microman

Hmm, I would just simply write a thank you note without explaining that situation. Tell them where you've ended up going and thank them for their efforts.

Yep, sounds like great advice there. If you carry yourself as a grad student, they probably won't even know that you're 19. I personally will be 20 when I start grad school (I'm not coming in straight out of undergrad either). It eventually comes up amongst fellow grad students, but if they don't ask, they probably won't know.

It all really depends on the software you need. Chances are, if its academic software, you can probably get it on Windows, Mac, and Linux. That being said, play around with them (if you can find trial versions of the software), see which platform you like best. On a side note, MS Office on Mac does not seem to play nice with the PC version (it tends to butcher the formatting of documents). I plan on getting a Mac and bootcamping Windows 7 on it (Longtime PC user, I still like having MS around), so that I can switch between the two (Maybe even triboot with Linux, but that might be pushing it)

I would say mine was probably from UCSF. I recieved a generic rejection email, telling me the usual "We've had a lot of well qualified applicants this year..." About one week later, they send me a second email saying that my decision is available on the website. Knowing that I was denied, I didn't get my hopes up. I logged in to find the word "DENIED" in large red letters. I wasn't expecting anything, but geez, not much tact there =P

I was rejected to all of the 5 programs I applied to last year. This year, I took a much more organized approach. In June I started the application process, studying a month and a half for the GRE and researching schools that fit. I wrote my statement of purpose over the course of September (and took over a month to polish it instead of the 1 day the previous cycle). Picked a bunch of better fitting schools, and shotgunned it, 14. It worked out well. The biggest piece of advice I have is to simply not give up and keep your attitude looking up, that's where it all begins. @WannabePhD, you've definitely got the right outlook on this. Keep trying!

14 schools. Last year I applied to 5, and did not have a clue of what I was doing, and so was rejected across the board (In retrospect, many of them were poor fits). On the advice of a friend, I decided to "shotgun it", picking a large number of schools that catered well to my interests. So far, I'm glad I did, because its now down to 1 acceptance, 3 that I am waiting on, and 1 more interview. The rest of the list dropped off pretty quick.

I actually gave all of mine homemade beef jerky after they submitted their letters and continually thanked them throughout the process. It was definitely a lot of schools for them to deal with.

Last app season, the first rejection didn't sting too much. I thought to myself, oh well, there are still other chances. The final rejection notice was what stung the most, the realization that I would have to wait another year to try again. I drove up to the mountains near where I work and just blew up in my car. I told my family that I did not want to discuss it at all, since the only "consolation reasons" they had just turned the knife. This year, the first rejection stung a lot more, since I did not have any acceptances at that point, it just raised the fear of failure; this season could have ended up very much like the last one. My most recent rejection happened while on the way to a dinner at an interview, my only reaction to this day (and this was a personal top choice) was "damn". Just keep your hopes up, there's always a bright side. Maybe you're not supposed to go there.

Well, if you have acceptances to both A and B, and with all things considered, you would rather go to A over B, you can probably give B a rejection without much risk. You don't have to tell A until you hear from C though.

I can say that UCLA Access is probably done, they sent out invites at the beginning of this month.

That's lame. Oh well, I didn't get one either :/. Hopefully you'll have better luck with the others.

Let's see: Good: 1.Mentor/Boss/Good friend 2.Coworkers 3.Mom 4.Dad 5.Facebook Bad: 1.Mentor/Boss/Good friend 2.Coworkers 3.Mom 4.Dad

You're welcome. I got one interview: UCSD. The interview itself was interesting to say the least. I did not prepare well for it, but it did not involve a lot of questions, mostly discussions about my work or their work, as well as some student presentations. As for the gap year, I'm doing both. I work for a biotech company as a technician.

Your chances of getting accepted after interviews depends a lot on the school, and how much weight they put on the interview. Some do it strictly as a personality check, while others put quite a bit of weight on it. I would personally not worry about it too much, just ask questions and learn a bit. After all, you are interviewing them as well. I got a reply from Columbia on Friday (12/8), so they should be putting out emails for the time being. This is my second year trying to get into grad school. I only applied to 5 programs last year, most of which were out of reach or did not go well with my program. I also procrastinated a lot last year as well (My SOP was written in 1 day, counting editing and proofreading). I got thrown out for being late with a couple of apps. I would not give up hope just yet, its still kinda early.

Yeah, UCSF hasn't sent anything out for their BMS program as far as I've heard either.

Nope, they won't be giving out decisions until the end of this month.