amg

At first I thought it was me and I was flattered, and then I realized I hadn't posted any of my stats. (An impressive list of schools one is applying to is very different from an impressive profile, unfortunately.) I feel like I've done everything I can to be a strong applicant, and done quite well at it (for its own sake, of course, not just to look good for grad schools), but I'm worried that it nevertheless isn't enough. I'm confident that I can hit top 10, I could almost certainly get into Chicago and/or Berkeley, but these four are just so damn elusive...

That's probably right, although I wouldn't be surprised if many of the first-round acceptances overlap, and so as those people make their decisions then a few spots begin to open up. Which is not to say that the situation is hopeful... what's a typical timeline for this process?

I'm a senior but I'm probably taking a year off, so I decided to only apply to a few schools which I'd be completely happy deferring without wishing I could re-do the application process next year. It was probably a dumb move, since I know I'll be disappointed if I don't get in to any of them, even though I absolutely cannot count on getting in anywhere at all (I applied to Harvard, Princeton, MIT, and Stanford). I know one person who's gotten in to Stanford so far, but I haven't heard anything from any of them. I'm hoping I'm at least on their second- or third-tier lists, which is why I'm wondering: has anyone been rejected from any of these schools?