What you think the adcoms are saying about your application

[cokohlik]

For my Personal Statement:

Hahah!!!!

[PhDEducation]

Thought I should pop this back to the top some good reads to keep us entertained as we sit patiently waiting some of the best news we will ever hear.

[angel_kaye13]

"Bloody marvelous!" ;-)

[Kloppo]

The 500-Word SOP sure was a killer..I felt I wasnt allowed to detail my research interest as much as I wished and that may well be t the deciding factor.

[Amayan]

"I'm all for honesty, but this SOP is really oversharing."

 

"What does this sentence even mean?  You don't need to gargle a thesaurus to sound academic."

 

"This applicant will not shut up about hiking.  She only wants us for our trails."

[busybeinganxious]

"She has 5 kids, is almost 40 and hasn't got her UG yet? BWAH HA HA HA HA."

 

*Wipes tears of laughter from their eyes while tossing my application packet into a pit of fire and brimstone*

[eeee1923]

"She has 5 kids, is almost 40 and hasn't got her UG yet? BWAH HA HA HA HA."

 

*Wipes tears of laughter from their eyes while tossing my application packet into a pit of fire and brimstone*

 

Jeez, you really painted a vivid picture with that comment 

[Marchy]

I actually had a dream recently where I received a rejection letter in the mail, where the committee had written in HUGE capital letters (I kid you not):

OH MY GOD! HOW COULD YOU EVEN THINK OF APPLYING TO OUR SCHOOL?? A DISGRACE!

Talk about paranoia!

 

That's hilarious! OK. I feel you on the DREAMS. How many dreams have you guys had about grad school since applying? It's amazing how anxiety translates to the dream state. So far I've had about 3-4 dreams about acceptances, rejections, etc. Interestingly, they are all about the same school....which wasn't even my top choice initially. But it's kind of like having a sexy dream about someone you didn't necessarily like and then you suddenly cannot stop thinking romantically about that person. Now all I want is that program. University of XXX.

Edited March 5, 2015 by Marchy

[hyronomus4]

"SOP, fine. LOR, fine. GPA, fine. GRE, fine"

 

*throws papers on the table, stands on the table*

 

"Where is the sparkle?!? Where is all the pzazz?!?

 

*shoots off a glitter cannon and storms out of the room in disgust*

 

 

 

I guess I've always assumed the admission process takes so long because it's an entire room of divas and divos(is that a real thing?).

[shadowclaw]

"Good SOP and the research fit is perfect. These LORs are absolutely fantastic. Look at all these awards and field experiences listed on her CV. That quantitative score could be higher, but the verbal and AW scores are good. Overall, she looks like a pretty amazing applicant. Now where are those transcripts..."

* reads a masters transcript *

"Very nice. Did a good thesis, maintained excellent grades, and served as a grad assistant. This applicant keeps getting better!"

* reads through four undergrad transcripts with wildly different majors and some epically terrible semesters in the early years. Gently places the transcripts back into the file, then gets out a lighter *

"Kill it... Kill it with fire..."

[ed_psy]

"Another 3.0, abysmal GREs, toss?!"

[TXInstrument11]

--- infinite variations of "Why did this idiot even apply?".

 

 

I'm asking that myself. 

[yellowmint]

Probably, 'She is awesome. How can we get into her pants?' jk

I really don't make any assumptions about how my app is viewed at this point...

Edited March 5, 2015 by yellowmint

[TXInstrument11]

Probably, 'She is awesome. How can we get into her pants?' jk

I really don't make any assumptions about how my app is viewed at this point...

LOL. Hey, for some of my younger, better-looking POIs, I wouldn't at all be bothered by this line of thinking, if you know what I mean. 

[Hani2015]

" he is so confident to apply for our program "

" he is just wasting our time "

" and look prof. he has no research experience at all "

" I think we should send him with the rejection letter all our applicants profiles to let him know the he is the worst application we have ever had "

" but he has a full external funding " 

" his master GPA is high "

" good work experience "

" and he has a reasonable  GRE and IELTS scores "

" good letters of recommendation" 

" ok I guess we should leave this terrible application to the dean to see what he will do "

" by the way: do not forget that he is from a country has nothing with research "

the dean : taking everything into account " this guy is admitted " 

face of professor after he knows that I'm admitted :    " what ever u decide: he will not be one of my students"

The dean: let see what he will do in courses then we will assign him an adviser"   

 

 

 

 

Always I'm not the best but by luck I take the place of the best     

 

 

honestly, I do not like the phrase " take the place of best " because it is not fair but they will find for me a place.

 

 

Edited March 5, 2015 by Hani2015

[olayak]

I think they'll say "she dropped out of a previous doctoral program (for medical reasons), so she'll drop out of ours. She looks really great otherwise, but we can't take the risk".

[AmandaLeigh]

Worst Case Scenario: "She had to retake Intro Stat and Calc II? Why would she even bother applying to quant programs? Lols."

 

Best Case: "She must have really wanted to be an Econ major if she suffered through Stat and Calc II twice. Give her all the funding!"

 

But seriously, my GPA isn't great, so the only thing holding it up is that I went to a top 5 public school. I'm freakin' out.

[tdcp]

What I fear most:

"I wonder if this kid is actually as hard-working as he is charismatic"

"Yeah, I don't know, he seemed a little arrogant, do you feel like he was talking down to you at the interview?"

"Kind of, but at the same time he really just seemed passionate about what we were talking about"

"He's obviously smart, but his GPA is so low...has he matured since college? Is he going to end up being a liability for us?"

"Good point, he seemed so relaxed and confident during the interviews, but the only way he could be like that is if he didn't really take neuroscience that seriously"

"Agreed. Can't see him as a scientist."

"But he DOES have FOUR years of research experience. And he definitely knew what he was talking about!"

"Screw it, let's just go with a sure bet applicant with stellar stats across the board. Better to not gamble on this kid."

Best case:

"That guy seemed really passionate and hard-working and committed to career in academia. And also friendly! We have to admit him!"

Edited March 9, 2015 by tdcp