IR IR IR PhD

Ok everyone. I have a crisis that I'm pretty sure won't be resolved positively but I'm curious to gauge peoples thoughts. I was just informed via email from a graduate advisor from a school I applied to that they are missing my "official" transcripts. No where on the application (that I saw) did it say anything about mailing "official" transcripts to the grad department. As with nearly every school I applied to, I guess I assumed that this would only be a requirement if I was accepted. When I used their online portal to check my status it shows that my application was "submitted"... that my payment was received... that they had my GRE scores... and all 3 recs. There was not even a space for "official transcripts. It certainly didn't say anything was missing. I explained this via email to the graduate advisor. I offered to overnight my transcripts to the department via email as well. I attempted to call but no one is picking up in the department. The email says something along the lines of, "Thank you for applying. Your application is incomplete because of missing "official transcripts". The deadline for their reception has passed. Thanks." I'm pretty much screwed huh? Jesus, not how I wanted to receive my first rejection. I really don't understand how this happened as I remember very thoroughly reading the instructions for this institution whose application involved multiple portals and what not. Gosh.

Hi Sylark. My opinion is that such an inquiry will not help you. From speaking with a few professors who are now just starting their second semester and very busy, there is nothing more annoying than an email from a prospective student that is crafted in a way which doesn't show in-depth analysis of their work. The catch22, of course, is that such an email will be lengthy and take a substantial amount of research to write and format in the appropriate way. These professors also do not want to read a 1000+ word email from someone they don't know right now. I've only contacted a few POIs at schools of interest. Some people suggest that will harm me. But most people I talk to say it really doesn't matter. Like... really, it doesn't matter at all. Unless a professor matches your interests perfectly and you think that YOU could not live without working with them, I'd hold off. Again, I don't think that these emails would hurt you chances of admission, they just wouldn't help. However, to work on these inquiries and not get a response back will damage your psyche (and for no reason). I think you are debating a very low-risk, low-reward dilemma. I hope that doesn't sound harsh. I struggled throughout the year with the same issue. I wish you the best of luck. We'll all know soon enough... think positive thoughts!

I recently had a class with a Texas A&M Professor (visiting) who knows the admissions process there very well. I'm happy to share his insights from the summer (this does not mean that they hold true for this cycle). 1. Texas A&M has smaller stipends than other schools in Texas - Rice and UT Austin. According to my Professor, this has to do with College Station being particularly affordable. However, they are trying to up their stipends because they are consistently loosing top candidates to institutions with lower rankings but better stipends. They really care about ranking - USWN 25 now - and want to be considered a t20 program by 2020. 2. 10,000 seems unusually small for Texas A&M given what I've said above. I never spoke specifics with my Professor but he suggested, based on comparative schools, something closer to 15,000-20,000. For an admit to hear this early and to be given 10,000 seems a bit suspicious (just my feeling). 3. Texas A&M is a quant focused program. My professor told me they look very closely at GRE quant scores and other math related indicators (especially compared to other programs). I find it HIGHLY suspect that multiple of these admits posted on the results page have sub 150 quant scores. Moral of the story is... something fishy is going on here. I wouldn't be surprised if there was some serious trolling going on.

This is the simple one from RWBG... 1 - (1-p)^n with odds generally .1 to .2 As was previously mentioned it shows that the ideal number is essentially 15. Big gains from 5-10 and very little value added from 20-25. I am quoting others here and take no credit for this.

Out of curiosity, how did you come up with your odds? Did you use one of the formulas already discussed on this forum?

How quickly our angst turns this into a forum on alcohol. I wonder if the gradcafe creators realized what a killing they'd make on beer/wine/spirit advertising and coupons. Especially the coupons... It is the weekend all. I may actually stop looking at this forum come this afternoon. For my American brethren, may we enjoy a weekend full of football and "over hoppy" beers. For our European counterparts, enjoy your wine and Premier League.

JUST GOT A PHONE CALL FROM A TOP SCHOOL'S AREA CODE! I won a free trip on a Royal Norwegian cruise... DAMN IT!

Hahaha. I was thinking I'd give up meat and beer for the duration of my studies... but you topped that quite easily.

What is the craziest thing someone would do for a spot at their top choice? I'll answer my own question once I've given it a proper ponder.

On their site it says they accept applications until July or something... but today is the last day to be considered for assistance... i.e. they could still be getting applications today. Congrats on being a super applicant Targy!!!

Hi Targy! Congratulations!!! I saw UNT isn't even finished receiving applications until today! Do you mind sharing when you had all of your information in?

Anyone else too scared to read over their submitted applications for a fear of discovering rogue commas or an affect/effect style grammatical error? Well this guy is... Maybe we should change the mood of this thread? Somebody must have a great story about getting admitted somewhere that defies the odds or is at least quirky and humorous. My good people, please share so I do not pull all my hair out before February!

I just got word from 1 of the 2 schools in question. The admin said that as long as you self-report, they will accept the scores as long as the certified scores come in before the final admissions decisions are made! Now the question is, will I have the AWA in time... we'll have to wait and see! I will call ETS tomorrow and hopefully get that same ETS customer service rep that helped you out. I will let everyone know what they say in case anyone is struggling with the same issues.

Hi all! New to the thread -- so first let me say good luck to everyone! Initial thoughts please... had to take the GRE very early in December. Got fine scores. Sent the scores out to my top 4 schools all with December 15 deadlines. Will have these applications completed other than scores. 2 of the 4 schools say explicitly they will wait a few weeks for GRE scores to arrive -- safe. The other 2 say ALL material must be received before the deadline. I've contacted the admins of both of these schools with my sob-story -- no responses yet. You think that they'll accept these scores coming in a bit late? I mean they aren't going to start weeding us out until January anyway right... Or did circumstance totally screw me!? Anybody experience this before?