Vincenzo Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 Even with the expense aside, which does suck, the real problem for me was getting my recommenders to keep up. These are very busy people, I get that, and I'm totally grateful, but man it was rough. There was only so much I could do to organize things, only so many gentle reminders I could send. I applied to ten programs and four fellowships and every program got a least one recommendation late. I was rejected without review from 3 of the 4 fellowships because of late (which to them is the same as completely absent) recommendations. I put so much time and effort into those applications; to have them rejected out of hat like that... oooh... rage. So, honestly, I don't get how anybody manages 20-ish applications. Even if you can turn tricks to cover the cost, and you spend the months and months it takes to learn enough to be familiar with all those departments/POIs, and you have the stamina for all the essays... even with all that, how on Earth do you get recommenders that will put up with so many apps? sugarmilk, viggosloof28 and TeaGirl 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyjin Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 I can't imagine doing that many applications. Last time I had a cycle, I applied to 7 programs, which in retrospect, I should have only applied to three or four of. This round I had 5 programs, and at times it still felt like too much. >.< Forever grateful to my parents for helping out with the app fees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisamc21 Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 I'm stressing. I hate the wait I applied to 2 schools. The deadlines were/are Jan. 15 and Feb. 1. I'm not going to hear for ages! What stresses me out most is that for the Jan. 15 school, my letters of rec and GRE scores all came in after the deadline...I'm hoping they still consider my app since the stuff I submitted was all on time. We shall see! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amlobo Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 So, honestly, I don't get how anybody manages 20-ish applications. Even if you can turn tricks to cover the cost, and you spend the months and months it takes to learn enough to be familiar with all those departments/POIs, and you have the stamina for all the essays... even with all that, how on Earth do you get recommenders that will put up with so many apps? So... I applied to 15 programs (yes, I know I'm insane, lol). I got a second job to cover the cost. I started narrowing/researching programs during the summer and wrote a template for my SOP in the fall. I contacted recommenders early (August...?) and specifically told them that I planned to apply to about 15 programs up front. They were all fine with it and encouraged me to apply to as many as I wanted. One prof was really awesome about submitting letters the second he got the notification. The other two would submit closer to last-minute, but they all got in on time. I think I must have just lucked out...? Maybe it helped that I am actually friends with two of the profs (I've been out of school a while), so that personal connection helped keep it in their minds. The absolute WORST part of all those apps... was tailoring the SOP and writing additional essays. Filling out the app forms ranks a close second, ha. I really spent a lot of time on them, but I told myself if I was doing that many, I was doing them RIGHT; otherwise, it was a waste of money. It took a ton of organization, and I had spreadsheets/folders galore... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lulubelle Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 I applied to seven schools, and when I told people, their eyes would bug out. However, very few of them had ever applied to grad school, so it's nice to find that I'm in a normal range in terms of number of applications. Now that interviews and visit weekends are starting, though, I see even more how stressful it is applying to a bunch of schools. Right now, I'm trying to weigh the odds of getting an interview at my top choice because I have to change some PTO around at work in order to go the visit weekend at one of my backups. Either way, this stuff is getting expensive! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chellinchen Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 I'm stressing. I hate the wait I applied to 2 schools. The deadlines were/are Jan. 15 and Feb. 1. I'm not going to hear for ages! What stresses me out most is that for the Jan. 15 school, my letters of rec and GRE scores all came in after the deadline...I'm hoping they still consider my app since the stuff I submitted was all on time. We shall see! Similar boat - I only applied to 2 schools (I was limited both because I can't move right now & the fact that there are only a few programs locally), but the earliest I'll hear back is around Feb. 18th & Mar. 10th. Trying not to go crazy in the meantime - I'm definitely jealous of all the people listing decisions, even rejections! The first time I applied to graduate school, I sent out 4 applications. I can't imagine doing more than that - but am impressed by all those who do! I think I might just be overly picky... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briannemg Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 I'm stressing. I hate the wait I applied to 2 schools. The deadlines were/are Jan. 15 and Feb. 1. I'm not going to hear for ages! What stresses me out most is that for the Jan. 15 school, my letters of rec and GRE scores all came in after the deadline...I'm hoping they still consider my app since the stuff I submitted was all on time. We shall see! I still have two schools where the deadlines are Feb 15 and one with a March 15 deadline. I'm never going to hear anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CP3 Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 Even with the expense aside, which does suck, the real problem for me was getting my recommenders to keep up. These are very busy people, I get that, and I'm totally grateful, but man it was rough. There was only so much I could do to organize things, only so many gentle reminders I could send. I applied to ten programs and four fellowships and every program got a least one recommendation late. I was rejected without review from 3 of the 4 fellowships because of late (which to them is the same as completely absent) recommendations. I put so much time and effort into those applications; to have them rejected out of hat like that... oooh... rage. So, honestly, I don't get how anybody manages 20-ish applications. Even if you can turn tricks to cover the cost, and you spend the months and months it takes to learn enough to be familiar with all those departments/POIs, and you have the stamina for all the essays... even with all that, how on Earth do you get recommenders that will put up with so many apps? My main recommender was very supportive, my second one is IMPOSSIBLE to get a hold of, I literally had to wait until the day before the deadline for several applications because they did not submit the letter until the last minute (seriously, I had to submit one application at 11:00 oclock at night before the deadline!!!!!) my third recommender just received a doctorate a few years ago, so it was the first time they did a letter, they were excited to do it. As far as how many schools to apply to is concerned--It seems like mostly a matter of simple math--Sure, the decisions are in the hands of professors and admission committees, but if you apply to 10 schools, odds say you will get into 1-3 programs. If you apply to 15plus programs, the math won't change, you're still looking at 1-3 programs (unless you are a rock star!). So yeah, couldn't imagine wasting that much time and money! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CP3 Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 I spent $1000 applying to 7 programs - can't imagine 12+. Yeah, same here! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RubyBright Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 I didn't spend as much because I didn't apply to that many programs, but it's because I only applied to ones I absolutely wanted to go to. Not to mention that there's the outrageous cost of the GRE - and sending your results - to factor in on how many places to apply to... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CP3 Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 I didn't spend as much because I didn't apply to that many programs, but it's because I only applied to ones I absolutely wanted to go to. Not to mention that there's the outrageous cost of the GRE - and sending your results - to factor in on how many places to apply to... The GRE is a monopoly. I did poorly on the GRE, but that was it. I couldn't afford to re-take the exam. I can't believe that ETS doesn't give people some type of discount for a re-take. As far as I'm concerned, people should get a 25-50 discount for a re-take, it seems insane that they charge you the same amount to re-take. callista 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyjin Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 The GRE is a monopoly. I did poorly on the GRE, but that was it. I couldn't afford to re-take the exam. I can't believe that ETS doesn't give people some type of discount for a re-take. As far as I'm concerned, people should get a 25-50 discount for a re-take, it seems insane that they charge you the same amount to re-take. Oh god, that would be wonderful. I took the GRE twice since I did very poorly the first time, and the second time was even more expensive since I had to take the test in Japan! (They charge more abroad >.<) I spent nearly as much on application fees this year as I did to send scores out. Ugh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GodelEscher Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 I applied to 15.... According to the database, I won't hear from anymore schools for at least a month. So far 2 were rejections, 6 to go. I'm starting to regret only applying to 8, but I couldn't afford all of the application fees, ideally I wanted to apply to 10-11. I had a friend who applied several years ago, he applied to 20 SCHOOLS!! how insane is that!? He ended up getting into 2 programs, one acceptance and one waitlist, he lucked out and got into the waitlist school. 18 rejections!!!!! Does anyone out there know people that have applied to 12-15 or more schools, that just seems insane and kind of counter-productive, I mean, I was losing my mind just applying to 8 schools, I couldn't imagine applying to more! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GodelEscher Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 My recommenders were great. After 15 applications one recommender pulled me aside and honestly told me they "were so lost" and did not know what was due. But since I helped when I could all 3 recommenders sent their online recommendations on time (with the exception of one). I guess I was lucky Even with the expense aside, which does suck, the real problem for me was getting my recommenders to keep up. These are very busy people, I get that, and I'm totally grateful, but man it was rough. There was only so much I could do to organize things, only so many gentle reminders I could send. I applied to ten programs and four fellowships and every program got a least one recommendation late. I was rejected without review from 3 of the 4 fellowships because of late (which to them is the same as completely absent) recommendations. I put so much time and effort into those applications; to have them rejected out of hat like that... oooh... rage. So, honestly, I don't get how anybody manages 20-ish applications. Even if you can turn tricks to cover the cost, and you spend the months and months it takes to learn enough to be familiar with all those departments/POIs, and you have the stamina for all the essays... even with all that, how on Earth do you get recommenders that will put up with so many apps? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLPjmar Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 I feel like I'm not going to make it! I applied to five schools for speech-language pathology and I'm pretty sure I won't be hearing back until early March. The stress will likely kill me before then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soleil ت Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 (edited) My recommenders were all great. I was fortunate to have no problems during my application rush. Currently, I'm sitting wedged somewhere between "convinced I'm not going to be accepted anywhere" and "blissfully oblivious to the decision movement around me in hopes that I will be pleasantly surprised one day randomly." I've taken up a lot of time getting a new job, although that probably wasn't too wise since I doubt I will be able to get any time off in case of interview invites. I'm not expecting any decisions until mid-to-late February either way, so I shall kick back and watch shameful teen dramas and become better acquainted with the Starbucks staff in my new city. Edited January 31, 2013 by Michelle B. Soleil ت, BMO, viggosloof28 and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amlobo Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 My recommenders were great. After 15 applications one recommender pulled me aside and honestly told me they "were so lost" and did not know what was due. But since I helped when I could all 3 recommenders sent their online recommendations on time (with the exception of one). I guess I was lucky I sent mine a spreadsheet so they could keep track and periodically emailed to let them know which were left, but they were very appreciative of the help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t1racyjacks Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 agh. still no news Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radiomars Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 With every day that goes by, I delve deeper and deeper into imagining my future life at my top choice (which I have yet to hear from). I'm feeling positive about it, and I think there's a good chance I'll get in, but there's always a chance I won't. I'm at the point of no return now - like, if I get rejected, it will be pure devastation. Can't stop. Every day makes it worse. It also doesn't help that I've already told a bunch of people that I'm feeling good about my chances and setting up the inevitable "So did you hear back from X University?" questioning. Which would be a nightmare if I didn't get in. Ugh, why did I do this to myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seandrivescars Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 Got my first acceptance today! This thread had me finally calmed down about it all too. But alas, one down. veggiez and Bluth. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyjin Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 First reject for me- just happy that I don't have to think about that school anymore. (I'm still on a high from my acceptance on Tuesday anyway ) Back to waiting on the others~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hiroshiman Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 USCをおめでとう！ kyjin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLPjmar Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 I am so jealous of everyone who has heard back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyjin Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 USCをおめでとう！ ありがとう！ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ay761 Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 よかった、日本語で話しましょう、笑。おめでとう！ 今日本に住んでいますか？ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now