Most fulfilling part of the application process...

[porfiry]

Thought I'd initiate a counterpoint to the thread, "Most annoying part of the application process."

For me, the best part was searching for and reading papers by profs at the schools I've applied to. I've been out of college for more than five years, so it felt great to acquaint myself with the current research. I basically ended up frantically reading one article after another for the last few months of last year in an attempt to formulate a few meaningful questions about them. What's crazy is that I probably read several hundreds of pages just to come up with a handful of smart-sounding sentences for my SOP!

I'm telling myself that even if I don't get in anywhere, having gone through the process wouldn't have been an entire waste of my time.

[tarski]

For me, it was probably having a reason to polish my writing sample as much as I did (lots !).

[whereiscarmen]

Pressing submit.

[Victorianna]

I second that!

Edited January 21, 2010 by Victorianna

[BCHistory]

Finishing the final draft of my SOP. It took several months of work, but I was (and still am) extremely proud of the effort I put into writing it.

[Sparky]

I don't think anything can be described as "fulfilling" until I have at least one acceptance letter. ("until" meaning, of course, "if").

But it was pretty cool getting an e-mail from a professor I happen to think can walk on water. I won't get into that program, but still. It was cool.

[grad_wannabe]

Maybe they were just jerking my chain, but the two campus visits I made to potential schools were big ego-boosters.

At school A, I attended a guest lecture two days after an information session where I'd asked a ton of questions. I sat down in the front row and saw the head of the graduate department come in. I thought to myself, "Ooh, I wonder if he'll remember that I was here the other day." To my shock, as soon as he saw me, he ran over and asked me to send my writing samples to him directly. When I introduced myself, saying, "Oh, I don't think I got the chance to tell you my name the other day," he laughed and said, "Oh, don't worry! I definitely know who you are." I was blown away.

At school B the head of the department, during our meeting, dropped such gems as, "Shoot, I might have to admit you right now!" and "any friend of ---- (a prof writing me a rec letter) is a friend of mine!"

Definitely felt good after both of those encounters.

[johndiligent]

The best moment happened when I contacted a potential advisor and he replied with a beautiful, detailed letter asking me not to apply, and if I did apply, not to attend, because his institution wasn't as good as my thesis idea. I loved that because it was honestly helpful (I didn't waste any application fees on the school) and he was really encouraging despite the fact that he knew I wouldn't be headed there.

[Lauren the Librarian]

Writing and revising my SoP. I only wrote 6 papers in undergrad (12pp, 8pp, 5pp, 4pp, and 2 -2pp) and I never revised any of them (and I've got the crappy grades to prove it!). But my SoP was filled with revision and sweat. It was the first paper I ever truly cared about and the only one I revised.

Good thing I have experience revising now because the syllabus of just one of my grad classes this semester calls for one 20 page paper and two 4 page papers in addition to journal entries, etc.

So SoP... TOTALLY fufilling.

[NeuroNerd86]

Receiving an email (or a letter) that calls my credentials "outstanding". I save and re-read them when I'm sad:)

[ScreamingHairyArmadillo]

Receiving an email (or a letter) that calls my credentials "outstanding". I save and re-read them when I'm sad:)

I have one of those, too! It feels amazing to be validated by someone other than your parents. The two schools I've visited have also told me I am a very strong applicant and that my research interests are fantastic.

In fact, this whole process has really made me feel good (I suppose I can really say that as I have one acceptance so far) because I've become more connected to the scientific community that I've dreamed of for years.