take a gamble: predict your own outcome!

[frankdux]

forget about jinxing yourself for a few minutes!

me:

2 acceptances/successful waitlists

3 unsuccessful waitlists

6 immediate rejections

so overall: 2/11

[aec]

3 acceptances/successful waitlists

3 unsuccessful waitlists/no funding

4 rejections

3/10... I have several MA programs so I'm hoping they come through for me!

[Astaroth]

2 interviews

1 acceptance without interview

1 no reply (Mayo Grad School)

4 rejections

And that's very VERY optimistic.

[seunghwane]

11 applications

8 interviews

3 non-interview rejections

7 acceptances after interviews

4 rejections total

So far: 5 interviews, 1 non-interview rejections

[t_ruth]

my goodness!

I honestly have absolutely no idea.

I've applied to 9 programs and am expecting one school will flat out reject me and it is likely that at least two others will. So, optimistically:

rejections: 1

waitlist: 2

acceptances: 7? (assuming I get one of the waitlist...)

[Dreams]

I am going to be the optimist here and go for all acceptances + funding.

[linden]

frankdux:

My whole life right now is about not jinxing myself!

5 applications

4 acceptances

1 waitlist - And then an acceptance off the waitlist

Ha, ha, right!

Linden

[ridgey]

6 applications

1 acceptance

2 waitlist>>1 acceptance, 1 rejection

3 laugh-in-my-face, are-you-seriously-applying, rejections

[MAN]

Accepted - 6

Rejected - 3

Accepted with funding - 2... hopefully more.

[ohheygradschool]

I think mine will split right down the middle:

3 acceptances

3 rejections

:shock:

[Joel418]

I've never applied in this field before, so I don't really know what I'm up against, but I'll just take a guess:

9 apps

3 acceptances with funding (if the breaks go the right way)

3 waitlists

3 rejections (one politely, the Ivys will probably toss me at the beginning of the process)

I guess we'll see.......

[miratrix]

No WAY am I tempting fate this way!

[demondeac]

7 Rejections outright

1 Waitlist then rejection

4 Acceptances (3 at lower tier, partial funding, admit-em-all and let Benjamin Franklin sort em out)

Leaving one funded Admission....maybe? :cry:

[Dreams]

No WAY am I tempting fate this way!

Oh come on. Fate wants some tempting Just think of it as wishing it into existence.

[adaptations]

Applied to 14:

Pessimistic Version:

(Other thank 100% rejection)

2 acceptances, 1 waitlist, 11 rejections

Hopefully Realistic:

3 acceptances

Absolute Optimism:

5+ acceptances

[coho]

applied to: 8

prediction: My gut feelings change as much as my mood does. I flip between thinking EVERYONE will accept me and NO ONE will accept me. Generally nothing in between. :roll: Right now, I'm feeling the "no one" . . . yuck.

It would be absolutely fascinating if everyone who's posted on this thread would post their real results as well. We could see how accurate gut instinct can be in this matter. Like I said, I think (hope) mine is totally unreliable.

[dowjonesindustrial]

adaptation's got the right idea

out of 16,

i only need one

i'd love 3

i'd kill for 5

no really. give me a name. 8)

[Tonights]

Realistic: 3/8 acceptances.

Pessimistic: 100% refusals

Optimistic: 5/8 acceptances.

In reality I truly feel like I won't get in anywhere, but that's the way it goes. Only two of my schools are interviewing and they're both in the rejection pile, so I probably won't have any. One of my sure acceptances is based on the fact that I have TWO professors there who want to SHARE advising me, but they haven't got much funding this year. So I flip between being sure I'll at least get in there, and being sure that I won't because the money won't materialize.

I only need one. I'd like more, but one, please, come on, one.

[rising_star]

This is fun! If I'd done this when I originally applied (fall/winter 05), here's what I would have listed:

6 applications

1-2 acceptances

1 waitlist

3-4 rejections

It actually turned out a lot better. I got 4 acceptances, all with funding. This was shocking since I applied to a new field that I knew little about with no guidance on the process.

[linden]

It will be even more interesting to see how our predictions correlate to the outcome. I hope posters will come back and post their results.

[UnlikelyGrad]

9 applications:

3 acceptances

2 waitlists

4 rejections

[Dreams]

What baffles me is why everyone predicts such a high rejection rate. I know it is one thing to be cautious, but we are after applying to schools that we (hopefully) researched well enough to determine they were a good fit and likely to admit us.

[CAPoliSciPhD]

Because honestly, there's a lot more luck involved than we'd all like to admit. There's probably a good chance some of the top schools could get 30 candidates who qualify and are a match with the school --- but if they only take 15, there's 15 good applicants who will get rejections...

Take a look at apply corner - people are applying to 10-15 schools and getting one acceptance or none at all....OF COURSE this doesn't mean that this WILL happen and I hope we all get into at least a few schools - but it is being realistic to think of the high rejection rates

There are a lot of unknown variables in this process that we cannot compensate for....

We can just wait. And hope.

[rising_star]

What baffles me is why everyone predicts such a high rejection rate. I know it is one thing to be cautious, but we are after applying to schools that we (hopefully) researched well enough to determine they were a good fit and likely to admit us.

When I applied to MA programs, I didn't even know about grad school forums (livejournal, princeton review, etc) until after I'd submitted 2/3 of my applications. This forum was actually created during that application cycle so it didn't exist as a resource. Couple that with applying to a social science that you've never taken a class in from a humanities background, having people write letters that didn't know you super well because you didn't know many profs in your major (thanks to study abroad), not having a stellar GPA or GRE scores, and you can begin to see why people like me think they have very little chance of getting in anywhere. It got worse when, after I'd already done a bunch of apps, I found the NRC rankings and realized I'd applied to a top 5 program. Oh yea, I only had friends (who weren't applying to grad school) to read my SOP and, after reading applyingtograd, learned that I made it way too personal and not academic enough. Had it not been for the fact that I got an acceptance in late January (thin envelope with Admitted on the outside though campus mail had covered that up with a label), I would've been thinking I wouldn't get in anywhere.

[Dreams]

When I applied to MA programs, I didn't even know about grad school forums (livejournal, princeton review, etc) until after I'd submitted 2/3 of my applications. This forum was actually created during that application cycle so it didn't exist as a resource. Couple that with applying to a social science that you've never taken a class in from a humanities background, having people write letters that didn't know you super well because you didn't know many profs in your major (thanks to study abroad), not having a stellar GPA or GRE scores, and you can begin to see why people like me think they have very little chance of getting in anywhere. It got worse when, after I'd already done a bunch of apps, I found the NRC rankings and realized I'd applied to a top 5 program. Oh yea, I only had friends (who weren't applying to grad school) to read my SOP and, after reading applyingtograd, learned that I made it way too personal and not academic enough. Had it not been for the fact that I got an acceptance in late January (thin envelope with Admitted on the outside though campus mail had covered that up with a label), I would've been thinking I wouldn't get in anywhere.

Your story sounds a lot like mine, except that my professors knew me well. Too well in fact down to the last weakness. When I first applied to grad school, I didn't know about these types of forums either. I was also really nervous, as I was applying to degree programs in different fields. None of my degrees are in the same field, purposefully. I knew I would be facing not only a huge hurdle getting in over someone with a degree in a relevant field, but also a huge learning curve during my studies. To top it off, the only person who read my statement, a professor, told me to tone it down and focus it more. It just added to my anxiety. Like you and others, I was worried I would not get into anywhere. In the end there were some acceptances as well as rejections.

I have nothing against predicting a rejection or 3 I believe a little caution goes a long way, and helps to counter disappointment once decisions come out. I tend to mix optimism with reality. It makes a nice smoothie. If all acceptances come out of it, great. If not, then no biggie either; I am just not going to predict any rejections into existence!! For those of us who are willing to take a stab at it again if unsuccessful, the experience will prove very useful.