iwouldpreferanonymity Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 What's the best way to get an accurate feel for a department without attending? I'm sure email is always helpful, but do you have any other suggestions for someone unable to make it to the big shindig? Thanks! I am curious about the same thing - not because I am abroad, however, but because I am broke. CooCooCachoo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saltlakecity2012 Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 I think in '11 or '10 MIT called someone on a Sunday, and for some reason I thought PSU sent some letters on a Saturday last year. But my impression is that those are the exceptions, not the rule. (Not to say you couldn't receive a letter on Saturday that was postmarked earlier in the week...) I ran through the results from last year and there were several posted as email notifications that arrived on a weekend - they were later in the process, though. There were also a few Saturday phone calls and lots of post arriving over weekends. But it could also be from people posting results a day late, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWBG Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 I am curious about the same thing - not because I am abroad, however, but because I am broke. Don't most departments provide funding for you to attend the campus visits? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grantman Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 Alright, I am on the precipice of an full blown anxiety attack if I do not hear from someone by this time next week. Anyone in the same boat? brent09 and saltlakecity2012 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polisciftw Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Howdy, polisciftw! I actually do have a question. I'm working full-time abroad and don't think that I'll be able to make any accepted students weekends (assuming I'm accepted to more than one place). What's the best way to get an accurate feel for a department without attending? I'm sure email is always helpful, but do you have any other suggestions for someone unable to make it to the big shindig? Thanks! I know a couple of people in my department who were in your boat. It seems pretty common for departments to set a maximum cap as to what they'll cover in reasonable travel expenses, and unfortunately that excludes some people from further afield. I actually feel as though I totally botched the getting-to-know-the-departments element of the admissions process. I'd say that the best thing to do in your case would be to ask the department for the email addresses of their students. But I'd also caution you to take everything that is said with a grain of salt; there isn't any "upside" for students to tell a prospective student about any of the major issues in the department. Another thing to do is to look at the placement record of the department. No matter how stellar the package you're offered, it's a department's placement that'll get your bread buttered for the next 30 years. Also look at professors' CVs; do they show a track record of collaboration with students? This kind of data will help you get behind the spin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iwouldpreferanonymity Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Don't most departments provide funding for you to attend the campus visits? Perhaps. I do not know. In fact, the departments that admitted me did not even provide details about such visits. Granted, they admitted me earlier, and told me to wait for more information. Still, is this something you should normally hear about when you are accepted? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polisciftw Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Perhaps. I do not know. In fact, the departments that admitted me did not even provide details about such visits. Granted, they admitted me earlier, and told me to wait for more information. Still, is this something you should normally hear about when you are accepted? Yes, every department worth its salt will offer you money to visit. Remember, the visiting students day is the only day of your graduate career where the department will be trying to impress you, not vice-versa. Smaller departments who mainly attract from their local areas might only offer you money based on the milage it takes you to drive their campus, however. iwouldpreferanonymity 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iwouldpreferanonymity Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Yes, every department worth its salt will offer you money to visit. Remember, the visiting students day is the only day of your graduate career where the department will be trying to impress you, not vice-versa. Thank you, polisciftw. It seems like I need to chat with a couple departments tomorrow - perhaps I overlooked something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polisciftw Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Are you saying that the departments didn't offer to pay for your visit?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iwouldpreferanonymity Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Are you saying that the departments didn't offer to pay for your visit?! Actually, they did not even mention a visit. Well, not that I remember, at any rate. Again, I might have overlooked something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saltlakecity2012 Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Alright, I am on the precipice of an full blown anxiety attack if I do not hear from someone by this time next week. Anyone in the same boat? Totally with you. At this point I'm not even so concerned about rejection - I just want some information. Any information, regardless of flavor. First I was expecting to get some news Friday or early next week, and now I'm not even sure the schools I've applied to will notify before mid-February! Hopefully Duke will stick to its 2011 notification date at the very least. brent09, WorldMan and edost 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grantman Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Totally with you. At this point I'm not even so concerned about rejection - I just want some information. Any information, regardless of flavor. First I was expecting to get some news Friday or early next week, and now I'm not even sure the schools I've applied to will notify before mid-February! Hopefully Duke will stick to its 2011 notification date at the very least. What makes it much worse is seening people get acceptances from schools you have applied to and yet I have recieved nothing. Makes the whole sense of uncoming doom all the more worse and pronounced. tergellianfrom what I tell from your background you stand a better chance that I in getting in somewhere. Hopefully you hear from someone this week, send you postive waves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWBG Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Grantman, I wouldn't worry too much at this point, given the idiosyncratic nature of each admissions committee. More generally to everyone, even getting rejected everywhere is not the worst thing in the world; that's what happened to me last year, and this cycle is proving to be more of a success already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saltlakecity2012 Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 What makes it much worse is seening people get acceptances from schools you have applied to and yet I have recieved nothing. Makes the whole sense of uncoming doom all the more worse and pronounced. tergellianfrom what I tell from your background you stand a better chance that I in getting in somewhere. Hopefully you hear from someone this week, send you postive waves. chin up, grantman! think positive thoughts - if there's one thing i've learned about this process it's that so much of it is totally unpredictable (at least from our side of things). hopefully we'll both get good news soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wmplax Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 What did everyone choose to write about for their writing sample? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icedance Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 According to last years' survey of Gradcafe: Duke Feb 3rd, rej and acceptance come together via email or website; Stanford Feb 4 rej will be by email; acceptance by phone, seems Umich most of the outcomes turn out on Feb 4, the earliest one is Feb1, coming with both rej and acceptance. Some acceptance extends later. Let's see next week!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wmplax Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 for some schools i submitted my undergraduate thesis, and for others i submitted a paper on competition between India and China for energy resources, particularly examining what made China so much more successful in securing foreign energy reserves. what's your undergraduate thesis on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWBG Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 My guess is we hear from Michigan, Rochester, Duke, Stanford, and UCLA by the end of next week. Anyone else want to place bets? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balderdash Posted January 30, 2012 Author Share Posted January 30, 2012 My guess is we hear from Michigan, Rochester, Duke, Stanford, and UCLA by the end of next week. Anyone else want to place bets? Perhaps Berkeley acceptances as well. Re: funding for travel, I know Madison is willing to provide up to $300 per person for travel expenses, and they house you with a current graduate student and pay for your meals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Secret Squirrel Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 I wrote about Plato. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brent09 Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 I'm holding out hope for WashU letters this week. Seems they went out on 3 Feb '11. Of course, if things are pushed back ~ a week from last year, that would mean TWO weeks 'til WashU. The agony! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWBG Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Perhaps Berkeley acceptances as well. Re: funding for travel, I know Madison is willing to provide up to $300 per person for travel expenses, and they house you with a current graduate student and pay for your meals. Cool, did you e-mail them about this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balthasar Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 More generally to everyone, even getting rejected everywhere is not the worst thing in the world getting rejected everywhere TWICE might be pretty close to being the worst thing in the world My guess is we hear from Michigan, Rochester, Duke, Stanford, and UCLA by the end of next week. Anyone else want to place bets? Apparently OSU notified admits on 4 Feb last year, and Northwestern did the same the year before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saltlakecity2012 Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Perhaps Berkeley acceptances as well. God. That could be 4 of mine. I don't know about UCLA though - balderdash observed correctly that last year's notifications were early compared to preceding years'. I certainly hope so - I want this process over with as quickly as possible! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CafeAuLait12 Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 God. That could be 4 of mine. I don't know about UCLA though - balderdash observed correctly that last year's notifications were early compared to preceding years'. I certainly hope so - I want this process over with as quickly as possible! Don't we all?!?! I can't wait to have this done! WorldMan and Safferz 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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