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I can't see why . . . none of my CC instructors has seemed to feel threatened, even the ones I have a few years on.

Agree with Upenn's reputation -- congrats!

Report email as spam/phishing scam.

What are you unsure of?

I don't see anything wrong with telling them you already committed to an interview at another school. They know this is interview season for everyone.

I'm not sure calling is a great idea. It's probably NOT a good sign if you haven't heard anything while others have, but calling could annoy them ...

When this happened to me, I assumed it meant I was not one of their top (first-round) picks. And I ultimately got rejections from those programs where I was not among the first round of interview invitees.

Agree it could be a good litmus test, but I'd probably go with your "get him his own room" option, rather than asking the department to make special arrangements.

Yes, NadaJ, I know exactly what you mean -- that was my thinking as well. And I got interviews from half the programs I applied to, so I actually don't regret applying this cycle, even though I know I am far from the ideal candidate, given my non-trad background. I just hope at least one interview turns into an acceptance, but I really had nothing to lose besides the application fees (even the time spent on applications would not be a waste if I need to reapply next year).

Well . . . I was surprised to see so many people applying to NCSU, as I had never heard of it before (oviously a state school, but not one of the "big names" in my experience). So, my conclusion was that it's either doing really effective marketing overseas, international alumni were doing a great job selling the school when they returned home, or it has really great programs that I know absolutely nothing about. And I wasn't sure which was true, but I suspected that it the school really did have a great reputation nationally in some field, that I would have at least heard it mentioned before reading these postings this year. However, I was willing to consider that it had at least one great program that I just did not know about because it was not in my area of interest. Duke and UNC, on the other hand, DO have national reputations, but again, I know nothing about the quality of their specific programs -- just have the perception that they are highly-thought of schools. Hope that helps (I live on the west coast, but spent 20 years on the east coast -- to give you a sense of geographic reach of the schools' reputations). Still ,this is just one person's admittedly ignorant perception -- you should try to find out from people in your field how respected the program you're admitted to is.

You could try taking the GRE really early as a "practice run." I did that, and felt really relaxed throughout the whole test, even when I thought I was messing up because the questions seemed to be getting easier instead of harder. Not stressing out and panicking seemed to really work for me, since I ended up being quite satisfied with my "practice" scores and not re-taking later in the season, as I'd originally planned to.

I had thought I'd go to grad school when I was younger, but life took a different path. I guess the idea never completely left my mind. I was sure it was too late at this point, but I found wonderful advisors who convinced me it was still a viable option to consider.

No -- doubt it will be a problem at all. It's known that the percentile rankings can and often do change over time.

I started my rejection collection -- expecting more. Just hang in there. I'm willing to reapply next year, if necessary.

I don't think the type of PhD would affect your suitability for community college positions one way or the other.

Go if you can -- it's the courteous thing to do.

Just another thought -- students like extra credit, but if you give out too many extra credit opportunities, I think they lose respect for the class. Also, they might feel that they don't really have to try their hardest and can let the work slide, since there will be extra credit to rescue them later. You may also see that the students who need the extra credit the least are the ones who always take advantage of it. I've been there, done that. I'm in a department that encourages us to give out extra credit for things like going to events sponsored by the department, but I'm deciding I really don't like extra credit much at all. If you are going to use it, use it sparingly. Anyone else have a better experience to report with extra credit?

Yeah -- I can see how that might come across as "I'm busy, don't bother me."

Another non-traditional applicant here. I guess I'll see how it all works out pretty soon. I have been very pleasantly surprised by how much fun the application process has been so far. I have met a lot of great people while getting myself ready to apply, and have gotten more help, support, and encouragement than I ever expected. So, even if I don't get in anywhere this time 'round, I feel very lucky.

I guess it is, a little, but from what the OP wrote, it seemed as if her efforts were going completely unrecognized in her evals. Of course, there's always room for improvement, but the OP already indicated an intention to improve and an awareness of possible shortcomings. So . . . no point letting the evals create negative feelings. And I am a bit tired of students who want to know what is going to be on the test, if I'm going to grade the HW for "correctness," if the recent quiz with a relatively low average will be curved (it won't help, the better students got As already), while at the same time don't take notes, want to study only off powerpoints that are provided to them, make it clear that they have made no effort to get the book in a timely manner, have not read the syllabus, etc., etc. I get 1-2 really good students every quarter, but that's about it.

Ignore them -- you're working much harder than they are, and you know much more than they do. What they really want is for you to do all their work for them. Then they would think you were a good TA, but then you'd REALLY be a bad one.

I don't see much point in taking more classes unless you need prerequisites or you need to raise a sub-par GPA. Since it does not seem that either applies to you, don't spend your time on more coursework. DEFINITELY improve that GRE. You don't want your application to be thrown out because you did not meet some minimum used for screening. For sciences, even your Q score might need to be a bit higher -- you might want to check averages for programs you're interested in.

Retake the GRE -- I don't see the value of more courses, given that you have what sounds like excellent research. I don't think the undergrad GPA will matter much, since it's well above the minimum required 3.0. Is that the GPA you were worried about? I don't think a 3.5 undergrad GPA is ever a problem when there are good letters from the researchers you worked with to go along with it.

EXACTLY! And somehow, putting them down here makes them seem LESS rational. You can convince yourself in your head that you have no chance, that you're the worst applicant they'll see, etc., etc., but then you come here and see everyone else is dealing with the same issues. It's actually reassuring.

I would agree with your comments, starmaker, but it sounded as if the working professional route might work in this case, as it is a degree the employer is interested in him having, and his stats seemed likely to make admission to a regular program somewhat difficult, given how competitive most of those programs seem to be. So, it's always a case of finding what works best for your situation. Another downside of the JHU option is that each course seems REALLY expensive (But maybe that's the going rate everywhere? I haven't compared prices at all.)