bluebird8

Tongue tied

stop sign

Snow peas

Yes, this is me too! As an undergrad, I took classes full-time, worked at least 20 hours/week, and did undergraduate research and wrote a thesis. I was always very busy and never had free time, but I thrived. I'm in my gap year and I can't take it. I need to go back to school.

We can

1. do cartwheels while simultaneously crying tears of joy 2. plan a nice vacation 3. look for places to live and plan moving

Yes to this. The weather can change at any time! I live in PA, and it got a lot colder now (in the 30s) and it is supposed to snow all day tomorrow. The warm weather was very short. @GreenEyedTrombonist, I would definitely keep checking the weather and expect that even if it is warm, it can get much colder within a day. The weather has been bouncing back and forth between warm and cold a lot.

turn around

Same I am still waiting to hear from most of the schools I applied to. I'd like to at least have options in case I screw up my only interview.

Yeah I'm treating my Michigan application as a rejection because I noticed they have already sent out a lot of invites. I know someone personally who got an interview at IU-Bloomington, but I have not seen much activity at all so it looks like they are still making decisions. My POI from IUB told me I would hear back by mid-January, so I'm thinking this might be the week.

That's good to know! I always thought it would look bad, like they were a secondary choice, if you asked for an alternate interview date.

Then do you know if I may have any potential conflicts? Or anyone? The schools I applied to are listed in my signature. I just don't want my top choice to invite me for an interview the same exact weekend and then have me ask them to move it...that will make them feel like they are not #1 when they actually are, you know? But I really don't want to leave UNC hanging for too long. I checked my top choice and they do not say I can't find information on their interview weekend anywhere.

Hi everyone, Is there a way to find out when schools typically have their interview weekends? I got invited for an interview at one of my schools but I don't want to accept just yet in case of conflicts, but I also do not want to leave them hanging for too long. Also, how long is it acceptable to wait to accept the interview invitation? Thanks!

I just got my first interview invitation last night!!! I'm so happy I heard from somewhere. But now I'm expecting to hear back from other schools this upcoming week, and I don't want to commit to going to this interview if the interview for my top choice is the same weekend. Does anyone know if the other schools I applied to have an interview weekend Feb 22-24 (schools are in my signature)? If not, how long do I wait to accept this interview invitation and if I need to respond very soon, how do I go about telling him I am still very interested but want to make sure there are no conflicts? The last thing I want to do is accept this invitation and then have my top choice contact me and tell me their interview weekend is the same.

stage left

I haven't received any word either! I am just a huge ball of stress. I had a phone conversation with a POI today, but he said he is not on the graduate committee and does not know if I will be invited for an interview. He said I should hear back within the next week, but I feel like I can't wait any longer...and this is my gap year, so unfortunately, I don't have a semester to distract me.

I just recently got an email from a POI who asked me if I had time for a phone interview tomorrow! Is that a thing they normally do before official interview invites? I never got an invite to an interview, just this phone interview. What does this mean?

I actually applied to Michigan's Psych Ph.D. because I am looking more into animal behavior, and there is a Biopsychology focus within the program that addresses animal behavior. But I did apply to UNC's Biological Sciences program. I went to the grad café results section but it still makes me worry when everyone else I know applying to grad school got at least 2 interviews and I have none. I did check all the application portals earlier today and the status of my applications were either Submitted or In Review. Thanks for the tips! Unfortunately for me, I already graduated from my undergrad and my university is primarily an undergraduate university, so the professors at my undergrad are not really the best for advice since they do not deal with graduate students or graduate applications.

Hi everyone, I have applied to 5 schools so far and have not heard anything from them. Most applications were due December 1st, while only one was due December 15th. I know people who have heard from these schools already, and one person even got an interview two weeks ago for the same exact program I applied. The wait is killing me. My question is, how long should I wait until I email my POIs about my application status? I don't want to seem impatient, but I do not want to wait around for a rejection if that's what I'm going to get.

Yes! Someone I know already has an interview for the same school and program that I applied to, and it is my top choice. I'm so worried that I haven't heard anything yet!

I am going through all of these same things. I don't have a Master's, but I have a good undergraduate GPA and research experience, but I have not received any interview invites yet and it is so nerve-wracking. I also have a boyfriend who I have been dating for 4.5 years and we currently live together, so it would be so weird if he could not move with me to grad school. He has specific states he refuses to move to, but not necessarily a region. I'm east coast, but I only applied to 2 east coast schools. The rest are Midwest or the south. I try not to check my email all the time but it's really hard not to expect something every day.

I'm a Biology major and I'm currently feeling this. Got a job in a lab and this is my gap year, but it doesn't pertain to my research interests in the slightest. I'm worried grad schools will deny me because I wasted this gap year.

Oh no, the wrong draft thing is the worst! My undergraduate GPA is 3.75 with a 3.82 major GPA, but my highest GRE scores (I took it twice) was 155V 157Q 4.5AW. Very average, not competitive scores. I have over two years of research experience, I wrote an undergraduate thesis, applied for my own research grants, and went to 4 local conferences to present my research. However, I did not publish my work and I feel that plus my GRE scores set me back from everyone else in Biology. All of my LoRs are from professors I have become close to, one being my undergraduate research advisor. I think the University President rec you have should be fine, because he/she can still vouch for your work ethic and personality. I have told myself not to look at my applications that I have already submitted because I'm sure I will find mistakes. But yes, I just want to KNOW! What freaks me out is the fact that someone I know, who applied for the same program at the same school as me, got an interview invitation last week and I got nothing.

Same! I know my GPA is good, but my GRE scores are just...average. I got a lot of advice about SOPs but I still don't know if mine were good enough...I think my letters are good, but how do I really know that? How do others compare to me? All this waiting is making me question all my applications. I just wish I had at least one answer.

I say better late than never. You always want to make sure your POIs take an interest in you as well and have room for you, or you will be stuck going to a school with no advisors. In STEM (not sure if you're STEM or not), you end up doing research in their lab, but they won't let you work in their lab if they have no room for you or simply aren't interested in you. So do it as soon as you can!