ANDS!

I wore jeans and a nice sweater shirt, with boots. Everyone else was decked out for a job interview; I wouldn't have been comfortable in that. No one cared. Realistically I think it all depends on the program you are applying to to be honest and perhaps your perceived level of competition.

You are not legally obligated to attend - even if you accepted their offer.

Focus on 30-50, with a few hail mary passes to 10-29 - just to say you applied.

Do you want to do independent research or do you want to "work". That's generally the difference. As for your courses, you'll need Linear Algebra (upper division) and second semester analysis.

Something tells me that the cases of that happening in the entire modern history of graduate acceptances is so small as to be considered insignificant. Obviously not a null event, but not something I would lose sleep over, especially considering the ridiculousness of requiring an acceptance so early in the process.

You can always pull out; sure it sucks, but if they are forcing you into a corner. . .

I didn't contact any of these professors. I don't think that has any particular bearing to be honest; I know some people swears it increased their chances of getting in. Certain admission programs specifically say - unless you have a genuine interest in the research these POI's are doing - that such isn't welcome; in fact its totally transparent.

I would say it depends on who is inviting you. Getting face time with competitive programs makes it that much easier for a committee (or someone on the committee or even a possible advisor) to recommend you.

Well, if they aren't responding fast enough - simply call them.

Received same email/message; essentially an opportunity to check "fit" with students. I would expect dress to be slightly business-casual (though more casual than business). Of course you can always contact the department that is inviting you down for this info if it wasn't included in the message/email.

You could just email and ask them.

While this is true, I would not expect "larger" programs to be so accommodating. However, so long as a program has funding you should be able to get on a waitlist if they deem you qualified for their program.

You can always withdraw later.

They aren't going to care. It's a MS, so you'll likely be funding yourself, so there will be leeway in your undergraduate career.

I think people, mostly people coming from places where there isn't a large transit presence, overestimate the capabilities of a "connected" area like NJ/NY. As others have already chimed in, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to live in Manhattan (even though its, yea, Manhattan) and go to school in NJ. Culturally maybe; financially and logistically - no. If one "needs" to get into the city for culture, that's what those weekends are for. NJ to NY is pretty robust in transit options so that if you need to let off some steam and "party" you can. Mark me down as someone else advising against this for future residents.

As with most things, it all depends on the program. Just call head of graduate admissions, or a clerk assigned to the grad program to see what their admission process is. They'll let you know if they've begun review (some wont have even looked at them) and when decisions start going out. So, just pick up a phone.

I applied to Duke; haven't heard anything. Not stressing. I applied to more than enough schools that I actually want to attend to make a rejection from Duke (which is a Top 10 school) not that big of a deal. For all you know they could be doing these in waves and yours is forthcoming. Kick back and enjoy your winter break.

Did you do early/online review of your application?

I would pad it with a few schools in the 50 to 100 range (as determined by USN). You met the coursework prereqs for most programs, and so it wouldn't be out of the pale if you got accepted to a Top 20 school; I'd just make sure the schools you are applying to match the research you've got experience with. If you're asking for a LOR from an econ professor, they may think (especially if that's what you've outlined in a SOP) that's where you're headed research wise - which might not be a fit. Also I am curious why you applied to NCSU and Duke, but not Chapel Hill.

Schools don't really give fee waivers for GPA's. If you have financial difficulties or are part of various academic programs (they will list them during application process) then you might qualify for a fee-waiver.

No reason to retake anything. What's done is done. Your LOR and academic performance will handle your mental capability; hopefully you addressed this situation in you Statement of Purpose, since it is absolutely where you are meant to explain any inconsistencies that grad committees might see. If you are overly concerned, simply apply to a few more safety schools. I know people want that Marquee Name on their PhD's, but being "forced" to attend a Top 50 school (instead of a Top 10) is hardly an academic/professional death sentence.

That "article" was ridiculous, and no doubt written by someone frustrated with the overall ridiculousness of the "old" Verbal GRE section. Make no mistake, I am no fan of the GRE's, but as has been pointed out, the dense writting on display isn't some conjuration of literary sadists, but the real way in which information is presented in scholarly papers; that's just the way it is. Putting a "title" on the paragraph defeats the purpose; you are MEANT to suss the meaning out of the small passage, and no you aren't meant to read it "just once". That is ludicrous. No one expects you to read a passage "just once" in graduate school, why would you think that is so here? Thankfully the revised GRE has eased up on the overly long reading comprehension sections (in the three verbal sections, I came across maybe two long passages that had more than three questions attached to it); the passages are much shorter (often one or two paragraphs) and sometimes only attached to a single question. I still think standardized tests are a poor means to set baseline measures of acceptance, but at the least - it (being the GREs) has gotten better.

What kills my interest in a program? A poorly designed website. As a student with a fair amount of options, I want to be able to find information about your program without having to dig. If drumming up support for your graduate program is key, I want that information to be one of the first things my eye falls on. I had to dig for 3 to 4 minutes on Rice universities statistics website to find out when the hell the application deadline was, until I finally just signed up for an account; turns out they list the app deadline there. Just poor showing. As has already been mentioned, get the students in there; I want to see not only how your students are doing, but how much they are enjoying their experience. There should be a mini-student life section showing students in the classroom, out of the classroom and participating in dept. run events if those happen. Yes, we're all their for ourselves and to get our own education, but no man is an island. Same goes for the instructors. Instructor profiles clearly laying out research interests, perhaps teaching philosophies - anything to give prospective students the information they need to know that "Yes, this program is going to be a great fit for me. . ." This is all aesthetics of course, but folks have already laid out more functional ways of improving student recruitment.

Surprised no schools from NC are there. I think people would be surprised at admission statistics for some of these top tier schools. One year UNC's average GPA for admitted students was around 3.3. What do your LOR's say (if you know what is in them).

If you take some graduate statistics classes the you can no doubt get the jobs the BioStat's get and more. From what I understand, BioMath has a stronger emphasis on the biological side than BioStat (which generally will focus on design and analysis of experiments). So short answer - a lot.