The time difference is drving me crazy!

[dreaming 1]

I was wondering for all the internationals out there (I'm from UK) if anyone else is being driven nuts by the waiting, made worse by the time difference!

I hate getting up every day trying not to think about this all but having to wait til 2pm (and even 5pm West coast!) before people will even make it into their offices stateside, let alone get in any contact!

I've tried thinking of those morning hours as my 'safe time' when there is absolutely NO USE worrying as everyone who has important decisions to make about me is probably fast asleep, but no luck!!

Any similar experiences, or tips to pass the time?!

xo

[balderdash]

I was wondering for all the internationals out there (I'm from UK) if anyone else is being driven nuts by the waiting, made worse by the time difference!

I hate getting up every day trying not to think about this all but having to wait til 2pm (and even 5pm West coast!) before people will even make it into their offices stateside, let alone get in any contact!

I've tried thinking of those morning hours as my 'safe time' when there is absolutely NO USE worrying as everyone who has important decisions to make about me is probably fast asleep, but no luck!!

Any similar experiences, or tips to pass the time?!

xo

One hundred percent agree. I'm in the UK as well - Cambridge - and absolutely cannot work between 5pm and 1am... I've had some success getting my work done during this "safe time," as you put it, but hardly.

I've resorted to taking naps during the 5-8pm period and then doing work after the West Coast offices close at 1 am.

Edited February 1, 2011 by balderdash

[Zouzax]

I was wondering for all the internationals out there (I'm from UK) if anyone else is being driven nuts by the waiting, made worse by the time difference!

I hate getting up every day trying not to think about this all but having to wait til 2pm (and even 5pm West coast!) before people will even make it into their offices stateside, let alone get in any contact!

I've tried thinking of those morning hours as my 'safe time' when there is absolutely NO USE worrying as everyone who has important decisions to make about me is probably fast asleep, but no luck!!

Any similar experiences, or tips to pass the time?!

xo

SO in the same situation. I'm in Istanbul, so I have to wait until 4 pm for the stress to start. Of course, this is no way means that I sit around, relaxed until 4 pm -- nope. Instead, I check my email obsessively as soon as I wake up, thinking that a POI will be *so* excited to give me the good news that he'll write me at 3 am EST.

And do you wake up in the morning, wondering if you have any good news waiting for you in your inbox? It's like the excitement of Christmas morning, but without the guaranteed presents. I've even woken up, checked my mail on my phone, then gone back to bed.

I would LOVE some insight on how to pass the time, because if not it's going to be a loooonngg february.

[encephalization]

Know the feeling.

What makes it worse is that I only applied to one US university so the other UK/European ones can come back to me anytime. I am on needles around the clock.

[Kathiza]

I totally feel the same. And what makes it worse: Some US students already had interviews at "my" schools, "my" programs. And I didn't hear a word. I'm not even sure if the school will contact me directly or if I will have to wait for the news to be forwarded by Fulbright/the IIE. And since my IIE contact person is not in her office until next week, I might not even get the news, if some program wants to get back to me. I'm slowly freaking out here. I haven't had any interviews or anything. Before I thought my application was strong and me being a Fulbrighter would also help. But now I'm afraid that no program wants me and I'll end up losing the grant and not going to gradschool. I know this is hysterical, but I can't help myself...

[Zouzax]

I totally feel the same. And what makes it worse: Some US students already had interviews at "my" schools, "my" programs.

Don't worry, I'm in the same boat, too. One of my schools seems to have given out interview requests already. The only thing that's keeping me sane is that both students were American and were invited to the interview weekend. I'm telling myself that International students will come later ...

[newms]

I'm international (I'm from the Caribbean) as well but fortunately (or unfortunately) for me I'm on Eastern Standard Time, so my regular work day is full of stress wondering if I'm gonna get an email or phone call.

[kyjin]

Feeling the same. I'm in Japan, so 14 hours ahead of EST. I keep having to remind myself not to check my mail sixteen times a day since the adcomms are all asleep!

[Skyflash]

Its 12 hours difference here. My nights passes without sleep. It feels very uncomfortable in this situation.. a long wait and anxiety

[Elsa]

It is so good to see that I am not the only one quickly getting out of bed any single time my phone notifies an email in the middle of the night!! Damn you useless Facebook messages and Columbia admission blog! Stop sending me articles about the School, send out my decision!!! I have trouble focusing on my job from 15pm to 2am.

I'm also relieved that other International students haven't gotten their decisions yet when some Americans have.

[Zouzax]

It is so good to see that I am not the only one quickly getting out of bed any single time my phone notifies an email in the middle of the night!! Damn you useless Facebook messages and Columbia admission blog! Stop sending me articles about the School, send out my decision!!! I have trouble focusing on my job from 15pm to 2am.

I'm also relieved that other International students haven't gotten their decisions yet when some Americans have.

I turned off my facebook notifications, but i get SO many GradCafe forum notifications its crazy! Today I woke up to 22 new emails, almost all from GradCafe. I was *praying* that I would find an email from a school buried in between them, but no dice. sigh.

Well, in my case I cant be sure if the school *only* sent invitations to Americans or not, there just happened to be two americans that reported the invitations, and no internationals. The idea that they're waiting on international interview requests is what lets me sleep at night

[Elsa]

You know what Zouzax? let's keep it that way : Adcoms haven't started to review international applications yet. End of the story. Now we can all get some sleep and start focusing on our jobs (getting fired would be the icing on the cake!!!)

No but seriously, I do think international applications are reviewed together, apart from Americans'.

[Bukharan]

Also in the UK. It i painful to spend mornings knowing that checking e-mail is pointless since everyone on the East Coast is sleeping soundly and adcoms on the West Coast are only going to bed.

[Kathiza]

No but seriously, I do think international applications are reviewed together, apart from Americans'.

To be honest, I don't think that's the case. It would not make any sense. Why should they divide the applications? Because Americans get the spots and Internationals get what's left over? I really hope not...

[matilda]

Does anyone even have a tip...from the US why aren't there any notifications yet?

I was just about to call the guy from the Embassy here...but, I figured out - if he has any info, he will contact me. And seeing that you all wait for the same deal, makes me feel a little better.

[Elsa]

To be honest, I don't think that's the case. It would not make any sense. Why should they divide the applications? Because Americans get the spots and Internationals get what's left over? I really hope not...

Well Kathiza I'm really sorry to disappoint you, but the pool of international applicants is reviewed apart, because US grad schools have... quotas. For instance, you are, let's say German. You apply in 2010 and this year, there are 45 other European people applying to the same program, your chances are lower than if you had applied in 2009 with only 10 European applying. I read this article wrote by an Harvard Adcom which explains the process : they clearly and immediatly separate international (they put a blue stickers on their applications) from the rest of the pool (people from minority get a red sticker). Then they make the decisions. Final step? they adjust the decisions according to the School quotas policy. I'll post the article in question.

So do you have more chances to get in as an International? Theoretically yes, because there are fewer of us compared to US students. But you are not competing with all international students, it depends on how many people from your area are applying... To conclude : it's impossible to tell and don't hesitate to reapply the next year, your acceptance or rejection is also a statistical matter.

Now I'm going back to my chocolate cookies, the only thing that cheers me up !

PS : I talked to three US professors who are or were on Adcoms'. They all confirmed what the Harvard professor wrote...

[Vacuum]

I think the deadlines for internationals are earlier because usually more items need to be sent in to be reviewed compared to domestic students. I'm pretty sure they are mainly reviewed at the same time though, in terms of decision making because usually it is the case that they either reserve only a few spots for international students or give them the leftovers haha. Some programs have 'quotas' of how many domestic/out of state/international students they accept into a particular program in addition to sex/race.

Decisions aren't due until mid to late March (well for MAs). That is why you haven't heard anything!!! I love how everyone is absolutely freaking out about the dates. Sadly, you (may) have to wait...let me see here.......43ish more days? If you had to submit earlier than the domestic deadline, you should be used to waiting around. I started sending things out in October!!!

The only thing I've heard so far is about a missing transcript that wasn't so missing. So I at least have a sense that they are starting to review things. And I'm also wondering....how many of my items are missing from other applications that I actually did send in....*dum dum duuumm*

[Zouzax]

Well Kathiza I'm really sorry to disappoint you, but the pool of international applicants is reviewed apart, because US grad schools have... quotas. For instance, you are, let's say German. You apply in 2010 and this year, there are 45 other European people applying to the same program, your chances are lower than if you had applied in 2009 with only 10 European applying. I read this article wrote by an Harvard Adcom which explains the process : they clearly and immediatly separate international (they put a blue stickers on their applications) from the rest of the pool (people from minority get a red sticker). Then they make the decisions. Final step? they adjust the decisions according to the School quotas policy. I'll post the article in question.

So do you have more chances to get in as an International? Theoretically yes, because there are fewer of us compared to US students. But you are not competing with all international students, it depends on how many people from your area are applying... To conclude : it's impossible to tell and don't hesitate to reapply the next year, your acceptance or rejection is also a statistical matter.

Now I'm going back to my chocolate cookies, the only thing that cheers me up !

PS : I talked to three US professors who are or were on Adcoms'. They all confirmed what the Harvard professor wrote...

now THAT's interesting. I wonder what the chances are for an international minority? and what color tag would you receive lol

Edited February 2, 2011 by Zouzax

[Kathiza]

Well Kathiza I'm really sorry to disappoint you, but the pool of international applicants is reviewed apart, because US grad schools have... quotas. For instance, you are, let's say German. You apply in 2010 and this year, there are 45 other European people applying to the same program, your chances are lower than if you had applied in 2009 with only 10 European applying. I read this article wrote by an Harvard Adcom which explains the process : they clearly and immediatly separate international (they put a blue stickers on their applications) from the rest of the pool (people from minority get a red sticker). Then they make the decisions. Final step? they adjust the decisions according to the School quotas policy. I'll post the article in question.

So do you have more chances to get in as an International? Theoretically yes, because there are fewer of us compared to US students. But you are not competing with all international students, it depends on how many people from your area are applying... To conclude : it's impossible to tell and don't hesitate to reapply the next year, your acceptance or rejection is also a statistical matter.

Now I'm going back to my chocolate cookies, the only thing that cheers me up !

PS : I talked to three US professors who are or were on Adcoms'. They all confirmed what the Harvard professor wrote...

Thanks for explaining and you're not disappointing me at all! I had no idea about how the review process works, I was just posting my thoughts/fears.

Well, since I'm from a small country and as far as I know nobody from my department ever tried to apply to US universities (or at least nobody ever asked for letters of recommendation), maybe my chances aren't that bad. But still, I'm a very impatient person. The waiting drives me nuts, no matter if I'll have to wat 4 or 40 more days... So please be patient with me. I might freak out here several more times

[Elsa]

now THAT's interesting. I wonder what the chances are for an international minority? and what color tag would you receive lol

LOOOOOOOOOOL. Believe me, I was this close to check all the boxes just to be sure : yes, I'm black, asian, gay AND blind, I'm one of a kind! :-D (Don't be offended people, it's a lame joke, politically incorrect but I'm French, that is a national sport) ;-)

[Elsa]

Thanks for explaining and you're not disappointing me at all! I had no idea about how the review process works, I was just posting my thoughts/fears.

Well, since I'm from a small country and as far as I know nobody from my department ever tried to apply to US universities (or at least nobody ever asked for letters of recommendation), maybe my chances aren't that bad. But still, I'm a very impatient person. The waiting drives me nuts, no matter if I'll have to wat 4 or 40 more days... So please be patient with me. I might freak out here several more times

Oh I understand completely! I freak out every single time I get an email!!! I'm pathetic. And unlike you, I come from a country where people do apply to US gradschools. I wish I were from Kazakhstan... :-(

[ZeChocMoose]

I am not an international student-- I am actually an American. After I read the discussion about quotas, I felt that I had to post. There are no quotas for applicants based on race, gender, or sexual orientation in the US. There are two famous U.S. Supreme Court cases back in 2003 (Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger) that speak to affirmative action policies in university admissions. Essentially, they ruled that race can be used as a factor in the admission process but universities cannot establish quotas for specific races/ethnicities or assign points* to applicants based on their demographics. If universities did this, it would be illegal.

For the discussion on do universities have quotas for international students? It honestly doesn't make any sense. Just to think about it logistically, that would be a nightmare as programs and departments have different deadlines for admissions and release decisions at different times throughout the year. Just look to the gradcafe's result section to see this! I don't see how they would realistically coordinate this process.

From my personal perspective, I sat on my admission's committee when I was a master's student. International students were reviewed with everyone else and were not flagged or singled out. The adcomm was interested in what they wanted to study, their background in the field, and the strength of their research skills. Being a citizen of x country never came up nor was important to the adcomm.

I hope Elsa that you find that article and post it. I would be curious to read it.

If you want to see data on international enrollments at US graduate schools, the Council of Graduate Schools have several informative reports. http://www.cgsnet.or....aspx?tabid=172 You can see that international student enrollments are increasing not declining so that is good news for you all

* The "points" refers to the institution (in the court case) that was awarding underrepresented minorities 20 points. Applicants were rated on numerous items and if they received 100 points, they were admitted to the university.

Edited February 3, 2011 by ZeChocMoose

[Kathiza]

Thanks for posting this info.

I posted above that it would be strange if they separated the applicants into international/national. But again: I have no idea. And to be honest: It does not really matter to me. I just hope that the review process does not take any longer and that I'll have my results soon. (Even without an interview... haven't been contacted by any school. I keep myself calm by thinking that I already passed two interviews for Fulbright and that this should demonstrate that I'm hard working and motivated; all questions related to academic fit are answered in my SoP and my essay about research goals etc. --- So I hope that's the reason why nobody wants to interview me... At least for me it is; otherwise I would freak out...)

[ZeChocMoose]

Thanks for posting this info.

I posted above that it would be strange if they separated the applicants into international/national. But again: I have no idea. And to be honest: It does not really matter to me. I just hope that the review process does not take any longer and that I'll have my results soon. (Even without an interview... haven't been contacted by any school. I keep myself calm by thinking that I already passed two interviews for Fulbright and that this should demonstrate that I'm hard working and motivated; all questions related to academic fit are answered in my SoP and my essay about research goals etc. --- So I hope that's the reason why nobody wants to interview me... At least for me it is; otherwise I would freak out...)

I remember that the one Fulbright scholar that we had in the app pool was thought of very highly and the person didn't need to be funded so bonus! I am sure that you'll have a good shot at the places that you applied to.

[Kathiza]

Well, but I'll need funding after my first year. Because the Fulbright grant only provides for the first year of studies; after that, the university thould provide for funding. Let's hope this works out...