No acceptances 3 waitlists

[Moccalatte]

It is March 10th. I applied for a chemical engineering PhD and received 1 rejection 3 probable rejections 3 wait lists and haven't heard back from one. Do my statistics seem low? My GPA is 3.49 for current institution, however my cumulative GPA is 3.72 towards BS in chemical engineering degree. I have 1 publication, 4 conference posters including 2 international. I have another paper and another patent pending. My GRE is V/Q/W (157-158-4.0). I have a load of research experience, over 5 years, both academic and work...

I applied to:

Berkeley-rejection

USC- interview, said to keep the second week of march open and then they said they didn't have funds...

JHU-rejection, heard from prof.

UMD- waitlisted, will hear within 1-2 weeks.

Columbia FU-waitlisted, will hear by April 15.

UCLA- waitlisted, will hear early April.

CCNY, Grove- haven't heard back.

Is my application way off for the schools I applied to? Why do you think I am not getting acceptances? And what are my chances to get in this round? All I want is to study and learn and do research and I am good at it as well... Why am I not in yet?

Please share with me if you are on waitlists as well and what you plan to do next if it doesn't work out this round.

 

 

 

[SadMan]

How do you know you are waitlisted by UCLA? I also applied to UCLA, but ive heard nothing from them.

[istanbulnotconstantinople]

I would say that if you have been waitlisted you are not way off, intact you were among the top choices for multiple schools, you may have just been unlucky in that someone with research interests more closely aligned to the department/POI or with more experience than you applied this year.

I think it sounds like there is still hope given that you have 3 waitlists, but if you end up having to reapply then you could use the contacts you have made with professors during this years interviews to ask them what you could do to make you application stronger. It's not guaranteed that they will respond but I would guess that if professors have spoken to you already in interviews they are likely to respond to an email thanking them and then asking for advice about reapplying to them next year.

[Moccalatte]

7 hours ago, SadMan said:

How do you know you are waitlisted by UCLA? I also applied to UCLA, but ive heard nothing from them.

A prof. emailed me back that he gave out offers to 2 stronger candidates but will keep my application as backup in case the other candidates do not accept the offer. 

[Moccalatte]

5 hours ago, istanbulnotconstantinople said:

I would say that if you have been waitlisted you are not way off, intact you were among the top choices for multiple schools, you may have just been unlucky in that someone with research interests more closely aligned to the department/POI or with more experience than you applied this year.

I think it sounds like there is still hope given that you have 3 waitlists, but if you end up having to reapply then you could use the contacts you have made with professors during this years interviews to ask them what you could do to make you application stronger. It's not guaranteed that they will respond but I would guess that if professors have spoken to you already in interviews they are likely to respond to an email thanking them and then asking for advice about reapplying to them next year.

Emailing the prof. is a great idea and I think I will do that once the cycle is over, if needed... I appreciate the feedback @istanbulnotconstantinople