bikefarm

love machine

From my understanding, most schools don't require an interview but it's possible for a professor to set up an informal phone interview to see if you're a good fit with the department and probe on your research interests. That's how it is for the schools I applied to in health behavior/community health sciences departments.

I definitely agree with the person above. Apply to MA programs and do well in that program to prove that you can succeed in a graduate program. OR you could get a couple-few more years of work experience to compensate and then try applying to MA/PhD program.

lucky charm

You can try looking at any universities/colleges near where you live and apply to any available research assistant jobs, universities usually have open positions. I've found temporary research assistant positions that way in the past. Otherwise, finding work through a temp agency isn't that bad and you can find long term work with good pay. It's definitely better than working retail or working for minimum wage.

Future Endeavors

One of my letters was also late too. So I feel you. I haven't contacted any of the schools yet and not sure if I should or not. What difference would it make now? It's still late. I honestly did everything I could to make sure my rec letters were in on time (sent reminder emails, etc.) so it was really out of my control and I just hope schools understand that.

Super annoying about the GRE scores!

Unfortunately this isn't always true. For most schools it is, but for a few schools they take the processing time into account. Take this from someone who who had to learn the hard way. Once, my application was not reviewed by a particular school because by the time they got my application from SOPHAS they had already reviewed applications and were no longer considering any other applicants. It was a nightmare and I had e-submitted my SOPHAS application before the school's deadline. This time around, I e-submitted my SOPHAS application a month and half earlier than my earliest designated school deadline because I don't want to take any chances. But funny enough, SOPHAS STILL hasn't mailed out my application (even with my recommendation letters submitted early too.)

Yes, rejection definitely real. I got an email from them sending me to the application website. (My subfield was Sociology) And yes, the program coordinator is definitely mean! I called her awhile back and she had so much attitude. I mean, I get her job is stressful but come on. Anyway, good luck to you guys who haven't heard!

congratulations! I still haven't heard anything but I got an email from the financial aid office confirming my eligibility for a scholarship -- not that I received the scholarship but just to double check that I even qualify for it. I don't know what that means in terms of getting into Harvard or not.

Congrats on your Minnesota and Harvard acceptance -- even though Harvard is for another degree. Still nice to hear from them. I have yet to get an email from SHDH. I'll keep my fingers crossed for Johns Hopkins for you and I'm still waiting to hear from Columbia Sociomedical too. In another forum, someone said they spoke to the admissions office and that the dept would start hopefully notifying applicants March 1st.

That's unfair that someone else heard! Well, maybe yesterday was just for Master's students. I'll keep my fingers crossed for Monday

Still nothing on my end and it's almost 5. I don't know -- maybe Monday?

blue lagoon

Yes, congrats on Hopkins! I'm dying here waiting for Harvard's email...

Decisions tomorrow?? Awesome! Do you know how they're notifying applicants? Email, phone, regular mail?

Agreed about Ann Arbor. Currently living here and love it but everything the person said above is true. Still, I'm an advocate for it because of the summer, restaurants, and overall cuteness. I don't have a car so getting around can be a pain but I bike everywhere anyway (sometimes hard to do in winter, which sadly lasts a long time here). BUT I've been to Madison a few times and I have to tell you -- the fact that Madison is all along a lake really, really sells it to me. It's just absolutely beautiful and it makes you want to live there -- really. Too bad, if you visit now you really won't get a good sense of the lake.

Just got my second rejection. sigh. Still have 4 more schools to be hopeful for

adrenaline junkies

I'm waiting on those 2 programs too, well, Harvard SHDH, but not a word. I heard that Columbia will hopefully make decisions in the next few weeks and someone in another forum said that Harvard is notifying applications to SHDH within the next week or so. We'll see. Good luck

March it definitely is!!!

video voyeur

I never heard of that happening -- seems too cruel. But apparently it does. Interesting... Let's hope it doesn't happen to any of us. I'd rather receive an outright rejection than an implied one.

Good point. I hadn't thought of snow affecting this process. Great, I guess I'll hear from the rest of my schools in July too. Wow, this really is torture.