TheHoff

I was like this until last week, this week I'm trying to control myself and only check the email when I get a notification from my main inbox on the phone. On the other years the acceptance/rejections always went to updates and one time the acceptance from UCSC got into promotions hahaha

From my past experiences (this is the 3rd year applying), yes, acceptances usually goes first. And every year my rejections started coming after April, UC Riverside and Vanderbilt are currently holding the delay record, giving notice in October and September, respectively. My acceptances without funding came in late February the first time and in April last year

Don't want to be negative but... There was one university that I won't say the name, but I can tell you that it starts with River and ends with side, that interviewed me in Mid-January last year and I heard back in October. Of course, by March I was already aware that it was going to be a rejection but still, paid $125 in app fees to get an automated reply almost a year later. Good luck with your interview and I hope you get a good answer way faster than I did!

Welcome Fabruary! And we start with... a Rejection! Not from a school though. Just got an email that one of the papers I have submitted was rejected. Even though it would be a good addition to my CV, I'm not that mad because they took so long to review the papers that most of their negative comments were already corrected

Two more people posted acceptances at my top choice and here I sit with radio silence from all the universities that I applied. I'm with you @ana21, I can't concentrate on other things, sometimes it's even hard to sleep as I keep thinking too much about these applications.

Yeah, I imagine that is the case, they probably receive dozens of such emails every day. I just don't understand why they don't send the rejections to the people that have no chance quicker. Schools usually have under 15% of acceptance rate, I imagine that they read at least half of the applicants and be like "hell no", so why keep them waiting until late March, early April?

Even though I think this is good advice, I'm applying to UCSB for the 3rd time this year. First time I got rejected, second time accepted without funding, let's see what happens this year. But I never applied again to the other programs who rejected me in the past 2 cycles. If I manage to get accepted somewhere, I would like to work to save some money to pay for the moving expenses, plane tickets, maybe buy an old grocery-getter car and things like that. Even though a job as an engineer here wouldn't pay me much more than $1k/month

Yeah, today it feels like January 78th of 2019 lol. I emailed the graduate advisor at my first choice, she told me that my app is on the queue and results can go out until May 1st! To someone that was expecting to hear something until April 15th, that didn't help much.

Welcome to the team

I never had a macbook so I can't give an opinion on them. On Windows laptops, I would recommend getting something from Asus or Lenovo since I had a great experience with those and they seem to last forever. For the specs, it will depend a lot on your use and budget, but I greatly recommend getting one that has an SDD and at least 8gb of RAM. @Moods It's pretty much the same thing for a desktop, it will depend a lot on your use and budget. If you give more information I can try to help ?

Worries: Undergrad from a no-name school, GPA is not curved so it might appear low to the AdComm, GRE scores are below expected, in special the writing where I got a 3.0 (at least I did way better on the TOEFL, so I think that may help), got a mix of rejections and accepted without funding (aka polite rejection) in the last two years. Last but not least, some people were already accepted to my top choice, according to the survey. Excitement: Since the last application cycle I got 6 new pubs (only one as the 1st author though), I'm really close to finally finishing my Master's thesis, got an interview for a job that despite not paying that well, is in an area that could be beneficial to my CV, and lost 10 pounds since the beginning of the year.

This is my third year applying, 1st time got an acceptance without funding from UCSC, 2nd time I got the same from UCSC and got accepted also without funding at UCSB, which is my top choice as I studied there as an exchange student, worked there in the summer and got my first publication. I love that place so much! On the past week some people posted about being accepted at the ECE program there and since then my hope started going downwards since from my last 2 experiences if you don't make it on the first wave, you're pretty much done. To see if I can get some information to calm down a bit or get my rejection already, I just wrote to the graduate adviser, which I met during a visit in July and she seemed like a great person, so I imagine if she can disclose any helpful information, she will. Now the wait begins for yet another email...

Here in Brazil, one graduation ceremony is held for each major in different days, so it is usually a shorter event and it is a big deal. Sometimes, especially in Engineering, they put more than one major per ceremony due to the lack of people. When I graduated in 2016, there were only 5 people graduating in Computer Engineering, for example. During the ceremony, they call your name, then a piece of music you chose plays and you get up and go shake hands with the dean and the course coordinator, grab your diploma and take some pictures. Also, if you have a parent with a similar degree (also an engineer for example) they can come up the stage and hand you the diploma instead of the course coordinator. After the ceremony, people usually have dinner with their guests and throw/go to a party afterward.

I applied for UCSB for the ECE dept but I mentioned one Professor from the CS dept on my SoP. And applied for UC Davis CS program too. Last year I got into UCSB and UCSC but both without funding, let's hope for some better luck this year

I invite my friends over and make some delicious BBQ or sous vide roast, drink some beers and have some fun together. It always works but then Monday comes again and the anxiety hits right back hahaha

I applied for a position as a researcher at the local hospital. The requirements are very aligned with the research I have done before, so I think I have a good shot at that. But I still have to make a plan C in case that fails too. If I get rejected all over again and don't get this position at the hospital, I'll probably just acknowledge defeat and stop applying because I don't think my profile will get better this year ?

Usually, I go to the gym in the morning, work on my Master's thesis until dinner time and after time I take some time for my own, which includes watching TV, playing video-games and A LOT of refreshing my email and the survey page, which had 2 acceptances for my dream school on the last days and I'm starting to freak out

I am using as reference for the other programs the size expected by UC Davis. Instead of uploading your file, you have to paste your text on a textbox that is limited to 4000 characters (including spaces!).

Hello, Using the conversion table provided by ETS (https://www.ets.org/toefl/institutions/scores/compare/), I would say that both scores are pretty similar, with the exception of that 6 on the writing section of the IELTS. I agree that TOEFL scores are rather expensive but since your program is on Language and Literature, according to your signature, I would send the TOEFL scores if the additional money would not be a burden on your wallet.

I'm also applying for some CS programs. I'm interested in a swap as well

Same for me! Just send me a PM with a link to the SoP and I will send you mine too! Thanks for the help

I had the same feeling after taking the test. I was not happy with my quant score since I am from Engineering and also not fond of my verbal and AWA scores due to my high scores on the TOEFL test (it is a lot easier, I know). I really hope that a 3.0 on the AWA will not hurt my application so much or the other good factors such as the number of publications will help balance that negative part.

Hello everyone, I have a situation and would like to know your opinion on it. In 2016 I took the TOEFL exam and got a cumulative score of 112, 29 Reading, 29 Listening, 27 Writing and 27 speaking, but unfortunately I didn't get into any programs that year. To apply this year again I had to retake the test as it is only valid for two years, the problem is that I don't think I will get a score so good again since I didn't feel confident about my answers on the speaking and writing section. I have two main options: 1) Retake the test - problems are that the scores might not get to the AdComm on time due to the available dates to retake (and it costs $215, ouch) 2) Try to address the situation on my application, explain that I don't think my scores represents my knowledge and ask if they could consider my scores from 2016. What is your opinion? Thanks for the help!

I'm sorry you didn't get in. I know how you are feeling since it happened to me last year and this year again. Both times I had some interviews and ended up being accepted somewhere but without any financial assistance. I also tried to avoid people for the exact same reason but it's a waste of time, you'll have to answer that sooner or later. Also, the people were really supportive when I shared with them what happened, so I think you shouldn't keep avoiding them. The imposter syndrome is hitting me really this year too since after this round of applications, ALL of my friends who applied got into some school and I'm the only one left. Not only that but the fact that I always get some unfunded offer makes me think what is wrong with my profile that I'm good enough to get an offer but not enough to get financial assistance. To face this I'm working really hard on my Master's, so far I got my name into 6 publications this year and I'm planning to start writing my dissertation soon. I'm hoping that this will strengthen my application for next year and hope that I get in next time. As people say, third time is the charm