[That awkward moment when...]

I thought I would be fancy by doing all of my SOPs in LaTeX. To personalize them I included the physical address of each graduate school at the top of each letter. The one I sent to Cornell was addressed to the wrong school.

 

Surely this has nothing to do with why I haven't heard so much as a whisper back from them...

["prospective graduate weekend" invitation?]

In Physics, usually this means you are admitted or they plan to admit you very shortly. Some schools do not notify you of acceptance before the visit because:

 

1. They might not have figured out funding yet but they want to book your flights and set up the visit dates without waiting to figure that out, or,

2. They just want to meet you and vet you (i.e. make sure you are actually a good fit and not a terrible person). 

 

So this is a great news. In Physics programs, this visit is more about them convincing you to join them, not really a competitive interview stage. I would say that the usual case is that you have to do something really terrible to not get accepted.

 

But of course, you can't assume anything until you get official notice. It would be very wise to act professional and make sure you represent your best self! Even if you are basically sure to get in, you want your future colleagues' first impression of you to be your best self

 

This is great news! I had a feeling that my interactions with the other students and faculty member would be watched as a sort of "informal interview."

 

I'll make sure to do some more research on some of the advisors so I can ask intelligent questions about their research.

 

And oh yeah, I'll wear a nice shirt

 

Thanks again for the replies!

["prospective graduate weekend" invitation?]

Thanks for the replies! This is a huge relief but just in case I'll try to stay cautiously optimistic xP

["prospective graduate weekend" invitation?]

I was recently invited to the "prospective graduate weekend" at one of the schools I applied to. I don't want to read too much into this (the worst thing I could do to myself is raise false hope), but does anyone have any idea what this could mean in terms of my candidacy for the program?

 

They offered to reimburse my travel expenses and overnight accommodations which could be a good sign...right?

 

P.S. I'm new to this forum so I hope I posted this in the right place!