Golden Monkey

My application to HCC said it was incomplete and missing a transcript all the way up until the day I got a rejection letter from them. I had it sent twice.

You guys are all way ahead of me. I suddenly realized that I'd better get moving on this.

I applied to 4, but in retrospect, I wish I had applied to more like 7. I think it was a very different situation from applying for my master's, where I only applied to 3 (all three were in the area, so I didn't have to relocate,) and was pretty sure I'd get into all 3, which I did. When applying for a PhD, I wish I had applied to more programs, even ones that seemed geographically unfeasible.

Yeah, I know, and I kind of wonder if applicants might benefit from the same kind of constantly-evolving strategies that emerge when looking for a job. The biggest struggle for job-hunters in this incredibly competitive market is getting their resume seen in the first place, regardless of whether or not it's a good resume. Throwing your resume and a cover letter at an HR department and just expecting them to recognize how qualified you are is futile, because they'll never look at it. The way to get hired (as detailed in books like "Don't Send a Resume" and "Guerilla Marketing for Job Hunters,") is to bypass HR (or in this case the adcomm,) and go directly to the person who is in charge. The idea is that when it comes time to admit/reject, they might remember your name (hopefully in a positive way) and then actually consider your qualifications, (read your SOP, visit your home page for 30 seconds, read your LORs, read your CV) instead of just looking at the first thing they see (low GPA, crappy GREs, transcripts from no-name schools, whatever it is) and immediately throw you into the reject pile. Just a thought, anyway.

Wondering if any of the older applicants had very different results from applying to master's programs than you did with PhDs? At the age of 38 (about to turn 39,) I applied to 3 master's programs and got 3 acceptances. Two were programs I was genuinely interested in, while the third was a "safety." Other than scholarships + loans, none of them were funded. While applying to PhDs, I got 3 rejections out of 4 applications, despite the fact that my work during my master's degree was, well, honestly pretty good, plus the fact that I had LORs from some pretty well-known professors. Makes me realize that when applying to unfunded masters programs, getting accepted isn't that big of a deal. When getting accepted to funded PhD programs, it's a pretty big deal.

Oh, I didn't really expect anything, but it was pretty enlightening wrt the admissions process. It makes me realize that there is not only the factor of how difficult the program is to get into, but what will get them to look at ones qualifications (or lack of) in the first place, the quirks of each individual adcomm, etc. I had never thought of it as being so similar to a job search before, but it really is. If you blindly send your resume to a posting on monster.com, you'll get a form rejection, whereas if you contact the company ahead of time before you apply, it increases your chances of them looking at your resume in the first place among thousands of others.

My quest is over, and the end result is that I got one PhD acceptance, which I am completely over-the-moon ecstatic about (would have probably picked them even with more acceptances,) and three rejections. I get the distinct feeling, though, that the adcomms from the other three programs never even looked at my application, never read my carefully-crafted SOPs written and re-written for each program, and never looked at my CV, portfolio, or LORs. It makes me realize that there isn't just the matter of whether or not you're interested in the program, or whether or not you get in, but whether or not the adcomms are even going to look at you as an applicant in the first place. From the first program, I heard absolutely nothing for months, until I got my form rejection letter. The same thing from the second program. From the third program, I received a form letter that said "sorry in advance, we're really screwed up this year," then absolutely no feedback, and then I found out they had lost my transcript, but no one there would answer my question how to fix this. Then I finally got a rejection from them, which was, of course, another form letter. But overall, it gives me the feeling that those three programs didn't even looked at my application. I mean, no contact whatsoever from application to rejection, and no indication from them that they had even looked at my application, such as, "despite your impressive work background," or "despite your glowing letter from Well Known Professor Zizzmore," or anything like that. Kinda makes me realize (for anyone applying to PhDs next year,) that you should cast the net wide, even if the program isn't geographically desirable, or doesn't mention funding, or doesn't 100% match your interests. You just never really know.

You can check a few places for reference here: http://chronicle.com/stats/stipends/

I also love the fact that you only have to charge it once every few weeks! Plus the ability to read it outdoors.

One thing I mistakenly assumed was that adcomms would look at my work experience first, and my work samples, and then all the other stuff. In truth, I don't know if they looked at those things at all. For all I know, my CV might never have been viewed, and since I don't track traffic to my home page, I have no idea if they ever bothered to look at it. If they start with GRE scores, I know I immediately go into the reject pile, for instance. I don't think we can ever assume that adcomms will necessarily care about our strongest assets, or even if they ever look at them. This is why I wish I had "cast the net a bit wider" and applied to a few more schools. Not only is there the issue of how interested we are in their programs, but there's also the issue of what their adcomms care about, and whether or not those two line up. There are probably adcomms that only want the "typical" PhD applicant with perfect GRE scores and GPAs and don't necessarily value work experience.

I must say that's some excellent advice. That's what I ended up saying in my SOPs, (because that's what I'm doing,) but I had never really heard it spelled out like that. Makes sense. I did get my final rejection today. I am not sure this is a "legitimate" rejection, because this is the school that lost my transcript, then didn't tell me how to remedy this, and sent out emails months ago telling everyone how disorganized they were this year, so we should please be patient. But I'm okay with that, because I already accepted my one offer and am beyond ecstatic with that. In the end, I got 3 out of 4 rejections. One thing I wish I had done was applied to more programs. In my very limited field, there were only 6-7 programs in the US that were suitable, though there are more worldwide. I now wish that I had applied to all 6 or 7 instead of just 4, and maybe applied to some of the ones in Canada, Britain, and Japan to boot, just to see what they said. I almost applied to 2 more US programs, but didn't apply to one because I figured that with the cost of living in that area, there was no way it could be economically feasible, even with funding. I didn't apply to the other because I thought the web site was too vague in what they did. In truth, just because a program doesn't actually mention its funding, doesn't necessarily mean that it doesn't exist, and sometimes a good program can have a crappy website. I now kinda wish I had cast the net a bit wider.

That's kind of interesting that hardcrash and I had similar experiences, both being in technology-related fields, with related work experience. When I was considering going back to school (at the master's level,) I asked the opinions of two guys who were in PhD programs (but in their mid-late 20s.) They weren't very optimistic on my chances, but then again, one was in English Literature, and the other was in History.

I applied to 4 PhD programs at the age of 43 and have 2 rejections, 1 funded acceptance (which I accepted back, whoo!) and 1 program that is claiming my application is incomplete (they lost my transcript and don't answer emails as to how to fix this, but I already accepted somewhere else anyway, so I don't care.) The 2 rejections were both extreme long shots anyway, so it wasn't exactly a shock to not get in. With the volume of applicants they get, I doubt if they spent more than a few seconds on my application. I think the age thing depends largely on the field. I'm in technology, which I worked in for 15+ years before starting my technology-related master's at 40. So my work experience was extremely relevant, which I think helped a lot. In contrast, I have absolutely dismal GRE scores (I'm not going to repeat them,) dismal undergrad grades, great master's grades, some great work samples, but no publications (which isn't such a big deal in my field.)

I just accepted an offer and no longer care about my #4 application I was waiting on. But today I got an automated email from their portal website saying that my password was about to expire, and that I needed to change it. This was after sending my master's transcript twice, having them still mark my application "incomplete," and then not answering my email as to how to remedy this situation. Well, good riddance.

Fairly annoyed that I had my transcript sent twice, and it says "application incomplete," then there is no response to my emails as to how to fix this.

The remixes of this are incredible. This is my favorite:

I tried out the Android pdf reader on a Motorola Zoom (Xoom?) whatever it's called. I think just about any tablet, iPad or Android, will be better for this than any of the e-readers. Unfortunately, they also cost three times as much, and the batteries don't last for a month. But there are some Android tablets much cheaper than the Xoom or the Galaxy out from Viewsonic, Creative, Archos, and a few others.

I heard nothing and logged into their site to see if they had posted a rejection. I was surprised to find that it said they hadn't received a transcript, so I called the Registrar's office to confirm the fact that one had been sent on December 2, which it had. So I've emailed to ask about the lost transcript. So you might want to log into the school's site to make sure some part of your application didn't get lost.

One thing that really helps is if you make it easier for them to do without you once you're gone. I gave 3 months' notice at my last job, then helped them find a replacement. Then there was some crossover time after he was hired, and I helped him get acquainted with the procedures of the job. I think that really helped with leaving on good terms, and they really seemed to appreciate it.

Yeah, I have the Kindle 2, and it's not the best for pdfs. You can't zoom in in case the font is too small, for instance, and typing comments would be pretty painful, though I haven't tried it yet. I think the best thing for pdfs would be an inexpensive, small netbook. Still cheaper than an iPad. Have not tried out any of the Android pads though, like the Viewsonics or the (rather pricey) Galaxy Tab.

If you have admin experience, you might try checking Penn's job boards. They probably offer free or discounted tuition to employees.

I think you did pretty well with this. When I was applying to master's programs, I was told that for the most part, they were cash cows for the university. I got a scholarship that covered half of tuition and felt pretty lucky to get that much.