IndEnth

Ok, I'll try again: Anyone else at UPenn tomorrow?

Anyone else at the NYU recruitment event tomorrow and day after? Looking forward to meeting you in person!

Did anyone at UCI ever get in touch with you? I was interested in working with Kamal Sadiq too but told, and I quote, "he's not keen on skype, I don't think that will work out."

I'll just write very nice emails, thanking them for their generous offer and the effort they've made to provide me the information I needed to make my decision. And then say that I think my interests will be better served at another place, and that I wanted to inform them early on so they can re-allocate their resources and plan ahead. And I don't have any where I need to fill out an online form in case I don't accept.

For weeks, I was dreading receiving rejection letters, now I'm about to write them - and am dreading that just as much. Would have never bet I'd be in this situation one day.

Depends on what you consider good or bad, I assume The offer I got was $17,488.00 as a 5-year assistantship, meaning it comes tied to about 20 hours of work per week. Additionally $5,000 for the first summer. I was told that it's apparently just about enough to get by in College Park. However, it's considerably less than most other offers I received.

Cool. Well, I guess I'd also be a bit annoyed at the thought of someone just copy-pasting my SoP considering how many days of work went into writing this statement, which I also hope does not read entirely generic but reflects me and my style a bit. But for me I think what has more weight is the fact that as the outsider that I was when I started this process (as in, haven't been a student in so many years, only in Europe and Asia, no mentors/professors/advisers to go to for help, don't know any PhD students to contact, etc.) it just made me feel soooo much better so see a couple of examples of how it's actually done. And of course I didn't think that the clue of how to get into Harvard is hidden in one of those sample SoPs here somewhere. It just was good to know how (un)specific the research questions were worded, how much of the SoP people devoted to their background vs. to explaining their fit, etc. Probably basic for someone who's part of the circus already. But for me, that was all extremely valuable. It also made me assess my chances of succeeding in the application process much more realistically to see where people got in with what sort of SoP/experience/etc. So yeah, I guess considering all that, I'm very much convinced that I want to post my SoP publicly, even if I'll be the only one. Consider it me giving back to the community

I'm not the best person to look at if you want to get into a top-10 program - didn't make it into any of those But if a decent, still higher-ranked uni is what you're looking for, then I think I booked a couple of those (and several safety unis too). I'm planning to post my SoP publicly as soon as I have decided where I'll go.

Again, very honest question: Why would that be a bad thing? (And, follow-up: If they really, really wanted to, couldn't they already from other info on the board?)

Can I just ask: Why did people stop posting their SoPs on the wrap-up threads? I know it was increadibly helpful for me -- the non-American with only non-US degrees from really tiny no-name places where professors had never even heard of the unis I'm applying to, let alone ever seen an application to any of those places -- to peruse those old samples when preparing my application. I'm sure many of you did the same thing. But then three years ago or so, people seem to have suddenly gotten very secretive about this, and stopped posting them publicly. Did everyone suddenly get paranoid that someone else would steal their topic? I mean, everyone who got admitted has a topic, so changing tracks and jumping on yours seems unlikely. And next year's applicants are far behind, so there's no way someone could snatch it from you considering that you'll plant your flag long before them. Or did people suddenly feel insecure about the fact that they got into a good school with an SoP that's actually not magic and witchcraft, but just a down-to-earth piece of work? You got in, so your application was good - there's no reason to be shy about it. The only other explanation I can come up with off the top of my head is that people didn't want to share to not provide the next generation of applicants with a head-start that they themselves might not have had, which would simply be sad. Please, people, enlighten me. Am I missing something essential here?

I talked to a couple of professors there (more out of curiosity than because it's actually one of my top choices). It's definitely a decent program, it's just that I have other options that are better fits for me. I'll be happy to tell you everything I know!

Yup, received my official offer as well. Got an email that told me the offer letter is downloadable on the website. Maybe check the site?

I know, it's a pain when coming from outside the US. I'm only able to afford it because I'm visiting several universities, and they all make a contribution toward cost, and because I'm working full-time and can thus spend some of my own income on it. Lots of other people don't have that option. Like in many other instances during the process, lack of finances is a real hindrance during the decision-making part.

I just booked my tickets to the US! Will anyone be at NYU's or UPenn's visitation weekends?

I'm NYU comparative, and I got the offer about two weeks ago. Have been invited to the visitation day, which is March 25, have received funding information and have talked to POIs. Don't know what it means if you haven't heard by this point. Maybe you can contact them directly to check?