UW MHCID 2017 Applicants

[bellis]

@sqa I feel your pain. The decision is like this big all-or-nothing thing. I have a backup plan if I don't get in, but still I want so badly to not have to use it

@siitrasn Yes, the applicant pool is so diverse in backgrounds and work experience, plus they don't consider things like GRE scores or portfolios. The "holistic" approach is actually great, in my opinion, but it means that I have no idea how to gauge chances. I focused on the statement of purpose, and am hoping for the best, but truly don't know what to expect.

Edited March 2, 2017 by bellis

[123abc]

36 minutes ago, bellis said:

 Yes, the applicant pool is so diverse in backgrounds and work experience, plus they don't consider things like GRE scores or portfolios. The "holistic" approach is actually great, in my opinion, but it means that I have no idea how to gauge chances. I focused on the statement of purpose, and am hoping for the best, but truly don't know what to expect.

I agree, but looking historically they mention the accepted candidates have GRE scores in the past. Makes me wish I took the GRE  

[siitrasn]

@bellis Just to clarify, UW's HCDE M.S. program has part time as an option so there are professionals who don't really have the time to take the GRE and do well on it, thus making the holistic approach very suitable for that particular program. On the other hand, UW's MHCI+D does consider GRE scores and portfolios, so as @123abc mentioned it could possibly be a factor in admissions. They may sort of treat it as a way to differentiate between applicants that are relatively similar, or it may just be a different way of getting past a minimum academic performance threshold. Who knows? 

Edited March 2, 2017 by siitrasn

[bbobear]

I think for the most part, the GRE, if it's considered at all, is just used as a kind of sanity check. Basically, a bit of extra information for the admissions committee if it's needed. 

For example, if you had a fairly low college GPA, a higher GRE score would perhaps make the admissions committee more confident that you were capable of handling the challenge of graduate study. The same would be true if you graduated from an international or less well-known college, where it's harder to gauge what your GPA says about your academic ability. If your GPA and GRE basically line up with what's expected, a few points on your Verbal or Quant are probably neither here nor there.

Basically, if you didn't feel that taking the GRE would give you a more compelling case for admission, you're probably fine without it.

[123abc]

@bbobear I get where you are coming from.. its interesting because these programs are geared towards hands-on projects.. I'm not 100% sure and would love your thoughts on this, but the GRE does not really test you on your ability to collaborate, work with difficult projects, etc. its geared on seeing how well you do on an exam. I don't think there are many courses with pen and paper exams.. more like group/individual projects, right? 

[bbobear]

@123abc You're 100% correct, and I think that's why many of these programs don't consider the GRE, or make their application process GRE-optional. The GRE can help them make decisions on an applicant some of the time...for example, there was one accepted 2015 MHCID applicant in the Results section with a 2.59 GPA, but a 160V and 154Q. I'm sure they must have had a compelling story to explain the low GPA, but the higher GRE scores were probably very helpful for the admissions committee to appreciate their improvement and academic potential. If I had to guess, I'd say this applicant was out of school for several years and had lots of work experience attesting to their perseverance, passion for the field, and collaborative skills, and so ultimately their low GPA was overcome. 

I mean I don't agree with people who say the GRE has absolutely nothing to do with one's ability to succeed in programs like the MHCID...it is less related than other fields, but I do think there is at least some relationship between critical thinking skills (and other related skills) and your ability to succeed at the GRE. Not to say that any one person who doesn't do well is lacking in these skills, but more as a general trend. I'd say my GRE scores (168V 158Q 6W, before you ask XD) are decently reflective of my relative abilities in these areas: I love literature and writing, and whilst I wouldn't say I struggle with math, it's not my favorite.

I think the GRE can help give a very general picture of an applicant's strengths, which might help in terms of ensuring a diverse entering class (although undergraduate major and work experience would play a much larger role). For me personally, I don't think my GRE really adds much new information to my application: my relative strengths are shown pretty well by the subjects I chose to take in college and how well I did. My GPA was 3.65, so it may be a tad lower than what's expected for someone with my GRE scores...but not by much. As you say, whether I'm admitted or not will probably be much more determined by the admissions committee's view on how collaborative, hardworking, and persistent I am, and how passionate I am about the field. 

[123abc]

@bbobear that's encouraging considering my GPA is very low.. hopefully my work experience / other application materials will make a strong enough case. We shall see!

[bbobear]

@123abc Fingers crossed!

If we don't hear back by the end of next week I am probably going to start involuntarily waking up at 5am to check my emails. :\

[123abc]

@bbobearhahaha i am already there. I have a feeling we will hear back around the 14th.. if later then i am assuming it is a rejection : (

Edited March 2, 2017 by 123abc

[bbobear]

@123abc Yeah in general it seems like the acceptances go out a day or two before the rejections. I'm sincerely hoping I don't have to feel the awful dread of seeing other people post their acceptances when I haven't got one. And then that gloomy wait in between knowing you weren't in the accepted pile to getting your actual rejection letter...the worst (got rejected my first time applying to UW as a transfer student, so the feels are real lol). 

[123abc]

@bbobear YES! It's the worst. I don't know whether to set my expectations really low so i won't be too disappointed, or be confident

[Grad-school-freakout123]

On 3/2/2017 at 5:34 PM, bbobear said:

@123abc Yeah in general it seems like the acceptances go out a day or two before the rejections. I'm sincerely hoping I don't have to feel the awful dread of seeing other people post their acceptances when I haven't got one. And then that gloomy wait in between knowing you weren't in the accepted pile to getting your actual rejection letter...the worst (got rejected my first time applying to UW as a transfer student, so the feels are real lol). 

Is there a reason for this? If this is true seems like I got rejected from CMU

[bbobear]

@hpfanfreak It's most likely because there are far fewer acceptances than rejections, so even after they've made all the decisions, the mailing list/arrangements for the accepted candidates doesn't take as long as for the rejected ones. Also, the university presumably has a higher priority to notify accepted applicants, so they will take care of these arrangements first. 

Of course every institution does things differently, but it does seem pretty consistent for these HCI programs (which are all Master's level programs that don't offer rolling admission) that acceptances go out before rejections. In your case, you may have been waitlisted rather than rejected, so you don't need to completely lose hope. Or alternatively they may have a couple of batches of accepted candidates (although my trawling of the Results page suggests that they usually don't, sadly). 

Even if you were rejected, I wouldn't stress too much...CMU is the most competitive HCI program out there right now, so getting rejected there doesn't reflect much on your chances at other schools you applied to! 

[Grad-school-freakout123]

Thanks @bbobear. Although rejection sucks it's not the end of the world. I applied to other programs including UW, so crossing my fingers! Do you know anything about Maryland's program btw?

[bbobear]

@hpfanfreak Awesome! It would be pretty cool if some of us ended up in the same programs once all is said and done XD

Sadly I don't know much about the Maryland HCIM program...I just had a look at their website and it seems pretty cool! 

I'd say the quality of the student work there is not quite as good as the UW MHCID program (you can see examples from both on their respective websites). But the projects the Maryland students complete seem fairly similar, so both programs should prepare you for work in UX Research and Design. 

Edited March 5, 2017 by bbobear

[siitrasn]

MHCID at UW seems like it might have more emphasis on prototyping. You may want to compare HCIM's coursework with MHCID's, particularly in areas like interaction design. If the design courses at HCIM don't seem like they would be enough, you might consider asking if you can do more design work on the side if that's the route you're planning on taking. Seems like both programs do a good amount of research/job placement stuff though

Edited March 6, 2017 by siitrasn

[Willwang]

Has anyone got an interview from MHCID director?

I got one for tomorrow.

[siitrasn]

55 minutes ago, Willwang said:

Has anyone got an interview from MHCID director?

I got one for tomorrow.

I haven't seen interviews being posted in previous years. They also recruit like 40-50 people a year right? Can't imagine them doing interviews for every single person, but I didn't get one.

[Willwang]

18 minutes ago, siitrasn said:

I haven't seen interviews being posted in previous years. They also recruit like 40-50 people a year right? Can't imagine them doing interviews for every single person, but I didn't get one.

 

29-30 students this year.

 

[123abc]

I applied and have not received an invitation to interview  

 

goodluck @Willwang

Edited March 8, 2017 by 123abc

[bbobear]

@Willwang Thanks for sharing this info! How do you know they're interviewing 29-30 students, if you don't mind my asking?

Last year they admitted around 80 students (with 29 choosing to attend) so I'd be very surprised if they were requiring interviews for all candidates. 

I also haven't received an invitation to interview. 

[bbobear]

Also, sidenote, the addition of interviews may mean that our estimates of when we'll hear back are quite wrong. Last year there was no interview process that I'm aware of, so it's quite likely we won't hear back next week. 

I mean it might move really quickly...some more info on what days interviews were scheduled for would help a ton, but I'm thinking it might be much closer to April than we thought. The only sure thing is that it has to be before the admitted student Visitor's Days on April 3-4. 

[123abc]

@bbobear agreed. But I am not so sure how or what to think of the program rolling out interviews. Could be just for certain candidates who could make or break it or it's a standard for all applicants who seem like they have more promise. 

Then again I could just be playing mind games with myself 

 

[Grad-school-freakout123]

Why would they suddenly start interviewing? If we didn't get an interview request should we assume it's a rejection?

[bbobear]

@123abc @Grad-school-freakout123

I think the interviewing process is a new way of helping to determine a personality fit for the program. With this kind of program that is so heavily focused on group work, I think culture/personality fit is really important. The new director, Michael Smith, comes from a design background and (I think) would make it a really high priority to find students who fit into the culture that he's trying to foster within the program. 

Considering that last year, 81 students were admitted to the program (https://grad.uw.edu/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/admissions16.pdf), I think we would know much more about the interviewing thing by now if 80+ applicants were being interviewed. Instead, I suspect that the interviews are only for a few students: people who are good applicants on paper, but for whom the question of culture fit isn't fully answered in their SOP and other materials.

I spent a lot of time in my SOP focusing on how my interest in the MHCID program is reflected in my beliefs and values, so it would make sense if the ad com felt they had enough information there to make a decision on me one way or the other (with respect to culture fit). But I can easily see how someone's SOP might not be clear on something like that.

In short, I don't think we should see a lack of an interview as a definite rejection. 

Edited March 8, 2017 by bbobear