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So, I finally made a decision everyone. I'm officially going to be a grad student at Stanford University!!! 

Congratulations! Sackler is a great school and their research is awesome. Good luck with your studies!

Made my decision! This is so UNREAL. 
 
Thank you to all of you posting on this forum. It's been a long struggle full of doubt and awkwardness and lurking here has really been helpful for advice and also just to know that we're all going through this together. And best of luck to those of you still waiting!!!! 
 
Now to turn down my other offers... any tips on how to do this gracefully? 

Made my decision! This is so UNREAL. 
 
Thank you to all of you posting on this forum. It's been a long struggle full of doubt and awkwardness and lurking here has really been helpful for advice and also just to know that we're all going through this together. And best of luck to those of you still waiting!!!! 
 
Now to turn down my other offers... any tips on how to do this gracefully? 

I know you're frustrated, but this is a tantrum. On paper, you're honestly a good candidate. On paper, you're actually a stronger candidate than I was. (3.5 GPA, BA from an open enrollment regional state university, 161V/161Q/3.5AW, 1 semester senior research project, 1 year as a formulation chemist, applied for 5 programs, got 2 interviews, 1 acceptance) Getting 6 interviews should be enough so that even by dumb luck you'll get an admit. Graduate programs aren't going to the expense to bringing you there to jerk you around. To put it bluntly, you fucked up. The simplest explanation is that during the interview process you said or did something that raised alarms. One post-interview rejection is bad luck, 6 is a pattern.

Congrats! 

Mine was similar
(Person with whom I corresponded and arranged visit with),
Thank you again for all your help in arranging for my visitation. I wanted to let you know that I decided to accept an offer at another institution and would like to decline my offer from (school though it's obvious from my sig which one) with gratitude.

Thanks again,
Me

1. Congrats!

2. As others have advised in various forums, keep it short and sweet. Here is my minimum form letter:

Dear [so-and-so],
I am writing in response to my offer of admission to the [blah department / program] at [blah university]. I appreciate the committee’s interest in me, but I regret to inform you that I will not be accepting the offer of admission. I have found a better personal fit at another university. My thanks go out to the committee, my interviewers, and the current grad students for their time and consideration.
Sincerely,
[elkheart]


 

Ooh this is helpful. Thanks! 

Made my decision! This is so UNREAL. 
 
Thank you to all of you posting on this forum. It's been a long struggle full of doubt and awkwardness and lurking here has really been helpful for advice and also just to know that we're all going through this together. And best of luck to those of you still waiting!!!! 
 
Now to turn down my other offers... any tips on how to do this gracefully? 

Made my decision! This is so UNREAL. 
 
Thank you to all of you posting on this forum. It's been a long struggle full of doubt and awkwardness and lurking here has really been helpful for advice and also just to know that we're all going through this together. And best of luck to those of you still waiting!!!! 
 
Now to turn down my other offers... any tips on how to do this gracefully? 

Made my decision! This is so UNREAL. 
 
Thank you to all of you posting on this forum. It's been a long struggle full of doubt and awkwardness and lurking here has really been helpful for advice and also just to know that we're all going through this together. And best of luck to those of you still waiting!!!! 
 
Now to turn down my other offers... any tips on how to do this gracefully? 

Made my decision! This is so UNREAL. 
 
Thank you to all of you posting on this forum. It's been a long struggle full of doubt and awkwardness and lurking here has really been helpful for advice and also just to know that we're all going through this together. And best of luck to those of you still waiting!!!! 
 
Now to turn down my other offers... any tips on how to do this gracefully? 

Made my decision! This is so UNREAL. 
 
Thank you to all of you posting on this forum. It's been a long struggle full of doubt and awkwardness and lurking here has really been helpful for advice and also just to know that we're all going through this together. And best of luck to those of you still waiting!!!! 
 
Now to turn down my other offers... any tips on how to do this gracefully? 

Officially going to MIT Biology, most amazing place in the world!!!!!! :-)  :] :3 :c) :> =] 8) =) :} :^) :っ) ＼(~o~)／ ＼(^o^)／ ＼(-o-)／ ヽ(^。^)ノ ヽ(^o^)丿 (*^0^*)(✿◠‿◠) d(*⌒▽⌒*)b ♪┏(・o･)┛♪┗ ( ･o･) ┓♪┏ ( ) ┛♪┗ (･o･ ) ┓♪

I felt the same way eteshoe!
I knew UChicago was the best overall choice for me but for some reason I couldn't hit the accept button! I had to talk with all of my friends/family about the pros/cons of every school and each one of them were like "well it sounds like your mind is made up..." but its hard taking that step. my family was fed up with me because i wouldn't stop talking about it haha.
i wasn't even that excited to accept the offer after a point because i felt like i was beating the horse to a pulp!
 
but man, can i tell you how nice it was right after hitting the send button. it was a whole new wave of excitement! within an hour after sending in my submission i had e-mails from the dean and most of the professors i spoke with e-mailing me how excited they were to have me! it was such a good feeling, especially to know what i will be doing for the next few years! 
so guys don't be afraid to make that leap. if your heart is set on it and your head tells you its the best choice, hitting send is a HUGE weight off of your shoulders!!!
 
 

YES!! Got my first official offer today! Happens to be from the same school that rejected me two years ago. 
 

Got accepted by Northwestern University DGP yesterday!!! It was a long journey to admission and as an international student it will certainly be an amazing experience!! First of my family to get an higher degree in the USA, I really hope to do the best I can!!
 
It is a good program either for funding and research options so I can't be more happier!! Now, the bureaucracy time begins, as well as adapting to a new country!
 
Hope you all get in your favourite school, hard work always pays back!

Second acceptance!! Ahhh this is just unreal especially since I was so insecure when applying. 

Second acceptance!! Ahhh this is just unreal especially since I was so insecure when applying. 

A story for those without invites who are starting to worry:
 
[Apologies in advance for length]

I graduated with a BS in biochemistry in 2012. I was lucky enough to be able to conduct research in three different labs as an undergrad, each in slightly different fields, so by the time grad school application season rolled around I (thought) had a pretty good sense of what my research interests were. I didn’t get any publications from my undergrad work, but I figured I was still a competitive candidate regardless. I ended up applying to a handful of programs. None Ivy League, but top ones for what I was interested in.
 
I didn’t get a single interview. Didn’t get a chance to meet with anyone. Didn’t get any phone calls. No Skype. What I did end up getting were a couple of emails around March telling me what by then I already knew – I had been rejected from every single program I applied to. They didn’t even want to talk to me. I was crushed.
 
Meanwhile I had been wasting away here on the Gradcafe, seeing people with stats much better than mine (and much worse than mine!) receive invites and acceptances to the very same programs I had applied to. This made my personal defeat that much harder to deal with. Was I really so much worse than all these other people? Sure, some seemed to have rockstar profiles that I knew I couldn’t compete with, but most didn’t. Most just seemed like normal, smart, qualified applicants. Like I assumed I was. Did this mean I was a failure? An idiot?
 
It probably sounds trite, but getting rejected from every program I applied to ended up being the best thing that has ever happened to me (professionally, at least).
 
Even before March rolled around I was freaking out. My life trajectory seemed ruined. I had no backup plan – I hadn’t even given a moment’s thought to one, to be honest. But when things starting looking inescapably dire I began pestering professors I knew, telling them point-blank that I was going to need one or two years of fulltime research employment starting, well, immediately. The majority said little more than, “Good luck with that.” But as luck would have it, some did know of open positions, either in their own labs or just down the hall.

I got hired by the same university I graduated from after less than a month of job searching. I ended up turning down two other positions. I found myself with a salary higher than the grad students in the lab, and it quickly fell on me to train them. And the new post docs. I probably learned more in my first year of fulltime lab work than I did in my entire undergrad education.

After a year at that position I was picked up by a well-known global biotech company that had connections to my university. My new position came with a 50% raise and a chance to work on topics much closer to my core research interest.

It has now been about two years since my blazing defeat. I am reapplying to many of the same grad programs that rejected me in 2012. Only this time I am a much stronger candidate. I know the field, and I know how to articulate my knowledge. I know how labs really work, both in industry and academia. And I have a throng of senior scientists and professors who offered to write me letters. I had to turn most of them down.
 
This time around I was invited to a private interview for a program I hadn’t even applied to yet. I was offered a position by a POI on the spot. “I have a spot for you if you want it,” he said, “but you should wait, apply to other schools, and hear all your offers before you accept it.”
 
The take away:
 
I.   Rejection is not the end of the world. It does not necessarily mean that you’re a failure, or an idiot. It most likely means you just weren’t ready, which is fine. Stay focused.
II.  If you’re worried about not getting in, start your job hunt right now. Get creative about how you seek out and apply to jobs. Accept only meaningful work. It will propel you.
 
tl;dr – Got rejected two years ago. Been working in research labs ever since. Everything turned out better than expected J

Got an interview for UChicago Microbiology! SO EXCITED AHHH

Got an interview for UChicago Microbiology! SO EXCITED AHHH