echlori

Are you sure it's not you? I ask because you say you had a crappy life before this. There are people who are just miserable no matter what happens. Are you sure that's not you? Also, are these feelings just your interpretation or are they legit? Are your professors really sexist, do they really favor the male students who just pull things out of their ass, do they really shoot down all the intelligent things you say, do you really say intelligent things, do your classmates really talk down to you, and do they really laugh at you?

I think the problem is that there's not always, or heck, often not a next year. It's now or never.

Just got an interview call from University of Texas, MD Anderson (Biostatistics PhD)! Fingers crossed 

Every admissions season, many students applying to statistics and biostatistics programs are intimidated by the task of writing personal or research statements. Indeed, there is an entire sub-forum on GC dedicated to SoPs (Statements of Purpose) where there is much hand-wringing over how to craft the perfect text.   But while I can't speak for disciplines outside of the statistical sciences, I can confidently say that in stat and biostat, the evidence strongly suggests that personal statements have little impact on admissions.   I've written several posts about this in the past; here's a summary of why you should stop worrying so much about a 1-2 page essay:   1. Mathematical ability is best assessed through academic records and test scores (and to a lesser extent, letters), so it is generally quite easy to order students on this important trait.The pool of students applying to statistics and biostatistics departments isn't particularly deep, so that a major concern of even excellent departments is whether applicants can handle the requisite mathematical coursework and exams.

2. Very, very few applicants have meaningful statistical research experience before starting graduate school. As a result, many students end up working on dissertations in areas entirely different than they were initially interested in... and this is totally OK!

3. Funding in most (but not all) U.S. stat/biostat programs is allocated at the department level to the strongest incoming students, so applicants aren't typically "matched" to potential advisors who agree to fund them*. Rather, the department projects the total number of positions available and then tries to recruit up to that number of students. Once the students are on campus, they are then either assigned to a position or (ideally) have some choices available to them.   Given points 2 and 3, declarations in the personal statement such as "I am very interested in studying [X] with Professors [u,V,W]" usually carry little weight. They typically translate to: "[X] is a hot topic which I know very little about but sounds interesting, and I see on your website that Professors [u,V,W] list [X] as a research area." Which, again, is JUST FINE, since that's essentially all most people can credibly write.

4. Research potential *is* important, but the best source of information on this trait is letters of recommendation, not a one-page essay. In some fields, part of showing research potential is demonstrating that you have already thought of a reasonable project that will turn into a dissertation. Since (virtually) no one applying to stat/biostat has a "shovel-ready" dissertation idea, research potential is generally assessed using some combination of mathematical ability, creativity, and perhaps some exposure to lower-level research, all of which are best evaluated using other parts of the application.   I don't mean to denigrate the personal statement too much. There are a few key things to avoid (eg. rampant grammatical errors, aimless rambling, saying you have no intention of pursuing an academic career if you are applying to a PhD program) and of course there will be exceptions to every rule, but in general, as long as the PS is competent it probably won't affect your chances of admission significantly.   

Depends on your career goals. If you think you would like an academic position, then it's important to go to a top 10-15 place and the best path into those places might be via an MS. Otherwise a lower-ranked PhD where you could gain direct entry might be sufficient.

Don't assume real analysis will go well!

Undergraduate Institution: Top 10 UK university, top 3 department Major: 4 year BSc integrated Masters programme in Statistics GPA: Overall 66%, 4th year 69% GRE: Verbal 164, Quant 169, AW 4.5 Citizenship: Non-American international student Graduate Institution: N/A Important Classes: Measure Theory, Probability Theory, Stochastic Processes, Biostatistics and Medical Statistics modules Research Experience: Summer attachment in my undergraduate institution, summer attachment at a research institute in my home country, Fourth year dissertation on multiple testing, currently doing a 6 month attachment in machine learning at the same research institute in my home country Publications: First author publication in peer-reviewed undergraduate research journal (from summer attachment in my UG school), second author in conference paper (from second summer attachment) Grants: None Teaching experience: None LORs: 1 from my personal tutor (well-known professor) who pretty much knew what I was doing both in and out of the classroom in those 4 years. 1 from my dissertation supervisor/first summer attachment supervisor (relatively young American PI) who liked the work I did under him. 1 from my current supervisor who was my co-author on the conference paper.   Applied: Boston (Biostatistics), Berkeley (Statistics), Carnegie Mellon (Statistics), Duke (Statistics), Minnesota(Statistics), Michigan (Biostatistics), Stanford (Statistics), UBC (Statistics), UCLA (Biostatistics), UW  (Statistics and Biostatistics), Warwick (Statistics).   Accepted: None Waitlisted: Michigan (have been told they are full already though) Rejected: The rest Attending: None, obviously!   Comments: I was pretty upset after being told by Michigan that they are full, as I was told previously that I was high up on the waitlist.    I'm not sure which part of my application I should focus on improving. My first 2 LORs should be pretty good, as they both have experience of writing LORs and know me well. My third letter writer is pretty junior, and isn't familiar with the US system at all, but knows me well enough as well. I'm also unsure what to do with the extra year now - current supervisor suggests that I should try for an RA position in one of my target schools, but I'm pessimistic wrt visa issues etc. Another friend working in the local health ministry has suggested the possibility of a statistician type position, and would be happy to help me to secure one.   And obviously, relook at my choice of schools to apply to for next year.

I've been waitlisted in one school, reject by the rest, and I'm "near the top of the list". I've pretty much reconciled myself to a no at this point. It's only been a week since the first round of offers *should* have been rejected, and I apparently wasn't in the second round. I started late last year in the application cycle, so I'm going to start early for this fall. Summer = full time job getting applications ready!

Undergraduate Institution: Top 10 UK university, top 3 department Major: 4 year BSc integrated Masters programme in Statistics GPA: Overall 66%, 4th year 69% GRE: Verbal 164, Quant 169, AW 4.5 Citizenship: Non-American international student Graduate Institution: N/A Important Classes: Measure Theory, Probability Theory, Stochastic Processes, Biostatistics and Medical Statistics modules Research Experience: Summer attachment in my undergraduate institution, summer attachment at a research institute in my home country, Fourth year dissertation on multiple testing, currently doing a 6 month attachment in machine learning at the same research institute in my home country Publications: First author publication in peer-reviewed undergraduate research journal (from summer attachment in my UG school), second author in conference paper (from second summer attachment) Grants: None Teaching experience: None LORs: 1 from my personal tutor (well-known professor) who pretty much knew what I was doing both in and out of the classroom in those 4 years. 1 from my dissertation supervisor/first summer attachment supervisor (relatively young American PI) who liked the work I did under him. 1 from my current supervisor who was my co-author on the conference paper.   Applied: Boston (Biostatistics), Berkeley (Statistics), Carnegie Mellon (Statistics), Duke (Statistics), Minnesota(Statistics), Michigan (Biostatistics), Stanford (Statistics), UBC (Statistics), UCLA (Biostatistics), UW  (Statistics and Biostatistics), Warwick (Statistics).   Accepted: None Waitlisted: Michigan (have been told they are full already though) Rejected: The rest Attending: None, obviously!   Comments: I was pretty upset after being told by Michigan that they are full, as I was told previously that I was high up on the waitlist.    I'm not sure which part of my application I should focus on improving. My first 2 LORs should be pretty good, as they both have experience of writing LORs and know me well. My third letter writer is pretty junior, and isn't familiar with the US system at all, but knows me well enough as well. I'm also unsure what to do with the extra year now - current supervisor suggests that I should try for an RA position in one of my target schools, but I'm pessimistic wrt visa issues etc. Another friend working in the local health ministry has suggested the possibility of a statistician type position, and would be happy to help me to secure one.   And obviously, relook at my choice of schools to apply to for next year.

I'm still waiting as well, but I have no other offers so I'm still holding out. Glad you had another offer to accept though!

Visits were a must, and how visiting programs I ended up not being very interested in helped form my understanding of what I really wanted.  They were not necessarily a waste of my time, as they helped me figure out which program was really the right choice for me.
 
And how shitty rankings actually represent a program.  They can help you look for and rank programs prior to interviews, but should be one of the last items you consider when making choices.
 
Also, if you didn't get in this time, don't give up.  Just make a better, more concerted effort next year!

I was surprised that I got into...anywhere.  

Background story:

I only have a 3.2, and a guidance counselor told me not to bother applying anywhere.  She said I wouldn't get in anywhere decent.  I went ahead and applied anyway.  And I guess all the undergraduate research paid off.  I think my grades were offset by the fact I was in ROTC for the first half of college... it was tricky to juggle a math-heavy major while in the program (I'm not a math whiz).
 
And here I am, 12 months after she told me not to bother applying, getting ready to go to Hopkins, the top school in my field so glad I didn't listen!

One week more to wait...Sigh, getting really tired.

I'm still waiting as well, but I have no other offers so I'm still holding out. Glad you had another offer to accept though!

Oh my gosh, I am choking on the irony of her post. This is so damaging to the feminist movement it's unbelievable.

using two negatives in an english sentence confuses the reader.

Thanks... That really sucks about the untimely LOR submission. That would have cost me some serious sleep... It's SO competitive out there. I really didn't anticipate such a nasty string of rejections for myself, I had so much momentum coming out graduation: cum laude, wonderful LOR's, research/TA experience, 'Excellent' grade and eval on my thesis. and great meetings with POI's. I'm bewildered. Best of Luck to you and the rest of us who are teetering on the precipice...Yep; it is so nail-biting-ly intense to have it all come down to ONE waitlist spot. Argh!

Being able to change your signature on Gradcafe from "Waitlisted at XXXXX" to "Attending XXXXX" is the best feeling ever.
I wish luck to everyone still waiting on your offers. THERE IS HOPE!

I didn't hear anything from the program I'm wait-listed at, but I got an email today to the account for the study I'm conducting, asking me if I'm hiring any postdocs in 2014 ... seems someone who participated in my study would love to join me in research. She's finishing her 4th year in the program I was rejected from a couple of months ago.

Good times.

I think you need to be realistic. Extremely low GRE scores will keep you out of programs, even less competitive ones. They will also be a hindrance to funding and other opportunities at certain schools.
 
It's not a matter of raining on someone's parade by stating that GRE scores do matter to some degree. A quant score in the fourth percentile or lower is a red flag.

You seriously waited this long to reply to your other 6 offers?  Might not want to tout the fact that you hogged 6 offers for weeks or months at the cost of others on the waitlist or hoping to hear from one of those programs before making a decision to attend elsewhere.
 
Take another read over your post and see how conceited it sounds.

Well now, this may be a bit of a different type of freak-out than some are experiencing, but for me tonight was emotionally troubling. I was fortunate to be accepted into 7 programs, all which I held dear to my heart after they accepted me with open arms. This evening, I was finally forced to reject 6 of their offers, while wishing that I could send clones of myself to attend all of these great universities. My second and third choices were especially difficult to finally click "decline" on the web form, and send a sincere email about my decision to faculty. If it had been a hand-written letter, it would be stained with tears.
 
On the positive side this is essentially one of the most "first-world" problems I've experienced recently. Congrats to all of those with acceptances at a university where they are excited to attend, and GOOD LUCK to those who are still waiting for a wait-list update/acceptance!!!!
 

Called the DGS at my waitlist school and I've been emailing with my POI. They said that they won't know until Monday (April 15) and that it might even be late in the day on monday.
 
It seems like there are four (heartless) people who are just sitting on their offers until April 15.
 
At this point, I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

I do, unfortunately. But the nature of the situation and the attempts at lies and deception that followed my discovery of the cheating quickly took away any bad feelings I initially had. You have done nothing wrong -- they have. You should not feel bad about taking action. You're not being unfair to these students. Rather, you are being fair to the rest of the class who actually spent the time doing the assignment and being honest. Remember this when the proceedings wear you out (there will probably be a long process of fact finding and appeals following you report), and also make sure you have support from the instructor in charge or your advisor, just in case. You did the right thing by reporting these students.

Don't you love it when an ad for a school that shot you down (or hasn't responded yet) keeps showing up in your browser because they've "tailored" your ad experience? I think I need to clear my cookies.