sjoh197

LSU will take a long time to respond... Can I ask who you are trying to work with?

Yeah, domestic applications are free.

Yeah, but my conversations with the POI there were much more involved/better than at UT. The person at UH is more sympathetic to my application, and... although it really doesn't matter or anything, he checked out my Linkedin page twice this week, and I hope that means he is still interested, although I know that that doesn't mean I would be admitted. Also, from what I understand... a lot of people approach UH as a "I don't have to pay for this application, so what the heck, I might as well apply."

I just don't have a good gpa, which really kills my application to such competitive schools. I'm just not much of one to put hope where I don't feel there is any. I applied, and while there's always a chance that we could all get in, more likely than not, my competitive applications are Oklahoma State and Houston, mostly because the POI's are sympathetic to my situation.

I've already accepted my coming rejection to UT, and I'm already pretty much over it. The two schools that I have the best shot at don't typically send out news until the last week of February/First week of March, even for acceptances. So I just keep wandering aimlessly to the fridge, and refreshing my email a thousand times a day, and watching our tarantulas attack crickets.

As the acceptances and rejections begin to roll in, I would like to get some some small thank you gifts for my LOR writers. They have all asked me to let them know how everything goes, acceptance wise. I figured if I get in somewhere, I would let them know, and maybe give them something small, and of course professional, just to say thanks. Is this weird? Does anyone have any good ideas?

One of my POI's looked at my linkedin profile twice this week.....once right after I had created it, last friday (horrifying, as I hadn't had time to put anything up).... and another time yesterday, after I had actually had the opportunity to put all of my academic and research info up. That can't be bad right? I keep logging in to see if anyone else has looked at it. I think I am literally going insane.

I got a response from my UT POI the next day. He was really nice and told me about his research, gave me a link that I couldn't find through the UT website, detailing his group and their research. But maybe it depends on the person you've emailed.

One of my POI's viewed my linkedin profile twice this week.

From what I've heard, Nebraska usually responds late february/early march. Same with a lot of Stanford responses and Texas A&M. The stats for Rice are usually all over the place time-wise. I don't really know about the others. I wouldn't worry too much yet. Give them another month. You have a lot of "later" programs on there. Hopefully someone else can help.

I wouldn't email the POI at all. If you are curious about the standing of your application... email the graduate advisor, or the admissions staff. You could potentially aggravate your POI's if you bother them, especially if they don't know the answer.

I think that it is important to remember that the GRE tests high school level math and reading comprehension. The vocab is a little extensive, but still not impossible for an native english speaker. As someone who didn't do well on the GRE, I can understand your inclination to dislike its importance. You are very likely an oddity, not the norm, when it comes to successful work despite bad test scores. They use this as a reliable indicator on your problem solving skills and reading comprehension. I have found that people who have scored lower on the GRE tend to have a harder time embracing new material and instead are better with repetitious learning. This isn't necessarily a fact, just something that I have observed. Also, people can have good gpa's without the corresponding intelligence. Copying, cheating, and memorization without varied application are all ways to maintain a generally good gpa without actually learning how to apply what you've learned. I am no way saying that anyone here has done this, but it is important to remember that adcom looks at everyone as a package deal. GPA, GRE, and research are all considered. I personally believe that research is more likely to show your true potential than either gpa or gre.

That really sucks, and I wish you the best. That almost sounds worse than not knowing at all. The stress of limbo for me is so much more than the stress of rejection.

Looking back at the history for 2 of the schools that I applied to, they don't even have any february acceptances.... mostly march. So I also think that a lot of schools are simply just now starting.

Could be that departments are experiencing the influx that we talked about earlier in the thread, of students applying because of the oil drop and lack of job opportunities. That would certainly slow them down.

I just hope everybody gets in where they would truly fit the best.

I'm usually pretty up front about all the stuff I don't know.... and these people seem to think I know it anyways :/

That's not very nice.

I feel like I did not articulate my research interests enough in my SOP. Or even when I contacted my POI's. Now I feel like I will be rejected everywhere lol.

And that was in September. Imagine how many people contacted him in the weeks to follow. I am so screwed lol.

Everyone just remember, a wise poster once said.... "A few people have been accepted to insert school here, therefore we have all obviously been rejected by all schools we've applied for."

"The POI I contacted 5 months ago said he had already received 40 emails from other potential students, for 1 spot. Clearly those other 40 people had better applications than I did, since they had already contacted him before me."

The wisest thing he ever said.

Boyfriend: "You're distressed... Here's a hot beverage."

BTW, I was thinking all day today about grad school apps, and stressed with my workload... and just had this nagging idea of getting rejected all day. So my boyfriend just brought me a cup of hot cocoa and said "You're distressed. Here's a hot beverage. "