martizzle

freaking awesome

if columbia accepts you, do you think you will go? I mean if she would rather eat glass??? for five years??? As in she wont eat the glass just once, but for five years straight....idk man...the place sounds really.... (ps just for the record, if columbia rescinds its rejection, & offers me an acceptance; i will go. i am cool with mad professors

that just blows...why don't they just tell the truth? idk about you guys, but I would rather just have them lay it on me. It's better to be honest (this way i know where i'm slackin, and can fix it) as opposed to telling me some random bs and letting me stay the same/not be as 'qualified' as the guys who got in (and not know what the problem is) I hate rejection letters; most of them have something along the line: "we wish you success in your academic pursuits" i mean i'm trying to pursue my academic studies here. Your rejecting me in NOT a way of wishing me success in my academic pursuits. Keep it real & keep it simple: Dear app, We regret to inform you that you have not been accepted into the - random - program. This year, we received 100 apps; and we had only 8 available spots. So you can understand that the competition was pretty steep. Our admissions committee has determined that the reason for your rejection is a combination of the quality of the application and the presentation; with an emphasis on the quality section. Perhaps if you did - such and such - program for a year, OR re-took some classes to improve your GPA/re-did the GRE and re-applied again; you would be presenting a more competitive application. Another problem we found was with your application presentation: 1) you submitted the application on time - we believe that students seriously in our program would show the initiative of completing the app about 2 weeks early. 2) your essays had a number of grammatical errors 3) your LORs were not exceptional Whatever road life takes you, we wish you the best. We would be happy to review your application next year or thereafter. == Now although this would take time, its not that difficult; even with over 90 rejections to send out. My reasoning: 1) Ad comm writes on the app (which is printed for the review process), the problems with it. 2) Secretary copies notes and puts it into the system. They do not have to be so focussed/attn to detail; but they could inform the students the major problems (not competitive enough/bad or slacky presentation) now and go into detail later... If one secretary does 10 a day, it will be over in 2 weeks. Doing one should take her/him only about 2/3 minutes or less. It is do-able, and its initiative on the schools' part. I would want to go to a school that did that. I would feel that they care about me/want me to succeed. ...same thing here; if you are not going to consider my app until i get further education (which is my primary reason for applying), then what am i supposed to do in the mean time? where am i to go? Not everyone who applies gets in (its simple math), but cant they come up with something original/humane?

Oh I thought it was one of those things, you know: the school rejects you from the PhD, but offers you admission into the Masters program or offers to consider your application for their Masters degree program... thnx ootg & pizzapie, appreciate it...wish you guys the best of luck

Hang out

a phd is whatever you make of it - or so i think. for me; a phd has to be from a state/big name school because i feel they will provide me with more opportunities (grad research, job after graduating, etc). the only offer i got (today, after 7 or so rejections) is from a small HBCU. my other option would have been an ivy-league, but I'm still waiting on them, and I would be in the Masters program there, not the phd. If i get in there though, i would prob end up going with them simply because i have a goal of where i want to be in x number of years and i feel big-name schools will give me a fighting chance of getting there ASAP. ps. i am an international student here in the us, my status just expired (i have about 1 more month before i need to start packing lol). if i dont get in this year, i dont know what my options would be back in nigeria. if i dont have another choice, i will go to my safety/one-admit. i wont be too happy about it, but i will be happy that that school gave me a chance and that i have an opportunity. some people didnt get in this year. i met a guy here (online) who got 15/+ rejections...just bcuz its a small school/safety doesnt mean its not still a cool place to be. you figure out what you want to do & when, & if you feel you cant do the rhyerson phd program, apply again next year. but think of what you would be doing for a year though. other option would be, go there. little school or no. apply again next year to other schools, & transfer out when you have a better offer (by the way, we hope u actually get at least another admit this year, so u dont have to do this)

true, to most people, chem is just that; the other fields most people would see a chem grad going into would be biology, medicine, pharmacy, engineering, idk...but things along those lines. you are right on that front though, its hard for people to see chem as transferrable...but then again, pple should realize that its the tools you have learned along the way that are noteworthy and USUALLY transferable; not the study material (except if you are going into the same field, then both the tools and the material are important) i would have thought some pharm/chem company would have/like to have some dept/pple working on developing new marketting strategies/researching to improve them. basically people to tell the 'plan and execution' people how to improve their stuff. idk....i would think companies would like that sort of thing...but its your field, you would know this stuff better than me. its tough though...how do you make the switch? good luck to you man wow...sorry about that, i wish you the best on the 1 unknown and the waitlist; i hope they work out great. question the MSW thing: when you were rejected from the phd and offered the MSW, did they say 'they would consider your application for the MSW program' or 'they would be happy to offer you admission into the MSW program' or how exactly did they tell you? (if you don't mind my asking)

natural sciences

i made latte!!!! yay i'm going to be on the list!!! yay

show up

i applied to GMU (IT/engr/OR dept)...and today, they let me know that my app wasn't complete! So i mailed in the material they asked for (a transcript) again! idk know what to think at this point....do i have a chance of getting in? i don't know if anyone else has heard back from them, but...idk...the waiting is killing me too

sorry, i just saw this...idk about other people, but i like learning. think of leonardo da vinci. he was in so many diff fields, it was crazy: medicine, art/painting, art/sculpture, engineering, cryptology....why do we limit ourselves today? why cant we study different fields and do whatever...there is always some connection btw fields. i did math/phy, in music, i think theres a rhythm/mathematical sequence (especially in beats/drums); in english; i think theres a certain style/rhythm to writing (verbs are placed here, nouns there, adverbs only after this word/before that...i tried to write a sonnet once: theres a system to that. the words have to be placed in such a way that their pronounciations are similar and that they sorta rhyme at the end of the line)...so many connections in different fields. i did math & physics, and i'm trying to get into financial engineering (finance)....have a goal in mind (it doesnt have to be definite or constant, but your goal should be always knowing/having an idea where you can apply yourself and make a comfortable living). so while you study, you should know in the back of your head, that studying is a means to an end, not an end in and of itself. i just thought about your fields: chem -> marketing. you probably could get something huge in the pharmaceutical industry, working with companies of marketing systems/plans for their products: you would be the perfect middle man. idk what your plans are after you get your degree in marketting, but i would think that maybe the grad schools are scared you would not apply the degree they award you. ps. you could do a lil research on your own, go out, meet random pple (or even use your friends) and do a preliminary study using them as your test subjects. then you could use your results from this test group to show the programs you apply to that you are very serious about wanting to study with them & they should seriously consider you... but here i'm blabbing around...i know absolutely nothing in chem or marketting ps. see how lame i'm; i was reply to the same topic on two different windows...at the same time lol

so, since my last post, two weird things happened... 1) George Mason Univ finally emailed me back (after I emailed the dept chair), and told me that my app was missing my transcript. Its almost the end of March; seriously!!! so i mailed my transcript again, this time with three stamps (hopefully that makes it get there faster...idk) 2) i got a call from the dept chair at howard univ saying that i was admitted i'm still unsure exactly how to feel. i've been rejected so much, i don't know how to react now. i was literally jumping up and down when he was talking to me (ok, maybe not literally jumping up and down, but in my mind, i was jumping up and down)...this shows there is still hope guys. it may not be your first choice, but things always have a way of working out. you all know why you chose to pursue grad studies...be determined to continue with that goal, even in the face of opposition/adversity. hang in there, it will pay off. thnx for all the luv n support... ootg, pizzapie

thnx... we all hope so... we are all wishing u the same pizzapie (ps nice name, i would never have come up with that one ) thats a record no one pursuing graduate studies knowingly tries to break but i know, things just happen...i don't know how you still hang in there...i've about half your rejections, and the only reason i hang in here everyday, check that mail box every afternoon, check emails every 30mins or so, look out for the FedEx trucks ~ 2pm and 6pm (UPS around 5:20pm),... is because I LOVE my field. I can't imagine doing anything else. I know where I've been and where I need to go (grad skool - to obtain a degree in my field because I do not have a BS in it; and I come from a smaller school) to get to where I know I should be (future career). If I had to do all this over, I wouldn't change it...I may change some of the schools I applied to, to less competitive ones, but overall, things would be the same. i don't know how/why you do it, but i figure like me, your reasons for applying keep you focused on track. i wish you the best, and hope that somehow, things work out. Afterall, the only thing to do when the chips are down and all 'looks' lost, is to HOPE.

blow out

Index cards

i know rite...it will make this all worth it. A year and a half in the making; un-measureable emotional trauma; broken sense of self-worth; issues with family and friends who thought my best bet/dream should be something else...one offer would make it all worthwhile, it would give me something to show for it all. this is my pursuit of happiness wish u the best mate

alphabetical index

yeah i hope it does for all of us...its weird, all my internships/summer gigs...I always only had one offer. Its like my life has been directed lol, i never had the chance to actually choose which gig or school to go to. Im hoping that's the way it is with this too. If I get in...I will be the happiest man alive

nuclear reaction

ps the worst rejection is EVERY rejection without an acceptance in pocket

personally, i think being there is what most people need. talking isnt neccessary most of the time, just the shared knowledge that you will be there, patient and whenever he/she is willing to let it out, you will be there. it varies though, some pple may need a shoulder to literally cry on, others (like me), simply need to know someone is there (somewhere), im not really into too much talkin because i feel ther person trying to consle me is 'trying to help himself feel better' or something, anyway, just be there...whatever that means to him/her

true, columbia ia crappy (they rejected me what would that do? they mite just ignore it

Finally, someone who gets the whole fat lady sings line. I think i used that somewhere, and i wasnt sure people really got it...anyway, good luck, i wish u the best.