Green Dino

Hip hip hooray! Congratulations, shuca!! :) And by the way, your English is impressive!

Are you a fan too, ImpulsiveNixie?? I love love love doing jigsaw puzzles and have been doing "adult" puzzles (err...I mean in piece-count, not in theme!) since I was like four. It's such a great activity because the number of puzzlers who participate is flexible and people can drop in/out whenever they want. Plus, you can talk or just enjoy the puzzle in silence; either way is perfectly fine and natural. A great solo or team activity all around! You're welcome! Hope it helps! Thank you for sharing, DeafAudi; it's good you did so with a silly smiley Best wishes and keep up the positive spirit!

Ping! Your online bill is now available. Tears fall.

Love the Sun, good luck with your interview tomorrow morning! I recommend watching this TED talk for some confidence-boosting techniques that might help you with your nervousness (this was posted in another thread but I'm sharing it again in case you missed it!). Best wishes! To all those who have been receiving good news from schools, congratulations! To those who've received not-so-good news, try to stay positive! I'm pretty anxious waiting for more news this week... I assembled a 500-piece puzzle (you can get one at the dollar store) last night, which seemed to calm my nerves a bit, but today I'm back to crazily refreshing all the pages I have open in my browser again. Uhh...I even just caught myself refreshing my Amazon seller inventory page... Looking forward to the end of this madness

Great topic! Thanks for starting it, AudCSL I had some good laughs reading what you guys have posted so far. I've been having crazy dreams for the past few weeks as well but have forgotten most of them by now. Here are two dreams I've had more recently. The first one is not funny at all, unfortunately Dream 1: It seems I'm back in school and am attending some sort of social function. People are mingling and the atmosphere is super friendly and pretty laid back. I come upon an area where a group of girls are chatting. Some of them are wearing these really nice black and sparkly silver tops in different designs: horizontal stripes, vertical stripes, zig-zags going one way, zig-zags going the other way, etc. "You guys are dressed really nice," I say. Immediately all conversation ceases, and one of the girls (whom I now realize is the leader of the "pack") glares at me while expressing how disgusted she is that I didn't realize they're dressed that way because they're part of an elite social group. Dream 2: Two of my stuffed animals are posting on the results page (I don't really know what), but they are referencing each other: "To the poster below..." That's all I can remember.

I wanted to post the following to the results page but discovered that lengthy notes are moderated. Nuts! Highest weighted and unweighted GPA in the history of mankind. Perfect GRE scores, including for subject GREs both inside and outside of my field (just for fun). Exceptional LORs from the most acclaimed professors in the entire universe (3 from Earth and 1 not of this planet). A bajillion published first-author papers, short stories, full-length novels, and a zillion forthcoming. Volunteer experience out the wazoo. Hardly surprised. I knew 100% I wasn’t going to be accepted but applied anyway just to have options. Had I been accepted, I wouldn’t have chosen to go here fo’ sho’ as it would have been a TERRIBLE fit. In any case, I got way better offers (six-figure guaranteed scholarships + health insurance + deluxe flex meal plan + reserved parking spot) from every top-ranked school in the galaxy, including ones I didn’t even apply to, along with very personalized congratulatory hand-written letters from all the faculty and their immediate and extended family members, plus gold-leaf-framed oil paintings of their pets to boot.

Thanks for sharing this, autismadvocate! I remember seeing her on TV one time and was so fascinated with everything she had to share, including that pressure machine she invented! This world is filled with such amazing people and minds!

@Autismadvocate: Thank you so much for the personal congratulations!! It is really incredible to receive such sincere support from a stranger. Thank you! :) Oh, and Elf is one of my favorite movies OF ALL TIME!!! @ImpulsiveNixie: Great share! There is so much helpful information out there. Thank you for passing it on. I already feel like I'm gonna live longer! Hope you guys on here all know you're amazing!

I've always thought that you guys have been doing a wonderful job creating a supportive and helpful community here, and I'm glad to be a small part of it now. Autismadvocate, the more you talk about your dad, the more he seems like mine (and my mom, too)! I am totally familiar with the irrational imaginings and unreasonable advice. I'll trade you a story of my own When I was a senior in high school, my dad forced me to apply early decision to a school he had picked out for me (which I happened to be fine with, but which wasn't my top choice), because he was convinced it was the only "good" school I had a chance of getting into. Then, when I was a senior in college, I informed him of my decision to apply to graduate school, and that I'd be applying to four programs I had already picked out. He thought I was crazy and told me I needed to apply to at least ten schools if I wanted a chance of getting into even one. Now, years later, I'm on my way to switching careers, with no encouragement from my parents, who think I should just stick to working, settle down, get married, have kids, etc. I did not tell them I got an acceptance from Amherst yesterday because there would be no reason for them to be happy for me, and I'd have to defend my decision of going back to school once again. :/ About the identifying stats and info, what you said makes complete sense. But in my case, I'm concerned about certain individuals, as opposed to schools, finding out more than I'd like them to. It's tricky. Thank you for the thought, though, and for always trying to be helpful and positive!

@Shuca: Hooray! I'm really glad you enjoyed the video Like you, I got pretty emotional while watching the end of it too, and I definitely identify with the feeling of powerlessness as well. I really hope you shine at your interviews. And don't forget to smile!! @autismadvocate: What Shuca said! I've been reading posts on this forum for a while (but have been a bit too shy to post until now, and--like Shuca--unable to share the details of my background because I'd be easily identifiable), and I've been so so impressed by your encouraging words to others, even despite not receiving this kind of encouragement from your own family. (My dad sounds like your dad, by the way!) I wish you both and everyone else on here the best of luck. I'm quietly rooting for you all!

Hi Shuca, I agree with the previous people who expressed that getting denied at one school is not an indicator of your chances of getting accepted into other schools. I hope you can muster your confidence back up for your two interviews, of which you should already be very proud! I don't know if this will be useful to you (or anyone else who has an interview lined up), but maybe check out Amy Cuddy's TED talk on body language, if you haven't seen it yet. In a past interview I had (not school-related), I used the "power posing" techniques she talks about and found them to be helpful in boosting my confidence. Pretty interesting stuff! Also, I wanted to address the information you cited from UMass Amherst's website: "students applying to the MA program in Communication Disorders with a concentration in Speech-Language Pathology will have had an undergraduate background in communication disorders and sciences or will have completed, or be concurrently enrolled, in the prerequisite course work required for admission to the master's program." This actually does mean that you were qualified to apply, and that you didn't waste your time. I was also an applicant to UMass Amherst for Fall 2014 and verified the meaning of this exact wording with the Graduate Program Director before I applied, just to be sure. I indicated that I was a prospective out-of-field applicant and was looking to apply to programs that would allow me to complete the prerequisite courses as a master's student (as opposed to a post-bacc student). She replied: "We do occasionally admit very highly qualified applicants into the M.A. program without the prerequisite coursework, with the understanding that the first year in the program would be devoted to completing these courses. Individuals accepted this way have GPAs that are very high (3.8 and above) and very strong GRE scores. This is a non-conditional admission, meaning that there is no need to re-apply after the first year." With regard to rejection notifications seeming to have gone out before acceptance notifications, I received an acceptance e-mail from the Graduate Program Director yesterday early afternoon and a notification in my e-mail late last night that the status of my application had changed. I didn't post this in the "Results" section, though. In any case, I just wanted to clarify the wording from the website in case anyone else may be wondering about it. Good luck with your interviews, and check out the TED video if it interests you!