greenlover45

okay.. I just got this rejection from vandy. i applied to their master's program, and maybe I had one too many flaws in my application. i don't know if i should keep my hopes up for other schools that i appiled or expect the same thing as vandy and look for something to do for this coming summer.. and the rest of my life.. not a good start to this year..

I guess you are right, GeoDUDE!. I don't know if it's because that my undergrad is a liberal arts school, but my professors don't do research. Hence, it was hard for me to find RA positions, as well. They are very respectable professors though, but they are just not at all well-known. Whatever. It's really unfair, but I had no idea the name values mattered for admission. Sad, sad. :/

I know that people keep saying a letter from a super-star professor will get you in, but what about those that go to school where none of the professors are really the celebrities in their field? It's kind of unfair if admissions give so much weight on how well-known some letter writers are. What do you guys think?

that sounds like a good strategy! Thanks!

I'm so sorry to here that as well. Would you mind me asking which school that was?

I emailed my professors, and had no problems. What's with emailing if you visit them in person later?

Well, I never heard of professors getting annoyed by those, so that's why I emailed them. Also, I had genuine questions I wanted to ask them. It wasn't just so that I get their attention to recognize my name later in the pile of many applications. Idk, his response was really brief, and almost too brief that it seemed like he didn't really care if he was actually answering my questions. He was just throwing some details he thinks I might like to hear. Kinda disappointed though, in the school's atmosphere, although it still remains my first choice. :/

ANYONEEEEE?

So if I wrote close to 1500 and submit that to both the 1500 limit one and 2500 one, would that be ok to do? Would the school that requires 2500 word-limit see my SOP as inadequate?

I didn't know where this question would fit, so I'm just posting here. I recently contacted a professor of interest, but got a rather short, vague (kind of negative, too) response to my exciting but succinct email. Is it possible that the POI is annoyed? Maybe I shouldn't have emailed in the first place. Now I'm scared to email other POI's. What's going on? LOL

How much of a big deal are the rec. letters? Do you guys have any theories or known facts about how they come into play when the schools review them?

Are you shooting for master's or ph. d. programs?

That's scary.. So if you have scores that are above the cutoffs that are set by each program, will your application not be thrown out? If your theory is true?

What exactly is GRE for? Will people's applications be thrown out early if their GRE scores don't meet the cut offs? Is that really true?

I'm so frustrated! Ok, each school has different word limit. Some schools require no more than 1500 words, while other one has 2500. Do you guys write SOP's close to the word-limit? or well below? I feel like since there is a word-limit, for the 2500 one, I should maybe extend my 1500 one to write more close to 2500 words. I'm kinda stuck. LOL. What should I do?