commodork

This is good advice. I've just been making a point to be very apologetic and emphasizing that I am still very interested in their program. Also, I've been making a point to offer up some possibilities for alternate dates. I'm not sure whether that helps at all, but I'm hoping it'll look proactive and help mitigate damage.

Oh man.. didn't even know about that page. Now my paranoia has reached a new level..

Where have you seen Harvard interviews? I haven't seen anything on that front ( my inbox included :/ )

Oh god, got an email from WUSTL today saying that they would post my admissions decision on the 29th. What a tease. Why not just send me an email then.. ah

Did anyone get an email from WUSTL today saying that their admission decision would be posted to 29th? Not sure how to read into that or why they would send out an email before decisions were available...

Ah, lucky. I've only gotten the invitation. When did you receive that? Let me know if you have any questions on VU as well, and I'll answer them as best I can.

Wow that's fantastic, congrats on all of that. Maybe I will see you at Vanderbilt.

Anyone here going to the Vanderbilt visitor's weekend in February?

Fantastic! Rice has an excellent program, congrats.

I was actually contacted by the director prior to receiving my official notice, and he encouraged me to reach out to faculty and even gave me a few names to look into. Might just be a difference in fields.

Hey everyone, I was fortunate enough to get word of my first acceptance this weekend (!) and want to begin contacting faculty. I was just wondering if anyone has any advice on how to go about this once you're already accepted. When I contacted professors at schools I hadn't been admitted to, I basically just sent a brief note outlining my research interests, discussing how they overlapped with that PI's, and inquiring about openings. Is this still a good first approach, or should I modify it now that I am accepted? Should I send CV's or maybe raise some additional questions? Is it okay to reach out to multiple PI's at this stage or is this looked down upon? Any insight is appreciated. Thanks everyone, and good luck!

Official acceptance came in this morning! Thank you so much!

Got my first good news today! An email from RPI's BME graduate admissions coordinator, saying he was impressed by my app and that he would recommend my application to be admitted to the graduate school. He also said later in the email "After the graduate school admits you..." No doubt a good sign, but can I interpret this as a 100% yes? If anybody could shed some light on this I'd be very appreciative. Either way, I'm very excited. Feels great just to hear something. Best of luck to everybody! I hope all of your inboxes have some good news waiting for you soon.

Ohh, good call! I wound up splitting the difference with a small Starbucks card and delicious chocolate pretzels from my hometown

Interested to hear everyone's thoughts on gifts as well. Would a $20 or so gift card be considered an inappropriate gesture? Definitely want to do something nice for my recommendation writers - especially since I've asked them to submit to so many schools, but I don't want to unintentionally misstep on that.

Totally understandable. When is your deadline? I had a maybe somewhat issue where a PI didn't return an email with my request for an NSF-GRFP recommendation for a length of time. I found what helped the most - in terms of both my sanity and my relationship with the professor - was coming up with a timeline leading up to the due date that listed exactly what steps I would take and when to get his attention. It helped me stay calm and make sure that my response to the situation was measured and effective.

The plot thickens further!

Twist: it's the same guy, he's not responding because you're both too damn qualified & he can't pick.

I agree with MathCat. Best thing you can do right now is to not freak out. I'd say if you haven't heard back by around January 15th, then start getting a little more insistent. Maybe call then. Whatever you do, make sure not to betray your (understandable) anxiety and frustration. Good luck!

It's too late for most of my apps, but I'm curious to hear your opinions regardless. I've done research in two very different research areas under bioengineering and have significant interest in both areas. Have I shot myself in the foot on apps by placing some emphasis on research in both these areas (i.e. mentioning professors in both specializations and the possibility of rotations)? Would I have been better off keeping my apps focused on just one area? Thanks for your help. Now that it's waiting season my hindsight's 20/20.

Very true. Just good to be mindful of - these things can be easy to miss with a cursory look. Also, a few of my apps have had both rolling admissions and a hard deadline. Maybe that differs from program to program, however. Seems to be rare, in any case.

Some schools do have rolling admissions, though, and it's advantageous to submit these early. Every school that does this will mention it on their admissions page, usually in the deadlines area. Not too many do it, so you are probably fine if you haven't noticed anything. Some other things I've seen with a couple of my schools are: A final deadline, but with an earlier deadline given first priority for aid. An earlier soft deadline that you need to be in by to have a chance to interview Both of these are pretty uncommon, but they're good things to look out for. Admissions pages will mention this sort of thing explicitly. If they don't, then you're fine submitting whenever.

I imagine it might vary from program to program. I wouldn't worry yourself about it. The rest of your app is really strong and math isn't all that important for tissue. I definitely wouldn't let it stop you.

What research area are you looking into? It probably matters more if you're doing something math heavy, but less for something like, say, tissue engineering.

I was afraid that would be the case. Thanks for the insight!