braindump

Oh, yeah I guess I hadn't considered that. This just makes the waiting game all the harder! I'd hate to have to turn down an interview or visit from say, my dream school, or something, because I'm already booked for another school that weekend. In regards to time, there really is no way to tell. I got an acceptance email last night at almost midnight (while out at a bar!)

This sounds kind of like an interview to me. Or at least a judge of fit. Is it paid for or out of applicant pocket? I just can't imagine why you'd want to invite students to convince them if you haven't even admitted them yet. Thanks for all the input guys! I guess the situation makes sense. I'm just glad not to have to deal with interviews (at least for this school)!

Even for schools with December deadlines? That seems kind of silly.. why wait til Feb? I feel like, after the (presumably) several weeks (at least) it takes to review all the apps, by the time you send out interview invites or acceptance emails, it will be so close to the end of the semester that your top choice students may already be booked, or even accepted offers.

Wow, really? That's pretty crazy, because I didn't even think I stood a chance at this school! What's odd though is that I haven't corresponded with any PIs at all. I guess I'll stay on my toes for an informal interview or correspondence from a PI. Thanks!!

Is it possible/common for a program to interview some students and accept others without interview? I recently received a "recommended for admission" email that made it sound like I was pretty much in (w/o interview): congratulations, information on the visiting weekend (which they explicitly state I am "not being interviewed, we have already made our decision" and I only have a week to RSVP), the works. But I was under the impression that this department interviewed all applicants; I remember seeing something about it on the website a while ago (can't find it now) and many of the posts in the Results Search mention an interview. I was just curious if this was a common thing, because I found it kind of odd/surprising/but-I'm-definitely-not-complaining. Or is it possible that they'll sneak in an interview before the graduate school finalizes the admission?

So waitlisted students can get acceptances after April 15th?

I called the admissions or graduate departments at the schools I applied to. Almost all of them were able to tell me if they have interviews and when. If you do this for all your schools then you'll know exactly what to expect and you'll have an easier time preparing.

Hmm. Yeah, that's what I figured. Thanks for the input!

The postdoc's supervisor is already one of the professors writing my letter. /: I guess I should have made it clear that the postdoc and the professor with whom I've worked for a year are from the same lab, but I'm not really worried about overlap between the two. I just work very closely with the postdoc and we're friends, so he knows me well and is always telling me that I'm a great lab member, so his letter would probably be strong.

I'm having trouble trying to pick between two options for my third LOR. I already have 2 professors willing to write me letters with whom I have done research (a professor whose lab I've worked in for over a year and an assistant professor at another school where I had a summer research internship). I can't speak for how good the letters from these two will be. For the third letter, I am getting mixed advice. At first, I was going to ask a professor with whom I have had a few classes; he knows me somewhat well, but only my academic ability. He wrote me LOR for the internship, but I don't remember it being particularly strong (he really only touched on my academics, but I've had another class with him since; maybe he'd write a stronger one this time?). Some people are telling me to skip the mediocre letter from a tenured professor and ask the postdoc with whom I've been doing research (knows me really well, would likely write a really good letter for me, has had his phd just over a year now). Others are telling me a postdoc letter would reflect poorly upon me, but I'm sort of leaning toward a strong letter vs an average one.. Any advice?