0% Confidence of Acceptance

[Mr Grimwig]

I made an agreement with myself that, upon submission of applications, I would not, under any circumstances, review my statements of purpose, or any other elements of my application documents. For we all know the Newtonian Law of Typos, that a million pre-submission proofreads cannot tease out the glaring errors that one post-submission proofread can.

If I looked back now and found an error I would dwell on it for the next sixty or seventy days until I find out the admissions results. I don't want all of January and February to be consumed by a misspelled word or split infinitive or some other nonsense. I just couldn't take it. I'm assuming they are all 100% error-free. There's no use looking back now!

[Origin=Goal]

Tried to NOT look back over submitted apps, but in putting together my latest I found a repeated word that I somehow missed the last sentence! Worst possible place, right? To make a bad situation worse, the same mistake found its way onto two other statements of purpose.

I don't think I can even measure how horrible this feels.

[Jbarks]

On 1/2/2012 at 9:05 PM, Timshel said:

So, instead of working on my last apps, I have been looking over the results boards to figure out which schools contact people first and when. Ugh.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who did this. Mine will be either Colorado- Boulder or WashU. Six weeks to go! Bleh.

[bdon19]

I forced myself to wait at least until I was done with applications to make this list. I finished two days ago, so naturally now I've done it. I have it pinned on my desk to remind myself it's useless freaking out until February rolls around at the very least. I am nearly certain I won't get into Duke, and, naturally, I'm going to hear from them first. Goodbye, self esteem.

[wintergirl]

I am nearly certain I won't get into Duke

I know this wasn't the point of your comment, bdon, but my pessimistic self is running with it as a way to combat the wild swings between "0% acceptance" and "I'M A GENIUS WHO WILL BE ADMITTED TO ALL THE THINGS!"

I think I'll mentally make an honest assessment of my schools like that--which ones I am nearly certain I won't get into--and let those go out into the ether. The others I'll continue to waver between cautiously optimistic and "realistic". Then maybe I can get through the next few months able to focus on the things that are still in my control that need doing (thesis, coursework, etc etc etc).

So thanks for the help! Ha. : )

[Jbarks]

I received this email from Purdue this morning.

Thank you for your interest in graduate studies at Purdue University.

Your application file is complete and is currently being reviewed by the Admissions Committee.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

At first, I became excited because the process has begun, but then I felt nauseas because I'm terrified of what the results might be.

[0000000000AAA]

Well, it's all done.

Feels pretty empty.

Yep, nothing to do but study for comps and wait. Oh the weight.

[lolopixie]

I received this email from Purdue this morning.

Thank you for your interest in graduate studies at Purdue University.

Your application file is complete and is currently being reviewed by the Admissions Committee.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

At first, I became excited because the process has begun, but then I felt nauseas because I'm terrified of what the results might be.

When did you submit your application? I've been poking around the website to look who to email whether my information was received in full. I haven't gotten any information from them yet.

[Jbarks]

Lolopixie-- I submitted everything early December, but my last two recommendations weren't received until the last week of December. I believe you can also login to your application to check the status of your materials. Also, if it helps, the email came from Jill Quirk, the graduate secretary. Good luck!

[bigdgp]

People, I have been there! I experienced the daily fluctuations between thinking I would get in somewhere and being sure I would not get in anywhere- all the while nursing the hope that I would get into my dream school. I have felt the frustration, shame and destabilization of my identity that comes with not getting in anywhere. I've worked a job I hated for extra years, questioning whether or not I deserved to do a PhD and, finally, I have felt the exquisite joy of getting into a program that really hoped for. Here is my advice, don't let your fears run your life. You are all more than a potential graduate student! You have spent the last five months being little else as you have worked on your applications, so go be whatever else you are for awhile...and enjoy it! Trust me, getting in is just the beginning and the program will provide you with enough pressure. You don't need to put more on yourself right now. If things don't work out, try again next year. Don't let the rejection define you. I applied the second time with almost the same application as the first (I did contact potential advisors the second time, an action I was too scared to take in my first round of applications) and my zero acceptances turned into four! This is a tough, fickle process, so find yourself somewhere else and let "graduate student" be just a potential aspect of who are.

[indalomena]

People, I have been there! I experienced the daily fluctuations between thinking I would get in somewhere and being sure I would not get in anywhere- all the while nursing the hope that I would get into my dream school. I have felt the frustration, shame and destabilization of my identity that comes with not getting in anywhere. I've worked a job I hated for extra years, questioning whether or not I deserved to do a PhD and, finally, I have felt the exquisite joy of getting into a program that really hoped for. Here is my advice, don't let your fears run your life. You are all more than a potential graduate student! You have spent the last five months being little else as you have worked on your applications, so go be whatever else you are for awhile...and enjoy it! Trust me, getting in is just the beginning and the program will provide you with enough pressure. You don't need to put more on yourself right now. If things don't work out, try again next year. Don't let the rejection define you. I applied the second time with almost the same application as the first (I did contact potential advisors the second time, an action I was too scared to take in my first round of applications) and my zero acceptances turned into four! This is a tough, fickle process, so find yourself somewhere else and let "graduate student" be just a potential aspect of who are.

this is a nice post, thanks I'm trying not to let this be everything I am at the moment.

But it's so important to me! That makes it so hard. And I finally feel, after years of feeling like I underachieved and wasn't successful enough, that I'm the best I can be and I'm offering everything I've got to these committees. I know that to them I'm just another stack of papers they have to throw away or keep. But to me, I've worked so hard to be ready for this and to do everything I can and somehow, after all this time of being not good enough, it seems that this is the time in my life to get a first choice.

Then I re-read what I just wrote and look back over this whole process and think, I'm so self-obsessed right now and this whole process has intensified that. So, I have to remember that there is a lot more to life than this, than my narrow little world of tests and statements and fees.

And work out how I will deal with not getting a first choice.

[user_name]

here's how i see it: each school has maybe 300 applicants for 6-18 spaces. that means, on average, my chance of getting into each school is about 4%. applying to 10 schools, that gives me a 40% chance.

basic math.

[lolopixie]

here's how i see it: each school has maybe 300 applicants for 6-18 spaces. that means, on average, my chance of getting into each school is about 4%. applying to 10 schools, that gives me a 40% chance.

basic math.

Let's say each school accepts 12 students and you apply to 10 schools that get 300 applicants, then 120 people are accepted as compared to 3000 applicants. Unfortunately, it is still 4%. Now that is a GRE quantative question in the making!!

[marlowe]

Let's say each school accepts 12 students and you apply to 10 schools that get 300 applicants, then 120 people are accepted as compared to 3000 applicants. Unfortunately, it is still 4%. Now that is a GRE quantative question in the making!!

Now, how many of those 300 applicants applied to the SAME 10 schools?

Eliminate the unqualified candidates and those that consider this a 'practice round', and you've got the field significantly narrowed.

[lolopixie]

You could be part of the unqualified. Ya never know. The percentage is just what part of the pool as a whole is accepted. And I really don't think anyone submits applications as "practice" without the hopes of trying to get in. That is a lot of money to waste just to write some statements and tweak a writing sample. I'm just saying that, no matter how you slice it, the odds of being accepted are slim.

Edited January 8, 2012 by lolopixie

[marlowe]

You could be part of the unqualified. Ya never know. The percentage is just what part of the pool as a whole is accepted. And I really don't think anyone submits applications as "practice" without the hopes of trying to get in. That is a lot of money to waste just to write some statements and tweak a writing sample. I'm just saying that no matter how you slice it, the odds of being accepted are slim.

DON'T JINX ME!!!!!!!!!!

[lolopixie]

Sh*t, that goes for all of us!!! Myself included. I'm still crossing fingers, toes, braiding my hair, whatever it takes to get the positive energy flowing towards me!

[marlowe]

Alright, look at it this way. Neither of us got in last round, right? I'm not sure about you, but I feel like my application is loads better than it was last year.

I feel like right now, my application would be picked over my own application from last year. I wouldn't call last year a 'practice' round per se, but I certainly benefited from the experience. This time around, I made much more informed school selections based on fit and department rather than name prestige and location et cetera. I am sure plenty of people make the same mistakes. We are one year ahead of them.

Edited January 8, 2012 by marlowe

[lolopixie]

Respect. I was having the same conversation just a few minutes ago. Almost verbatim.

[marlowe]

Respect. I was having the same conversation just a few minutes ago. Almost verbatim.

[Starlajane]

I have zero chance of being accepted. In fact, I applied last year and did not get in. And I'm unemployed. Even though I have very good grades, I have not been successful in the jobs that I have had and am applying late in life with only a BA. Oh, and I'm hoping to be funded. Given that there are so many applicants who are younger and so much more qualified, I know how slim my chances are.

There is definitely a pecking order re: applicants: The ideal candidate is usually one with an MA/BA from a prestigious program, high GRE scores in both verbal and quant, a stellar academic record, a successful work record and study abroad and volunteer experience. I only offer a couple of the aformentioned characteristics to my prospective programs.

If you have all of the aforementioned and are applying to a variety of realistic programs, you will get in. I am fairly certain that, even though I am only applying to MA programs at state schools, that I am still overshooting the mark, if only b/c of the state of the economy; at any other time, I would probably be a doctoral candidate enrolled in a solid program, b/c my profs have always made it clear that they think that I am well-suited for academia.

I am sure that I could get into a grad program at Taco Bell University but, as we all know, that is a pointless endeavor. So, I'm just working under the assumption that I won't get in and proceeding with Plan B.

[coffeeplease]

Dunno why I do this to myself, but I just opened up all of my app materials. Found a mistake on my CV and my SOPs were horrible....what was I thinking? How did I let myself submit them? ARRRGGG.

Really need the waiting to be over.

[Kelkel]

Tried to NOT look back over submitted apps, but in putting together my latest I found a repeated word that I somehow missed the last sentence! Worst possible place, right? To make a bad situation worse, the same mistake found its way onto two other statements of purpose.

I don't think I can even measure how horrible this feels.

I did the same exact thing in two or three of my sops. it was heartbreaking for about two minutes, but then I realized that maybe they'll understand and/or see my passion. (I think the work was academic, so obviously I'm double-ly enthusiastic for it.)

The worst part was that I realized that mistake on one of my first proof-readings and deleted it. I am not sure if I saved it on the template sop, or if I just deleted it from all the ones I did first and forgot to save the template.

Oh well, what can you do.

[Seeking]

I just checked the results for last 3 years at the schools where I've applied.

I'm positive I won't get in anywhere.

[TripWillis]

I just checked the results for last 3 years at the schools where I've applied.

I'm positive I won't get in anywhere.

I also did this. Yeah.