Gooner

I'm a little torn. I'm not the most well-versed in the matter, but I don't think it's very common to do that. However, at the same time, a program's receptiveness to that kind of issue might be quite revealing about whether you'd want to go there or not. I would like to think that a school that is concerned about its students would welcome such an explanation. That said, if you do opt to reply, I would keep it very short. "Dear Dr. A -- Thank you for giving me a chance to speak with you. I was very sick yesterday and don't believe i was able to aptly articulate my answer to QUESTION. [A couple of brief sentences clarifying the points you thought you messed up.] Thank you once again for your time and understanding. I look forward to hearing from [sCHOOL]." Best of luck, mate!

Just PMed them to you, but for everyone else: they were not particularly outstanding. Parts were strong, parts were weak. Thankfully, it seems like the programs I've applied to have really been looking at the entirety of the application and not just the numbers I wrote in (granted, I've only been contacted by 2/7 so far ). This actually makes me very confident that I applied to the right places.

Cheers, mate! Indiana's a great school!

That's a pretty darn nice package from Wisconsin. I'm waiting to hear back from Madison as well, but for Journalism. It'd be nice if they were so kind to me as well...

I hear gears moving in Minnesota's journalism program for anyone who is interested!

Cheers, mate! Did you also apply for the Journalism program or did you go Comm. Studies/RTF? I haven't heard a peep from them since my application was completed; make sure you let us know if you do, and I'll do the same. Someone noted getting an acceptance e-mail on the 18th (!) on the results page, so hopefully we'll be getting news soon.

By the way, I saw someone else noted getting an e-mail from Penn State on the 25th. Anybody claiming it?

Boy, am I glad I'm not in the same pool as you.. Cheers, mate!

Sorry to hear, mate, but don't get too down. If you got through the process without a single rejection, you probably wouldn't be human...

The interview on the results page was my doing; in retrospect, I got a little trigger happy since I'm not 100% sure it's an interview. I'll be sure to let you know if I get any more info over the weekend. The Miami guy was pretty nice when I spoke with him, but a couple of my documents were also misplaced. That got sorted out pretty quickly, though. The MyUM gateway still lists all my materials as missing, but I did get a completed app notice from the School of Comm., so I'm hoping all's well. As far as I can tell, they tend to make decisions in mid-Feb, and I don't think they do interviews. As for Texas, I haven't heard anything at all beyond the completed app bit, but I applied to Journalism, not RTF. (To clarify, I applied to Texas-Austin, not A&M.)

I just got an e-mail from Penn State saying that the Associate Dean wants to chat with me by phone this weekend. They were careful not to say "interview" or anything, so it might just be a first-round screening call. Have you heard anything on your end, tvphd? (Similarly, has Miami contacted you at all since you submitted your app?)

More than anything, I wish I would have been more proactive about contacting schools and professors. And by more proactive, I mean doing it at all; I just spent hours researching them and trusted my intuition. I also wish I had re-taken my GRE (didn't have time due to procrastination; which is funny, cause my score was lower-than-it-should-have-been the first time because I didn't have time to study, though not because of procrastination) and submitted a better (read: complete) writing sample. And perhaps tailored my SOPs a little more (and written them in more persuasive form). ...but hey, at least my GPAs are sound...

Oh yeah, I'm right on that boat. When I read about how much more prepared people were when they submitted their apps -- coupled with the fact that I'm still not confident I have anything more than a competitive application (and for some schools it is more of a prayer that they misplace my name on the Accepted column -- I can't help but wonder why the hell I'd stand out from the pack. At this point, you just have to keep yourself busy for another month. It's helping me keep whatever sanity I have left.

Congrats to both of you guys! ...but way to make the waiting process even more excruciating for the rest of us...

Hey, tvphd, I don't know if you're behind it, but someone noted on the survey that Temple contacted them about an interview over e-mail on the 20th. Hope you're on the list as well!

That's odd. I hope most other schools aren't like that, otherwise I'm screwed... I haven't received any notices, but based on the survey results, Minnesota should be phoning me within 7-12 days. Otherwise, I'll probably be expecting a rejection letter from them in my mailbox come mid-February.

I applied to: Bowling Green State University Ohio University Penn State University University of Miami University of Minnesota-TC University of Texas-Austin University of Wisconsin-Madison You spend weeks looking for the right schools and submitting applications, telling yourself after the last application is out that it's finally over. ...then the waiting starts to cut into you, augmented by doubts about the little things you didn't do (e-mailing professors) and the irrational nagging in the back of your head that you mistakenly sent one school the materials for another, etc. It's quite the nerve-wrecking experience -- just to become sleep-deprived, underpaid workhorses!