Gunner24

I'm surprised there is such a large time difference between an acceptance e-mail and an "official" letter...I know for mine so far they've been hours up to a couple days apart. Has your school's graduate school officially approved your department's acceptance? Many departments' admits are provisional until approved by the Dean of Graduate Studies/provost/_____________ . Of course most get approved....any idea if this is the case with you? I personally would not "burn any bridges" until you can verify that your acceptance if 100% official, just in case. Good luck!

big bang

master's commission

I wouldn't put too much stock in the US News Rankings...they are "of dubious value" as another poster said. In fact, Malcolm Gladwell wrote a scathing article about just how dubious they are in the New Yorker...definitely worth the read! Good luck.

urmee.noor, I've never had any experience with this myself or known anyone who's tried it, but my guess would be no. Your acceptance and subsequent funding is probably for your specific department, not your university's Graduate School as a whole. Funding is different for each department. I bet you would have to wait until next year and apply for that particular school. But I do not know this for sure- perhaps there is someone else who can confirm one way or another for you. It may not hurt to contact the business admin DGS and see what the protocol would be for that. Good luck!

That's impressive that you know 6 languages! Do you have any internship/work experience in any of those other countries that would help make your case for an Int'l Relations/Diplomacy/etc. PhD? It's difficult for us to tell you what to study without knowing you at all. You should explain what sort of thing interests you...I know you're trying to be pragmatic based on your current skill set, but PhD is one-part intelligence, two-parts perseverance, so if you aren't bought in to your field/sub-field of study, you'll burn out. If you explain what your passions and interests are, you may be able to get some suggestions of actual fields where you could study those things. If that makes sense. Best of Luck!

Haha...yeah, not really here either I guess when getting all of my apps submitted in the fall I forgot! Plan B, let's see....sell a kidney, probably.

fumblewhat, I think you're right...should've read that more carefully. [insert foot in mouth]

First, you're either ignorant or arrogant to call Michigan a second (or third)-tier school, especially coming from someone who got owned by Arizona State and community college. Michigan is a top program, public or private and you should be proud that you graduated from there. Yes, there is use trying to distinguish between these three objectively. The current research areas faculty at each of these places are doing could be worlds different; if your research interests don't match up, then collegiality and placement are the least of your worries- you're going to have a hell of a time (in the bad way). If that's the case you might as well be going to a third-rate regional school.

Paranoid much? Just kidding, but my take is if adcoms at your programs of choice are trolling a lame forum like this, you probably don't want to go there.

good company

This is a tough question to answer, because you have "big cities with colleges", midsize cities, and the straight-up "college towns". If your going to school in a city that you don't want to be able to explore and hang out in (and many bigger cities suck), then most campuses you can get by with a bike, shuttles, buses, etc. If your going to school in a great city (San Fran, NY, Austin for example) then check some online reviews about public trans and/or biking. Also can check League of American Bicyclists for info on bike-friendliness, if you're a bike-type person like me If you're going to school in a college town, generally you'll be fine without a car. I have siblings at CU-Boulder and CSU (Fort Collins), both college towns, and neither has ever wished they had a car. Most college towns are used to having lots of students without cars, so generally it's relatively easy/cheap to get by without one. Hope this helps.

Man, what a clusterf**k! But this is about what you want. You think you would be the first person to withdraw a program acceptance to select another? You certainly wouldn't. And don't give yourself too much credit -- you probably don't even HAVE a reputation for anyone to care about at this point I would bet that the adcom would be understanding of the situation and release you, so you can accept C. However, it is a little fishy that they gave you a Feb 23 deadline-- did they even mention the April 15 in the email? Obviously schools want you to pick before then, but...weird. Best of luck!

I don't think there's any way it can be a good sign...most programs do host such a thing. However, programs hold them at different times and have different ways of spreadin' the word about them So don't worry...yet. For my programs, the only invites I've received are for schools to which I've been accepted. Good luck. Hope you get those invites soon!

I plan on visiting the ones that I know for sure are in the running...some visits may fall close together, so for those of us that work, planning several visits (esp. if OOS) can be a logistical and financial nightmare Best of luck.

This site is not a reliable sample of all grad school applicants...many of these college forums simply are ways for people to brag (or lie) about getting accepted to Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, Berkeley, Whatever U... So don't read into the "lack of responses". Don't interpret it as anything- be confident! Best of luck.

There are many very good regional schools with excellent faculty where the GRE is not required. I realize on this site all you tend to hear about are the flagship programs at the flagship schools-- but there are lots of good smaller schools that just don't get the press. If not that, then I would definitely suggest framing your low math score in your SoP, or something so adcoms can make sense of it. I certainly don't know you or your condition, but I'm convinced if you are able to get a 3.85 at a great college then you can do better than a 280 on math. GRE math is lots of critical reasoning and not falling for trick questions Yes, GRE quantitative isn't as important for the fields you want, but 280 raises some red flags for sure.

To echo inej, Lousville is solid. I personally thing Longmont sucks the big one. I would urge you to look into Superior, too. It's just across HWY 36 from Louisville, and I know lots of young professionals (alumni) and grad students who choose to live there due to cost and farther from undergrads You're probably not going to be able to afford a house in Boulder proper on a grad school stipend; however, I don't know your exact situation so maybe you can. Ultimately you can get a lot more bang for your buck and not sacrifice the cool mountain town feel by going just outside. Source: 15 year Colorado resident, sister goes to CU

Often off-campus jobs that tend to be busier on weekends - restaurants, food services, retail - will let you work one or two weekend shifts a week, which shouldn't get in the way of responsibilities. Especially if it's near campus or in a college town, employers are accustomed to employing students with flexible scheduling needs. Best of luck.

SO badly!

2) there ≠ their ≠ they're 1) affect ≠ effect

gas mask

Before heading to work, decided to check "App Status" webpage one last time...for the last couple of months a little bar said, "...your application has been forwarded to __________ for review". This time, however, it said, "We're pleased to inform you that you've been accepted to _______________. It's a pleasure to welcome you as a graduate student." I got the official email a couple of hours later...haha. Pretty cool.

I understand the lingering concern, but you're not likely to piss anyone off by calling or emailing- especially if THEY invited YOU to the open house. It's easy for administrative things like this to get lost among all the other admin stuff these admissions folks are doing, and every school (especially a big flagship like CU) lets things slip through the cracks from time to time. The prudent decision would be to try to get in touch- a huge chunk of their job is communicating with applicants Best of luck- CU is a great school, and Boulder a great town!

Actually, how did I MISS the existing Austin thread? Sorry....should have looked more carefully.