8BitJourney

Given how ruthless the scrutiny is at every school, you should absolutely banish the thought that you tricked anyone into giving you admission. This cycle the admissions process has apparently been brutal. There have been a greater number of applicants this year than ever before. So if someone has offered you admission, it is because they think you are the perfect fit for them. Nothing else. 
And admission depends on so many factors that have nothing to do with your specific skill sets that I don't think anyone should take a rejection personally. You have got one. That's the exact number of places you can say yes to. So say yes and congratulate yourself. You have done the (almost) impossible

So I've been told: "If you haven't heard from faculty by now, that's probably not a good sign.  Final decision letters will be mailed near the end of the month."
I'm pretty much tapping out for the school now.

 

Just finished interviewing at one of my top ranked programs and it was everything I wanted. Except one thing: we won't know admissions decisions till early March XD I wished we were notified earlier just for the fact that I don't want to hold onto interview slots that could go to other great applicants :/

Just finished interviewing at one of my top ranked programs and it was everything I wanted. Except one thing: we won't know admissions decisions till early March XD I wished we were notified earlier just for the fact that I don't want to hold onto interview slots that could go to other great applicants :/

Waiting on NYU so if anyone else is waiting as well feel free to pm me!

I wish I was this scientific in figuring out schools. I already ranked programs (based on fit and gut feeling) pre-interviews and unless something incredible happens I'm going with said gut feeling and my top choice will probably still be my top choice post-interview. At this point there's only one program that could mess that up (But of course it's a long shot that they'll contact me at this point).

Will people stop causing drama on my thread! This is a place to discuss the current application cycle, not to air your personal grievances about the mods. @byn /@unbelievable I'm sorry that you're having trouble with the mods, but this is not the time or place. Please make another thread and refrain from derailing this one.
It's very annoying that it's gotten so off topic when this is supposed to be a place for people to ask questions.

This is my second time applying and I doubled the amount of interviews I got this time. Generally when I see a post like this I think of 4 things: fit, productivity, LORs, and luck.
1. Fit: Some POIs will want someone who is completely aligned with their interests while others will want someone who will take their research in a slightly new direction. Its really hard to tell from just their description on the school's webpage. Contacting the POI prior to the application cycle can give you an idea of this.
2. Productivity: I had a lot of undergrad research and some presentations but Post-bac I took on more leadership roles, did more presentations and tried to get on pubs.
3. LORs: My stats are cruddy on paper but my recommenders are willing to go to bat for me and really tried to create an impression of a hard dedicated worker. You really need strong letters to help you stand out.
4. Luck: POIs lose funding, may have had a bad day, for some reason your application wasn't properly processed, someone just wasn't feeling you, the list goes on on the 'luck' factors that applicant's can't control.
2,3, and to an extent 1 are pretty controllable and if you unfortunately have to apply next year I encourage you to work on those three. Also remember these programs are extremely competitive (I believe this year unc-chapel hill will probably have an acceptance rate of less than 2%!) This isn't to dissuade you but just to steel you for how difficult the process is. Hopefully, other people on this board who've applied 2 or 3 times can chime in as well.

For those who have interviewed and already secured acceptances, how did you prepare for your interviews? Is there anything in particular you did that you feel really made the difference for you?
Starting to get really nervous about my upcoming interviews!!

@PNIplz I wouldn't worry too much about your GRE score (but of course you can always retake if you have the time/funds) because I was able to get pre-interviews at schools I honestly thought were out of my league and my combined GRE is a crummy 316; multiple choice is an evil invention XD. What bumped me from in-person interviews was fit. One in particular liked my experience and where I wanted to take their research but hadn't acquired funding for that direction yet and was afraid that I'd be stuck on another project if their grant submission wasn't successful. While I thought that was minor (and emphasized that I didn't mind) it was still a strong enough concern that I couldn't make the cut. Other POIs thought we aligned well but turned to radio silence after submission.
I definitely think @psych0627 is right and I wished there was a mathematical formula for each poi to know how they weighed variables and how much leeway each had in terns of fit to their lab!

Honestly I haven't had potential faculty specifically point out publications as much as 'increased productivity' which can encapsulate a lot of things. Are publications great? Of course, its the kicker, but some schools restrict undergrad contribution to articles or its just not possible at the time the applicant is in that lab. However, if you can show you've been productive in other ways (and have your Recommenders compliment this in their letters) you can still have a pretty strong case.
Such as: helping with grant writing, organizing a manual or creating a fidelity checklist, changing how recruitment and retention/tracking is carried out, doing a school based research symposia or honors thesis (undergrads are generally broke and may not be able to get a travel award/funding), going from an RA to a coordinator, applying for a fellowship (just saying you applied can put you in a good light). These can all help to show maturity and growth as a future researcher.

Honestly I haven't had potential faculty specifically point out publications as much as 'increased productivity' which can encapsulate a lot of things. Are publications great? Of course, its the kicker, but some schools restrict undergrad contribution to articles or its just not possible at the time the applicant is in that lab. However, if you can show you've been productive in other ways (and have your Recommenders compliment this in their letters) you can still have a pretty strong case.
Such as: helping with grant writing, organizing a manual or creating a fidelity checklist, changing how recruitment and retention/tracking is carried out, doing a school based research symposia or honors thesis (undergrads are generally broke and may not be able to get a travel award/funding), going from an RA to a coordinator, applying for a fellowship (just saying you applied can put you in a good light). These can all help to show maturity and growth as a future researcher.

This is my second time applying and I doubled the amount of interviews I got this time. Generally when I see a post like this I think of 4 things: fit, productivity, LORs, and luck.
1. Fit: Some POIs will want someone who is completely aligned with their interests while others will want someone who will take their research in a slightly new direction. Its really hard to tell from just their description on the school's webpage. Contacting the POI prior to the application cycle can give you an idea of this.
2. Productivity: I had a lot of undergrad research and some presentations but Post-bac I took on more leadership roles, did more presentations and tried to get on pubs.
3. LORs: My stats are cruddy on paper but my recommenders are willing to go to bat for me and really tried to create an impression of a hard dedicated worker. You really need strong letters to help you stand out.
4. Luck: POIs lose funding, may have had a bad day, for some reason your application wasn't properly processed, someone just wasn't feeling you, the list goes on on the 'luck' factors that applicant's can't control.
2,3, and to an extent 1 are pretty controllable and if you unfortunately have to apply next year I encourage you to work on those three. Also remember these programs are extremely competitive (I believe this year unc-chapel hill will probably have an acceptance rate of less than 2%!) This isn't to dissuade you but just to steel you for how difficult the process is. Hopefully, other people on this board who've applied 2 or 3 times can chime in as well.

Thank you @Eigen and @fuzzylogician for taking the time to step in and mediate on this matter. I really hope we can all just put this behind us and focus on doing the best we can through the rest of the application season. Small disagreements and their resolution only make the community stronger. I hope that is how it works for us here as well. Good luck to everyone for all the interviews ahead. Stay strong and stay safe!

I'm going to respond here, because the moderation decisions made in this thread were not done by a single individual but by the moderating team as a whole. We actually do discuss things before we do them. 
Several users got warnings for extremely abusive use of the rating system (going back over the course of a few hours and down voting every post made, whether the content was objectionable or not), as well as abusive behavior such as pooling information about a user to try to make it easier for an admissions committee/external source to identify the user, with the hope that posts here would reflect negatively on them. 
Going back and individually checking each reputation given is nearly impossible to do, but with the extreme abuse of the system (and warnings given out), we decided that resetting the reputation was the best way to go. Each post still has reputation tied to it, but the dozens of unwarranted and abusive down votes should not follow someone around for the rest of their time here. 
I can appreciate disagreeing with moderation decisions, but derailing a thread even more because you disagree with them, without even trying to work it out with the moderation staff, not to mention the personal attacks (blatant dishonesty and unprofessional) just because you did not like being cited for your unprofessional behavior is over the line. Going back and hiding every one of your posts out of spite so they can't be useful to anyone else is just the icing on the cake. 

Ditto. Couple this with trying to fit a weeks worth of work (i.e., classes, teaching, assistantship, research) into 3 days so you can travel every Thursday and Friday and you've got the recipe for a break down. 

Omg I'm in the middle of an interview tour and this is exactly how I feel. I'm so exhausted, physically and emotionally. I think cake, alcohol, and a really long nap will be in order. 

The cudcp guidelines say that it's common practice that applicants can wait till April 15 before accepting any offer but more than 2 offers shouldn't be held at one time. Granted I'm sure you don't want to wait that long to accept any and a kindly worded email thanking admissions/the poi but letting them know that "you're weighing another offer (But still seriously considering theirs) since is still early in the process" should be understandable If you're a competitive applicant. For the wording of this email I highly suggest you get a mentor or faculty to provide input though...
Btw thanks for your concern  I got a late email from the coordinator who's working hard to get me a Skype interview/rectify the situation. It's just messy because so many schools had interviews this week and I already couldn't attend the main day.

It is so tiring. After many cycles of applying, I'm over the moon that so many schools invited me for interviews. But I'm also an introvert and I have 6 trips in 4 weeks (4 of which involve flying!). I'm broke and tired of being on and rushing off to the airport all the time. I'll be happy when this is done, I (hopefully!) have an acceptance in hand and cake! 

If you do that, I'm wearing yoga pants and a hoodie. 

This is my second time applying and I doubled the amount of interviews I got this time. Generally when I see a post like this I think of 4 things: fit, productivity, LORs, and luck.
1. Fit: Some POIs will want someone who is completely aligned with their interests while others will want someone who will take their research in a slightly new direction. Its really hard to tell from just their description on the school's webpage. Contacting the POI prior to the application cycle can give you an idea of this.
2. Productivity: I had a lot of undergrad research and some presentations but Post-bac I took on more leadership roles, did more presentations and tried to get on pubs.
3. LORs: My stats are cruddy on paper but my recommenders are willing to go to bat for me and really tried to create an impression of a hard dedicated worker. You really need strong letters to help you stand out.
4. Luck: POIs lose funding, may have had a bad day, for some reason your application wasn't properly processed, someone just wasn't feeling you, the list goes on on the 'luck' factors that applicant's can't control.
2,3, and to an extent 1 are pretty controllable and if you unfortunately have to apply next year I encourage you to work on those three. Also remember these programs are extremely competitive (I believe this year unc-chapel hill will probably have an acceptance rate of less than 2%!) This isn't to dissuade you but just to steel you for how difficult the process is. Hopefully, other people on this board who've applied 2 or 3 times can chime in as well.

This is my second time applying and I doubled the amount of interviews I got this time. Generally when I see a post like this I think of 4 things: fit, productivity, LORs, and luck.
1. Fit: Some POIs will want someone who is completely aligned with their interests while others will want someone who will take their research in a slightly new direction. Its really hard to tell from just their description on the school's webpage. Contacting the POI prior to the application cycle can give you an idea of this.
2. Productivity: I had a lot of undergrad research and some presentations but Post-bac I took on more leadership roles, did more presentations and tried to get on pubs.
3. LORs: My stats are cruddy on paper but my recommenders are willing to go to bat for me and really tried to create an impression of a hard dedicated worker. You really need strong letters to help you stand out.
4. Luck: POIs lose funding, may have had a bad day, for some reason your application wasn't properly processed, someone just wasn't feeling you, the list goes on on the 'luck' factors that applicant's can't control.
2,3, and to an extent 1 are pretty controllable and if you unfortunately have to apply next year I encourage you to work on those three. Also remember these programs are extremely competitive (I believe this year unc-chapel hill will probably have an acceptance rate of less than 2%!) This isn't to dissuade you but just to steel you for how difficult the process is. Hopefully, other people on this board who've applied 2 or 3 times can chime in as well.

C'mon y'all that's enough. It's run its course and there are more productive things we could be discussing. Based on past years it seems like Harvard finishes up most of its business by 2/3rd week of February, till then focus on your other applications/interviews; its what I'm doing (and what those POIs/schools deserve).

This is my second time applying and I doubled the amount of interviews I got this time. Generally when I see a post like this I think of 4 things: fit, productivity, LORs, and luck.
1. Fit: Some POIs will want someone who is completely aligned with their interests while others will want someone who will take their research in a slightly new direction. Its really hard to tell from just their description on the school's webpage. Contacting the POI prior to the application cycle can give you an idea of this.
2. Productivity: I had a lot of undergrad research and some presentations but Post-bac I took on more leadership roles, did more presentations and tried to get on pubs.
3. LORs: My stats are cruddy on paper but my recommenders are willing to go to bat for me and really tried to create an impression of a hard dedicated worker. You really need strong letters to help you stand out.
4. Luck: POIs lose funding, may have had a bad day, for some reason your application wasn't properly processed, someone just wasn't feeling you, the list goes on on the 'luck' factors that applicant's can't control.
2,3, and to an extent 1 are pretty controllable and if you unfortunately have to apply next year I encourage you to work on those three. Also remember these programs are extremely competitive (I believe this year unc-chapel hill will probably have an acceptance rate of less than 2%!) This isn't to dissuade you but just to steel you for how difficult the process is. Hopefully, other people on this board who've applied 2 or 3 times can chime in as well.

I just got recommended for acceptence at UNB!!!!!!! I'm going to go cry now.