HBKss

I have a friend who applied to several Masters programs along with his girlfriend... He did get into his top choice university but as his girlfriend didn't get into that program, hence he gave up on his top choice to join the program where his girlfriend got in. They are engaged now. :-) So the point really is, what do you prioritize the more, your relationship or your career. Frankly, if it had been me, I would have never given up on my top choice program, but then again that probably is the reason that I will be spending valentines day sitting in my room and commenting on different topics on this forum... :-)

According to last year's schedule, the interview invitations should be out in this week. By the way, does anyone know how many students are called for the interview and how many are accepted?

@foreignstudent Yes the first week after rejection after an interview is tough. The point here to motivate yourself is not try to motivate yourself for something you get rejected from, but rather motivate yourself for something that you love. If you look at PhD admissions as something you got rejected from then it is hard to motivate yourself for it, instead if you look at PhD admissions as something you have passion for then it is easy to motivate yourself. And about the age thing, it is really not a big deal. What do think is better? a) To give up on your dream career forever, or to join your dream career, but probably a couple of years older... And next time do apply to more than a few places. An acceptance from a lower ranked university is always good as opposed to no acceptance at all. There is no harm in applying to your fourth, fifth or sixth choice university. There is nothing to loose. And given your limited experience, it might as well be that a lower ranked university actually turns out far better than your top choice for you...

@foreignstudent Don't get disappointed. I can understand the feeling of disappointment. The thing is that I am not going to give you any false hopes even though there are good chances that you might get in. The point I am going to stress is that despite going through bad interviews for two straight years from the same place, I didnt give up hope. And that is exactly what you should be doing. If you have a dream of pursuing a graduate degree, dont give up on it just because you had one disappointing interview. You dont want to get into your forties and realize it then, that had you tried a little harder, maybe given another year to your dream, things might have turned out different and better for you.

anyone?

Guys thanks a lot for the responses. You have been very helpful. So I think that the best way now is to just wait up for the decision and hope for the best.

@theory411 Thanks a lot for the response. The POI had already mentioned on his lab's page that he is accepting the students for this Fall, and hence I didn't contact him. Now I am getting a little nervous and hence thinking of contacting him. I was thinking about disguising my nervousness/bothering by sending him the draft of my paper which I have in submission and asking him to review the work as well while reviewing my application. Is it okay then? Or is it too late as the deadline was 15th december and it has been 45 days since I have applied. Oh by the way my program is CS

Does this mean anything? Are there any people here who had a visit on their website from a university and got accepted there or if there are any who had a visit and did not get accepted?

I was wondering if that is the case. Will it do any good? I think sending an email might put a name in the mind of the POI when he will be looking at the applications. Also, how will the chances of admission be affected if you never contact the POI?

@foreignstudent... Best of luck with the interview... hope you get in... Just try to be calm and take your time before answering the questions and answer the questions logically rather than on your instinct... Now that I analyze my interviews, it is just about if you are the person whose application they short-listed. In my interview I was far away from that person.

I recently had an interview with a faculty member. The interview went well and she offered me unofficial acceptance. She also told me that as she has to send a name to the department by mid February, hence she wants me to decide by that time if I plan to join her or not. The problem is that I haven't heard back from 9 of my other universities and several of them are above this university in my list. It is highly unlikely that I will hear back from all of them by mid February. Now, I can obviously not ask the faculty member to extend the time as it is not in her control either. My application is a little different than most of the people. It is likely that I get into most of the remaining places that I have applied to. Similarly there is also an equal chance that I don't get into either of the remaining places. As the acceptance offer is unofficial hence I don't think I can contact other universities regarding speeding up or at least just telling me the status of my application while quoting this offer. What should I do? This is driving me crazy.. Please help...

@foreignstudent. I applied to Information School. The interview was with the committee. The questions were not really tough; they just focused more on what exact projects would I do when I join the PhD program. Despite having a strong research background and a few publications, having hailed from an under developed country, my exposure towards the broad range of research questions and projects is limited. Also they told in the interview that they were just going to extend admission offer to approx 40% of the students short-listed for interview... @c m: Yes I have applied to other places as well. The thing is that I am not sure who to get mad on more. a) myself, for not performing well in the interview twice, b ) the university for raising my hopes for two consecutive years before shutting me down each time. P.S: Like lm2014 said, I too am terrible at interviews. I get too nervous and start having panic attacks and screw up the interviews. And once the interview is over, all the right answers start coming to my mind...

The sad part is that I was short-listed for the interview both times...

It feels terrible...