RubyBright

I am so sick of hearing "You got this!" From friends and family. What part of only 25 selected out of 3000+ applications don't they understand!!!

"Oh it'll be so nice to have a doctor in the family. What kind of medicine are you going to specialize in?"
"Not medicine, clinical psychology."
"Oh... *awkward pause* ... why couldn't you just be a real doctor?"
 
 
"You're studying clinical psychology? Why don't you use *insert family member here* as a case study?"
"I'm studying criminals so unless they're planning on going to prison..."
"Oh like CSI?!?!"
*facepalm*
 
 
"I don't know why you're worrying so much."
 
 
"Who cares that you haven't heard anything? You'll get in."
 
 
Or my personal favorite: "You think this is stressful? Wait until you get into the real world..." <-- facepalm. 
 
 
 
End of the day: 
 
 
 
Applied (8/8): Yale, Rutgers, CUNY / John Jay, Fordham, St. John's, Drexel, George Mason, LIU
Interviewed (0/8)
Accepted (0/8): 
Rejected (0/8)
Waitlisted (0/8)

Oh gosh...the stipend. Mom: "So how much will you be making in graduate school?"
"Whatever they give me."
"Well, how much? 40k? 30k?"
"Mom, I don't know."
"I don't think they're giving you enough money."
"...they haven't given me any money yet, Mom. I haven't been accepted yet."
"Well, they'll be fighting all over you. One of them better give you enough money. Remind me where you applied again? I want to call them and tell them to give you more money."
"...no."
 
Yeah...

"But what about my grandchildren?!?!?!" 
 
This was said by my mother immediately after I told her that I was applying to PhD programs out of state.
 
Important points of clarification: My husband and I do not have any children. Nor am I pregnant. She's just really really excited about the prospect of us having kids ASAP.

True!
 
Two years ago, I had a term where I did really, really poorly in school due to various mental health issues. I only passed one class, and that was with the lowest possible passing grade. That class was in my major, so I thought for sure I'd messed everything up. I talked to the professor about why my grades were so poor and he was very understanding, but it was the first class I ever had with him so I wouldn't blame him if he wound up thinking I was a horrible student or just didn't care.
 
Flash forward to last semester, I went to go ask him to write me a recommendation for grad school. I'd taken two more classes with him and he was the advisor for my senior project so he'd seen how much better I was doing (hence why I felt justified asking for the rec), but I was still nervous that my poor grade in my first class with him would be a deal breaker. I would totally understand if he saw that little episode as evidence that I wasn't cut out for the rigors of grad school.
 
Also, note that at the time, I was planning on only going for a masters. That one bad semester had killed my confidence so I was convinced that a PhD was way out of my league, and even a masters would be a miracle.
 
Anyway, instead of saying no to my recommendation, he started asking me all sorts of questions about why I wanted to go to grad school. He didn't understand why I wasn't going for a PhD, though. He agreed to write me a recommendation, but he refused to speak to me any further until I could adequately defend my reasons for getting a masters only. He went on to say that he thought I sounded extremely passionate about research and that I would make a stronger PhD candidate than a masters candidate.
 
Having a professor whose class I nearly failed show so much confidence in my chances at getting a PhD was... amazing. I've had a lot of support from friends and family - whether it's the well-intentioned but misguided "you'll get in everywhere, you're smart!" or the more honest "you did the best you could, now all you can do is wait and see" - but that one professor's encouragement has been my main motivation in this application season.

You guys are brave! I haven't got it in me to read back through my SOPs, especially the first few. I pretty much had to play Hyper-X Ultra Turbo Chop-Fest 2000 on all of them at the last minute to get them down to size. If I read them I'm certain to find otherwise competent sentences about developing parallel algorithms for comparative genomics completely derailed midway into something about how much I love bunnies. Cause, you know, they're fluffy n stuff.

I am a USA applicant and I received an email, not a phone call. I would not appreciate a surprise phone call. Not. I hope to get at least two more interviews, and I really hope I am notified about all of them by email. If I wanted to make split second life altering decisions I would have become a trauma surgeon...

I'm so sorry, PhDreams. I am sure that when you get in, it will be a fitting tribute to someone who helped you so much. 

Hey ya'll,

What is your perfect pizza topped with?

I like onion, kalmata olives, and fresh mozzarella delivered and wrapped in an acceptance letter.
 

We're well-rounded students who appreciate cultural heritage and culinary skills.

I just want to say that we could totally collaborate on sending UNC cookies. I make a killer triple-chocolate mint fudge chip. >.> Oh, wait, bribery. Right. Damn the man.

Too bad I can't send the adcoms cookies. That would be bribery, you say? I don't know what you're talking about...

Forget checking apps three times a day - I keep checking the GradCafe chart!

ME TOO!!!! And all my friends think I'm insane. Pshaw! If other people are doing it, it's not insane, right? 

It depends on the professor whether they like it or not, but I think it's a good idea because even if THEY don't remember you (and sometimes they do!), you remember how the interaction went and that can give you some information about whether or not you should apply to the school.

There is no need to contact professors in advance.  Only do so if you have a serious question. 

^ This. I went ahead and sent out a ton of emails last night, and nearly all of the professors very kindly got back to me first thing this morning. Turns out that some aren't taking grad students this year, and one is even leaving the school. But one gave me names of other people I should try talking to! I'm also beginning to get the feeling that the one school I'm applying to has very friendly faculty - and if you're going to be working someone for five years, that can be important. Also, this is a great way to ask for articles that are in press if you're interested in something that hasn't been published yet.

Forget checking apps three times a day - I keep checking the GradCafe chart!

I'm pretty sure that when people refer to universities as "party schools" they are referring only to undergrads. I have yet to meet a grad student with time to "party" (my definition of a party would be time to have a glass of wine and read a book for fun...woohoo!) so I don't think you should worry about that, or about having to limit your friends. I would think your colleagues won't be partiers either. 

Hahahaha. I keep saying I have backup plans. But my backup plans mostly involve a tremendous amount of Ben & Jerry's in addition to a not inconsiderable volume of Jim Beam.

I didn't list professors in my SOP - just made sure that each SOP was tailored to reflect specific research being done at that university, and then listed the professors where it was asked for in the application. I'm not sure what I'd recommend if they don't give you a space to do that, though.