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waitingandwaiting

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Everything posted by waitingandwaiting

  1. I'm also in a stressful situation. I'm waiting to hear from, among others, Northwestern (my dream school), but I also have to respond to an offer by April 15th. Northwestern tells me that decisions are typically finalized by the end of March, but that some decisions may be made as late as April 15th. I don't know whether it would be good to just wait it out, or to send them an email.
  2. ab2013, can I ask what your approximate profile is? Michigan seems to be tougher than what I had even expected...
  3. Do any schools grant extensions on making a decision on whether you'll attend (let's say a week or two)? I'm still waiting from 7 schools, and they've given me no indication regarding my status (despite inquiries)... Admittedly, I know the chances aren't very good. However, I would hate to commit and get a miraculous acceptance from a dream school.
  4. Looks like there are some PhD updates from Michigan and Northwestern on the gradcafe results section. I'm still anxiously waiting though.
  5. Anyone still waiting from these schools? Any idea on what I should expect? I'm guessing reject from Michigan and probable rejects from Minnesota, Davis, and Rochester.
  6. hello_world, have you heard back from the remaining schools? I would say it really depends on the strength of your letters. Remember that top-20 schools care the most about research experience and the letters of recommendation. Most students that I see getting in either have stellar research experience or stellar letters of recommendation; some have both. Some questions and pointers: 1. Where and to how many programs did you apply to? Most suggest at least 2 reach schools (top-10 in your case), 5 at level (top-20), and 2 safeties (top-50). 2. Did you take graduate-level CS classes and do well on them? If not, the graduate program prestige won't have as much meaning. What matters more is the undergraduate prestige. There is an order of magnitude difference between selectivity at Columbia (4th ranked undergrad) with 6.9% acceptance rate and a school like Berkeley which has a 25.6% acceptance rate. 3. Did your professors agree to write you strong letters of recommendation? Reiterating the main point, there is a chasm between a letter and a strong letter. Letters are arguably the most important element of an application to a top-20 school. Someone with your profile and strong letters from well-known profs should have definitely gotten into top-20s. Meanwhile, with generic letters, it will be a long shot. 4. This isn't very important, but your writing score is rather low. Schools like Delaware require 4 as the absolute minimum. Schools like UC-Davis have average scores around a 5. Again, GRE is not nearly as important, but you might want to get a better score if you can do it without too much effort. Advice: I agree with your suspicion that the letters are where things probably went wrong. That said, you can improve your chances next year. Demonstrate to your recommenders that you are serious about further study and research. Prepare a packet of supplemental materials next time, and specifically ask for strong letters. Best of luck, and I hope you got into some of the schools that you were waiting on.
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