I just got rejected from Maryland today From the department and the graduate school, soooooo ouch... I had really low quantitative GRE scores though because I have a learning disability in mathematics. It is really sad because it might be the very thing holding me back from being able to get into any PhD graduate program forever. I can do ALL of the math, but not fast enough for the GRE. I am registered as having a disability through the government but they make it relatively impossible to get accomodations. With a serious disability there really is a wall that we can hit. I practiced and practiced. I'm sure it is a possibility the rest of my application was not flawless so I emailed them to ask for feedback. If they give me some that I would think is useful in general for people, I will let you know.
I know what it is like to have things come easy because before I got brain injury from a seizure I was brilliant. Now I would say I am smart...ish but mostly just an extremely hard worker. So if you get in anywhere, please use your gifts because intelligence is really a gift, and it can be taken away for good in a matter of minutes. My brother got into Harvard and we were always the same caliber until this happened to me. Everything changed. It is a real shame because I wanted to help people with epilepsy in my research and it would have mattered to a lot of people. Wherever you get in, I believe you will do big things. I did not tell them I have epilepsy and why it mattered, because we get discriminated against. Even once you are seizure free for years, a lot of people are worried about having "a loose cannon." So, unfortunately a lot of people get to share their struggles, explain their stories and circumstances, and connect with people. But when you can be discriminated against, that is not an option.
I was hoping for a shot based on my years of research experience and the possibility that someone would believe in my mission. In addition to everything, probably not a good fit and would not be happy there in the end. Maryland was not my first choice, but this feels like a bad omen. It was pretty early to be rejected so something was probably very, very off. I have given up hope for myself but I will hope for you and the rest of the applicants on the cafe.