Unreasonable decisions and lack of transparency

[aryt13]

So I have recently graduated with a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering (honors). My CGPA was not exceptional (3.38 out of 4.0), however I won the best student and the best project awards from the Institute of Mechanical Engineers (UK) and I was also selected as the best student in the engineering department. I am the type of guy who refuses to copy the assignments or cheat/ memorize for the exam. If I don't enjoy it, I refuse to listen to the lecture. Grades are useless anyway. I have spent most of my time in the lab doing research on my own for over 4 years now. 

 

I have published 3 ISI Q1 papers as the corresponding author (in the field of nanomaterials), and I have 6 more under review (all as corresponding author). I am also a referee for several high-ranking international journals in Materials Science. 

I have won a number of international design awards and my works have been featured on USA Today, NBC News, ABC News, The Economist, Daily Mail, CS Monitor, etc. I have co-founded a company with a former CFO of Nokia and a former senior executive at Qatar Airways in which I also serve as the CTO.

 

Since my senior year, I have been also appointed as a research fellow (same ranking and salary as an associate professor in our University). As part of my work, I co-supervised (and still do) PhD students (yeah, undergrad supervising PhD students!).

 

Anyway, I am the first person to have synthesized this new material that was predicted to exist some 20 years ago. Think of graphene, but superior in every aspect, especially when it comes to industrial scale applications. We are still working on some of the details before we publish the results. One of my collaborators, a professor in Taiwan used to do his post-doc at UC Berkeley and he convinced me that I should apply for a PhD, so I can use the high-tech equipment at LBNL and make things go faster. So he introduced me to the professor. The professor said that he is going to take 2-3 students this year and depending on the outcome of my application, we need to talk more about my works. 

 

I had 3 very positive recommendation letters; one from that professor who was a former post-doc, another from my collaborator who is a research director at CNRS and lastly, my former supervisor and colleague who is an associate editor for one of the leading journals in the field of ceramic and composite materials.

 

I received a rejection letter yesterday from Berkeley. How on earth do you justify that? They say in their decision letter that there are so many other well-qualified candidates and I cannot be recommended for admission. I talked to the professor and he said that he was not part of the committee this year and he is very sorry. 

 

Is UC Berkeley located on another planet inhabited by highly intelligent species and comparatively, I'm actually very dumb?

No, seriously. Who makes these decisions anyway? I demand full transparency!

 

[Kleene]

This is such a case in which I would nicely ask for feedback on your application. If they have a reasonable answer, so be it. Perhaps they will realize they do not have a reasonable answer.

[bsharpe269]

I am not sue why you "demand full transparency." The school doesnt owe you anything. You could politely request that you let you know the weakness in their application so that you can improve for next year. Your resume sounds impressive but that alone doesnt get you into a program. You need a focused SOP, great LORs etc. It is possible that the letter writers did not write all positive feedaback, that would be one way to destroy an application. Also, sometimes the hardest people to work with are those that are smart and have a good background but have an "I am better than this class, these people attitude." Your post here comes off a bit like that (which could be entirely unintential on your end). The fact that you dont put efforts into classes if you dont feel like it and the attitude you have about being an undergrad advising grad students could definitely be red flags to the adcom if you gave off the same vibes in your applicaiton.

 

Did you apply to more programs as well? Being accepted to a signle program is unlikely so you would have a better shot if you applied to multiple programs. Either way good luck! It sounds like you make a great researcher so my best advice is to retry next year and apply to 5-10 programs at least. It is very likely that you will get into one if you go that route.

[jakem]

Sorry dude. We live in a highly competitive world full of extremely intelligent and qualified individuals. While I agree with you that GPA is largely meaningless, there are many people in academia that think it's an indicator of work ethic.

[aryt13]

I am not sue why you "demand full transparency." The school doesnt owe you anything. You could politely request that you let you know the weakness in their application so that you can improve for next year. Your resume sounds impressive but that alone doesnt get you into a program. You need a focused SOP, great LORs etc. It is possible that the letter writers did not write all positive feedaback, that would be one way to destroy an application. Also, sometimes the hardest people to work with are those that are smart and have a good background but have an "I am better than this class, these people attitude." Your post here comes off a bit like that (which could be entirely unintential on your end). The fact that you dont put efforts into classes if you dont feel like it and the attitude you have about being an undergrad advising grad students could definitely be red flags to the adcom if you gave off the same vibes in your applicaiton.

 

Did you apply to more programs as well? Being accepted to a signle program is unlikely so you would have a better shot if you applied to multiple programs. Either way good luck! It sounds like you make a great researcher so my best advice is to retry next year and apply to 5-10 programs at least. It is very likely that you will get into one if you go that route.

 

I demand full transparency because 1) Berkeley is a public university which is funded by taxpayers' money. So the "I reject you because I can" response is not acceptable. They need to provide equal opportunity based on merits. I am not seeing that here. There are very clear rules and regulations. They asked for a minimum CGPA of 3.0 and a general GRE (no minimum score required). I look at university application as a kind of peer review. If you reject me, you need to give convincing reasons. If you claim that there are more qualified candidates, you shouldn't have any problem disclosing the data (of course, not the private info, but what exactly do you mean by more qualified). 2) I paid an application fee. You are offering a paid service. I am the customer and you are obliged to respond to my enquiries. 

 

About the "I am better than this class" argument: I attended an Asian university, so believe me when I say that a large portion of or class had 4.0 CGPA. How did they manage to do that? I give you an example, we were taking a programming course. 50% of the marks were based on assignments. Virtually none of the students developed the algorithms and wrote the programs on their own. They simply got a copy from senior student and submitted it. They were kind enough to send me a copy as well. However I refused to do the same. I tried to develop my own program. It was only partially functional, but hey it was working. I got C+, everybody else got A. When I told the lecturer that I expected him to value my original work, he didn't care. Another example, we were taking an optimization course, I developed my own algorithm and achieved 96% correlation, everybody else copied the algorithm from the notes (developed by the professor). They got 99% correlation. I ended up getting A- and everybody else got A.One more:  In the Robotics class, my friend and I were the only people who actually solved the equations, rather than memorizing the answer. We never managed to finish answering 8 questions in 1 hour (even the professor knew there were too many questions, so he actually gave the answer a week before so everyone could memorize). Everybody else got A, we got B. I don't regret any of this. Now if you think i am arrogant, well good for you. I believe in doing science in a meaningful and productive way. I was nearly getting an F for not following the lecturer's instructions in a class. He taught us only basic HTML and CSS, I used advanced Javascript and AJAX in my website. He told me I was trying to make him look bad in front of the class! Is that how we are educating our students nowadays? We want them to be mindless slaves? Call me a bad "student", but you can't do that to me. 

 

About SOP and LOR: It's not applicable here. As I said, I only applied because the professor was interested in my work and his collaborator/ ex-post-doc invited me to. Besides, in all my papers, I am the corresponding author. LOR normally applies to those who have been working in a group as a student, so they need some sort of endorsement from the PI in the group. In my case, I was the PI myself and I have students. 

 

I only applied to 1 program because I already have 2 jobs (paid scientist by day, unpaid entrepreneur after working hours). PhD is only a title which is already carried by millions of people. I was only hoping to have easy access to the equipment. I even offered to bring my own funding for a joint research project. 

 

I guess when they were reading my SOP, they thought it was too good to be true!

Edited February 22, 2014 by aryt13

[aryt13]

Sorry dude. We live in a highly competitive world full of extremely intelligent and qualified individuals. While I agree with you that GPA is largely meaningless, there are many people in academia that think it's an indicator of work ethic.

 

Thanks, but I would really appreciate if you could show me some of these extremely intelligent and qualified individuals, i.e. undergrads who have been publishing on their own and featuring in the news and creating startups and such.

I am often invited to give speech to freshmen myself. They ask me to inspire them to be good scientists and so far, I haven't been successful to the slightest. They seem to attend college only to get a degree so they can find a higher paying job. They don't care about science and creativity. So I am genuinely interested to see if there are more people like me out there who understand the true meaning of higher education. People who have not been wasting 4 years of their lives only to get a piece of paper at the end. 

[aryt13]

I am not sue why you "demand full transparency." The school doesnt owe you anything. You could politely request that you let you know the weakness in their application so that you can improve for next year. Your resume sounds impressive but that alone doesnt get you into a program. You need a focused SOP, great LORs etc. It is possible that the letter writers did not write all positive feedaback, that would be one way to destroy an application. Also, sometimes the hardest people to work with are those that are smart and have a good background but have an "I am better than this class, these people attitude." Your post here comes off a bit like that (which could be entirely unintential on your end). The fact that you dont put efforts into classes if you dont feel like it and the attitude you have about being an undergrad advising grad students could definitely be red flags to the adcom if you gave off the same vibes in your applicaiton.

 

Did you apply to more programs as well? Being accepted to a signle program is unlikely so you would have a better shot if you applied to multiple programs. Either way good luck! It sounds like you make a great researcher so my best advice is to retry next year and apply to 5-10 programs at least. It is very likely that you will get into one if you go that route.

 

And I need to clarify something. When I said I don't listen to lectures if I don't enjoy them, it's not like I was mocking the professor or anything. I used to bring my own reading materials (often research paper), sit there quietly and read them during the class. Actually, I remember writing my first research paper during a Numerical Methods and Statistics class. The lecturer was boring as hell, but the subject in itself was very interesting. I was the only person who got A in the end. So that was a relative statement. 

[efs001]

I'm not 100% sure what you intend to get out of going to graduate school.  You sound like you have an impressive background in research but you come across as a bit egotistical.  Graduate school applications are full of extremely intelligent people from around the world, applying for very few spots.  I've been there, I was a strong student in high school and got into a very good university for college.  I went from being a big fish in a small pond to a little fish in a big pond.  Everyone I went to school with was very smart.  Applying for grad school, you might have become a big fish in your big pond but you're trying to get into a lake. The people are just as smart as you and they're fighting for those few spots.  If getting a PhD is something that you really want to do, I would recommend asking Berkeley how you can improve your application for next year.  I'd also apply to a lot more programs because you will inevitable not be a proper fit for some programs.  That might even be the case with Berkeley.  But if you're in it just to use the equipment, you're better off just getting a job in a lab.

[aryt13]

I'm not 100% sure what you intend to get out of going to graduate school.  You sound like you have an impressive background in research but you come across as a bit egotistical.  Graduate school applications are full of extremely intelligent people from around the world, applying for very few spots.  I've been there, I was a strong student in high school and got into a very good university for college.  I went from being a big fish in a small pond to a little fish in a big pond.  Everyone I went to school with was very smart.  Applying for grad school, you might have become a big fish in your big pond but you're trying to get into a lake. The people are just as smart as you and they're fighting for those few spots.  If getting a PhD is something that you really want to do, I would recommend asking Berkeley how you can improve your application for next year.  I'd also apply to a lot more programs because you will inevitable not be a proper fit for some programs.  That might even be the case with Berkeley.  But if you're in it just to use the equipment, you're better off just getting a job in a lab.

 

I don't really think highly of myself and I never said I was "smart". I have an average IQ (if that even indicates intelligence). I am surrounded by thousands of people who are essentially smarter than me, but they fail to see the most important part of things, precisely because they are smart and go through the problem quickly without seeing it from another angle. I speak based on facts and figures with no emotional prejudice whatsoever. You do not prefer egotistical people and that is a personal preference. If you are given a chance to decide who should get which scientific position, your personal assessment of the situation should not come into play. Some of the most distinguished scientists like Einstein, Dirac and Schrodinger were extremely egotistical. Einstein once sent an article for publication, when the editor wrote back that he has sent it for peer review, this is what Einstein replied:

 

 

Dear Sir,

We (Mr. Rosen and I) had sent you our manuscript for publication and had not authorized you to show it to specialists before it is printed. I see no reason to address the "in any case erroneous” comments of your anonymous expert. On the basis of this incident I prefer to publish the paper elsewhere.

Respectfully,

In a way, being egotistical is part of what defines how dedicated you are to your cause. Non-scientist examples, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, etc. These people at some point in their career, eliminated their partners, because they believed they were being slowed down by their lack of vision. You see an egotistical monster. I see a genius! 

 

Ethical guidelines can never be clearly defined. Numbers speak for themselves. Had it not been for these egotistical actions, companies would have gone bankrupt, people would have lost their jobs and so one. 

[Red_Emma]

So I'm a little curious what you're hoping to gain from this post. If you just need to vent that's totally legit. Applying to grad school is a totally nuts process. But the people in this forum aren't the adcom and you won't be able to argue your way into Cal here. The only other things people can offer is advice, but that doesn't seem to be what you're interested in.

[seeingeyeduck]

The reason they get away with being egotistical is because they've made some sort of contribution whose value others can't deny. Or they are super rich. You have some publications but that is not the same as creating the theory of relativity. I'm assuming you're not super rich.

And keep in mind that Einstein's work wasn't recognized in the beginning either. Unfortunately his work was theoretical and he could work on it without a lab. You can't, so if you want to get into a lab, maybe you need to consider the non-academic factors in your application. Yes, liking egotistical people or not is a personal preference but if most other people don't then they are unlikely to admit you to their schools and labs. That is a fact of life and it has nothing to do with logic, though if your so egotistical that you don't work we'll with others, then, rationally, they are perfectly justified in choosing someone who is just as accomplished AND can get along with everyone in the lab if that's what they have to do to keep the lab running smoothly.

I don't think you realize that you can do the things that the big egos you mentioned did without the ego. We can name just as many if not more accomplished people who aren't big egos.

The best thing to do, as others said, is to just ask Berkeley why they didn't accept you.

[JBOTCH]

I completely understand where your coming from and I don't think it's egotism at all. I am angry for you. You seem to be an amazing candidate. I am in the same spot, so I empathize. I have applied twice to the same school had great stats the first time, made it to the interview round, and this year I am even better with greater experience, and they didn't even give me an interview. I want to storm in that office and say " what the f**** " but letting my emotions rule won't help my case. I just have to hope I get another opportunity because I love the field and I know I am good enough. One day I will prove that, and Might even be grateful for not being in that program. I think decisions can be very political and based on the right "fit" which is completely subjective and not necessarily the best. I am constantly on this site because it's somewhat therapeutic as I wait in agony for more schools to decide. Its

also nice to know your not alone in the frustration and stress of it all. I wish you luck and I have a feeling that down the road you will prove to Berkeley what they missed out on and who knows you might forget they ever existed. (:

So I have recently graduated with a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering (honors). My CGPA was not exceptional (3.38 out of 4.0), however I won the best student and the best project awards from the Institute of Mechanical Engineers (UK) and I was also selected as the best student in the engineering department. I am the type of guy who refuses to copy the assignments or cheat/ memorize for the exam. If I don't enjoy it, I refuse to listen to the lecture. Grades are useless anyway. I have spent most of my time in the lab doing research on my own for over 4 years now.

I have published 3 ISI Q1 papers as the corresponding author (in the field of nanomaterials), and I have 6 more under review (all as corresponding author). I am also a referee for several high-ranking international journals in Materials Science.

I have won a number of international design awards and my works have been featured on USA Today, NBC News, ABC News, The Economist, Daily Mail, CS Monitor, etc. I have co-founded a company with a former CFO of Nokia and a former senior executive at Qatar Airways in which I also serve as the CTO.

Since my senior year, I have been also appointed as a research fellow (same ranking and salary as an associate professor in our University). As part of my work, I co-supervised (and still do) PhD students (yeah, undergrad supervising PhD students!).

Anyway, I am the first person to have synthesized this new material that was predicted to exist some 20 years ago. Think of graphene, but superior in every aspect, especially when it comes to industrial scale applications. We are still working on some of the details before we publish the results. One of my collaborators, a professor in Taiwan used to do his post-doc at UC Berkeley and he convinced me that I should apply for a PhD, so I can use the high-tech equipment at LBNL and make things go faster. So he introduced me to the professor. The professor said that he is going to take 2-3 students this year and depending on the outcome of my application, we need to talk more about my works.

I had 3 very positive recommendation letters; one from that professor who was a former post-doc, another from my collaborator who is a research director at CNRS and lastly, my former supervisor and colleague who is an associate editor for one of the leading journals in the field of ceramic and composite materials.

I received a rejection letter yesterday from Berkeley. How on earth do you justify that? They say in their decision letter that there are so many other well-qualified candidates and I cannot be recommended for admission. I talked to the professor and he said that he was not part of the committee this year and he is very sorry.

Is UC Berkeley located on another planet inhabited by highly intelligent species and comparatively, I'm actually very dumb?

No, seriously. Who makes these decisions anyway? I demand full transparency!

Edited February 22, 2014 by jenbugg86

[Marina CM]

aryt13, I understand your rage, if everything you are stating here is true you have worked very hard to get where you want to get. It is an enormous disappointment when we are denied what we think we deserve. The problem here is that nobody owes you anything. You have an impressive resume, but to tell you the truth so do I and may other people out there. I have worked very hard to get into MIT or Harvard but entry is not guaranteed, I am competing against some of the brightest people in the world who hold a resume as impressive as mine or more. Besides, the adcom not only looks for impressive resumes but a fit in terms of research interests and personality. Yes, I believe personality is a huge factor, nobody wants to work with a person who is far from humble and might get enraged over certain problems. You worked hard and tried to give your best, but I assure you that so did I during my undergraduate and professional degrees. And many other people out there. Resilience and the ability to accept failure and move on is one of the characteristics they are looking for. I am very sorry to hear your story, but you can try next year as well, and I believe this might be one of the biggest lessons life might teach you. 

[surefire]

I'm with efs001 on this. I'm not sure what you intend to get out of the grad school pursuit; there seems to be a mis-alignment of expectations.

 

Many parts of the grad school enterprise are characterized by collaboration. To be successful in apps, you need to establish both what you can contribute and what resources you will draw upon to grow and thrive.

 

The attitude that you are a customer and the institution is providing a service does not establish this.

The attitude that you are arriving as a complete package that they should be grateful to have and the biggest thing they can do for you is provide access to equipment does not establish this either.

 

Your anecdote about bringing your own reading materials to class actually makes me cringe a little bit.

 

If what you've conveyed above is indicative of what you wrote in your app, then I think you needn't bother anyone at the institution to itemize why your application was unsuccessful. Perhaps you should view your experience with this application process as an exercise in ascertaining that your expectations/ideologies are not compatible with the program. You might be best served sticking with the private sector pursuits.

[Inka dreams]

aryt13, shutdown your computer, close your eyes, take a deep breath and just don't think about all this for a while. Once you are calm, you will realize that a rejection from Berkely or any school for that matter does not define what you are. 

 

It is NOT necessary that only the best get accepted. And if you ask why, i could simply say - life. And I am sure you are old enough to understand that. That said, the fact that you applied for the program to just get access to the lab for your personal cause might have been a big red flag. What you are doing is science, but it will always be YOUR science. And I think that could be a major problem for you.

 

Just ask them politely on the weakness of your application and look to build upon it. 

So I have recently graduated with a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering (honors). My CGPA was not exceptional (3.38 out of 4.0), however I won the best student and the best project awards from the Institute of Mechanical Engineers (UK) and I was also selected as the best student in the engineering department. I am the type of guy who refuses to copy the assignments or cheat/ memorize for the exam. If I don't enjoy it, I refuse to listen to the lecture. Grades are useless anyway. I have spent most of my time in the lab doing research on my own for over 4 years now. 

 

I have published 3 ISI Q1 papers as the corresponding author (in the field of nanomaterials), and I have 6 more under review (all as corresponding author). I am also a referee for several high-ranking international journals in Materials Science. 

I have won a number of international design awards and my works have been featured on USA Today, NBC News, ABC News, The Economist, Daily Mail, CS Monitor, etc. I have co-founded a company with a former CFO of Nokia and a former senior executive at Qatar Airways in which I also serve as the CTO.

 

Since my senior year, I have been also appointed as a research fellow (same ranking and salary as an associate professor in our University). As part of my work, I co-supervised (and still do) PhD students (yeah, undergrad supervising PhD students!).

 

Anyway, I am the first person to have synthesized this new material that was predicted to exist some 20 years ago. Think of graphene, but superior in every aspect, especially when it comes to industrial scale applications. We are still working on some of the details before we publish the results. One of my collaborators, a professor in Taiwan used to do his post-doc at UC Berkeley and he convinced me that I should apply for a PhD, so I can use the high-tech equipment at LBNL and make things go faster. So he introduced me to the professor. The professor said that he is going to take 2-3 students this year and depending on the outcome of my application, we need to talk more about my works. 

 

I had 3 very positive recommendation letters; one from that professor who was a former post-doc, another from my collaborator who is a research director at CNRS and lastly, my former supervisor and colleague who is an associate editor for one of the leading journals in the field of ceramic and composite materials.

 

I received a rejection letter yesterday from Berkeley. How on earth do you justify that? They say in their decision letter that there are so many other well-qualified candidates and I cannot be recommended for admission. I talked to the professor and he said that he was not part of the committee this year and he is very sorry. 

 

Is UC Berkeley located on another planet inhabited by highly intelligent species and comparatively, I'm actually very dumb?

No, seriously. Who makes these decisions anyway? I demand full transparency!

[vityaz]

Am I the only one around here that finds it hilarious when egomaniacs like OP fail at something? Some people deserve being taken down a notch. 

[reinhard]

Didn't you apply to more schools? Nothing is guarantee in these things.

[rhetoricus aesalon]

I demand full transparency because 1) Berkeley is a public university which is funded by taxpayers' money. So the "I reject you because I can" response is not acceptable. They need to provide equal opportunity based on merits. I am not seeing that here. There are very clear rules and regulations. They asked for a minimum CGPA of 3.0 and a general GRE (no minimum score required). I look at university application as a kind of peer review. If you reject me, you need to give convincing reasons. If you claim that there are more qualified candidates, you shouldn't have any problem disclosing the data (of course, not the private info, but what exactly do you mean by more qualified). 2) I paid an application fee. You are offering a paid service. I am the customer and you are obliged to respond to my enquiries. 

 

I think we could reasonably assume that Berkeley is acting in their best interest by offering admission to candidates they feel will bring the most to their program based on a complicated and unique formula of merit, achievement, scores, etc. Unfortunately, you do not have access to the applications to see where you fit, nor the other information they have access to. In fact, it is illegal to give any of that out to you. 

 

Also, I don't agree that you should see the application process as a peer review process. It's in the name. You are applying to their program. They have made no agreement with you other than to review your application and notify you of their decision by April 15. That's it. If you want that level of feedback on your materials, you can ask your mentors, use the resources of a career services department at your undergrad, or pay someone for consultation. Don't blame Berkeley for seeing to their interests and not yours.

[vityaz]

All of this guy's posts are just full of gold:

 

"I demand full transparency!"

"So the "I reject you because I can" response is not acceptable."

"I am the customer and you are obliged to respond to my enquiries. "

"I told the lecturer that I expected him to value my original work"

"you can't do that to me"

"I guess when they were reading my SOP, they thought it was too good to be true!"

"So I am genuinely interested to see if there are more people like me out there who understand the true meaning of higher education."

 

Thanks for the entertainment, OP. Please keep posting.

[LanoTech]

Dear arty13,

 

There are many reasons to conclude why you were not accepted, some include:

 

1. You are too much of a god damn idiot to realize GPA will affect your credibility in a graduate program. Even though many would agree that GPA is not the best indicator of success, you honestly weren't smart enough to just go with it anyway for the sake of your future. Smart people realize this, and thus have secured their spot in your intended program at Berkeley.
2. You managed to convince the PI at Berkeley that you're a little shithead without realizing it.
3. You applied to only one graduate program.
4. You assume anyone at Berkeley gives a shit about what you have done in comparison to what you will do with them. Noone wants to get headaches from working with a god damn pirck all day, whether or not he/she is right sometimes.

I have (as I assume many here have) concluded that you likely have a severe case of autism; please get this checked out for the sake of everyone here.

[bobkindles]

Why did you not get in? Maybe because sentiments like this: 
 

If I don't enjoy it, I refuse to listen to the lecture

 

came through in your application, and they assumed you were too arrogant and just not good enough for a place. 

Edited February 23, 2014 by bobkindles

[rhetoricus aesalon]

I have (as I assume many here have) concluded that you likely have a severe case of autism; please get this checked out for the sake of everyone here.

 

Completely unacceptable remark. Wow. I agree that OP is out of his/her mind, but really with this?

[EngineerGrad]

 

If what you've conveyed above is indicative of what you wrote in your app, then I think you needn't bother anyone at the institution to itemize why your application was unsuccessful. 

 

I agree with surefire. I think your problem is your attitude... And as LanoTech said,

 

1. You are too much of a god damn idiot to realize GPA will affect your credibility in a graduate program. Even though many would agree that GPA is not the best indicator of success, you honestly weren't smart enough to just go with it anyway for the sake of your future. Smart people realize this, and thus have secured their spot in your intended program at Berkeley.

 

No one wants to get headaches from working with a god damn pirck all day, whether or not he/she is right sometimes.

 

Good luck!

[JBOTCH]

I think we all have to remember that this process is stressful and it's hard to work extremely hard for something and be let down. It's a hard lesson and it takes some of us a longer time to get a grip and move forward. I was angry too, but I realize that I can't let myself get too inside my head because it drives me crazy. I think we should ease up on this guy. It's a form if venting and it's governed obviously by emotion. Attacking doesn't make anyone look good.

[LanoTech]

I think we should ease up on this guy.

He started it.