ridgey

The big black mark against three of my applications (for one "safety" and two top choices, one of which was a reach anyway) is going to be my writing sample. It's pretty good for something thrown together at the last minute, and even has a couple of quite good sections, but, upon rereading a couple of weeks after the fact, it's weak overall. This lead to the question of whether I really have given myself the best possible chance with my applications. And questions, naturally, lead to polls! I know a lot of us are super anxious, but if at all possible I'd like the poll to reflect a little objectivity. It's probably pretty common to be obsessing over every detail, but it is unlikely the committees are going to reject you on the basis of the font you wrote your SoP in. Unless it was Wingdings...

I took advantage of being an ocean away and was working on them when my calendar said it was the day after deadline. My last application I submitted two days early, or three if you allow for the time difference. At the time, that was evidence of a new found dedication and the end of my habit of procrastinating. Turns out, not so much!

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/gsas/pages/p ... q/ddr.html Not sure that keeping tabs on ApplyYourself for Columbia will do much good...

Oddly enough, the two results I've had - both rejections - have eased my anxiety about waiting. Maybe it was realising that the disappointment wouldn't actually kill me. So I still check for results a few times a day, but nowhere near as compulsively. That said, I would still very much like the rest of my results - or a single admittance - ASAP.

I don't think there have been acceptances on the board yet....? I reckon it's all postive for you guys - worst case would be waitlist.

I feel so ripped off that the new season isn't on here yet. That does seem to be a fantastic rejection song though!

I'm uncomfortable with the term "deserve" in the question (I lurk on the Chronicle forum and a common theme is a sense of entitlement in students) but I really would WANT to know why. The reality is that when there are so many more applicants than spaces, it may very well be that the schools can't give a reason. In any applicant pool, only some can be the best. A school can't know in advance what standard that best will be in any given year. If they said I need to do X, that's all very well, but how do they know that next year I won't be compering against the inventor of X. But, having said that, I don't think it can hurt to ask. Be prepared, though, for a lot of vague answers.

Masters is in progress...

That could be a good thing - maybe they are rejecting by the website first, and they will make more personal contact with acceptances (you and Rutabaga) later.

Yup, just looked a few minutes ago. I was policy too, so you'll probably find out today - good luck!

Not waiting for Hopkins anymore. Oh well.

JHU, Columbia, UMich, Yale, UMass Amherst, and NYU. Yes, I know NYU isn't an accredited school, but the programme (which itself is accredited) looks really cool!

Thanks for sharing your optimism, frankdux! I suspect (and shall probably be able to confirm soon) that 100% rejection is soul destroying, whether it's 3 schools or 14 schools.

One of my schools is poorly ranked and another not an accredited school in my field (the programme is accredited, though) but I wouldn't call them backup schools. I could do the things I want to there, and I'm not confident enough to describe either as safeties. In the case of 100% rejection, I'll do some combination of travel/community development volunteering/research job for a year or two. Hopefully, I can find a job matching my interests. I've had a lot of research jobs in completely random areas, but in doing my masters this year I have discovered how much better it is to work on the things that interest me. If I have to, I'll work for free for this privilige, and do retail/hospitality to eat.

Pretty much. Plus, when it happens a lot, it clutters up the topics list. To be fair to the OP though: the last age poll, while it was only created a month or so ago, has dropped back to page four. Probably further back than would be reasonable for someone to go back and check for. Four (long) pages of topics in a month - we ARE a talkative bunch!

If only there was a way that a new member of the forum was able to see discussions and polls that occurred before they joined. Maybe someone could figure out how to store everything as a list of titles that could be browsed through. Then, clicking on the title, a person could see the whole thing. :wink:

Tease! I suspect I'm off the pace for February. Still time to make a comeback, though.

No doubt! So if I find a thousand words here, where do the other 4000 for the chapter come from? Maybe all the passwords I've entered to access my online applications would come close...

I have a meeting with my supervisors next week, meaning I have to email them a chapter and soem other things tomorrow to give them time to read and comment. Have I typed a single word? No. Unless you count gradcafe posts...

The schools that you have been accepted to should be able to put you in touch with some of their current and former students; that might be helpful to you since it doesn't seem that anyone here can tell you much.

...unfortunately, it's not like I can decide to stop waiting. Mr J Hopkins et al will send out notifications in their own sweet time. Or I could write my thesis.

We probably don't really have the numbers here to get anything very interesting out of a poll. But just in case, I thought I'd make one. I've been thinking about Yale's 5/200 admits across the whole of their public health dept (see other thread) and wonder how their applicants are distributed by area. The poll lets you choose two options so you can choose between MPH and PhD - sorry DrPH and other folk! If you've only applied to programmes in "Public Health" with no further specification, just choose what you think your dissertation will be in or what you find the most interesting.

Based on past years, I'm expecting to hear from JHU this week. Though my last prediction in that regard was wrong, so who knows? JHU is the acceptance I want the most. I waver between being certain I'll be admitted and certain I'll be rejected with a letter personalised because the standard rejection letter wouldn't convey how much of a joke they found my applciation

As the lone 'work, what's work?" respondant, I feel the need to clarify. Especially since that answer isn't what one would typically expect of an aspiring PhD student! In most ways, I'm a chronic procrastinator and wait until the very last minute. I'll be writing my essays overnight before they're due. Similar to my applicaitons now that I think of it. But, that only happens when I have to have a tangible result, like an essay. In terms of studying for exams, or doing readings, I just don't. BUT, a lot of my procrastination/recreational time wasting (not grad cafe, though!) is relevant - I'll have great intentions of reading a particular journal article, but get distracted by a couple of the articles cited there, or other works by the same author, or..., and never actually finish the original article

I think there was another GPA poll a few weeks ago...