frankdux

4 days until the waiting should be over.

5 days until the waiting should be over.

they can't even tell you that you've been rejected? seriously that is a really rotten thing to do.

sounds to me like an 'application pending' letter. the program wont know how many more students it can make offers to until the first round (or second round?) offers have been responded to. inconvenient? yes. rude? no. if its anybodies fault, its the fault of those first-rounders who refuse to make their decisions sooner rather than later.

truthfully, i dont think you were being very realistic with your applications. your GRE is solid, but your grades arent entirely top-10 calibre. roughly speaking, top 10 philosophy programs probably get at least 300 apps a year and maybe accept around 20. (this year the odds were probably even less in your favor). think of all those with 4.0's that apply to top 10 programs as well. how will you stand out in a positive way, and not only that, but in such a positive way as to cancel out your 3.26 gpa? next year, i'd consider just a couple of top 20 schools as 'reach' schools. the rest should be schools in the top 30-50 mix. and maybe one or two below the top 50 as safeties.

6 days until the waiting should be over.

7 days until the waiting should be over.

if it makes you feel any better, i just received my 5th straight rejection. 5 more apps to go and not even a glimmer of hope in sight.

8 days until the waiting should be over.

9 days until the waiting should be over.

10 days until the waiting should be over.

11 days until the waiting should be over.

12 days until the waiting should be over.

13 days until the waiting should be over.

i'm almost 30 as well. this is my 2nd year in a row applying. i'm also waiting on these last two weeks, with 0 acceptances and 6 apps pending. so i'm in a very similar situation as you. i'm willing to give it another year. but if it doesnt work out next year, my 3rd try, then i'd have to ask myself if i'm truly cut out for academia.

i still have 6 apps pending, but at this stage of the game i'm holding on by a thread. in the realistic scenario in which i am rejected everywhere what in the world can i do for a year that makes me a more attractive applicant for next year? i've been out of school for over 2 years and have been teaching and tutoring, but nothing at a truly 'academic' level. i need to do something more intensive and directly related to what i want to study, but what??? i'm interested in interdisciplinary math and applied math towards the physical sciences.

i'm guessing not often. does anyone have any stories to share?

14 days until the waiting should be over.

15 days until the waiting should be over.

applied/interdisciplinary math and mathematical physics.

i know how you feel. out of ten schools i have 4 official rejections and am really not expecting acceptances on the other 6 considering they have all made first round offers and some second round offers and have had their invitation weekends already at this point. an acceptance at any of those schools would basically be a miracle. what are your plans for next year? i'm gonna try and take some independent study classes over the summer at the very least. hopefully i can parlay that into some low paying research gig during the school year, but thats probably wishful thinking. regardless, i need to have something to add to my apps for next year. honestly i dont think i'll be applying to 10 schools again. maybe just 5 or 6 and probably only 2 of those will be schools i've already applied to this year. and i'm gonna try and see if i can get some sort of communication with professors at those universities prior to applying. i also think i'll completely scrap my current SOP and rewrite it more as a loose research proposal of sorts.

its easy to read and contribute to this thread when you have acceptances. otherwise, all of you are asking for a smack in the mouth.

16 days until the waiting should be over.

17 days until the waiting should be over.

i was rejected from UCSD this past week (mathematics). although i can't tell you for sure, i wouldn't count on an acceptance at this point in time. at least first round acceptances, and possibly second round acceptances had to have gone out by now. and those are probably more important than sending out the rejections - and you know there have got to be hundreds in every major department. hell, its SAN DIEGO. think how many more applications that school gets just because its in san diego and not necessarily because the research is a perfect fit for an applicant. they probably get an equal, if not bigger, pile of applicants to weed through than the ivies. of course i could be wrong and i do wish you the best of luck, i just wouldn't recommend you keeping your hopes up.