Rejection woes.....

[aphdapplicant]

Honestly, the abismally low acceptance rate of psychology programs is one reason I decided to apply to sociology programs instead.

Good choice - I'd also apply to another discipline if it had researchers with similar interests to mine.

[krishnalynn]

So far no acceptances. Would not be surprised if I get across the board rejections

[mkt_12]

Just received my last decision, a rejection from my top choice USC. It definitely a little disappointing I thought I had a good chance of getting admitted. Oh well. I did get into my second choice and Northwestern is a great school! Will be officially enrolling this week :-)     

[swetha541429]

I have got 5 rejects till now (UCB, Umass, Clemson university, University of Pittsburgh and  from OSU about 4 hours ago), I feel worse, low on confidence and so helpless. I dont know more how I should hope and the pressure from my parents makes it even tougher to deal with. I feel like the biggest loser.

[pdh12]

I have got 5 rejects till now (UCB, Umass, Clemson university, University of Pittsburgh and  from OSU about 4 hours ago), I feel worse, low on confidence and so helpless. I dont know more how I should hope and the pressure from my parents makes it even tougher to deal with. I feel like the biggest loser.

 

You are not defined by your acceptances! You've gotten this far, which is amazing considering how many people don't even have the opportunity to finish high school. Just take it as a learning opportunity, grow from it, and improve your application for next round. It probably wouldn't hurt to identify an admissions committee member and eek out some advice from them...

 

Are you from a non-US country?

[swetha541429]

Yes, I am from India and that why there is this pressure from parents thing, anyways I have applied to 15 universities and got 5 rejects,10 more to go.. But, I am not very positive because I applied very late. I still have to hear from UCI, University of Virginia, Iowa state university, Louisiana state University, university of Tennessee, university of Connecticut, UIC, UNC and UTA.

[swetha541429]

I don't have any plan B, may be I applied only to ambitious universities considering  my profile 298 in GRE, 88 in TOEFL, 3.48/4 GPA,  my SOP is good though.

Its ironic where you get to decide your own fate by choosing a set of universities to apply to, now I wish, I had applied to so and so university,I would have got the admit by now, but its way past the deadline and I cant do nothing about it. I am thinking of applying to 2 more universities tomorrow.

 

Its suffocating  to stay at home,  considering amount of pressure put on me, its in explainable. I have to make it.

[Tin Sn]

In same boat in at the similar department, I apply to seven universities. Most of them are not in top ten, because I need to do the research that can be supported by my background. But things turn out like. Rejection.

I apply to two top twenty schools and I was rejected by the two. One of them is my top choice as the research of the professor is the same as mine. I still cannot figure out yet for the reasons.

I am probably hanging in two ambitious university ( one top ten, and other has small department). I can presume that they will also reject me after April, 15.

So, I have three left, but  is not quite good.
In one of them, I am not good enough in research area that I choose which is electromagnetic, and my background is in signal processing. Then, probably it will be another rejection.

Then, I thought of myself that I will have only two universities (UofDelaware and OSU) that do not send any thing to my inbox, and it is very hard to guess about their decision. I hope that I would not be rejected, again.  

T T

Edited March 25, 2014 by Gap Sntin

[swetha541429]

Is University of Delaware good, I am thinking of applying to two more universities can you just any where the application portal is still open?

[Tin Sn]

Well, if you would like to apply to a good university that has a lot of reputation , you may consider applying to Purdue.  The deadline is 1 May, 2014. 

 

 

Best wish

PS I am sorry if my poor English leads to you to think that I was convincing you to go to Delaware.    
Personally, UDelaware is the best fit in term of research .....hmmmm my research,  despite its name is not known by many.

Edited March 26, 2014 by Gap Sntin

[swetha541429]

Which universities did you apply to  and do you think that I could still apply to University of Purdue, learning my test scores (# 207), do I still stand a chance?

 

is there anything else you can suggest? I am thinking of  Syracuse University?

 

When did you apply to OSU because I applied in early march and they responded two days ago, you might get result soon...

Edited March 26, 2014 by swetha541429

[katiegud]

How many Universities did you apply to  and do you think that I could still apply to University of Purdue, learning my test scores (# 207), do I still stand a chance?

 

is there anything else you can suggest? I am thinking of  Syracuse University?

 

When did you apply to OSU because I applied in early march and they responded two days ago, you might get result soon...

 

Have you checked out European universities? I know that some German universities have later deadlines, and they often teach in English. 

[Tin Sn]

Which universities did you apply to  and do you think that I could still apply to University of Purdue, learning my test scores (# 207), do I still stand a chance?

 

is there anything else you can suggest? I am thinking of  Syracuse University?

 

When did you apply to OSU because I applied in early march and they responded two days ago, you might get result soon...

Well, ...the main reason that I suggest Purdue is that the research environment of the university is very good, and perhaps, you may find their research interesting.

I mean that if your research interest does not match to the university, despite the high test score, you can still be denied by the grad.

By the way, Syracuse U is a good one, but you should check the size of the class. I means even if the ranks/ official score is not high, the school can be very selective if they can take only a small amount of students.  

 

In addition, I realized that I am an applicant who has high possibility to fail getting to the school in this round, thus, I will retake the GRE and toefl before applying to the next target schools. I stop at seven schools for the sake of making the first impression with the better profile. I mean that we can impress a person at once. Therefore, re-applying to the school that rejected me last year may not give me a good stand. 

    

Finally, I apply to OSU during late February, however, I haven't heard anything. My future is in vagueness, or the grade is doing some research on my application.

In addition, I find that the advice from katiegud interesting. 

 

Have you checked out European universities? I know that some German universities have later deadlines, and they often teach in English. 

 

Well, I think this is a nice suggestion.  

 

Now, I am considering schools in the other zones such as Edinburgh U and South Hampton. Even if both of which are in the UK,  they have the professors who share the similar research area as mine, and it seems that there is no deadline for applying to the PhD program

Edited March 26, 2014 by Gap Sntin

[swetha541429]

No, I am applying only to US universities and I was thinking of applying to another two by tomorrow even before it gets too late.. how do I check the size of a class? 

 

Now, I am only looking for colleges whose deadline is in June and Syracuse Univ is one among them.  I am applying for Masters degree in EE and I feel so stressed

 

out with all the rejects by the way, what do you mean by applying for the next round, do you have any plan B for now?

[Tin Sn]

The next round means the next spring or fall. 

Looking its admission statistics , asking someone has this kind of experience, and checking the grad admission result in the gradcafe
are ways to help you guess about the size of the class . 

In my opinion, taking a break, making better scores, contributing some researches can help improve
the profile for admission to the schools that was not considered me/your applications in this fall.

You may say that this is my plan B, and many people do this.

By the way, why are you so hurry about finding schools in this round? I am just curious.
 

 

Best wish for you.
 

Edited March 27, 2014 by Gap Sntin

[DeafAudi]

No, I am applying only to US universities and I was thinking of applying to another two by tomorrow even before it gets too late.. how do I check the size of a class? 

 

Now, I am only looking for colleges whose deadline is in June and Syracuse Univ is one among them.  I am applying for Masters degree in EE and I feel so stressed

 

out with all the rejects by the way, what do you mean by applying for the next round, do you have any plan B for now?

 

I just wanted to say that I believe it is much harder for international students to be accepted in the US. Unlike places like Australia (Europe?) where they charge exorbitant fees for international students, there is in state and out of state tuition and thus probably less incentive to accept international students over their own students. I was only accepted to one school out of 8 American schools that I applied to, and wait listed at 2 others. I didn't apply to extremely competitive schools, either. That is just my take on my own situation, as I was accepted to a top Canadian school. If you do decide to apply to any more schools, it might be helpful to contact each and see how many international students they accept. This is something I wish I had done. Good luck!  

[MeganMT]

I applied to ten schools.... I got my ninth rejection today and this was only after I called the ninth school to ask and was told over the phone.

So it's down to they last one which is the lowest ranked (20th) in my program BUT they were the only school that was offering full funding and the only one I interviewed with. I won't find out for two weeks, but in the meantime I have to concentrate enough to pass the qualifying exam for my Master's degree. 

I could always stay at the University (ranked 16th) I'm at now BUT that means I would have to change my focus area.

 

If I get rejected from the last school, should I stay at my school or take the year off and try to find a job in the meantime before I reapply? What would you do?

 

Here are my stats:

3 years of experience in my field

GPA: 4.0

Q: 146

V: 156

A: 3.5

Edited March 28, 2014 by MeganMT

[moonyDdl]

I applied at 4 schools, rejected by 3! thankfully they were not rude about it. Got accepted at 1 they sent my admit letter too, but now there's dead silence from their end. what does it mean? Are there chances that admission has been revoked? but shouldn't they inform me about it?

[Im_doing_science]

I'm 9 for 15 so far.  Lots of rejections but there's still hope, and I thankfully have a guaranteed spot at my undergrad institution.  On a different note, the rejection letter from Caltech was by far the friendliest and most encouraging letter I've recieved. 

[krishnalynn]

Across the board rejections this year from every school. Until next year grad cafe..

[supaslim]

Got my final rejection today, from the one school I thought I had a shot at... The stinger is I can't really reapply next year because I don't have money, and my portfolio will be exactly the same (so if I didn't get in this year, I wouldn't next year either). So I'm probably never going to be able to do ceramics again unless I luck out and find a well paying job in the city. Which probably also isn't ever going to happen, because McDonalds won't even hire me because there are so few jobs.

 

It's been a rough day to say the least.

[nugget]

Sorry to hear that it didn't work out for you this year. While I don't know much about ceramics, is there a way that you could create your own pieces (by renting or purchasing the appropriate equipment) and selling your pieces online or at a local art event or market? I hope you will find a way to do what you love and one day earn a living from it.

[supaslim]

Sorry to hear that it didn't work out for you this year. While I don't know much about ceramics, is there a way that you could create your own pieces (by renting or purchasing the appropriate equipment) and selling your pieces online or at a local art event or market? I hope you will find a way to do what you love and one day earn a living from it.

 

In theory, yes. But it takes a lot of money, as well as real estate and some custom wiring/ventilation, and once you're settled in you pretty much can't ever leave. I would also have to move closer to Chicago since I'm currently living with the parents on a farm in the middle of nowhere, and that alone is unfortunately well out of my budget. If I'm very, very lucky I'll find work assisting some production potter in Minnesota or Wisconsin or the Carolinas and will have the chance to produce more work, but if not, I'm genuinely worried I'll never get my hands dirty again. It's a cruel medium to love. 

 

Thanks

[Nautiloid]

In theory, yes. But it takes a lot of money, as well as real estate and some custom wiring/ventilation, and once you're settled in you pretty much can't ever leave. I would also have to move closer to Chicago since I'm currently living with the parents on a farm in the middle of nowhere, and that alone is unfortunately well out of my budget. If I'm very, very lucky I'll find work assisting some production potter in Minnesota or Wisconsin or the Carolinas and will have the chance to produce more work, but if not, I'm genuinely worried I'll never get my hands dirty again. It's a cruel medium to love. 

 

Thanks

I don't know if this helps, but there are lots of ways to build outdoor kilns or use things like trashcans (metal ones) to fire pottery. Since you're gonna have some time on your hands, why not look into learning skills in building your own kilns and ways of making pottery on the cheap? Who knows, maybe you could turn it into a lucrative career of building custom kilns, or it might land you a job in a pottery shop. I know you said you're low on funds, but if there's a will, there's a way (Free stuff from craigs list helps as well).

 

Personally, my year off between undergrad and grad school has been one of the best decisions I've ever made. If you do decide to reapply later, even several years down the line, use the time between to your advantage and you'll come out better and stronger for it, even if it's just time spent reading up on the chemistry and kinetics of glazes or electric kiln circuitry. That kind of stuff is not something (in my personal experience, though pretty limited) that most ceramics majors know about. It's challenging, but you've got the time to take it at your own pace. Remember: rejection is just a hurdle to be surmounted. Your life is waiting for you on the other side.    

[pdh12]

You should look into clay works collectives. There are like three in my town and I'm seriously in the middle of nowhere. It's a shared space with all the ceramic-fixings, and you just pay, like, $20 a month. Where there's a will there's a way! If none exist in your area, go to a school and tell them what you're about; they won't turn you down. 

 

edit: Even my middle school had kilns.

Edited April 11, 2014 by pdh12