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Marius

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  1. Upvote
    Marius got a reaction from AtomDance in NIH Fellowships For Dummies   
  2. Upvote
    Marius got a reaction from BiologiGal in NIH Fellowships For Dummies   
  3. Upvote
    Marius got a reaction from Science! in NIH Fellowships For Dummies   
  4. Upvote
    Marius got a reaction from tcmazer in NIH Fellowships For Dummies   
  5. Upvote
    Marius got a reaction from kuchbhi in NIH Fellowships For Dummies   
  6. Upvote
    Marius got a reaction from rscneurozombie in NIH Fellowships For Dummies   
  7. Upvote
    Marius got a reaction from Tuck in Why can't schools let you know if you've been rejected?   
    Generally they only send out rejections when everything is set in stone already. I know some of the schools I applied to sent out rejections if they didn't send you on to the interview phase. However if you got an interview and don't hear anything back and were rejected, you probably aren't going to hear anything back for a while, simply because they won't definitely let your application go until they have everything finalized. Unfortunately that takes a while. Sometimes candidates let offers go for weeks or even months or don't contact the program at all. The PI of the lab I work in now is also on the adcom for the graduate program here and he's told me that sometimes they will send out an offer and the applicant won't contact the program until the very last minute, and then its just to say they won't be attending because they chose another school. This is why they can't send out rejections until so late, because they never know when or who they might have to contact if that first applicant turns the offer down. The other thing is that by that point, most of the candidates on the waitlist have probably accepted an offer somewhere else. He's said they have had years where they meant to accept maybe 4 or 5 candidates, but only gotten maybe 3 accepted offers since candidates on the waitlist had made other plans. I don't think this happens very often, but it certainly gives you an idea of why they're waiting until the last minute to send out rejections.
  8. Upvote
    Marius got a reaction from sareth in Let's vote and discuss the appropriate length of a good SOP   
    I think mine was ~500 words. The idea is to get your thoughts across as concisely as possible. You want to relay all the important information you need to: background, experience, goals, etc. and at the same time not get too wordy. Those reading your SOP are going to be swayed by content, not overly elaborate wording or story telling. Although of course it will still need to be well written. Make sure everything is grammatically sound. Read it out loud, make sure everything sounds right.

    If you're using the same basic template for multiple SOPs make sure you change all the times you use the institution names from the previous. I talked to somebody who forgot to do this and needless to say it was very embarrassing for them when brought up during the interview!
  9. Upvote
    Marius got a reaction from cafeomuerte in The Silence is Killing Me!   
    I was checking my spam folder for a while there...
  10. Upvote
    Marius got a reaction from FinaleFile in What will you treat yourself to?   
    I ran around the neuroscience floor of the psychology building screaming and flailing my arms. Then I the rest of the RAs/grad students from my lab went out for a night on the town.
  11. Upvote
    Marius got a reaction from Weirdlight in What will you treat yourself to?   
    I ran around the neuroscience floor of the psychology building screaming and flailing my arms. Then I the rest of the RAs/grad students from my lab went out for a night on the town.
  12. Upvote
    Marius got a reaction from Kitkat in The Silence is Killing Me!   
    Second acceptance came in today. They're coming late in the season for me, so don't despair they are definitely still busy admitting people!
  13. Upvote
    Marius got a reaction from MSW13 in The Silence is Killing Me!   
    Second acceptance came in today. They're coming late in the season for me, so don't despair they are definitely still busy admitting people!
  14. Upvote
    Marius got a reaction from once in Why can't schools let you know if you've been rejected?   
    Generally they only send out rejections when everything is set in stone already. I know some of the schools I applied to sent out rejections if they didn't send you on to the interview phase. However if you got an interview and don't hear anything back and were rejected, you probably aren't going to hear anything back for a while, simply because they won't definitely let your application go until they have everything finalized. Unfortunately that takes a while. Sometimes candidates let offers go for weeks or even months or don't contact the program at all. The PI of the lab I work in now is also on the adcom for the graduate program here and he's told me that sometimes they will send out an offer and the applicant won't contact the program until the very last minute, and then its just to say they won't be attending because they chose another school. This is why they can't send out rejections until so late, because they never know when or who they might have to contact if that first applicant turns the offer down. The other thing is that by that point, most of the candidates on the waitlist have probably accepted an offer somewhere else. He's said they have had years where they meant to accept maybe 4 or 5 candidates, but only gotten maybe 3 accepted offers since candidates on the waitlist had made other plans. I don't think this happens very often, but it certainly gives you an idea of why they're waiting until the last minute to send out rejections.
  15. Upvote
    Marius got a reaction from crazygirl2012 in Why can't schools let you know if you've been rejected?   
    Generally they only send out rejections when everything is set in stone already. I know some of the schools I applied to sent out rejections if they didn't send you on to the interview phase. However if you got an interview and don't hear anything back and were rejected, you probably aren't going to hear anything back for a while, simply because they won't definitely let your application go until they have everything finalized. Unfortunately that takes a while. Sometimes candidates let offers go for weeks or even months or don't contact the program at all. The PI of the lab I work in now is also on the adcom for the graduate program here and he's told me that sometimes they will send out an offer and the applicant won't contact the program until the very last minute, and then its just to say they won't be attending because they chose another school. This is why they can't send out rejections until so late, because they never know when or who they might have to contact if that first applicant turns the offer down. The other thing is that by that point, most of the candidates on the waitlist have probably accepted an offer somewhere else. He's said they have had years where they meant to accept maybe 4 or 5 candidates, but only gotten maybe 3 accepted offers since candidates on the waitlist had made other plans. I don't think this happens very often, but it certainly gives you an idea of why they're waiting until the last minute to send out rejections.
  16. Upvote
    Marius reacted to MSW13 in The Silence is Killing Me!   
    Self care is so very important under stressful conditions. Sometimes it is important to take a step back from the situation and gain some important perspective. You may get in, you may not. You may have to make some tough decisions in the next few weeks or you may not. But no matter what, there will not be a scenario that you CANT handle.
    In the larger scheme of things, this is just one hurdle in your life and believe it or not, it will not be your biggest. It just feels like it because you are in the 'here and now'. If you look back at your life, consider all of your accomplishments. I'm willing to bet that you can think of several examples where you had to do something at least twice to get it right--whether it was learning to ride a bike or perfecting an academic achievement, it took time and patience to get it right.

    You still have plenty of time to hear back from your schools. If you get in, that is wonderful. If you dont, it is not the end of the world.
    If it helps, think about your plan 'B'. Although it sucks to get rejected, knowing that you can do something about it is empowering and motivating.
    Most importantly, remember that getting into the perfect grad school does not define you as a person nor should it measure your sense of self worth. It is just one aspect of 'you'. If you get in, be proud because you have every right to be. If you dont get in, be persistent and know that you can and should reapply. And, be proud. This process is not for the faint of heart and getting this far says a lot about you as a person, regardless of the result.

    Good luck! Please eat something and get a good night's sleep!
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