Any posters here who sailed through?

[margarets]

Are there any posters here who had no doubts or qualms about getting into graduate school, succeeding, and then when they actually did it, did quite well? I.e. people who knew they had the grades, the LORs, a solid SOP, etc, and then had no major problems in their program?

If so, could you point them out? Possibly even link to specific threads? I would be interested in the perspective of someone like that.

[Usmivka]

Unicorns can be difficult to locate.

Everyone has some issues somewhere along the way, regardless of what happens in the application process. Do you have perspectives on anything specific you are looking for?

Edited September 21, 2012 by Usmivka

[Physwimic]

I think this is incredibly rare because most people realize there is a degree of randomness to the application process. While I was comfortable that my application would be seriously considered, I also knew there were too many people applying to every school that would fall into a similar category for me to just be automatically accepted. It really comes down to whether or not your application connects with the adcom. And once in grad school, even if you know you are good, you realize you still have randomness in other aspects of grad school, such as picking advisors, and the course your research takes. Finally, most people have at least mild impostor syndrome at some point. Although I guess you're really asking for people who don't have this at all. I'm with Usmivka here, good luck finding a unicorn.

[margarets]

Unicorns can be difficult to locate.

OK, but I think such people must actually exist. Just as people with extreme physical beauty or athletic prowess exist, though admittedly there are few.

So, are there any such people on this forum?

Edited September 21, 2012 by margarets

[Dal PhDer]

My guess is this person is one

[Usmivka]

There is a wide variety of experience here on the forums, and, as such, no one thread will be entirely populated by posts from folks that have had no struggles. Two other points that I think are worth considering:

1. These individuals may be underrepresented in the forums (I'd say the vast majority of posts here are related to people needing help with problems).

2. They may be reluctant to "out" themselves as believing that they are the grad school chosen ones--the reaction to what is rightly or wrongly perceived as over-sized egos or pompous posts can be pretty negative.

So again, I'd encourage you to post some specific questions that you want perspectives on, and then see what turns up. You can use your judgement over the quality of these posts, and we can better direct you to threads or posts that fit the bill in our judgement.

EDIT: Dal PhDer, thank you so much for pointing this out, I had almost forgotten that there does exist at least one person without flaw (or at least self-awareness)... : D

Edited September 21, 2012 by Usmivka

[margarets]

Unicorns can be difficult to locate.

Everyone has some issues somewhere along the way, regardless of what happens in the application process. Do you have perspectives on anything specific you are looking for?

It's something I've reflected on, the combination of confidence and competence.

I understand how someone with borderline grades, etc would have doubts and fears, or why someone with excellent grades etc would (imposter syndrome), or how someone with no-chance grades, etc could be over-confident (maybe it's the delusional "believe in yourself" thing).

But I'd be interested to hear from someone who is justifiably confident, because they have the accomplishments to back it up. Maybe they had imposter syndrome and overcame it, or maybe they have chosen a path that really is right for them. Or it's something else.

I've definitely known people who gave the impression of it all coming easily to them, but it also seemed like they worked very hard at that impression.

[Dal PhDer]

I am with Usmivka: if there are those students out there, I doubt they would be on here...as this place is really a platform to ask questions, get feedback, and discuss the hardships/bumps in graduate school.

I haven't met a student yet that hasn't, at one time or another, felt incompetent or not smart enough for this path...I think self-doubt, on some levels, is healthy, and keeps you pushing yourself to do better. I know whenever I feel insecure or doubt my abilities, I work extra hard.

As the Housewives of Atlanta would say: "let yo haters be yo motivators" ...for real, boo! I let my doubt fuel my motivation to work harder. I think that's why graduate students are so successful...they turn those butterflies and weebles, into hard work and determination.

[margarets]

OK, thanks

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

I guess you can say I'm conceited. I don't post on here much and I try not to come off as conceited just because this is a pretty formal and respectful forum compared to most others. I'm considering only applying to one school because that's the only one I want to go to. I'll probably apply to 3 or 4 other schools but I'm not even considering the possibility of not going to my first choice. I also have to take the GRE in a few weeks and I've yet to even crack a study book. I'm also completely confident I'll get LORs and within short notice so I haven't even asked my professors yet. Note: I've had this same mentality all through my undergrad and I think I've done quite well. I'll let you know in a few years how it all worked out for me in grad school.

Edited September 23, 2012 by JoeyBoy718

[kuz]

This sounds somewhat like me. I did no study whatsoever for the GRE and did reasonably well (especially well at the general exam, just pretty decent at my subject exam). My undergraduate grades were very good and I had a fair bit of research experience, so I had no trouble with LORs. I wrote my statement of purpose the same day as I was applying for programs, and applied for all my programs pretty much the last day possible. I only applied to four universities and was accepted into three and waitlisted by the fourth.

That being said, I'm still quite intimidated by the amount of intellect in my program - I'm certainly far from the brightest of my class. I'm pretty nervous about passing a very tough general exam in May. But I'm not particularly worried about my research.

I think there are quite a few people like me on this board, but they probably don't post all that much.

[asleepawake]

My guess is this person is one

Yeah, because she didn't actually apply to graduate school.

[EquationForLife]

Obviously everyone has little hiccups for the most part, but as long as you aim for the right range and have the right expectations, you can have a fairly straight forward application process.

Personally, I got into one of my top choices and so far it's going well. I definitely spread out my application across a good range of program rankings and that helped a lot.

[raise cain]

This sounds somewhat like me. I did no study whatsoever for the GRE and did reasonably well (especially well at the general exam, just pretty decent at my subject exam). My undergraduate grades were very good and I had a fair bit of research experience, so I had no trouble with LORs. I wrote my statement of purpose the same day as I was applying for programs, and applied for all my programs pretty much the last day possible. I only applied to four universities and was accepted into three and waitlisted by the fourth.

That being said, I'm still quite intimidated by the amount of intellect in my program - I'm certainly far from the brightest of my class. I'm pretty nervous about passing a very tough general exam in May. But I'm not particularly worried about my research.

I think there are quite a few people like me on this board, but they probably don't post all that much.

I appreciate this candidness.

I am definitely not someone who has sailed through academia AT ALL, but I do know of a few people that ostensibly have... of course they don't talk about it, because (rightfully so??) they have been conditioned not to...

[ktel]

I definitely sailed through the admissions part, the grad school part isn't as easy. Mostly because I don't exactly love what I'm doing right now. The fact that the admissions process was so easy and I did have so many options makes me a bit frustrated with the choice I made. But there are a lot of cool things about the department I am in that I do like. And I'm not convinced anywhere else would have been magically so much better. Just different I guess.

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

I definitely sailed through the admissions part, the grad school part isn't as easy. Mostly because I don't exactly love what I'm doing right now. The fact that the admissions process was so easy and I did have so many options makes me a bit frustrated with the choice I made. But there are a lot of cool things about the department I am in that I do like. And I'm not convinced anywhere else would have been magically so much better. Just different I guess.

I'm not in your field but I totally understand you. I'm afraid I'll have the same exact feelings. Do you think it's a lack of passion for your field?

[ktel]

I'm not in your field but I totally understand you. I'm afraid I'll have the same exact feelings. Do you think it's a lack of passion for your field?

Not exactly a lack of passion. I still think what I'm doing is pretty cool, it's just a LOT of computer work. A lot doesn't even describe it actually. It's all computer work. I think computational simulations are great, but I would much rather couple that with experiment as well.