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WTF? I was the best applicant... IMO winner + INTEL ISEF semifinalist, 3 papers journals IF>2 (sole author), omg Berkeley..... Oh, you were the best applicant? You should obviously call up adcom and inform them of their horrible mistake!! 6 conference papers, 3 journals 1st ath, 4 journals 2nd ath and 1 as a 5th author, numerous awards and distinctions, 3 strong LORs, excellent SOP, from Harvard B.Sc., DISAPPOINTED!!! What do they want? Well, their lose..... Heading to MIT (not having results yet) The egos on the results page are mind boggling.

I wound recommend moving as early as your finances / personal life allow. I worked a part time job before I moved, and most of the leases in my town start the first week of August, so I moved in then. It gave me a couple of weeks to get settled before orientation started. My sister stayed with me for a few days and then my boyfriend joined me.I had never lived in an apartment before so we had a lot of things to arrange. Also ask your program when you'll be getting paid so you can plan ahead. Those initial shopping trips for groceries, cleaning supplies, and household items were more expensive than I had anticipated. I took a trip at the end of May to look at apartments and sign my lease. If you're able to look at places in person, I highly recommend doing this. I had to wait until after I graduated to go down, but I would say as soon as you commit to the program, look at going to find a place ASAP. My program also gave us a list of all of the other first year students- a great resource for finding roommates. If my boyfriend hadn't of been able to live with me, I would've reached out to them. Roommates make things cheaper, and living with other first years in your program already gives you a baseline of similarity. (And you have someone to navigate campus with!)

I had ~3 years in the lab at my undergrad, but it wasn't a school with graduate students so it was just me and my PI. And I had the REU. No pubs or anything. But my scores and my GPA were good. Granted I didn't get in a bunch of places, but I also didn't contact PIs beforehand. You just need to convince them you have the skills to be successful. Some schools want more research experience, some want less. I think their main concern is your capability to get through the program and be successful. If you have PIs or even schools in mind, you could send emails and ask what they think. Lots of people in my program have research experience in an area (bioinformatics, for example) and then join bioinorganic labs, so the lab experience doesn't necessarily need to directly translate.

So we had this thread somewhere last year and it was fantastic... What are the funniest/weirdest things you can find on the results search? Found this gem today: Rejected from Columbia the same day Jon Stewart announces his future retirement. Pfff, screw you, New York.

For those who get in without funding: I guess the change in my pocket wasn't enough I'm like, "F*** YOU! And f*** her too." I said, "If I was richer, I'd still be with ya" Ha, now ain't that some s***? (Ain't that some s***?) And although there's pain in my chest I still wish you the best With a... "F*** YOU!"

I went straight to PhD... A few things influenced me: 1) I knew for sure that I enjoyed research and that I wanted a PhD. Ever since I entered college I knew that stopping at a bachelors wasn't for me. I also did an REU which allowed me to recognize that I did enjoy full time research. 2) I was afraid I would get too comfortable at a job and never go back. Also, the crappy economy and the lack of biotech jobs in my area didn't really help matters here. 3) All of my PIs were supportive of me going straight on. None of them suggested taking years off. 4) I got into a great program my first application season that was a great fit. If you're unsure and can afford it, you can always apply to some programs and see how you fare. If I didn't get it, I would've taken a few years to work. TLDR; if you know for sure what you want and you're confident in your skills, go for it.

I can't imagine there would be much to discuss about a rejection... My guess would be an admit or a wait list, but who knows.

This is so true it hurts. Also congrats!

I feel the love/hate with popcorn... It used to be one of my favorite snacks but now it gives me wicked shooting pain in my stomach

THIS. I have a class from 230-345. Not exactly prime meal times. This woman rolls in 20 minutes late, then proceeds to open an insanely loud bag of what smelled like cheese puffs. Whyyyyyy

Also I forgot to add this- when I interviewed at the school I wound up at I was only 20 so going out wasn't even an option for me. I didn't go and still got admitted. You still get to interact with students other times if drinking/bars aren't for you.

It really is optional. We stress this also. We don't want people to feel pressured into a situation you're uncomfortable with. I would say go for a least a bit if you can manage. It's a good opportunity to have casual conversations with students.

My favorite thing being an RA would be parents calling the duty phone asking to talk to their child. No, the duty phone is for emergencies, not for you to helicopter parent. All we could do was go tell the student to please call their parents before they called UP. I also had parents who would pull me aside on move in day and list every single issue or potential issue their child may have. Poor kids never stood a chance.

Proctoring is awful. Also, my biochem 2 class in undergrad had 10 people. This one had 200+.

Wow, I would punch whoever said that right in the face. I can be feminine AND educated, life isn't zero sum. *eyeroll*

I have O- blood so I get called once every two days... But donating blood usually makes me pass out and be nonfunctional for the rest of the day which usually makes blood drives impossible.

That commercial was awful. Nothing like using dying kids to sell insurance.

Hahahahah. I think the NFL overblows the Patriots. That, or they play well all season then blow it to a team who's not consistently good (I love the Giants but it's so true...) For some reason the NFL lovessssss the Patriots and the Cowboys.. Probably why I hate both of those teams. Or maybe it's because my dad brainwashed me from a young age

I hate the Patriots and Tom Brady so much. The guy who caught the damn interception was the real MVP!! Not Brady who threw TWO of them... Sigh. well, I'm happy he finally got that fourth SuperBowl win the Giants took from them twice

There are some things that are slightly out of your control for applying. LORs are one of them. You need to pick people who you're confident will write you a good letter, but some schools even specifically ask "what are applicant xyz's short comings?" in the form letter. EVERYONE has shortcomings. The program has to decide if yours are so big that they doubt your ability to complete and thrive in the program. Personally, I would advise against not waiving your rights. I believe it's in poor form. I would email your recommenders and ask if they think there's anything you could improve upon for graduate school. That will give you a good indication where they stand with you.