Vincenzo

not sibnce the straIGHT jaxcket abnd the iv of THORazine., no [sorrty, hadto type witgh tongue]

When I submitted my SoPs I was all like, I'm Awesome... Now I go back and read them and I'm a Creep... ...but I'm awesome.

You're fine. As you say, you had everything in ahead of time. On more than a few of my applications there were little complications getting things in at just the right time and the admissions folks were all cool about getting stuff worked out. They're used to having to scramble after the fact to try to get everything completed, so they love good folks (like you) that actually do it before the clock stops. And you have clowns like me around to make ya look good too. So now you only have to worry about whether or not they like you. And I can't help ya there.

I showed this to my mentor and he went, "That's what I say to all the students I don't like." ...just kidding.

Wanna really hate life? Go back and read your SoPs. I read my first few... and then I wrote a letter of apology, which I mailed... to myself. And then I tied me to a mule and let it drag me around town. Dear Vin, I'm sorry about those SoPs. Clearly November was the wrong month to quit smoking crack. Better luck next time, fool! Sincerely, Your-whole-damn-stupid-Self.

Eh, they get like a bazillion emails. I'm sure they didn't see anything as rude, they just don't have time to respond. And they'll convey their interest when it comes time to make interview invites and acceptances (you've got at least four more coming). You did a smart thing (which I didn't do) by contacting them - now you're on their radar and when they see your app they'll think, "Oh, I have an email from this person somewhere too." I wouldn't send another message right now - you'd risk them getting annoyed (and you might give them the wrong signal, in that they might interpret a second cold contact as desperate or pushy). Your first messages planted seeds - that's all they needed to do. So for now, you have the right idea in just letting it go.

Super-multi-quoting! I'm impressed!

Hey! I apologize for not seeing this sooner. I haven't heard from any programs yet, but I actually split my applications between two fields (Cog Sci and Comp Bio), so there aren't many to hear from. For Comp Bio (Bioinformatics / Biomedical Informatics / etc etc / [insert twelve more names for the same type of program here]) I applied to Stanford, UCSD, Duke, and UNC Chapel Hill (for what it's worth, all of my applications were submitted with respect to translational bioinformatics areas - aka biomedical rather than structural, systems, or purely genetic). Stanford doesn't let me see anything I'd consider useful, and the Duke/UNC apps are annoying to login to, so the only one I constantly hammer is UCSD. I applied to both Cognitive Science and Biomedical Informatics there and both applications keep taunting me with: "Under Review." (Though, the UCSD Cog Sci program says it normally doesn't notify until first week of February and Bionformatics & Sys Bio has a final deadline - though initially hidden - of 1/31, so I don't expect anything from there till February either.)

[basically, I'm just seconding Lisa's post. But, to add some weight...] As far as chances go, most [PhD program] adcoms care about (in this order): Research Experience/Fit -> Letters of Rec -> SoP -> Grades/Scores (unless scores are abysmal, in which case, the applicant usually gets cut before the adcoms get to look at the other things)... Applying right out of undergrad won't much matter. Unless you've provided the schools your schedule for this semester, underloading will be irrelevant. If it were to come up, say by being asked about your current classes during an interview, your reasoning of wanting more time for your honors research would be very good. But of course, be prepared to talk about that honors work. And again, as Lisa said, use the Results Search and check to see if people are hearing back from the schools/programs you've applied to yet. Many have already sent interview notificants, others have sent acceptance and rejections, etc. So, check. Also, previous years have shown that the real flood starts in February. (I've applied to some Cog Sci programs myself and can say that, with a couple exceptions, only a few sparse outliers - usually international applicants - have received word thus far.)

You must think I'm a joke I ain't gonna be part of your system. Maaaaaaaaaan!

Woah, woah. You just hold up right there! There's an outside? P.S.: Allie = hero.

It is very strange. Perhaps, though, the "admitted" numbers for this cycle are based on the departments saying they would definitely only admit x-number of people. I doubt they've filled those slots with any certainty yet, though (especially because they'd still have to wait for offers of admission to be accepted by the students as well).

And then something happened. I let go. Lost in oblivion, dark and silent and complete, I found freedom. Losing all hope was freedom. -Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club

How fuzzy we talkin' here? ...or.... ... ...

I second the MIT BCS app annoyance. The fact that it doesn't email your references directly is ridiculous - along with the fact that it doesn't display the text you're supposed to send until you go back into the module later. It's MIT! They can't handle the extra couple hours of development it would take to add in the kind of email feature that every.other.application has? Psh. I want my app fee back.

... ... ... Anybody remember who wrote this? ...or, uh, what she tasted like?

Your work experience will be a benefit similar to that of research experience (sans publications, I'm guessing) because it so closely ties in with your PhD field. It will probably be seen as a concrete commitment to the field you want to be part of and I'm sure it will give you a leg up. Not to mention, it will help if some of the PhDs you work with are also known to folks on the admissions committees (which seems likely given that you're in the Bay Area, working with folks that graduated from schools in the area, and [i assume] are applying to those same schools). That being said, yours is a special case because your work experience is so directly applicable. What I've been told (being someone who has a lot of work experience) is that in general the adcoms don't care much for prior unrelated industry work, regardless of your level of operation (unless you won some recognizable awards or the like). Such experience can help to show maturity or technical ability, blah blah, but if it's outside the applicant's proposed area of research it won't carry much weight.

Don't worry about chances. Once you've got interviews this process is all about people. No more math. And, you've already gotten interviews with each place you applied to that does them - I'd look at that as having nothing to worry about, statistically. So, aside from the general advice of preparing for those interviews by planning out responses to questions about your prior research and future research interests, it would be good to go in with a list of questions (both general and program-specific; have a look at for some ideas). After that it's simple mechanics. Look professional, smile, show your excitement, and remember to breathe. Be cool. Jules: ...We're all gonna be like three little Fonzies here. And what's Fonzie like? Come on Yolanda what's Fonzie like? Yolanda: Cool? Jules: What? Yolanda: Cool. Jules: Correctamundo. And that's what we're gonna be. We're gonna be cool.

To keep in spirits over the competition I just tell myself that I'm better than all of you. And then I laugh. And then I cry.

Ambien + Scotch = Time Travel. Or, you know, Death. Probably mostly Death. But, also Time Travel. I prefer madness. /twitch

Awesome. Translation: "Most people will learn about it before they find the end of time and space. A few will be happy. More won't. The sky is also blue, up is above you, water is wet, and all things are relative. Thank you and have a nice life." (Can't blame 'em though. If I were running these admissions that would be my email auto-reply... on a nice day.)

I like this statement. Oh how I like it. You're in good company Scaty. I started young in the professional world. I came up self-taught and was holding qualified competitive positions in software/database development by seventeen. I may now have gone back to being just a poor simple student again, but I've built companies. I've run successful, highly-technical projects in enterprises large and small with tons of moving parts, beautiful horrid complications, and I've held senior/executive-level positions for several years (always being much younger than most of my colleagues). I walked into work every day, wherever work was (and it changed around because I got bored fast), and I stood tall and fronted the man with all the answers. I was the guy to go to. The one who could make anything work. Who could sit in a room with any group of anyone and weave spells made of confidence and expertise. There was nothing I couldn't understand, do, or improve upon. For a decade I did this, every day waiting for someone to catch me. To figure me out. To realize that I didn't have a clue. That I wasn't some grand genius. That I was just making everything up as I went along, taking one shot in the dark after another until I managed to get stuff right. I was just a fraud, an idiot, a simpleton. Faking them out. Fooling them all. This is how I felt. For years! I waited and waited, all the time wondering, who will it be that finally calls me out and puts me to shame? But no one ever managed it - or tried to. And it took a good while to realize just how much I wasn't alone to feel the way I did. Have a look at this blog entry from another tech pro / entrepreneur ( http://blog.asmartbear.com/self-doubt-fraud.html ). Then, read the comments below it. Then, breathe, because that's the trick of everything, always. Breathe and give this riot another week or two to settle before you let yourself come apart. There's still time, and we're all pretenders.

I looked at this and went, "I'm done for!" Amal, the only thing that I could see keeping you from admits across the board would be research fit. It'll come down to how you presented your research intentions and how well the available professors match up. I think you're going to have a seriously fun Spring and end up with the kind of dilemma we're all hoping for: Do I go with Stanford, or MIT? Hmmm.

I apologize for slowing your website down. [App Status]: Refresh->Refresh->Refresh->Refresh...

I'd make a wonderful Dread Pirate Roberts.