waiting2009

It's a very good sign. My advise is NOT to talk too much and listen more. Let the professor start talking to get a sense of why he wants to interview you. Ask questions about the admission process. Show interest -- you're more likely to be accepted if they think that you would take the offer. Show that you want to learn and are excited about the opportunity. Don't try to show off! Don't try to show that you have read his/her papers' titles and not more. Don't tell him/her about all the other offers you have (or don't). Sort of like dating, I guess. All the best!!

Did the professor know your grades, GRE scores, resume, LORs, and read your personal statement when he talked to you? If not, better not to assume anything and wait for that letter. And even if he knew, he didn't know about the other applicants. Maybe a lot of very qualified people applied. Maybe some of them are backed by other professors. Maybe the admissions committee members don't like the professor. I don't mean to be negative, but there are many other variables in play. Getting into top schools is hard. This goes both ways, by the way. If you're accepted, it's because you deserve it and not because of the professor who likes you. Good luck!

Leaving aside whether affirmative action is fair, my impression is that for many graduate programs it isn't an important consideration. In particular programs with few spots and plenty of qualified applicants. In one of my interviews a professor (the head of the admissions committee) was telling me about their funding options and casually mentioned that I wouldn't be eligible for a government grant. He thought I was an international student. Apparently they didn't even check about citizenship or race. Another professor at a top school -- very selective program, few spots -- told me that they don't care much about affirmative action. I think it could have some impact in programs that select a large class and are interested in cultural diversity -- law schools, MBA programs, med schools. And remember that affirmative action says that if there are two candidates equally qualified you can give preference to the minority applicant. It doesn't say that you should choose the less qualified minority. One more thing: As somebody else mentioned, it's probably more helpful in funding decisions than admission.

I think it's ok and appropriate to ask. Just be careful about how you ask. Tell them that you're planning to apply again and want some feedback to improve your credentials. But be prepared for generic-but-true answers. This year has been specially hard. I know that some of the schools I applied to have received more applications than usual. A professor at one of them told me that they received 50% more applications than their previous record (not even 50% more than the previous year!). They have 2 or 3 spots max so they have a pool of very good applicants competing for very few spots. Good luck!

Waitlisted at Hopkins (health economics track). Bummer. Good luck to everyone.

Not necessarily. I know for sure that Harvard doesn't interview all the people they plan to accept. Sometimes they just want to know more about certain applicants before making a decision.

Thanks. The Hopkins website says that "a preliminary decision has been reached" but the link to the actual decision doesn't work! I applied to the health econ track and interviewed about two weeks ago. I read the result stuff about Harvard but all tracks have different admission committees and procedures.

Any news from schools?

Of course it matters, holding everything else constant. But sometimes is the other way around; prestigious departments attract the best people (hard working, ambitious; I don't necessarily mean that they are the smartest) and so they tend to publish more papers. I've worked with well-known professors at top departments and their papers get rejected left and right, but they have many projects, funding, etc. As a student, it depends on you and how you make the most of out the opportunities. Yes, big names have more resources, networking, knowledge and so on, but it's you who will have to do a lot of work and produce quality research. They won't do it for you. All the famous profs I know are non-stop working machines. Sure, they are pretty smart, but they got where they are by working very hard. In summary, it doesn't hurt to go to a super prestigious school but getting into one is not going to guarantee anything for you.