ootg

My greatest negative would be my age, which would make me at least 10 years (if not 20) older than most applicants. My GMAT is not that great either, and perhaps I should have retaken it. My undergraduate degree is in Chemistry, although I do have an MBA.

I've heard that there are many more applicants, due to the less than positive economic situation. The economy has also resulted in funding cuts, which means fewer grants. That said, there must be a reason why they are not informing us, when they have already offered others. Either we are on the reserve list, or the administrative system has not cleared the backlog of rejected candidates through the system. Here's hoping for the best!

Would agree with all the people who said to follow your dreams. The difference is about $34k, which is not so much, if spread over a few years of payments. Think about it, you can be happy, working to pay off your debt, or not really happy, and still paying a smaller debt...