bsharpe269 Posted March 13, 2014 Posted March 13, 2014 The title pretty much explains. If your advisor made comments that he thinks you will get into or get rejected from certain schools was he right? If they made general guesses like "with all of your research experience, I bet youll get into at least half of these programs" did you? Just wondering whether professors predications hold up well or whether it is much more random than they can predict.
ERR_Alpha Posted March 14, 2014 Posted March 14, 2014 Not at all. I think my advisor overshot my abilities. I'm also a big fish in a small pond at a small, primarily teaching college in a little science program. She's also a few decades removed from the whole process. justinmcummings 1
Geologizer Posted March 14, 2014 Posted March 14, 2014 For me, yes. Of my 4 applications, I was accepted into 3 of the programs. The one where I was rejected, the possibility of acceptance was always contingent on a grant coming through - it didn't. Essentially, my application season has turned out exactly as they predicted.
febreze Posted March 14, 2014 Posted March 14, 2014 Yes and no. Two of my advisors had lots of faith in my application and my results (so far) have been as positive as they expected. But one of my advisors flat out told me I wasn't qualified for anything but a state school (not that there's anything wrong with that though) and I got into an Ivy.
likemythesis Posted March 15, 2014 Posted March 15, 2014 (edited) My advisor was very peppy and never expressed any doubt about the places I wanted to apply to. Given that I was rejected from 4 (probably going to be 5 soon) out of my 7 and her response each time was, "yeah it's incredibly hard to get into", I wish there had been more of a discussion. Even after getting into a good school, I was still very shaken by how close I came to not getting in anywhere. But that's why the phrase "You only need one!" was first uttered, so it's still technically a happy ending. Edited March 15, 2014 by likemythesis
Ancient_DNA Posted March 15, 2014 Posted March 15, 2014 (edited) As others have said, yes and no. One of my advisors, well really my MAIN advisor, the one I went to for virtually everything, always told me I was "better than the average student at XYZ university" and I should do well in grad school apps. So I applied to the big powerhouse anthro/archaeology schools in Canada and the UK where I felt my research interests would fit best. Then she told me that I had applied to some of the hardest programs to get into and don't be surprised if they say no, but she was still hoping for 5/5. I got into the one that she and I both thought I would be rejected instantly, since I have a low cumulative GPA (as you can see) and the POI is a rockstar in the archaeological sciences. Then my home school rejected me for the second time in a row, and I for sure thought I had that in the bag. Then another big school rejected me. Then the smallest but probably most inviting of the schools accepted me, and now I'm just waiting on the BIG one in Ontario. All in all, I'm running about 50% right now, which is a little lower than we had predicted. But I also found out that the big out of province school that I applied to, the POI I requested hasn't had a new grad student in over 5 years. So that made me feel a little better, but also annoyed slightly because I wasted my app fee when I could have applied to a different prof with similar interests and maybe could have gotten in. Oh well. I would say that there is a lot more at play than what really meets the eye, and nothing, absolutely nothing is certain. Edited March 15, 2014 by Ancient_DNA
Queen of Kale Posted March 16, 2014 Posted March 16, 2014 My advisor (and by this I don't mean a research advisor but rather my undergrad academic advisor, who I was close to but who also was just a terrible advisor as far as course recommendations, etc, and who I did not ask for LOR from) basically told me to pick the middle 2 schools from my ranks and not include any reaches or any safeties. I ignored him and am attending one of the two biggest reach schools I applied to and was accepted to the other. So, don't always trust the "expert" if they've been out of the loop or have their own prejudices which may be clouding their judgement. I did run my list very early on (like the previous spring) by a research advisor I had during an REU and who I knew had a much better understanding of the best labs/minds/personalities/and research fits in the field I was interested in.
DeleteMePlease Posted March 16, 2014 Posted March 16, 2014 My advisor first refused to even write me a recommendation for my top choice because I had "no chance". However, I got my first acceptance from that school.
bsharpe269 Posted March 16, 2014 Author Posted March 16, 2014 interesting... thanks for the comments! My problem is the other way around. My advisor has pretty high hopes for my admission and I am majorly doubting them.
febreze Posted March 16, 2014 Posted March 16, 2014 interesting... thanks for the comments! My problem is the other way around. My advisor has pretty high hopes for my admission and I am majorly doubting them. I was really doubtful of getting in anywhere that's why I applied to 12 schools. So far I've been accepted to 6 and rejected by 4 - though I think the last two will be rejections as well because they are PhDs and I am still in undergrad. The 6 I've been accepted to are MA programs and my top two are competitive so I'm really happy I got in. I think this means I'm just not competitive for a PhD yet so I'm perfectly happy to get an MA first. I don't know what your field or anything is but I'd say if you are unsure to apply to as many schools as you can afford and realistically get the applications done for (plus you will need your letter writers on board). Like I said earlier one of my advisors (who is really nice wand wasn't being mean I think she was trying to be realistic) said I'd never get into Penn and I did. My other advisors seemed to think I would get in everywhere. At the end of the day the only expectations that matter are yours and our advisors can only speculate.
orangeglacier Posted March 16, 2014 Posted March 16, 2014 The professors I talked to generally told me that I would have a tough time getting into to the top tier of schools but that I would have a very good chance of getting into top 20 places. I ended up getting rejected from a lot of top 20 places, but also getting accepted somewhere in the top tier, so on average I would say they were right
cantthinkofagoodusername Posted March 16, 2014 Posted March 16, 2014 (edited) My advisor was a little more optimistic than realistic, unfortunately. Edited March 16, 2014 by cantthinkofagoodusername
Crucial BBQ Posted March 17, 2014 Posted March 17, 2014 What? I was supposed to run this by my advisor? I didn't. I barely talked to my advisor as it was. I went to a non-researh school where practically every biology, chemistry, and math major were pre-med/vet/dental or pre-pharm. A few looked in forensic science. The general consensus was to simply get top grades and ace the MCAT or what-ever. And to do lots of volunteer work. For those who wanted grad school, we were encouraged to talk to a biology professor who was the "guy to discuss grad school with". He offered a ton of great advice, but never really gave the nod to a particular school/program or not. My advisor was a great guy, he really was. I just found individual professors a better resource when it came to questions about grad school.
omp1292 Posted March 17, 2014 Posted March 17, 2014 My advisor was super discouraging. I applied to three schools for a Master's degree, and upon hearing that I only applied to three, my advisor side-eyed me. And then when I informed him that I would be content to find a job if it didn't work out, he side-eyed me some more and told me that it was quite unlikely I would find a job. I keep telling myself that it's just tough love...
kittythrones Posted March 17, 2014 Posted March 17, 2014 omp, no offense but your adviser is a t*atbeard
omp1292 Posted March 17, 2014 Posted March 17, 2014 omp, no offense but your adviser is a t*atbeard No offense taken! I'm looking forward to seeing the expression on his face when I tell him I've gotten into two of the three I applied to (still waiting on the third...). kittythrones 1
Kleene Posted March 17, 2014 Posted March 17, 2014 My recommendation writers had different responses: 1. "You are quite ambitious to try there." = A bit incredulous, but neutral. 2. "Great. I am curious to see how it turns out." = Genuinely excited. 3. "It's no good there. You should stay here. It's better here." = I have no idea how to interpret this... I applied to three top schools. I got one accept and one reject so far. I will be interviewing for my third tomorrow.
H Bond Posted March 19, 2014 Posted March 19, 2014 1. Well, Dad, who knows something about the process, told me to shoot as high as possible and that everyone would accept me. But really, I dismissed that because that's what Dads are supposed to say. 2. Adviser told me that I needed more safety schools (which I applied to per his suggestion). I suspect he thought I'd get accepted to about half of the schools I applied to and mostly in the mid-range. 3. Adviser turned too-busy-dean said "You're going to the ivies!" Result: I got into 7/9 and wait listed at 1/9, including a three ivies and one that's practically an ivy. What I didn't expect was that neither the places I interned gave me an straight admission.
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