my heart to light; thank you TakeruK -- I am going to take away your golden advice -- I did notify the admissions committee immediately that I already booked a flight unfortunately in my "thank you note", and I even hand-wrote a personal letter to the admissions coordinator who made a mistake that it is totally fine and I appreciate all the guidance and tips that he gave me before I submitted my application (I really think the admissions coordinator should be freaking out right now too that he made the mistake). But it is really, really important to let the admissions committee know that I am coming -- and thank you so much for the advice. As much as I would love to cautiously pull a creative prank, I firmly believe this may not be the best time to do so. And I would love to have $300 back, but if I can really heighten my admissions chance as much as possible (regardless of the results -- I just want to try my best), I am okay with spending that 300 bucks -- catering 20 plates of pasta should sufficiently make up for that money, NO PROBLEM! Besixdouze -- Absolutely! Thank you for your words of encouragement. At this moment, I realized it's probably best for me to immerse myself in a state of emptiness and peace; I think fantasizing myself in puffy hope of getting admitted or stabbing myself in the depression of getting rejected would both seriously only harm me. Thank you so much! Once again, I would like to appreciate deep gratitude for everyone's response -- and if you have any schools left, BEST OF LUCK! And remember, school probably isn't what everything of our lives are about

Thank you so much for your reply Jach and Lisa44201! I think I need to calm myself down first -- I even thought of handwriting a letter and sending the letter to the admissions coordinator who made a mistake, because he at least spent some time to guide me through the applications last fall semester when I had some questions about the application. I already sent two emails to my POI during past three weeks, so I will wait until I receive a response from him. And yes -- my adviser might be able to guide me throughout as well! As I said, I don't think this is kind of a situation that I would never like to be in ever in my life again. Once again, I really appreciate it, and best of luck to all your endeavors Lisa44201 Mocha Members 350 posts Application Season:Already Attending Program:Psychology PhD Posted Today, 05:37 AM Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do to boost your chances. You cannot leverage your way in. When you are wait-listed, the wait is for someone to decline a spot. Thank the Adcomm, sure - that's good manners. I would e-mail your POI and explain that you were given an unofficial acceptance, but based on the Admissions rep saying he'd set you up for interviews on Admitted Students Day, you took the phrase "Admitted Students Day" to mean it was a matter of paperwork, and now you have that flight booked; ask your POI for advice. You might also want to ask your advisor at your current location, as well. 0 Psychology PhD student, second application season Quote

----------- If you read this, please at least consider replying to the message; it would be highly, highly, highly appreciated! ---------------- Hey everyone, I am seeking two-cent tips from theGradCafe community -- I am probably in one of the most unique situations that will most likely not happen ever again in my life, and I will try to keep this brief. Long story short -- so last week, I asked the admissions coordinator of my application status, and he unofficially informed me that I was admitted and my application was forwarded to my POI for funding. Then, he even set up a chat/interview time for my POI and me during the Admitted Students' Visit Day to see if I can apply for potential funding for that lab (I applied to master's). Excited and thrilled, I asked him further details about the admissions and the campus visit day. ... and then after 72 hours ... With jolly hopping and frolicking, I stepped into my office with a cup of coffee, clicked inbox to check new messages -- then, I realized I have an e-mail from the same admissions coordinator, saying that I was actually wait-listed instead of admitted...... . And then today, I received an official email saying that I am waitlisted, and the admissions committee told me that -- in hopes of being able to offer me a place for the Fall, I am on the waitlist and I will be notified by mid-April. ... well, the awesome thing at least is that, during the week when I was told that I was admitted, I immediately booked a non-refundable roundtrip flight from LA to Boston ($300 roundtrip -- not shabby) and told my bosses that I would be out of office. So I am still planning on visiting the campus to at least check out what the program is like and see if I can take this campus visit and perhaps meet & greet with the admissions committee as an opportunity to leverage my chance of being admitted. Advice? Meanwhile, I am seeking different ways to bring my chance up of getting in. I first sent a "thank you" note to the Admissions Committee about the decision notification and asked them if there is anything I can do at this point. Any thoughts? Any advice would be highly appreciated!

Did all the Northwestern results go out you think?

Also... I am an industrial engineer so take my following words with a grain of salt! Well, I am not sure what your prospective programs require, but to my knowledge moving average filtering technique is one of more simpler and common techniques in finance and statistics -- if you can, feel free to explore other techniques, such as Savitzky-Golay filter or DTFT (Discrete-Time Fourier Transform) filter. These techniques are more fun ones to play around with, and just by saying "I explored X, Y, and Z and compared these techniques" could mean something more significant. Again, I am not an expert in finance ... so maybe somebody with a more robust finance background can help you out better

I smell a M.Fin, MFE, or some kind of quant-intensive finance program, but I don't think I can know for sure. What program are you applying for?

I am in an even odder case. Well, I am not a native English speaker but my proficiency can be pretty darn close to native fluency, and I have always hated verbal section with such a great passion. I somehow managed to score high on writing for past two tests, in which I received 4.5 and 5.5, but my verbal scores always have been languishing (154 and 152). Don't worry, GRE is just a funny little test.

liao: Consider Princeton's ORFE. UCB also has a MFE (Master in Financial Engineering). Usually, no financial aid is given for those who intend to pursue financial engineering (so it would be more OR-based), because the "investment return" on your tuition is already substantial beginning your first post-graduate year at almost any financial firms (The average income is definitely six-figure, even though I did see a few U.S. firms with first-year salary of $65,000~$75,000). Say the total tuition + living is around $110,000, and you take out a loan. You need to pay approximately $125,000 with an annually compounded interest slightly above 6% if you pay over two years. This is my unique theory, but I bet you that you will be able to pay back within n number of years with n percent confidence based on the "standard-deviation-rule": You will be able to pay the full amount within: 1 year with 68% chance. 2 years with 95% chance. 3 years with 99.7% chance. Well, take my two-cents with a grain of salt

Thanks ratlab! -- I clearly did not think about this thoroughly...