That awkward moment when...

[melissaam]

... you go to look into POI's research for the first time after submitting your application and find out that they are no longer at the institution. (or at least listed on the program's website) I also specifically mentioned how interested and excited I am by their work in my Personal Statement. OOPS!

 

Anyone else have something?

[simplyundrin]

...you've been corresponding by email with a POI for a few weeks but when you finally meet at recruitment weekend you mispronounce their name really badly, setting the tone for the rest of the interview...

[Reatha]

You walk into an interview sit down and discuss your interests with a member of the admissions committee. And her answer is "so I'm the crap interview that has nothing to do with what your interested in."

 

Me: "Your work is interesting too...."

[pears]

...you're going to be spending 4 days at a professional conference surrounded by professors from your second-becoming-top choice school (as well as a few professors from a PhD program you're interested in for the not-so-distant future), probably right after you find out whether you got in...

Edited February 27, 2013 by pears

[jam_sister]

Spelt my name wrong on my Stanford application....

 

Still got in!?

[phku]

TA app asks, "What date did you finish the online graudate application form", and you respond with ,"Yes."

[spacezeppelin]

This is digital awkwardness, but I still thought it was super horrifiying.

 

That horrible moment when your friend points out that you mispelled a tribe name in your SOP, despite writing a 50 page paper in which they were frequenetly mentioned...AFTER you sent it to multiple schools.

 

Still got in (yay!), but the shame lingers...

Edited February 27, 2013 by spacezeppelin

[Datatape]

...you send an email to a graduate director, accidentally referring to them by the name of a DGS from another school. 

 

[Guest HEPhD13]

...one of your recommenders tells you that they forgot to change the SCHOOL NAME throughout all 9 of your applications. 

[callista]

...you mess up a quote in your SOP.

[Allouette]

... a POI from a school that rejected you accidentally cc's you on a chain of personal emails

[daydreamer254]

...one of your recommenders tells you that they forgot to change the SCHOOL NAME throughout all 9 of your applications. 

 

Oh my goodness, that's horrible!!

 

Here's mine: Knowing that the professor you want to work with has his/her name spelled two different ways on the website and in his/her emails. Which one is correct?

[HomeGrown]

...one of your recommenders tells you that they forgot to change the SCHOOL NAME throughout all 9 of your applications. 

 

Ha, i think that happened to me too :-/

[ak48]

You realize that you spent almost $500 to get rejected by 4 schools!

[pandaloo]

You send off your resume with your application and it is perfect and awesome and you are SO proud of it! So much experience! And 5 professionals have helped you tweak and format it and at least 10 different people proofread it with you including a career center. Everything is perfect, except... THEY TYPO THAT YOU AND EVERYONE ELSE MISSED AFTER READING IT 100 TIMES.

 

ETA: It made me feel better that others were still accepted after little mistakes like these!

Edited February 27, 2013 by pandaloo

[Sconnie]

When a current grad student emails you asking if you have any questions about an upcoming visit weekend when you weren't invited

[newdisplayname]

When you misspell the CITY where the school is when talking to the admissions director... And then being corrected... and apologize.. dsjhnfkjhfdjfdhjhfdkjdfkdsjfks

[ogzincdlp]

You realize that you spent almost $500 to get rejected by 4 schools!

the more rejections, the more money you pay. for me it is more than $1000 with a possibility of 7 rejections. moment of silence!

[budgie]

... a POI from a school that rejected you accidentally cc's you on a chain of personal emails

I want to hear more of this story

[Allouette]

I want to hear more of this story

 

It was awful/hilarious, I saw the POIs name in my inbox and I was SO confused, since I'd already been rejected, and for a split second I was like... did they change their minds or something? But I opened it and was even more confused because it was an exchange of emails about the POIs life and students, with some pretty horrifically hilarious cynical not-quite-PC opinions, and I couldn't figure out why I had gotten it. Judging from the content, I think it was supposed to be cc'ed to someone whose last name starts with the same three letters as mine, and it must have autofilled my email instead of the right persons... I don't know if I should just ignore it or let the POI know I accidentally got it????? THIS IS SO AWKWARD AND ALSO DID I MENTION MY LAST INTERACTION WITH THIS POI WAS AN EMAIL TELLING ME I WAS REJECTED BECAUSE THAT MAKES THIS MORE AWKWARD. 

[spacezeppelin]

...one of your recommenders tells you that they forgot to change the SCHOOL NAME throughout all 9 of your applications. 

 

 

I thought I would respond to this one because it hits home hard. I something similar on a resume for a job application (soooooo awkward). I still got a interview, but when I walked in I saw it circled with a fat red pen mark on the person's desk. I'm fairly sure she left it there on purpose, because she never once picked it up to look at it.

 

I still got the job, so you never know. I think they may have let it slide because the firm name was crazy long and very hard to spell (I wrote the letter and intended to confirm it after). They cant really blame you for what a recommender did anyway.

[Lilac13]

A school you have been accepted to sends you a letter saying "We have received your enrollment confirmation. Thank you for confirming your intention to enroll at XYZ University" and you are completely clueless because you NEVER accepted or rejected their offer.

[epsilon]

It was awful/hilarious, I saw the POIs name in my inbox and I was SO confused, since I'd already been rejected, and for a split second I was like... did they change their minds or something? But I opened it and was even more confused because it was an exchange of emails about the POIs life and students, with some pretty horrifically hilarious cynical not-quite-PC opinions, and I couldn't figure out why I had gotten it. Judging from the content, I think it was supposed to be cc'ed to someone whose last name starts with the same three letters as mine, and it must have autofilled my email instead of the right persons... I don't know if I should just ignore it or let the POI know I accidentally got it????? THIS IS SO AWKWARD AND ALSO DID I MENTION MY LAST INTERACTION WITH THIS POI WAS AN EMAIL TELLING ME I WAS REJECTED BECAUSE THAT MAKES THIS MORE AWKWARD.

I'm sorry this happened to you, but at least it's a hilarious story! Jeez how embarrassing (for the poi)

[courtc8891]

I declined an offer online and about 10-15 minutes later I got a call with a lovely, "We were really impressed with your application, I'm sure you heard from the dean of graduate studies...." jaunt only for me to say "Uh... I actually have decided to take another offer..." and there was an awkward silence before he said "Oh... so... you've already decided, then...?"

So awkward... 

[SLPjmar]

When another applicant who was rejected assumes you were too, because they are just oh so much better than you. 

 

I still haven't heard back from that particular school, so hmph.