hairu

I've been accepted to my first choice, the funny thing is I accidentally learned that I was accepted while the letter is still somewhere out there... (Why do they ever use postal service? God! E-mail costs nothing and is delivered instantly!) I asked the department secretary if the admission included funding, she said the nominees have already been notified... and partial funding might or might not be there... Would visiting the professor in charge help me get any funding? Or am I just spending money on an useless, hopeless idea?

I second johndiligent! I've been actually accepted to my top choice but without much hope for funding, and the school happens to be located in one of the most expensive cities in the world... contacting people (faculty, staff, current grads) is not so easy... they're like people in the 19th century... it always takes more than a few days to get simple responses. The thing is... I'm in no position to do my phd without funding... (well, who would?) And admission without funding is like... a pie in the sky...

Guys, I was just admitted to one of the programs I applied to with funding info pending. They said we haven't made decisions on funding yet, we'll let you know once they're final. Since funding decisions are crucial for me to study at a doctoral program, I wanted to give an impression I really need it, so, I wrote a thank you note to the director of the program and said... " I'd like to thank you for the offer. Indeed, I am very happy to be admitted to one of the most prestigious programs in the field. I am so excited!" Then, I got a reply from the professor, "We're excited too having you as a new student, the funding decisions will be made sonn." Well, I hope they didn't take it as my acceptance of their offer. I haven't made my decision yet. Since several other schools haven't notified me of their results, yet. What do you think? Did I give a wrong impression?

Good luck to everyone!

Thank you all you guys.... I have applied for several schools, about half of them match my interests and half of them don't (they were selected because of their locations) I got two rejections from the not-matched half, and waiting for other schools to give out their decisions. Your advice helped me a lot. I hope I am admitted this season so I wouldn't need to apply again. But if it ever happens, your advice will really help a lot. Thank you.

Writing my resume, and explaining how I got interested in the particular subfield I am trying to pursue in a phd program, I mentioned a few papers written by professors here and there. Since those were mentioned just as motivating factors, I thought it wouldn't matter. However, waiting for the decisions, I started to freak out that those professors in the program that I really want to go might not consider me as their first choice because it is not them who I mentioned in the SOP. Oh, god! Did I make a foolish mistake? Well, I believe my research interests match theirs (well, I believe so). Would they reject me because they would think I would go to those professors I mentioned? Well, I didn't mean that though... I only mentioned how my interest was triggered but it's not like I want to go to those professors. Silly me!

You already got accepted to three schools, what do you mean you share worries?

Oh, god, you're hilarious. And I love the song.