Kitkat

I want to add Fly - Nicki Minaj and Rhianna, if just because of the chorus. I use it as a reminder that its not all over yet to me.

This sounds a lot like a weekend full of you getting a better look at them/them getting a better look at you in person kind of event. Not a normal interview setup, but you will probably be working with them for a long period, and they might want to see if they can get through a dinner/lunch situation on top of the education part of it, because it will probably come up if you go there. See it as a opportunity for them to get to know you better, and you to get to know them better. You can use it to see the city and see if you can really live there for years.

I am assuming you talked to someone about this? Do you know if anyone has heard anything yet?

I'm sorry to hear that you didn't get into one of your top schools. But I hope that you get into others! Crossing my fingers for you. With mine, I just went numb, but at least could console myself with the fact that it was not one of the top ones for me. Hope to hear better news from you soon.

I'm finding that when I am busy, I am not freaking out, but those times where I have some free time is when I start having my moments. But I have to say that with some people, having this sense of panic can be seen as a good thing. Just in case the worst happens, it might have been good to have the panic to make a plan B. This is all of course dependent on the person. It works for some, not for others. Some people respond well under pressure. I think that what gets to people is all the waiting. At the same time I keep reminding myself that I don't want them to rush a descision on me. I want them to take their time, see me as a real candidate and accept me. Sure everyone wants then to look at their application and immediately say, "This one is a keeper!", but I think with most applications, and most schools, that probably won't happen very often.

So the classes that I am taking seem to think that I should be doing a lot of reading this semester. Not a bad way to keep busy. ;-)

It's nice to find this thread. I have basically started off my application season with a rejection. I hope for the best for everyone here.

I know the feeling. But if you do well your last two years, they will look at the improvement and where you ended up, rather then where you started out. While you did not do great, at least you can make an agrument for at least trying college classes in high school, which is better then those who never did. So what I would say is this, try to build up other experiences (research, teaching/tutoring, etc) and continue to improve your grades. If you do that, then there is no reason why you can make an agument for your ability to be a good grad student.

Being unteatherd to a computer would be so much nicer in that respect. I feel that I am given to many opportunites to get to a compter myself, to check if there is any news.

So far with everyone's experiences, both past and present, how long did it take people to hear back from schools after their application dates? I am assuming that for most of the applications for a everyday applicant like me that it is anywhere 1-3 months for each program, and want to know if that is similar to other peoples experiences. I really dont want to get impatient and worried before I have to.

Bascially all of the profs that I was getting letters from, seemed to think that this was a normal number for what I was applying to. I think with my case it is partially because of the fit issue that you mention. But I would also think that it is because at the moment it is still a generally small field, as opposed to a field like physics, which has a much larger selection of schools/programs that you can pick and apply to.

In a way, too much of this thinking is what I am trying to avoid. To a degree, it would be useful just in case. But I don't want to at the same time psych myself out of grad school before I even hear back. At this point it looks like I will be keeping myself busy from a number of different sources. School work, working in the lab, catching up on my own reading, playing computer games. Basically a multitude of things that I can get my hands on.

something borrowed

step ladder

could

So I think many of us are in the same boat when it comes to the waiting game. I know that I am starting to drive my significant other with my worrying about getting into grad school. The question is how are/did people keeping themselves busy during the waiting period? I still have a semester to go, and will keep myself busy with that, but fear the moments of break that I have, still.

I would say that it is perfectly acceptable that when you are applying to grad school to mention something like this. I noticed that some schools even asked for this type of information. I don't think that it is crass at all. What it comes down to is this. If they see you and like you, and also like another person, and are on a limited budget to how many people to take, they can still take both of you, since you will cost them practically nothing.

Yeah, I basically planned a pre-emptive intervention on myself. Planned vacations after submitting all of my applications, so I kept myself busy for a weak and a half before coming back to bite my nails. So while I am starting to get nervous, especially since other applicants are starting to get early results back(at one specific school that I am thinking about they say that most students will not hear back till mid February to early March), I am probably more calm then if I had been at home all the time with nothing to do.

I think it is just people being afraid that every one else's applications might look better/ that they made a mistake/ a feeling of a loss of control. There is the fact that they cannot go back, change things and make it look better, and they just have to sit on their hands now. I am starting to get that feeling a lot now.

This is really similar to what I feel that they would be saying about me as well.

Congrats about getting it. This is making me worry about my application there now though ... one of my profs sent in my letter late. Hope that doesn't count against me much. Care to share why you were a special case? BTW, how did they contact you to let you know? I'm sure that physics people are on a different schedule then us.

From what I have gathered, the importance of GPA and GRE are dependent to some degree on what your other application materials look like. If your GRE and GPA pass basic muster, they look at everything else. Everything else compared they look back at these two things. So it really all depends. Not what you want to hear, but it is basically the truth. It is very difficult to compare two people easily, and don't think that over all you would want them to look at you that way.

I'll probably have a night out with friends at our local bar. Nothing special, but good all the same.