CherryBlossom_
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Posts posted by CherryBlossom_
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I know I'm already dead set on a school (ok, 99% on it). But there is this process that didn't come out yet. A master's program in Canada in a good school, with full stipend. It's quite obvious I'm not getting in this late in the application season, but every time I talk to my dad ("dad, I'm going to accept the "99%" offer, ok?") he just sends me away with a flea in my ear: "What about school x? Can't you wait for one more day to accept the offer? What if x gets back to you tomorrow?" And it's driving me crazy.
The following paragraph won't be popular, I know =( but it's just me venting.
I applied in early December for their master's program and so far I've heard nothing from them. I tried to contact POI twice by e-mail (it's a requirement... to secure a supervisor) and got no response (not even a "sorry, I'm not supervising new students this year"); tried to contact admissions team to submit GRE scores and got no response / tried to contact admissions team to ask about status 3 times in the past 4 months: got no response / tried to call: no success. It makes me kind of mad/sad when I think about it, it's like the process works in a way that the ultimate goal seems to be sacred and unreachable, with applicants having to wait for as long as it takes to have an answer (positive or negative), with no access to details whatsoever. I wasn't in Academia but I, too, had a job (maybe not "as pure") and, yes, I had responsibilities, deadlines and had to manage expectations from both bosses and clients. Guys: we're in MAY, it's MORE THAN A THIRD OF A YEAR. It's people's lives we're talking about. REAL lives =( People moving abroad, people quitting their jobs, people committing all their savings, people investing their mental health on this process.
When it comes to my dad's concerns... I know I don't "owe" him explanations (it's my money, my life etc), and that he's just caring about me ❤️ He's the sweetest thing in the whole world and I'm so happy he's helping me decide and giving me advice. After all, I'll commit 70K USD to this new life and, in my currency, "it's money". Probably, he's just scared to have a recently single 29-year-old daughter, who has just quit her high-paying job to move abroad and go back to academia and spend all her money on it. But I'm getting really anxious here. I want to commit to my new life, and I'm really excited about this program/this school in the US. I want to start planning ahead, get the visa, look for condos, buy my air tickets... ❤️ I'm already an overanxious person, this whole process messed up with my anxiety and OCD symptoms like never before, but I'm glad it's closer to an end. ?
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23 minutes ago, Adelaide9216 said:
I received the official letter from my university saying that if I fail my thesis again, I will be expelled. My emotions are literally a roller coster right now. I still work on my thesis, but there are moments where I feel like "what if I don't make it? what if pursuing a PhD wasn't meant to happen? What am I going to say to all the people who know about my PhD acceptance and Vanier scholarship?". And there are other moments where I feel like in 10 years, I'll be laughing over this with my (future) students.
I am going to do everything I can to pass. I cancelled all my extracurricular activities for the next month. But it doesn't feel comfortable right now to be in my shoes, I feel so much pressure. I don't want everything I have worked so hard to be taken away from me. I try to put that pressure and negative thoughts into a box and not let them paralyze me. I also try to remember that I am a fighter and have always been. I know I belong in academia. I know I want to do a PhD. I know I've got what it takes. I know I am not at fault for what happened. I know this is not reflective of my worth. I know why this happened, how easily avoidable it actually was and who's to blame, but I cannot throw a pity party right now, it's useless. I need to take action and move forward.
All my positive thoughts to you.
The first thing that came to my mind when I read your post was the phrase you use as your signature: "I'm no longer accepting the things I cannot change... I'm changing the things I cannot accept." You can't change the past... it's done, already happened, gone. What you can do is be outraged by the idea of not succeeding. You can't accept that. You won't. You'll move forward, as you already said.
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1 hour ago, Halek said:
Sometimes it feels like I don't belong in grad school because I don't like to get drunk and I don't really smoke.
Don't those things die with undergrad school? ? the last time I got drunk was at my ex's graduation party, almost a life ago
With age comes wisdom, hangover aversion and a more refined taste for wines!
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3 hours ago, Sigaba said:
A way to address the question of the importance of program rank at a preferred job is to look at the academic backgrounds of people with similar jobs.
That's some good advice! Not only for academia but also for other jobs. Some reverse engineering! I see lots of prospective students/young professionals asking for advice and this kind of search is a good way for one to decide which program/job would be a good fit for you to get where you wanna be.
As though as I agree with almost everything said in this thread, this question of prestige... it's a delicate one. We gotta be realistic but careful with our statements. It's a question that - if misinterpreted - might discourage people from applying/pursuing their dreams. One might think, for example, that someone from a different country shouldn't even bother to apply for top-5 programs in the US (yes, I've already heard that one, I'm from South America). However, I have about 5 or 6 classmates at Harvard, Columbia, Stanford, MIT and so on.. and yeah, they all carry a "south-american undergraduate degree".
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1 hour ago, bloomeighty said:
I experienced this after I graduated in June 2017, too. It's hard to see the friends you made there as frequently, but you will make connections moving forward, be it at grad school or in the work force. It's a big transition, but making money and moving up in the workforce is a great thing too! There are so many other milestones to look forward to after undergrad is done. My advice is to try to keep in touch with them but also try to be emotionally independent - forge your happiness through yourself.
Gold piece of advice ❤️ also, I cannot second enough what @bloomeighty said about financial independence! Very true!
It's hard when we're used to a place/a situation/people and then life changes and we just have to move on. I'm quite older than you guys (graduated in December 2013) and at the time I think all of us were so tired of school and so eager to "start living" that we didn't feel emotional at all. I think it's more of a cultural thing but here in my country engineering students seem to graduate never wanting to look back haha cursing everyone and everything related to their undergrad experience. I didn't see it that way... I had a great undergrad experience, which gave me my best friend, a 4-year relationship (which ended, but yeah that's another story rs) and great memories...
Unfortunately... people move on and it's hard to keep in touch =( we start by meeting once a month, then once every two months, then at birthdays... and then the inevitable happens: meetings at weddings and baby showers! haha your old group of friends is now in their early 30s!!
But you know what? That's the beauty of it! I mean... I met my best friend at my very first day in college, 10 years ago. And she's still my best friend. We talk about other things now, but sometimes we just sit and remember classes, teachers, people from college, search their profiles on FB HAHA and it's so much fun.
The good ones, the true ones? They'll stay. ❤️ As the time passes by you realize you have less people around, but the ones you have are the real ones! And it'll be a blast for all of you to share all of the milestones of your lives: first job, first salary, first apartment, first marriage and so goes on.
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5 hours ago, sgaw10 said:
Well, I had no luck getting off the waitlist at Rice. But now I don't have to stress about the process, since I am officially going to the only school that wanted me
Headed to WashU this fall. Glad this process is over. Not how I imagined this to unfold. Sad to leave Chicago in a few months, but I'm gonna learn to like St. Louis. And I have a great pair of potential advisors, so I'm not worried about academic fit.
It’s a “peace feeling”, isn’t it? I feel the same! I’m not going to my first choice but I’m going to a good school, the one who wanted me from the beginning and from whom I get a good vibe!
We can finally start planning ahead and fall in love with our new countries/cities ♥️
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Guys, anybody heard from UIUC (MSc) lately?
Someone posted in the results page that (s)he talked to the program director and he told results would come out at once (so: not rolling) before (or on) April 15th. But right after that 3 people posted their acceptances already... and so far all I got was radio silence!
I have another acceptance reminding me to accept/register/send them visa documentation literally every day... and I'm starting to worry about the timing of things (visa, looking for a place to stay, renting my place here and even buying a cheaper flight ticket to get there haha - internationals have a lot to worry about haha)
Do you have some experience with their admission process? Are they used to admit people way past April 15th?
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Guilty pleasure: watching culinary reality shows.
Real life: I have 5 delivery apps I use on a daily basis, lunch and dinner. 6 sabbatical months later, doing nothing and being anxious all day, I put on 13 pounds. Nobody notices cause before I was almost *too* thin hahaha but when I look at the scale *I* know, you know?
And I feel like doing nothing! In my mind I’ll just start moving on with my life once I know all the results and decide where I’m going!
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4 hours ago, fireuponthedeep said:
I feel somewhat like the blind leading the blind since I don't know for sure, beyond what I've been told and seen on the UMN job boards, so take this with a grain of salt! But I think that that is a definite possibility. The UMN internal job search portal lists available graduate assistantships that anyone can view and apply for. They looked like normal job applications, you submit your resume and if you have the requisite skills potentially they'll hire you. So if you were to see a RA/TA position in the Chem E department and you have what they're looking for, I don't see why you couldn't apply for it! Additionally, I know Emory has a similar portal to look for RA/TA positions, so I'd imagine they're fairly ubiquitous across American universities, but I can't definitively say that every school has one. That would depend on your school, but there's still the option of manually searching through the Chem E department and finding professors you think you could help, then emailing them. Worst case scenario they ignore you, assuming you're polite and respectful in your email.
I will say that it seems likely that preference might be given to students w/in their own department, and I'm sure there are downsides to seeking positions outside the biostats/stats department if you're looking for research opportunities specifically w/in biostats/stats. But for my part I just want my masters to be cheap and don't really care about the research since I'm gunning for an industry job after I'm done. UMN is so big that there seem to be a surplus of GA positions available, you just need the skills for them and they don't seem to care what department you're in if you can help. Obviously in an ideal world you'd find something in the biostats/stats department, but life ain't always that idyllic.
As far as the licensed engineer question, I honestly don't know, but I guess that would depend on the specifications of the individual position. If it's a TA position, it doesn't seem like you'd need one? But I have no clue, I know nothing about engineering lol. Maybe try posting on one of the engineering subforums and see if they've been required to have engineering licenses for those postions?
Thank you very much for your replies, @fireuponthedeep and @GoPackGo89! I’ll definitely look into these ideas when the program starts!
As you said, @fireuponthedeep, best case scenario would be to find opportunities within the statistics/applied math departments, but if that’s not the case I wouldn’t mind to get back to my engineering roots, especially because there are some areas there I really like and I used to be good at (process control, for example).
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20 minutes ago, fireuponthedeep said:
It can totally be a different department, and frequently is! One masters student I met was a TA for an online course in social work (idk the exact school/department) since that was her undergrad specialty. It seems like it's honestly dependent on the strengths of the individual student and whether they're willing to reach out and find those opportunities. It's definitely not taboo to reach out between departments looking for those opportunities. As I actually find out for myself this fall, I am more than willing to let ya know what that entire process looks like tho
Sorry to interrupt your conversation, but that’s some gold piece of information!
I’m about to start a master program without funding in the US (and my currency is devalued when compared to USD :S)!
I’ve applied for Statistics/Applied Math programs, but I have practical knowledge with SAS and some other packages (5 years working in Finance), and I graduated as a Chemical Engineer. Does that mean that I could, for example, look for positions in the Chemical Engineering Department? Even though I’m not actually enrolling in a Chemical Engineering post-Grad program?
And one more question: to do so... would it be necessary for me to be a licensed engineer in the US? (I mean, to officially register etc?)
It would be GREAT should I be able to seek opportunities in other departments (such as the engineering ones)!
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This application season is so overwhelming =( I couldn't possibly imagine that I would be affected like that... I mean, I'm not new at adulthood, I'm almost 30, I've been dealing with generalized anxiety and moderate OCD for more than 10 years and even so I'm able to be highly functioning: I worked in Finance for all my life, dealing with all sorts of pressure, deadlines and nasty people (oh, and a plus: I overcame the end of a long-term relationship along the way =/).
Finally, FINALLY, I worked up the courage to quit my stable-high paying job and "follow the dream": move abroad, go back to academia, officially changing fields (I'm a Chemical Engineer applying for Statistics/Applied Math programs), and now this whole process is wearing me down. I'm waiting for one last result so I can decide where to go (which University/city in the US), and not knowing and not being in control is driving me crazy and messing up with my OCD symptoms like never before.
I took this semester as a sabbatical one (after all those years in the bank I owed me that haha), and I KNOW I should take these last months here in BR to enjoy the city (I'm from São Paulo, it's a huge city, I could basically choose a new restaurant a day to try haha), enjoy the company of my parents, friends, travel to cities nearby etc. I'm moving abroad, after all! It's supposed to be exciting!! But all I can do is WORRY about this result that won't come out and won't even let me be excited about the city I'll move to, because I don't know WHAT IT IS YET. =(
I just want this whole application season to be over =( good news or bad news, I just want some closure, please =`(
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23 minutes ago, feralgrad said:
Still waiting on fellowship info, and I've been paranoid that I may have been passed up because I posted identifiable info concerning the program on here... I've heard adcomms sometimes lurk on these boards, but I wasn't thinking about that when I posted my results. I was trying to be helpful to other GCers, but now I think I may have just been foolish.
Don’t give up on hope, @feralgrad!
I know where you’re coming from, I’m almost losing it at this point, waiting for the last result to come out and checking the portal every 30 minutes, but I rather think the reasons behind our acceptances/rejections and funding are beyond our control now... we could manage it up until we submitted our docs; from that time on... it’s on their hands, it depends on the number of places available, budgeting, the cohort size and quality... and so on.
I’m sending all my positive thoughts to you. I hope we can get some positive news real soon!
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Anyone heard from UIUC (MSc)?
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I am still waiting for their Masters in Statistics results!
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56 minutes ago, clinicalnerd said:
HAHAHA omg, I shouldn’t be laughing but this is the best reaction ever!
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10 minutes ago, CarolinaSmash said:
I applied to UIUC January 20ish and heard back yesterday. Don't worry, still lots of time left
I applied one week later (Feb 1st or something) haha so I guess I'm waiting a little longer! Thanks for the reply and super congrats on your offer! ❤️
(haha edited because I was so lost on my dates)
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7 hours ago, jasper1729 said:
Any international applicant applied for chemical engineering phd at MIT, Caltech, Cornell, CMU? I've not heard anything from them, not even rejection. Anyone in the same boat as me? Seems that all admits have been sent.
Haven't applied but I'm starting to think I should haha
Chemical Eng. undergrad here.. worked in Finance every since graduation and am trying to change fields for graduate studies. I'm anticipating rejections everywhere ='( It would be easier for me to explain only one bad grade in electrochemistry (but, on the other side, a whole undergrad program full of unit operations and reactor designing courses) than explaining the fact I had only one Statistics course haha =(
Heads up high, @jasper1729! Some results take longer to come out... I'm positive you'll get in some of your options! ?
Good luck to us all! -
On 2/21/2019 at 5:45 AM, theduckster said:
This might seem like a dumb question but I'll ask it anyway: Does UIUC have rolling admissions for their Statistics Master's? I've seen a couple of admissions on the results page even though their deadline is way out (in April).
I was wondering the exact same thing... I applied way early in the process but wasn't expecting to hear back from them so soon until.... I saw the two admissions on the results page! hahaha Now I'm freaking out because I haven't heard anything from them yet! It definitely didn't help with my anxiety haha, I'm already freaking out because of Imperial (they're 2 weeks late with their process and the "end of February" thing seems to last forever) =(
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A heads up for University College London applicants... when the status bar changes to “Currently being processed by Admissions” one might expect a decision by midnight (UK time)...
That’s the only time I feel grateful for not living in the US... my timezone is closer to the UK than to the US hahaha.
(Yeah I follow a forum just like The Grad Cafe, but from the UK haha don’t know if it was a good thing for me... now I check the portal every 2 hours haha)
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38 minutes ago, gahhhh said:
Worries: Dream School's web portal (where apparently *everyone* finds out first) is glitching for me and I can't log in/refresh obsessively
Excitement: ??? The fantasy that only my portal is down because the web devs are personally editing it to reflect my admission ??
OMG yes!!!! Loved it! I must confess I’m the same
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3 hours ago, whiskerplot said:
Now that I have one acceptance my biggest worry is whether I'm going to get any more or not. Can I pull the trigger yet and commit? Can I sign a pre-lease on an apartment and look for roommates? CalTech doesn't release decisions until MARCH. ?
I fell you!!!
I'm between "omg I'm so excited, this city is awesome, let me search the web about condos, things to do etc" and "hmm I don't know if I'm moving there yet, so let's just calm down and not be excited about it" hahaha ?
The Positivity Thread
in The Lobby
Posted · Edited by CherryBlossom_
Committed to the master’s program ♥️ new life ahead of me! So excited! New country, new dreams, new challenges, I can’t wait for it!
Next two months: enjoy every second here in my beloved home country/city, with parents and friends!