redhillgirl

Im always a little curious as to why people leave their programs. I can imagine there are many possible factors (change in personal life, change of interest, funding etc)....but can people who are already in a phd program but looking to leave tell us a little bit more as to why they wanna start all over again? (so i can prepare for my future...)

Got my 1st rejection from duke! Totally expected and isnt top choice so not bunmed at all. Now if im rejected by NW or NYU...i'll be pretty disappointed. I hv heard from 3 schs so far, got into 2 of them. Im sure what sets me apart is the SOP - my POI at Wisc said it was very strong and would definitely got me thru the crucial 1st cut, apparently it did. Apart from it, my writing sample is quite strong too.

Oh and my 2 cents on contacting POI: im international so what i can do is email. So far i have heard from 2 schs (washington/wisconsin), got into both (tho im sure im about to get some rejects) , and i did skyped with my POI at wisconsin. For intl students w/o US credentials it is especially important as it adds some nuance to ur otherwise pretty meaningless grades that do not directly convert to US grades. And it was a great opportunity for me to tell my POI sth i think he wud appreciate - that i was a publishing writer n sorta like a public intellectual myself. He also read my SOP and thot my research agenda "would be very comfortable at wisconsin". It all happened after i submitted my apps, but i think it definitely helped quite a bit.

3 columbia admits on the board now...think im not making it 2nd de facto rejection for me i guess (Duke is first, i suppose)

Not good fit but still anxiously waiting to hear from Columbia.... :/

Also Columbia (and the long overdue Duke).

Omg i hope yale isnt doing interviews...it's one of my top choices. Congrats to @goofylemon tho! Definitely a super positive sign. Also i regret not applying to berkeley....congrats to all admits tho! It's a fabulous program!

Any Duke applicants here? Wondering why we havent heard from Duke yet :/ also im unable to login to the system, apparently cos i used backspace to exit before. Anyone else experiencing the same problem? Expecting a rejection from duke, cudnt even identify more than one POI in the SOP, but still, this week seems rather quiet and id rather sth goes on.

@hopefulsocphd i know how it feels but hey, you dunno until the whole season is over, which is at least till mid to late March. And shd it comes to that, you can always reapply with a stronger record next year. Those schs are not going anywhere.

I'll pm u

Thanks! I'll decline tho, washington is the least fit on my list. Didnt know how i got in in the first place.

Just got up and....Washington admitted!!!!

I think what goofylemon means is that it is very unlikely a 148/143 can get into a top program. Thats why he/she called it troll. I think we all basically agree that it's true, and no one is saying that exceptions are not allowed. We all heard stories of depts jumping thru the hoops to get someone with abysmal gre scores but exceptional qualities in. But that just doesnt happen everyday. Lets agree to that. At the end of the day, scores are scores. There really are no rules in grad sch apps, meaning even if u hv the perfect stats it doesnt guarantee admission; at the same time there ARE rules, if not who wud bother preparing for the GRE? I myself believe the test is a poor indicator of abilities, but fact is it is required and it matters. Goofy was pointing out a fact and i truly dun get the reactions. Chill, u guys.

No thats not what i mean at all. And seriously, everything is an extension of capital/worth. The smartest students dun always get the highest grades dun they? The various sources (i cant quote here as im on mobile, but like i said, there are a few useful posts in this forum) that hv been posted on this website and elsewhere make us reasonably believe that GRE is used 1st as a cut-off/filter and 2nd is used to determined who gets some fellowships. Not saying it's everything. AT ALL. In fact if it was, goofy's 167/170 wud hv triumphed over my 166/155 n got into UW (and in fact any program) . But i wud agree with goofy that GRE scores matter to the extent that they are the only common indicator of candidates ability, and yes, top programs like UW cares about GRE.

I think that is the truth...like it or not. Goofylemon didnt set the rules, grad schs did. If u read the adcomm thread pinned at top of this forum, it tells u the same thing. If GRE scores dun matter they cud hv spared us the time and money really.