asleepawake

What do your Duke applications look like, guys? Mine still says "decision not ready."

Congrats, Lady Mary! I would have thought it would be Edith to go for comparative lit...

Wayne State could be a while, as they've sometimes notified in January and sometimes in like March. My online app still says "decision pending." I think Duke is coming very soon...

Glad to hear it! I actually just purged that folder thusly kicking out all the members, but I'd love to see what you came up with if you want to PM me. Only a couple of us ever posted, but I got some great feedback there as well.

I'd like to add some congratulations for D. Malorkus and Smilax!

Congrats Gustav!

Yes - ask another person if you have someone. It can't hurt. If you end up with 4, that isn't so bad. If you end up with 2...

OH MY GOD YOU ARE AMAZING. I knewwww it!

Oh, congrats bluecheese! *panic*

Yeah!

Well congrats on your acceptance, nada.am! Even without certainty about the funding, that's great news!

I know, right? That's why it seems fishy. I believe that was University-wide information, so maybe the department is able to skirt that requirement... ETA: Old Gradcafe results show acceptances with far below 75th percent in Quant.

genetic engineering

I just noticed on Fordham's website that they say financial support requires 75th percentile on all sections of the GRE. Does this really mean I wouldn't qualify because of my quantitate score? That would really suck, especially since I know if I reviewed formulas and studied some I could pass that mark. :/

Thanks. Good luck with your applications!

I literally got my current acceptance minutes after applications closed... Especially fellowship nominations and top candidates can be notified very, very quickly. I wouldn't give up yet, though, as I think there will be a lot more news coming from Iowa yet.

I don't know anything about Iowa's status, but schools can surprise us with a new schedule at any moment... or they might send out a few early notifications. A month is plenty of time for the committee to meet and make decisions.

Well, yes, but Columbia is in New York City (automatic extra 50% applications!) and they accept a larger number of students. Still hella-selective, of course.

But Vanderbilt no doubt gets some good applicants from that "free" crowd, and no doubt a lot of people have sour grapes after the fact. I'd have paid good money for that rejection, Vanderbilt!

Well, that was a bit of hyperbole. But Vanderbilt does not charge for applications and therefore gets a lot of extra applications, from both the highly qualified and the not-so-much. Vanderbilt is well-respected and pretty highly ranked, but it is among the tip-top of the most selective. Peterson's shows 429 applications and 13 admits between both the PhD and the MA at last record (3% overall, probably a bit lower for PhD and a bit higher for MA). I would say all top programs are gambles, though.

Don't take anything I say seriously. I said they red my application. Your schools are all very tough, but that doesn't mean you won't get in. I think you've got a good chance, from what I know. But it does mean that if you DON'T get in, it's not necessarily a reflection of your abilities. Also: Congrats, patientagony!

It is true there is no "safety" in the sense that you are all but guaranteed an acceptance given your numbers, like there is with law school and undergraduate programs. However, applying to Yale is not the same as applying to, say, the University of Southern Mississippi. I'm sure USM has many strengths, but an Ivy it is not, and its number of applications must be pretty small comparatively. It is, however, true that many schools ranked in the 20s to 50s are nearly as competitive as top 20s, so nobody should be considering those schools safeties (or any, really, but you CAN consider some schools more likely than others). Where did that number from for Boulder? I thought they took more than 4. That's depressing news! Vanderbilt isn't a safety for anybody. Ever. Anywhere. Vanderbilt is the Powerball.

You can't kick yourself for not getting into Vanderbilt (or any of the most selective schools). You can't. It is too far out of your control, no matter how strong your application is--and yours certainly sounds strong. The average GRE scores for Duke are my exact scores. That actually makes me feel a litter better... When I get rejected, I'll know they at least red my application (unless my undergrad GPA gets me cut, which it might)! It's really sad to see the number of admits cut in half over the last decade, though. Come on Duke, take 29 this year!

It's not all about numbers!! I bet they cut at least 80%-90%of applicants because we were the "HELL NO"s and they are going to sort out the gentle "no"s and acceptances over the next million months....