tibbles

I got an email back from them today saying all was fine but they'd contact me closer to my move date. I asked for July 1st, so I guess I have several more weeks to wait. Cog Sci here.

I applied for Cog Sci rather than counseling, but am going back 7 years after undergrad. It really is about your fit for the program. Take the GRE early, and then get started on crafting a really superb personal statement - if you have a letter writer who you think would also be willing to give you feedback on your personal statement, ask them to do so. It's very easy to focus on the GRE and your past experience, but how you present your enthusiasm and interest is also important - so stop worrying and start working!

Log back onto your graduate school application, and use the tool there to create a UCSD login to use. I think you can use that login at the ARCH graduate housing application. UCSD Graduate Housing <--- here!

You've heard about Graduate Housing already? I was entered into the priority housing program by my department, but have still yet to hear anything back about housing. I'm assuming they're just waiting for someone to give notice of vacating, but it's a little nerve wracking...

Not many replies on that thread either! I'll be there for Cog Sci.

Cog Sci here - any others lurking?

I got into my top choice school, but had to at least visit other schools to give me piece of mind. I still have second thoughts and doubts, even though I had a great link with the professors, love the location and know that the department and university will support exactly the kind of research I want to do. It's a big change in life, it's natural to second guess yourself.

Warwick is a prestigious University in the UK, and has a particularly excellent reputation for Mathematics (I don't know about graduate-wise, but for undergraduate entry it is considered on a par with Oxford and Cambridge for Mathematics). If you have funding, and the research is something that you will enjoy, then take the opportunity. Prestige is just a gloss that will not satisfy for very long.

It's like a break up - it sucks right now, but you'll get over it. I have just got into a Grad program 7 years after initially finishing my undergraduate degree (I didn't spend every year applying - I applied once before in Philosophy, and the failure combined with life experience gave me the perspective to switch to Cognitive Science). Not getting into grad school straight out of undergrad is nowhere near the end of the road, and there are many valuable experiences you can acquire that will make you into an even better candidate in the mean time - whether it's doing RA work, or getting relevant work experience in another setting. Also, take the time this year to look at the schools you could go to, and which ones you would really be happy to attend. It is fine to be picky about applying to particular schools, as long as you end up with a list of schools that you would want to attend if you got an offer from them, independent of whatever offers you received from elsewhere. If doing graduate work is massively important to you, would you be satisfied with attending a less prestigious program in order to do so? These are the questions that you have to ask yourself over the next year. It does suck to be rejected, but at least it was only from two - I got rejected from 11 schools on my first Grad application round and that stung like hell (Philosophy admission stats are ludicrous). You have plenty of options going forward, and definitely worth asking at your current institution if they know of any RA positions available after graduation. Good luck, and I'm sure you'll have better luck in another round of application.