grad_wannabe

Turns out my interview did indeed go well. Accepted to Information Studies at UCLA! Funding and advising information to follow.

this is going to sound silly, but I'm a little pissed that I finally met a really great guy, after two years of dating around this town, with just a few scant months before I move away, probably to the other side of the country. I know I should just enjoy the time we have together, but it does feel like some sort of cosmic tease. I'm hoping-hoping-hoping I get into the one NYC school to which i applied. Their whole application felt oddly ... right ... somehow. It was the only app that had no hiccups, hurdles, or issues whatsoever. Everything just fell beautifully into place, like "oh yes of course this one is easy." It feels like everything is going according to some plan, but is that just my mind searching for some narrative thread to make sense of the mad chaos that is this application process? I'm a sucker for fairy tale endings.

I spent probably around two or three months prepping a little bit at a time. I focused about 75% of my time on the quant, 20% on the verbal, and 5% on the AWA. I used Magoosh app and website testing, which I found to be a good resource. The quant really killed me though. Even after all that studying, I only managed a 151, which was pretty detrimental on my applications to social science programs. I did fine on the rest. 165 verbal and 5.5 AWA. I'm hoping that does me some good in the one journalism-focused program to which I applied.

I actually really like the stripped-down nature of the MIT app! I had one application (cough Stanford) that wouldn't give you a "table of contents" so you had to click through the sections, one-by-one, every single time you wanted to access different pages.

I can't speak to MechE specifically, but I did my Master's at MIT and I'm still on the campus closing email list, and there have indeed been a few of those recently.

Upon my fourth time reading this, I agree with the previous poster who said that he would like to have you as a student, but does not have the final say in the admissions.

I have a rule that I will not attend a program that doesn't support me. That includes financial support, with a tuition waiver at the very least, and ideally assistantships and/or fellowships to cover living expenses.

closed door

what a horrid nightmare, walter. man, between this and the CMU switcheroo debacle, it's been one hell of a decision season.

these rejection letters are glorious. “I recommend that it be buried under a stone for a thousand years.” Shunned by all the major publishers, the author goes to France and lands a deal with Olympia Press. The first 5000 copies quickly sell out. But the author Vladimir Nabokov now sees his novel, Lolita, published by all those that initially turned it down, with combined sales of 50 million. “An absurd and uninteresting fantasy which was rubbish and dull.” Rejection letter sent to William Golding for The Lord Of The Flies. 15 million sales. “An endless nightmare. I think the verdict would be ‘Oh don’t read that horrid book.” Publisher rejects The War Of The Worlds by H.G. Wells. It is soon published in 1898, and has been in print ever since.

I got a similar email from one of my schools. A month or so after the January deadline, I got an email from the office of admissions with a spreadsheet of scholarship opportunities, saying something like "many of our current students have won these scholarships, and we're sure you will, too!" It read like a batch email, but I couldn't help but wonder why they would send it so late after the app deadline -- especially when many of the scholarship deadlines had already passed. Did I make some kind of internal cut?!? Another 3 weeks of waiting for that result ...

Ha we have opposite inclinations -- I love Massachusetts, and was seriously devastated when I didn't get into the one program to which I applied here. That being said, I am looking forward to the recruitment weekend I'm attending in LA next week. Leaving behind this windchill and 8' snowdrifts for a few days won't be the worst thing in the world.

"This applicant was so far down the list she didn't even merit an interview, and so there's no possible way she could be admitted. So, when she calls the department to ask if she's still in the running, we better make sure to tell her "anything can happen.""

Jiminy cricket, what a riddle of an email. I can't make heads nor tails of it. I don't know if it's acceptance or not.

peach fuzz

I just did the EXACT same thing, following an interview I had ten days ago. no response yet...

I live outside Boston, which has (to put it mildly) been getting some weather recently. (pictures: http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/please-stop-snowing#.eaD0KD7ak) Let's just say I'm very much looking forward to the open house I'm attending in LA next week!

Yes, this is positive. If they weren't interested they wouldn't bother to ask for 'scripts.

I broke down and emailed my contact today about my interview. I'll post back when I get a response!

I disagree with this. Yes, we're seeing a lot of activity now, but many departments will continue to make decisions until well into March, and continue accessing their waitlists even longer.

I had an interview on Feb 10th that seemed to go very well. They told me I should hear back "very quickly, within a couple days." That was 10 days ago. It's hard not to get antsy!

CONGRATULATIONS, NOWAYNOHOW!! There is a way after all!!!! Nice way to persevere!!!

this is extra harsh -- when the person who was SO encouraging and supportive during the app process suddenly goes cold when you've been rejected.

thank you for writing this -- it's helping me hold off on calling the grad coordinator who told me during my interview that I should hear back "very quickly, in a couple days" ... which took place 9 days ago.

I'm in a similar boat. In my case, I know that at least three people all received an invitation to interview on the same day. I'm also told that the email was in a "batch" format, as in "dear applicant, we would like to invite you..." as opposed to a personal email for an interview from a POI. I also know that all final-round applicants are interviewed. this leads me to believe that I've been rejected. I called the school and all they would say is, "anything could happen, we'll let you know before the end of February." I'm 99.99% sure I won't get an offer. I've crossed it off my list.