Reapplying? I'd like your opinions

[pianoguy]

Grad school admissions this year has been a humbling experience for me.

 

Out of the 8 schools that I applied to, I've been accepted into 1 (UIUC), rejected by 6, and waitlisted by 1 (CalTech). Yesterday, I finally received a reply from CalTech; I was denied admission. I received my UIUC offer in mid-Jan, so for the past 3 months I've received nothing but rejection letters; a tremendously bittersweet experience for me.

 

That said, I'm very glad to have been accepted into UIUC and I am most likely going to accept the offer this week. The program that I've been admitted to is Materials Science PhD, fully funded.

 

At this point, I can't help but entertain the possibility of re-applying for these schools for the Fall 2014 admission season. I also wonder if I'm the only one who contemplated this, even just as an idea.

 

Though it's unlikely that I'll actually go through with this, I'm curious to hear your opinions on this (i.e. when can this possibly be a good idea?).

 

My rationales:

1. I will likely have several publications out by the next admissions season (this season, I had none)

2. I received a job offer working for a nanotech startup company, so I'll be gaining valuable work and research experience in the meantime

3. My GRE scores will be much better because I will actually have a chance to study for it this time around (I was terribly busy with school and research all of last year)

4. UIUC is a good research fit for me, but so are other universities on my list, and I think I would enjoy my PhD experience better in a larger and warmer city.

5. My SOP will be a more mature reflection of what I want to in research; my SOP for this season was broadly written and unfocused

 

A few details:

1. The schools I've been rejected from are MIT, Harvard, Stanford, CalTech, UCSB, UC Berkeley, and Northwestern

2. My GRE scores were Quant/Verbal/Essay: 163/157/4.5

3. My GPA is around 88/100, top 5% of my class

 

I'd be interested in hearing what you guys have to say on this issue. For example, are my rationales justified?

 

EDIT: To clarify, what I mean by "reapply" is to postpone grad school entirely until Fall 2014.

Edited April 16, 2013 by pianoguy

[Cookie]

As we all know about the sequester, from next year the competition to get in those programs will be much much harder.  I would say take this offer if the fit is good.  UIUC is an amazing school!

[Arcanen]

A few things to consider.

 

You'll only just be at the end of your first semester at UIUC. You won't have grades to show.

 

Your professors at UIUC may very well tell you to f**k off if you ask for letters of recommendation. This is particularly true if you're applying to similar departments at other schools (which sounds like it would be the case for you). There's certainly leeway if you decide you want to completely change paths, but your professors are NOT going to be happy if you're asking them for letters of recommendation to materials science PhD programs.

 

You couldn't avoid the above issue, since the places you're applying to would want letters from UIUC professors.

 

This is because transferring like you're suggesting is much rarer in grad school, and you'd need a very good reason (I don't think "I want to get to a 'better' school" is good enough). Schools don't like poaching PhD students from other schools (especially from the corresponding department).

 

You'll likely lose a year, since you won't be prepared to take the quals at the new school (because of content/format differences).

 

Your chances of success may not be better, you might get rejected from them all again. I'd suggest this is actually likely given the above points.An improved GRE won't change things (because the GRE means shit all), your letters of recommendation will be rubbish (from angry UIUC professors) or suspicious (if you don't have any UIUC professors), your statement will be rubbish since you'll have to spend half of it explaining why you want to transfer from a perfectly good program, and your undergrad GPA will stay the same.

 

Most importantly, if you go to UIUC planning on transferring, you will hate yourself and your life.You simply won't enjoy the experience, you won't feel like you can put down roots, make friends, enjoy the location etc. You'll spend the entire time hoping to be somewhere else and it'll suck. You might burn out and drop out of the whole grad school idea all together.

 

There are two real options.

 

1: you reject UIUC and try again next year, with all the risks that entails.

 

2. you stop being a prestige hound and recognise that UIUC is a good school, a good research fit, and a school most applicants would do unspeakable things to be able to attend. You go to UIUC with the intention of staying there, enjoying the experience, and get on with your PhD.

Edited April 16, 2013 by Arcanen

[pianoguy]

Arcanen,

 

What I meant by reapplying was to postpone grad school entirely and to re-apply next year. In the meantime I'd be working for a company, as I said in my original post. I would never consider transferring once I commit myself to a university.

Edited April 16, 2013 by pianoguy

[budgie]

If you're ready to do a PhD now, take the offer at UIUC. There's no guarantee that you'd have more luck next year, and UIUC is a fantastic school for materials science!! 

 

Even if you don't think the research fit is perfect, most people grow to love their grad research even if it isn't what they initially thought they'd be doing. There were reasons why you chose to apply to UIUC in the first place, think back to those reasons, and try to get back on that train.

 

Another thought to entertain is that even if you were admitted to some of your other picks, your opinion of each university may have shifted after your visitations (my opinion greatly shifted throughout this process, and I ended up choosing to go to the school that I did not think I'd end up at). So even though you think you'd prefer school X over UIUC, this may not be true, and end up choosing UIUC next year, you'll feel silly for waiting.

 

Also, if you attend UIUC and later decide that you are truly absolutely unhappy there, it is possible to transfer. And I'd argue that if you go through this process with respect for the program, you'd be able to do this without hurting too many feelings. If you're not a good fit for the school, it'd probably be apparent to not only you, but also your advisor, and your department. In that case, I think they'd support your decision to transfer (but only after a major attempt to help you stay). Though I truly think that if you give UIUC an honest chance, that everything would workout for you.

 

Good luck in your decision!!

[midnight]

If your offer to UIUC were just so-so (e.g., not fully funded, not a great fit), it would make sense to reapply next year with a stronger app. However, given the information you've provided, I think you should go to UIUC.

 

Good luck!

[zabius]

As we all know about the sequester, from next year the competition to get in those programs will be much much harder.  I would say take this offer if the fit is good.  UIUC is an amazing school!

 

I agree with this. Competition was fierce this year... many programs saw an increase in applicants and a decrease in funding (due to the federal budget cuts), which is not a very good combination of circumstances. And there's no indication that the situation will improve next year; in fact, competition might be even more fierce then if the funding situation does not improve.

 

There's also no guarantee that you'd be accepted next year even if you can improve your GRE scores or get your papers published this year. These things will increase your odds, no doubt, but it may not be enough if the money just isn't there to support you. There were many people with great scores, good research experience, and publications who were rejected from numerous programs this admissions cycle-- there are just so many factors that go into a school's decision. For what it's worth, here is a message from a POI at a school that rejected me this year. The research fit was nearly perfect, and my overall application was strong (good GREs, high undergrad and master's GPA, first-author publication, etc.):

 

I am truly sorry about this. I would have loved to have you in my lab. This year is very unusual in that the department only admitted 2 out of dozens of applicants, as few spots became available. Usually we admit many more. Second, the Biology department allocates places based on 'needs' of faculty, which means that not necessarily the strongest students get admitted. I happen to be the professor in the department with the highest number of graduate students at the moment, so my 'needs' rank low.

 

The reason that there were so few spots available is because of funding-- this school will only admit students if they can guarantee them full 5-year support.

 

Given all of that, I think you should take the offer at UIUC if it is not too late to accept. The research fit is good, the school itself is good, and you have a fully funded offer, which is something might be hard to secure anywhere next year... even if your application is very strong. Urbana-Champaign is a pretty small city, but it's not the middle of absolute nowhere... there will be things to do there on the weekends and people to meet, etc. And it's probably not as cold as you are thinking it might be (though I might be biased in saying this... I'm used to--and actually prefer--cold climates).

 

Good luck with your decision!

[JungWild&Free]

Congrats to you!  Go for UCIC unless you really don't think it's a good fit.  Like everyone says, it's probably going to be even more competitive next year. 

 

But, if you do reapply, I would consider expanding your list to include a few schools with a slightly less selective applicant pool.  There are no real safety schools when you're applying for PhDs, but there definitely are "reach" schools.  You may have put yourself at a disadvantage by applying to such selective schools across the board.  No matter how great you are, those schools probably see an insane amount of qualified applicants.