St Andrews Lynx

I'm sorry to hear about the rejections. I know how hurtful they can be, especially when repeating an application cycle. 
 
There's always multiple paths to the same dream, perhaps failing for the 3rd time around is simply a sign that you've been pursuing your dream in a way you're just not suited to. 
 
What is it you want out of grad school? Intellectual challenge? Finding out more about something that interests you? A qualification to further your career? There are other ways to get these things out of life. Quit your current job and find a better one. Take night classes, find a hobby or a volunteer position in your field of interest. Go travelling for 6 months and see where you end up.  
 
Please don't waste whole years of your life i. consumed by PhD applications ii. regretting things. Getting a PhD isn't worth that.
Good luck and take care of yourself.

When international students are studying in the US, we are on F-1 or J-1 status, which does NOT allow us to work off-campus (i.e. in any actual job other than on campus work related to our degree, e.g. TA or research). After we graduate, we don't automatically get green cards/work authorization either (but there is some discussion about this: e.g. https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/provide-green-card-foreign-students-who-have-earned-masters-or-phd-degrees-usa-universities-and-have/RD1s6V8yhttps://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/provide-green-card-foreign-students-who-have-earned-masters-or-phd-degrees-usa-universities-and-have/RD1s6V8y). 
 
In fact, once we are finished our studies in the US, we would have to leave since our F-1 and J-1 status will expire. Unless, however, we get a job! (J-1 students can extend their status for up to 3 years after their degree is over if they have a job offer related to their degree, e.g. a postdoc). When a company hires an international PhD graduate, they can petition the US government on your behalf to grant you a work visa (H1-B, for example). But this is a time consuming and costly process, especially for small start ups that might not have the infrastructure. Bigger, established companies might not have this problem as much. However, the extra work and money makes it easier to hire a US graduate over an international one.
 
I really think this is too bad, since highly qualified international graduates leaving the US work force/economy is probably a bad thing for the US. So I am hopeful that immigration reforms will fix this but I'm not too optimistic given how immigration laws are generally very restrictive in many places, including the US. In either case, I don't think anything will really change in the next ~5 years (i.e. timescale for this to affect current international graduate students). 

I'm sorry to hear about the rejections. I know how hurtful they can be, especially when repeating an application cycle. 
 
There's always multiple paths to the same dream, perhaps failing for the 3rd time around is simply a sign that you've been pursuing your dream in a way you're just not suited to. 
 
What is it you want out of grad school? Intellectual challenge? Finding out more about something that interests you? A qualification to further your career? There are other ways to get these things out of life. Quit your current job and find a better one. Take night classes, find a hobby or a volunteer position in your field of interest. Go travelling for 6 months and see where you end up.  
 
Please don't waste whole years of your life i. consumed by PhD applications ii. regretting things. Getting a PhD isn't worth that.
Good luck and take care of yourself.

...Probably not. I think the main criteria for reimbursement is that you do attend the interview, politeness doesn't really come into it. Cancelling the interview itself would be straightforward - just say you've decided to accept the offer from another institution. 
 
I'd just suck it up and attend the interview. At the very least it will give you a practice at faking enthusiasm - a useful skill in grad school...

I occasionally refer to myself as a Pescatarian. Sounds similar...

In graduate school you will suffer countless rejections with a few victories. get ready to pound your head against the wall. if you can't get over it now, there is no sense in continuing. I am absolutely serious. Even professors with excellent publication records sometimes lose their research grants and have their manuscripts turned down. Take this as a very good lesson in composure.

Ranking doesn't always correlate to competitiveness or chances of admission. A lot of very good candidates could be applying to the "lower ranked" universities as their safety schools for the same reasons you are. Perhaps the lower-ranked university has less funding, and is able to take on fewer students than a better-ranked place. Also, you can apply to the lowest-ranked university on the list, but if the Admissions Committee don't think your research interests match with what they have available...you aren't going to be accepted. 
 
No of us here are (a) psychic ( sitting on your AdCom meetings © professional bookmakers. We can't give you your odds of admission. Sorry I can't be more encouraging...

Get a couple of your classmates together and have an informal run-through a week before the presentation. They're probably wanting to practice their talks, too. That will give you experience of presenting within a safe environment. Your classmates can ask you questions afterwards as well as give feedback, and that'll give you an idea of what to expect from the audience on the day. 
 
There isn't any other way to get over a fear of public speaking...apart from through public speaking. Practice as often as you can. It does get easier.

nipwe, If your only motivation for going to a school is its "prestige" then I think you'll have a hard time getting in to these places. You can't flatter your way onto a PhD program. The Admissions Committee KNOW their university is in the World Top 100 Rankings, they KNOW that people want to get onto their programs just because of that fact. Admissions Committees are looking for hard-working scholars who will make significant contributions to the school's research program/Department & research group life, who will go on to do Great Things and generally prove to be a good investment. They almost certainly AREN'T looking for somebody hitching a free ride and intending to coast through their PhD for the sake of "prestige" just to go back to their home country to better land themselves a job. 
Be very careful about reputation snobbery.

Ok, not little

All too often people post here asking what their chances are at this and that school. I completetly understand their desire to know the answer. However, I also understand why some other people get somewhat annoyed by this question. Indeed, it is very hard to tell what somebody's chances are at certain schools, even if you know their stats and other details like a number of publications they have. That is why I decided to write this post. I will explain how, in my opinion, one can estimate one's chances and choose programs correctly. I hope that other people experienced in application process will correct me if I am wrong and add their advice. And may be, if moderators consider this post useful, they will be able to make it always stay on top of this board - if it is possible on this forum.

First of all, if you want to know whether your stats (GRE, GPA, TOEFL score) are good enough for you to be accepted to certain schools - there is one easy way to find the answer. Most schools post stats of students they have accepted, like on this page here. So try to find this info on websites of schools you are planning to apply to and if you can't find it, ask graduate secretaries/coordanators if such a page exists and if not, where you can find those stats. Remember that if your stats are low but not abysmal, that does not mean that your chances are low. It does not (always) go like - lower the grades, lower the chances (unless they are above some bare minimum) and vice versa. Because...

Second of all, even with the best stats, numerous publications, brilliant letters of reference, etc. you may not be accepted to a school if you have not chosen a program wisely. Because the most important thing in this game is fit. If a program thinks they are a bad fit for you, they will not admit you, however wonderful your application is. So you should apply only to schools that fit well your research interests and experience. How can you find schools with a good fit? First, of course, you schould know what your research interests are. If you know that, visit as many websites of programs in your field as you can find - and read about them, very carefully. Where can you find a list of programs? Well, browse the internet. When I was applying last year, I came across a biiiiiig list of programs in my field (it was not a ranking, just a list) and I spent a lot of time just going through all these program's websites. If you don't find such a list, just find some rankings. Not in order to find out what programs are the best in your field (many people don't believe in rankings anyway) but just to see what programs are out there. So, you read about the programs on their websites. From the way these programs are described you should get an idea if you would be interested in studying there or not. When I was choosing programs to apply to, I first used the list that I had found to make a shorter list of programs with a very general fit. Then, as I knew that I would not be able to attent a program without funding, I looked through this new shorter list looking for programs that were offering funding. As you can imagine, the list became even shorter after that Then I started to read about faculty in the programs from the last list, looking for professors who could potentially become my advisors. Then I contacted these professors, telling them about my research project, asking about their opinion. When some replied and I saw that they liked my ideas, I asked them if they would be taking graduate students next year. In the end I had only 5 programs left and I applied to all of them.

About contacting professors. As far as I understand, you can do that in all fields, except - for some mysterious reason! - English. (Here I ask other experienced forumers to correct me if I am wrong.)
BUT: If a professor is interested or even very very interested, that in no way guarantees that you will be accepted to this program because there are many other factors at play during the application process (most important of them being funding and faculty politics). But of course having a professor in a program who has expressed interest in working with you is a very good sign. It is definetely better than having no such professor. If you find a profesoor who is willing to take you as a graduate student but you are unsure about your stats, you can ask them about that. But of course don't ask it in the first letter to them!!! Only when you see that they are interested (and friendly).

Finally, I want to say, that all I have told above is based on my experience and it helped me - I was accepted to a school with a great fit (which is supported by the fact that they decided to give me a nice fellowship). May be there are other ways to choose programs and estimate your chances with them. May be in other fields (I am in social sciences) rules are different. I hope that others will correct me or pitch in some ideas based on their own experience with application process.

Good luck!

I have 2 acceptances and am awaiting a decision from more 3 places. At the moment I don't feel much like celebrating - perhaps just because it feels so strange finally getting an offer (after a long, stressful time), though also because I've been rejected from my Top Choice and still waiting to hear back from the Second Top. The acceptances feel kinda bittersweet after the rejection.
 
I think I owe myself a spa & sauna trip for the two acceptances.
If I hear back something positive from the Second and Third Top I owe myself a holiday to Switzerland to catch up with friends. 
When I sign along the dotted line to formally accept an offer I will be heading out for a night of expensive (non-alcoholic) cocktails with friends.

I would give the general advice to make sure that there are 2-3 faculty members at your top choice university whom you would be interested in working for before you officially commit to any PhD program. Just in case it turns out Prof. Dream-Inorganic isn't accepting any graduate students. 
Did you reference the POI in your Personal Statement? I reckon it couldn't hurt to send him an email explaining that you got accepted into the program and are interested in working with him, is he taking on new students et cetera. 
Good luck!

Hello.  My handle is wemayet, and I am a GradCafe "search results" junkie.
 
It all started in the fall, when I was looking for application advice.  I figured a little wouldn't hurt, you know?  It didn't take long before I was spending most, then all, of my spare time reading forums.  It didn't seem like a bad trade off for all the good feelings I was getting from what I was taking in.  I grew to rely upon it.  I needed it to get through applications.  But even when applications were over, I still needed.  I tried to quit cold turkey, but found myself going back for more.  I think on purpose at some level, I had even lost my login for a while, hoping I'd forget.  Then one day, I saw it.  The first indication that someone from one of my schools had gotten an interview.  That taste brought me back.  Worse than before.  A great hunger inside of me, I needed the information.  On my tower, on my ipad, on my laptop... all browsers had a GradCafe tab.  I'd hit that refresh button... dozens of times... sometime dozens of times in one hour.  When I wake up, I reach for the nearest computerized device and hit refresh again and again.  I'm hoping to make it an hour without, for this first attempt to stop.
 
My handle is wemayet, and I am a GradCafe "search results" junkie. 

I can imagine how devastating that scenario would be.  That said, you do have responsibilities in this situation.  Some of them may seem unfair, but they're very important.
 
I want to note that I'm coming at this as a male rape survivor.  I was raped at 15 by a man who was a religious leader in our community and who I know has assaulted other kids.  I was called a liar when I tried to get help, and he has never faced any consequences for his crimes.  
 
1. The "too good to be a rapist" fallacy is just that.
 
Rapists often rape people they are supposed to protect, people who like or love them, and/or people who feel safe around them.  They often get close to people, or acquire authority, because they seem like good people.
 
Many survivors (me included) would never have predicted that their rapist would rape them.  This is a big reason that many of us are not believed.  The reality of it is that survivors have had it proven, in the worst possible way, that you can't tell who the good people are.  
 
2. Most rapists do not get caught: 97% of rapists never spend a day in jail.
 
Most rape survivors you meet did not get justice.  They know that a person who has not been convicted is not necessarily innocent.  They can't rely on that information to keep themselves safe.  They can't trust your word on the matter, because most rapists will insist that they're not rapists.
 
3. Nobody is obligated to feel safe around you.
 
It might be very painful and upsetting; it might affect your career.  But the reality of it is that rape survivors are trying to keep themselves safe, and the pain you experience is not more valid or more important than the pain they have experienced.
 
Hell, I don't even know you, and there is a part of me that doesn't believe you when you say you're innocent.  That's not your fault, but it's not mine either.  It's my rapist's fault, and it's every rapists' fault, because they're disgusting victimizing liars, and that has lasting effects on the people they victimize.
 
4. Okay, so what are you supposed to do about this?
 
- First of all, the people telling you not to talk about it and not to touch the subject of rape are absolutely right.  If it's important to you to help rape survivors, consider making donations to RAINN or something like that.
 
- If you do need to talk about it for whatever reason, don't bash or blame your accuser.  Most rape survivors are called stupid, attention-seeking, slutty, or crazy when they talk about what has legitimately happened to them, especially by the rapists, who want to reduce accusers' credibility to avoid punishment.
 
- If someone tells you they have been raped, believe them.  The vast majority of accusations are true, and people who are not listened to suffer additional psychological trauma.  
 
- It's okay, even good, to acknowledge that someone has no way of knowing whether you're telling the truth.  This would make me feel a lot safer if I were in conversation with you.  If you acted like it was ridiculous that I was wary (because there is no proof of your innocence), I would wonder why you didn't care about survivors' experiences.
 
- Do not get yourself in situations where you make someone (especially women) feel unsafe.  Do not have sex with drunk people (don't do this anyway).  Do not walk an intoxicated person home alone -- get a female friend of hers to come with you.  Don't loom over someone or make it difficult for them to leave an area.  Maybe you don't do any of those things -- if not, great -- but don't make it easy for people to look at you and see red flags.
 
- Do not allow other people to use your experience to say that "lots of" or "half" or whatever number of accusations are false.  First of all, it's not true, and second, men have an obligation to help stop rape culture and rape apologism.  
 
Well, sorry I ended up writing a novel here.  I hope it's useful and that it made sense.

So this emotional roller coaster is very accurately represented in the following link....hope it makes you all laugh! http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1PxUqo/:2nEMM@KY:IuHW2y5j/blog.nathanbransford.com/2012/08/the-publishing-process-in-gif-form.html/

nipwe, If your only motivation for going to a school is its "prestige" then I think you'll have a hard time getting in to these places. You can't flatter your way onto a PhD program. The Admissions Committee KNOW their university is in the World Top 100 Rankings, they KNOW that people want to get onto their programs just because of that fact. Admissions Committees are looking for hard-working scholars who will make significant contributions to the school's research program/Department & research group life, who will go on to do Great Things and generally prove to be a good investment. They almost certainly AREN'T looking for somebody hitching a free ride and intending to coast through their PhD for the sake of "prestige" just to go back to their home country to better land themselves a job. 
Be very careful about reputation snobbery.

nipwe, If your only motivation for going to a school is its "prestige" then I think you'll have a hard time getting in to these places. You can't flatter your way onto a PhD program. The Admissions Committee KNOW their university is in the World Top 100 Rankings, they KNOW that people want to get onto their programs just because of that fact. Admissions Committees are looking for hard-working scholars who will make significant contributions to the school's research program/Department & research group life, who will go on to do Great Things and generally prove to be a good investment. They almost certainly AREN'T looking for somebody hitching a free ride and intending to coast through their PhD for the sake of "prestige" just to go back to their home country to better land themselves a job. 
Be very careful about reputation snobbery.

engstudent728, I hear you. I went through the painful process last year of waiting to hear back from schools after knowing I'd sent in an imperfect application and not done X,Y & Z that could have boosted my chances. I did get rejected from everywhere I applied to...but my world didn't end when that happened.
 
Last year I felt as if contacting faculty and POIs by email would be some sort of...intrusion. It really isn't. If you do get rejected then perhaps you could contact a professor at one of your preferred schools and explain that you weren't accepted into the program this year, but are looking to try again next year and can they give you any pointers about strengthening your application? Include basic stats and your CV. This approach (a) shows  motivation about improving yourself ( gets you on the radar of a POI or two © gives you a bit more perspective on your application strength (they might turn around and say your GPA was fine/could be offset by more research experience).
 
Coming from the British university system (and already having graduated) I couldn't turn back time and improve my undergraduate grades. What I could do was increase my research experience and make more contacts with faculty...which more than compensated for my other application weaknesses.
 
Good luck!

These are questions I'm thinking of asking:
How would you describe the dynamic of the department/lab? (collaborative vs. competitive)
What is your least favorite thing about the program?
Did you apply to other programs? What tipped the scales in favor of program x?
At what point were you encouraged/expected to pursue your own projects?
How would you describe professor __'s leadership/advising style?
If you could no longer work with professor ___, who would you choose as your advisor?
Where/when do grad students publish?
How stable is funding?
Is there a teaching requirement? Do you feel it interferes with your research time?
How big is your cohort?
What were your research responsibilities during your first year?
Do you feel challenged/supported?
 
I'd also ask specific questions about the kind of data available in the lab, and how students are expected to contribute before they use data for their own purposes (hope that makes sense)