[Question regarding someone else's dissertation]

Yes. The best way is to contact the author directly and ask for a copy. In almost all cases, theses are copyrighted to the author, not the school (but the school generally requires the student to grant a indefinite, royalty-free right to reproduce it etc.

Thank you for the advice! I contacted the author and he gave me a copy for reference.

[Question regarding someone else's dissertation]

If you are interested reading about the research in someone's dissertation, what is the appropriate way to get the document?

Or is it impossible? It's a dissertation done by a student from another university, the school only allows their students to log in and access it. So for a graduate student in another school interested, is there a legal way to read it?

Thank you! 

[What Do Acceptance and Rejection Mean to Us?]

rejection is always motivation to work harder than I am

acceptance is happiness

[Laptop!]

I got an thinkpad. For under 1000, it's a great computer and you can add in a good graphics card.

[UC Berkeley]

civil engineering here, attending this fall.

[Sh*t people say when you are applying to grad school]

"You are going to be so overqualified for all the jobs"

[MIT Civil Engineering 2013 Applicants]

Just got my rejection.

[Berkeley, CA]

I am going there in the Fall. Should I start looking at apartments now? Or in the summer? When do most leases start in Berkeley Area?

From what I read and heard, the north side is safer and more graduate students live there right?

Anyone know the village thing on campus? How is that?

[Question about funding after first year]

Is it normal for school to give you full funding for year 1 and say if your grades are good, then you will get funding after year 1. It seems like some people here get guaranteed funding for several years.

I am in engineering if that helps.

 

[First wave of acceptance/rejection letters are out but I haven't received anything]

I got in all my top choices, but all my safety schools did not sent me any information. There are also a lot of acceptances for my safety school on this site. I don't think you are necessarily rejected. It takes time to organize offers and sent it to student.

[Does any of the schools notify people in alphabetical order?]

probably not. i think if you are getting funding, you will know before march. if you don't hear untill march 15, chances are it's not good since deadline is april 15th. 

[Open house question]

Won't they pay for the trip? Is there something else that makes you not want to go?

I don't know if it's rude to not visit; the visits are usually the school's chance to try and woo you into accepting their offer. But it sounds like they don't need to do that if you've already made up your mind.

But as far as looking for a place to live and getting a feel for the department, faculty, and other students, nothing will beat a paid-for recruiting visit.

I don't think they are paying for it. They already gave me the funding offers. So is it okay for me to not go? It is a dream school so I don't need to be wooed. 

[Open house question]

I already got accepted to a school and plan to accept. They are having open house during March for prospective students. The problem is the school is really far from me ( have to fly from east coast all the way to west coast). Is it rude to not go to open house? 

[Any civil applicants here?]

Any civil engineering applicants? 

Anyone applied to MIT and know if they started to sent out decisions yet?

[Is the department visitation important?]

I got recruiting weekend invite first, but the official offer already came and I haven't even went to the recruiting weekend yet. So yes, if it's a paid visitation weekend, you are most likely in. 

[Haven't Heard ANYTHING]

I'm not sure that this answers anything for you, but I'll share a bit of insight gleaned from a close friend of mine who works in Georgetown's admissions office. Bear in mind this is only guaranteed true in Georgetown's case, but I've got to believe they aren't the only ones who operate like this.

 

Applicants are generally sorted into tiers. Tier 1 applicants are those with STELLAR credentials, like, 4.0 GPAs from Harvard, perfect GRE scores, etc. They get their acceptance letters first, and fastest. Then there is a lull. The admissions office waits to hear back from those before offering or denying anyone else. If they get a lot of Tier 1-ers to accept their offers, then only a very limited Tier 2 applicants are accepted. Conversely, if half of Tier 1-ers decline admission, that leaves room for plenty-- if not all-- of the Tier 2 applicants. Rinse and repeat this process for Tier 2 versus Tier 3, until eventually all open spots are filled.

 

Basically, they prioritize applicants, giving the best first chance to decline/accept and working their way down. Obviously if you have a 2.0 GPA you're simply rejected outright. There are, of course, universal standards. But assuming you're a semi-decent candidate, the above explanation is how it works.

 

So if you haven't heard anything yet, that isn't a good OR bad thing. What it means, in my (limited) experience, is that you have not been rejected outright. Which is good. You must have decent credentials. But it also means you haven't been accepted outright along with the Tier 1 applicants, either. It's entirely probable you're in Tier 2 or something and your fate will depend, at least partly, on how many Tier 1 applicants accept.

 

I hope this was coherent. Try not to stress over it, in either case-- you'll be all right no matter what happens, as there's always next year if the worst transpires, and that one year can make a huge difference. You've done all you could for now.

 

Very best of luck, my friend!

I have a question. So what if I got my acceptance from a very good school very early ( January), however it is unofficial and I am waiting on official document. Does this mean I am in tier 1 or tier 2 for that school? They do gave full funding.

[Low verbal score]

I just reported all my schools, some schools I asked said they pick highest score in each section.

[Help! Doctoral Fellowship at top 120 school or admit at top 20?]

110 is pretty far from 20, it really depends on your financial situation. I think you should lean towards to 20 though. Just my opinion.

[Question about unofficial acceptance]

I got a unofficial acceptance letter that included tuition and stipends, was told to wait for official documents.

Is it rude to NOT call them and learn more about the details? Or should I just wait for official acceptance letter first. I don't want to be labeled as annoying; but then again I don't want to look like I have no interest because it is dream school (UCB).

Anyone have inputs on this?

[When do schools sent out official offers?]

When do schools usually sent out official admission letters in the mail?

Anyone know when UC Berkeley sents it out?

 

[insurance question]

Does anyone know If you get an unofficial admission from a school and they are covering all tuition and a stipend, but no health insurance is offered. Does this mean I will have to buy my own insurance? Is there a possibility the final acceptance letter will include it?

[question about visiting school invites]

Hi guys, I am majoring in engineering. I got 2 invites for paid grad school visits, but they are on same date. Anyone have experience on this and what is the best way to handle this? Does not able to go kills my chances for that school?

Thanks

["Recruiting Weekend Invitation"]

So if you are invited to one of those paid visits, is there a dress code for meeting the faculty? Casual or business casual?

[What to send to professors?]

From my applications, the ones that only let you submit recommendation AFTER your application is submitted, you should start ASAP. Some schools even assign you their IDs for 2-3 work days, THEN you can sent your recommender requests.

Usually I just sent my recommenders my resume, unofficial transcript, and deadlines for the schools. The recommenders usually just ask for resume, assuming they know other information about you ( research/grades in their class).

[Question about thanking recommenders]

I plan to buy a thank you card with personal note, along with a small gift ( my school mug/ chocolate) and give to my recommenders to show my appreciation; i applied to quite a few schools and I know the recommenders pretty well.

Would my recommenders be mad if I do this? Of course I will give it to them after they complete all the recommendations, so it shouldn't be a bribe or anything.

Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks!!!