GeorgeC07

ME at Gatech and Purdue. Chemistry at UPenn of coz as mentioned by cybergla. It seems that not only interviews, some of these schools have already given out a few admissions, too. The general decisions like who will be offered admission, waiting-listed and rejected will be made in late January.

I think the most important factor is funding, as most fellowships only consider US citizens. Since the competition in top universities is more fierce, the programs at those universities usually require a higher score in the speaking section of TOEFL or IELTS tests for TA opportunities, leading to even less funding options for international students. For those who have studied in a country or region where English is the official language, this may be a less severe problem. As for other problems such as unfamiliarity of schools, grading systems and referees, international students don't usually have any good solutions. However, the admission committees in popular schools usually collect data on qualified universities in foreign countries, although they may only have enough information on the top few schools in a certain country. My advice would be to focus on universities that have a larger percentage of international students and those institutes that have cooperations with your undergraduate university, since in these cases the universities have a much higher chance of knowing what kind of applicant they are considering. @jnfls0203As for your case, you don't have to worry much as long as you have completed a few years' courses in the US and have references from American professors. Your experiences should qualify you for funding opportunities other than some types of fellowships, since most programs only consider US citizens for fellowships.

Forget about the websites. Keep refreshing your emails. From what I've heard from Gatech and my friends, many schools have sent interview invitations and first round of admissions. At this time the notifications should go straight to your email, not the websites.

Well from what I've heard from Gatech and my friends, many schools have sent out interview invitations or first round of offers(mainly TAs if TA is determined by the department, not applied afterwards). As for the RAs, the faculty members have the final say, so if you have an interview with any one of them, your chances to get admitted and funding are pretty good. It's likely that many professors haven't made their decisions so there's still hope.

@eternalwait Yep, Gatech does that. Maybe they don't give out rejections but they surely have given some admissions. I shall wait and see then.

My dear sister is also 29. She has just quitted her job to enter the graduate school of medical. Before that she worked for about four years and have taken the graduate entrance exam four times(In China you can enter graduate school through an exam for the whole country). She's got a well-paid job and an apartment 200 meters away from the hospital where she worked, but she still wanted to continue her education. My parents were like yours in some sense and even introduced some dates to her, but they began to support her full heartedly after she passed the exam last year and never mentioned getting married again, at least not in front of her. Funny that our parents think I'm the more reasonable kid at home and usually discuss things with me instead of her. Anyway, you should just keep moving on the path you choose. Your family loves you and they'll come around.

Huh I asked my friend about his opinion on this email and he told me that it means my competence is just so so and if no one's interested, my hope looks bleak. And I checked the results posted in the search section and found several admissions from the same department. Seems this is gonna be my first rejection after all, it's funny that this school actually has the furtherest application deadline.

Nah. Contacts with family will help with the anxiety. I'm not talking about how they gonna comfort me. I'm talking about the food my mom's gonna use to tempt me. Besides, I'm an international student so being away from home is gonna be my life in the next few years.

Okay I got an email from Gatech that said and I quote " You have a very strong file and credentials. You have not been offered admission, but at the present time your file has been made available for viewing by the faculty via an internal web site". I don't know whether this is good news or bad news, but their deadline is February 1st. In this sense it does have some advantages to apply early huh. @eternalwait Oops forget to tag you.

Personally I'm a graduate student so there's always work for me to do. My advice for you would be reading the papers of the professors', who you want to work with in the future and their students' papers. This will help you know better what is being done in their groups and what you might do in the future. If you find some work that is similar to what you have done or requires skills that you already possess, you may contact the professor after you are offered admission to see if you can get funding from him. This process could take you up to a month if you are applying to multiple schools, so it should keep you occupied.

=。=One of my deadlines is February 1st, and I submitted a fortnight ago. I reckon I'll start contacting the departments about the dates next month.

Generally they review the applications altogether after the deadline. But they still encourage the students to submit the applications in advance because there are too many applicants and tons of materials to be gathered. And I think maybe they would review the apps in the order of the time of submission.

Yep, it's a good thing to keep an eye on the deadlines. Some of the processes could take a really long time. One of my recommenders can't access the LOR systems and have to email the LOR to the office of graduate, leading to a huge delay in the process. And then there's Christmas, no wonder I'm anxious. My experience is that the bigger the schools, the faster they process these information. Just make sure that your recommenders send out the LORs in advance and check with the coordinator if anything's not right.

I don't think they work during Christmas, but asking for an interview would be one of your don'ts. I know a girl who got her offer from UCR with RA, though it was not her dream school. I also apply to UCB but they only want the best so I don't anticipate much from there. It's common to get one or two rejections first, since the best schools process their applications first right? The good news will come. BTW, merry Xmas.

I'm already a graduate student and also work as a RA. Been watching cute kitties and dogs videos if I feel anxious. If this does not help I usually go watch a movie, anything that takes my mind off. It's good to be busy eh.

Okay, I'm starting to get what you mean. So you are thinking more from the angle of your career. I for myself simply put aside the applications and continue my research project, although the project turned out not what I really anticipated. I usually feel rather guilty for doing nothing at all. Yeah as professionals we ought to have some plans for the future, but when my friends ask me what I want to do after phd, I don't really have an answer. I reckon I'll hammer out my plan as I move forward then. Not sure if this is what you mean. BTW, I met a Parisian guy from MIT who was doing an internship here this summer. He's the main reason that I applied to MIT but I'm pretty sure I'll be rejected. It won't hurt to try though.

Hey dude, I'm also an international applicant and have applied to nine schools. Till now I've got nothing and I feel the same. But my friend who's also applying this year applied to 18 schools and also got no news. I don't think anything's gonna happen soon so I go on to finish my research project. I just start to divert myself from it. Hope this'll help with your anxiety coz talking with guys here really helps.

I saw a post in the search section that said the guy was 51 and was starting his phd. I guess it's never too late to do what you want, and if you feel it's too late, then maybe you don't want it that much. Anyway, I don't think anyone will be rejected everywhere, it's just whether the result is satisfying. Keep up with a positive attitude eh, it's all gonna be fine.

@LadyScientist Gee you've already got a result? The schools I applied have already started their vacations, and they don't even reply to my emails regarding the reference letters. I look forward to the rejections from the top schools already, just to make myself numb to them. Sorry about your rejection though, hope you get satisfying results.

@PhDorBUST Dude, I just open mail and keep it online on my macbook. Now everytime I hear the email alert sound I'm like oh damn what it is this time. I'm sure this is getting on my nerve. But, nothing's gonna happen before the Christmas vacation's over.

@stereopticonsOkay, so my friend who's already a phd candidate in the US told me that he got his first offer in mid Jan and an interview from that same school two days before the offer. He also told me not to expect anything before January since the staff members and the faculties are all on Christmas vacation. So, it seems that I've got more time to be anxious……

I submitted my applications about ten days ago, and till now nothing, only emails that told me they had received the applications. =。=They simply don't give out any information or feedbacks. Others are getting interviews while I have to wait without knowing anything, and this adds to my anxiety, which is supposed to be alleviating after the submission. But, I guess I have nothing to do anyway. Bah, this is depressing.

I've submitted all my apps, too. I think this is the most anxious time, more anxious than when you're waiting for the final results after the interviews. I did contact two or three POIs but they never replied, so I decide to wait till late January when most schools begin to make their decisions to see if there's any chance. No hope on this though, my friend at MIT told me that few contacted the professors in advance. They just waited till they were admitted and emailed the POIs for fundings.