brent09

Well I think PSU will be making calls throughout the week. And Vandy hasn't sent out letters yet, have they? My understanding is that you shouldn't read too much into "interviews" because they don't choose to interview everyone. (I have no info about MSU or UIUC.) Not worth writing PSU and VU off, though...

Alas, join the club. Such is life. Many letters to go!

Looking at Duke from last year, does it look like the posted acceptance letters the day before rejections? If so, bad news on that front I suppose.

ahahahahaha Thanks

Penn State is making calls now, letters won't land for a week or so. Just in case anyone was interested!

According to the survey, Geddes also e-mailed an applicant on 1 Feb '11. So if it's a tr0ll, at least it's a consistent tr0ll...

What do you mean "hear back"? As in, how long from submission did we hear from UW-M? Applied 15 Dec, heard on 24 Jan. So five weeks and some change... Or did I misunderstand the question?

I suspect you can get in to top-20 programs with 720 (x2). If it didn't work for you, I would think that (a) tightening up the app, and ( retaking the GRE, would put you in an even better position. In that situation, maybe shoot for one or two safer options, but with your record I would think that 10-20 is your realistic range. No need to shoot too far below...

The numbers seem a bit off. For UW-M, for instance, Peterson's shows 202 applicants, 27 percent admitted, 21 enrolled. The stats released by the UW-M Graduate School show 279 applicants, 12.9 percent admitted, 14 enrolled. There are pretty big gaps between those numbers... and I assume the UW-M's official numbers would be closer to the truth. Peterson's also shows 120 applicants to WashU, which I assume is undercounting their applicant pool by a fairly significant factor. (To compare for UW-M, Petersons versus Official Stats.)

I'm holding out hope for WashU letters this week. Seems they went out on 3 Feb '11. Of course, if things are pushed back ~ a week from last year, that would mean TWO weeks 'til WashU. The agony!

I think in '11 or '10 MIT called someone on a Sunday, and for some reason I thought PSU sent some letters on a Saturday last year. But my impression is that those are the exceptions, not the rule. (Not to say you couldn't receive a letter on Saturday that was postmarked earlier in the week...)

Yea, I kind of thought increasing the GRE gave diminishing returns (i.e., going from 650-700 pays higher dividends than going from 700-750, et cetera). Might be wrong, but I wouldn't imagine a 720 is disqualifying. Sure, we would all prefer an 800, but if you're clearing the 700-level the rest is just gravy. Could be wrong, though. addendum: Not to mention that several good programs (Duke, UNC) publish admissions statistics, and their average GREs for admits are ~700 v/q. Not ridiculously high. I'm sure CHYMPS are a bit higher, but 720 is surely in the range of candidates they regularly admit...

I've wondered the same thing. My concern, though, is less about losing the offer. I would be more worried about starting off at my next program in a weak position. Everyone in a top-15 program will be really smart and driven, and they're all gunning for the attention of faculty. I would be afraid that disengaging from courses now would be a signal to faculty in the new program that you're not a serious scholar. In that sense, I would agree that B+/A- is not a huge deal, but a C or W could be...

No idea, but I assume that the first wave are accepts. I haven't seen any waitlisters yet, though, so it's possible that the remaining pool is being considered for the waitlist. If I were you, I would just call the department ( 608.263.2414) and ask. Probably better than the uncertainty,

Neither. American (mostly behavior) / Methods. I don't get the impression there are many of us on the boards...

Yea... I thought I was a good fit. Goodly number of people in the dept do what I do; spoke with a couple faculty members about fit; et cetera. But hey, can't win them all. I should just be grateful about UW-M.

I'm hoping the hair loss holds off until at least mid-Feb.

Delayed anything == more grey hairs.

Is Duke one of the schools that requires the grad school to process all admissions before letters are sent?

You had an interview at MIT as well, right? Good record so far. Good luck in the interview(s)! I'm happy about Madison, so maybe I shouldn't worry too much about Vandy, but the anxiety is still rising. Starting to think that's gonna be a no from Nashville.

I take it Stanford didn't send decisions today? This lowers my optimism that Duke will send stuff out tomorrow (last Friday in Jan) per last year. Le sigh.

It's nice to be "sitting pretty" by getting into a top-tier program, to be sure, but I find myself analyzing my apps more now that I got in. Now I'm trying to assess the probability of getting in other places based on the Madison result. Obviously the events are totally independent, so the musing is pointless, but I can't quite help myself! Neeeeed more results.

This is a bargaining game, and they know you face incentives to feign interest. My guess, based on absolutely nothing, is that they'll try to gauge your true interest in the program based on your answers, but won't be surprised if you choose your dream school in the end. In that situation, they will just give the fellowship to the next person on the list. (It's not like they'll lose the line if you go elsewhere.) Fact is, you have to look out for your best interests. Without a better offer on the table, I'd think it silly to hurt the best chance you have right not. Just my take.

Might just be a situation where they send possible admits to POIs and let them examine the files. Maybe some like interviewing and others don't. Who knows? I think last year there were a couple interviews posted, and about 10 days later there were was a wave of admits posted. So we'll see, I suppose.

Also, how in the world did you afford to apply to that many schools? 10 schools about killed me Thanks for the info. Good luck in the interview!