Grumpymeow
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Posts posted by Grumpymeow
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Hey as an international student I can understand your concern. Talk to your PI or your recommendation letter writers and see what they think. If they think you can have a higher chance of getting into your "dream" institute by working in their lab or other labs, maybe it is worth a try. Gap year is not uncommon and not a bad thing if you can find a place to improve yourself during the gap year. Go to somewhere you strongly dislike, esp for five year straight does not sound appealing to me. You should also talk with you poi at KUMC to see if their projects really interest you and if they really want you there.
Just some thought and wish all my best.
Thank you! I will definitely talk to my PI first!
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The point is, you may or may not get in ANYWHERE the next time around, especially as an international. Also there are likely a few dozen people who would do anything to have an acceptance regardless of where its at. An acceptance is a privelage, not an entitlement...
That is exactly what I am concerned about....
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If you are posting to honestly get our opinion, then you need to tells us more. From what we're reading, it seems like you are basing your decision solely on the program's ranking and you think you could get into a higher ranking school. If you don't like the program because of XYZ reasons (not in your research area, funding, the people were weird), then state that. We are not mind readers who can divine your opinions on this program.
If you are worried about jobs and research opportunities, does this mean that the program doesn't fit your research interests? The alums have not gone into the industry you are looking to for future career? Then those might be reasons for not going to said program.
Right now, based on your responses, it seems like your perspective is really narrow and you are fixating one minor-ish thing (rank; unless the school is ranked extremely low with very little funding availability) rather than big picture things.
It is very low on my ranking. The reason why I ranked it that low was because: research interest, overall ranking, job opportunities and interview experience.
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Sorry if I wasn't being too clear on my expectations.
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I honestly hope you're joking... Also without knowing the school or program, none of us can really help you out at all.
What do you mean? Consider yourself in my situation, if the school you got accepted into is the school you applied because you knew you were gonna get accepted and maybe only one or two PIs match your research interest; however, you hoped to go to a school with more job opportunities and more collaboration in research, would you go to this school just because you want to settle down/you don't know what the situation would be next year/any other reasons?
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I think what I meant by "deserve" is that the experience that I have had and all the effort that I have put into these four years should get me into a better school and I don't know if I should just settle down when I could've gone to a better program with more opportunities for jobs and research.
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a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
Would you go if you were me?
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Well, USNWR does it to make money for one (advertising dollars: the more people who check out their rankings, the more ad space they can sell).
In the U.S., Carnegie and the U.S. Fed Gov also have their lists, too, which typically, like lists created in other countries, are used for internal standards allowing individual universities to judge how they are doing against other universities of similar caliber.
Most students use the rankings as a guide when selecting programs but sometimes the top programs are not at a top school (U. Delaware, as an example, is ranked something like 76th nationally according to USNWR, yet also according to USNWR UDel's chemical engineering program is ranked 10th in the nation). To add, when students finalize their lists based on fit, they often find that the schools they originally ranked high now hang from a lower rung -- if they even remain on the finalized list at all. Some just want the bragging rights, too, I suppose, and with others the "top" program/school truly is their best fit.
A question that arises from your OP and others like it is why did you apply to the "safety" in the first place considering that you seem to have such a low opinion of it? I mean, at some point you thought that this "lowly" school/program was worth your time and money (application, application fee) right? Perhaps you are just upset that the "safety" admitted you first, or that you regret applying to the safety in the first place, I dunno, these situations baffle me. All schools/programs applied to should be the ones that you would want to attend, which would ultimately include the safety, no?
*There are other lists in the U.S., too, besides the three I mentioned above.
Also, I am pretty sure that the college rankings are the #1 draw to USNWR. You'll be hard pressed to find an American who actually reads USNWR.
I think you might be right. I was kind of upset that they admitted me first and I was gonna go to a PhD program no matter what. At least that was the plan.
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Ahh, I don't know anyone who applied to that program. Sorry
but good luck getting in!! Thank you!! I am still waiting!!! I am probably on the waitlist since it is a small program and there is no way that they haven't made a decision...
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IMO everyone 'deserves' a school/program where he/she has a good research fit; no one 'deserves' or 'doesn't deserve' a school just because of its ranking. In other words I think the more pertinent questions you should ask yourself are: is this school a good research fit for me? Will I feel excited getting out of bed each day knowing I would be doing something that interests me, or will I be procrastinating and feeling miserable doing what disinterests me (even though the school is, say, Princeton, the school that currently ranks #1 in US News).
Why do you think people rank schools then if the only thing that matters is research interest.
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A friend of mine got an acceptance from MCB, I don't know if that's the same program you applied to
I applied to PEMM.
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I got accepted into my safe school, which is ranked lower than any other schools that I applied. I was planning on going straight to PhD from undergrad and I felt like I deserved better schools than just my safe school. Although I don't feel like going to my safe school, I am an international student and the only option left for me is to work for two years max in the US before I reapply. Right now I am still waiting to hear back from schools and it would probably be a little too late to apply for jobs in mid April. I don't know what the situation would be two years later and so I debating whether I should accept the offer and settle down or take a year off to improve my resume.
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I think more might go out as people reject
So they have sent out the exact number that they want for their program? I am confused about how this works...
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Nope there is still one more weekend, the committees are waiting to send out acceptances until they can compare all the interviewees (though some acceptances have gone out to the very top ones)
Do you know if UNC-CH has sent out all the offers? Thanks!!!!
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How many offers is UNC sending every day? Did they send them all today? Anxious....
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I called last week to check and was told this too--the snow and ice pushed back the interviews so they're a little behind. They're on spring break this week so I'm not expecting anything until after next week.
But now I'm torn as to whether I'd accept. I really really hit it off with the prof at UGA and would love to work for him but I didn't love the university as much. I applied to the chemistry dept and now I wish I had gone through biochem instead like everywhere else. They're trying to see if I can enter in chem and transfer since his primary appt is in biochem and I'm waiting for the response to that before I make a final decision (assuming I hear positive news from CH). Sigh.
Thanks a lot for the information as well!! I hope you can go to your dream school and program. Wherever I interviewed with, the students and PIs always told me that it doesn't really matter which school you attend because you will mostly likely get a similar quality training anywhere if it is a decent program. What really matters is who you work with and what you are passionate about. That is what people are seeing in you when they are talking to you. So I would say that if you really want to work for a PI at UGA and that is also what you are interested in studying (I assume it is biochemistry), then don't really worry about the school too much. You will be in lab doing research most of the time anyway and every school has its beauty and you just need to know more about it before you fall in love.
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Nope there is still one more weekend, the committees are waiting to send out acceptances until they can compare all the interviewees (though some acceptances have gone out to the very top ones)
Thank you so much for the information!!! I have been worried for several weeks!!!
- Grumpymeow and mop
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Interviewed at UNC Chapel Hill but haven't heard back from them since then. Does this mean I am rejected?
Accept the offer or not accept the offer?
in Biology
Posted
Thank you!! I appreciate your help and information a lot!! I will definitely talk to my PI and also the adcomms for suggestions to improve my resume for the next round!