2017-2018 Application Cycle

[SDMSK]

Saw that U Penn started to schedule interviews. Panicked again.

[Albert01]

Anything from St Louis yet?

[Clytemnahstra]

Claiming the Penn interview! It definitely caught me off guard.

[buckinghamubadger]

7 minutes ago, Albert01 said:

Anything from St Louis yet?

Nada. Hope to hear soon, since it's probably my #1 choice

[Albert01]

12 minutes ago, buckinghamubadger said:

Nada. Hope to hear soon, since it's probably my #1 choice

IT's also my first choice too. I really hope we can hear something positive from it by today. I truly don't want to spend another weekend in dark and anxiety; I would rathrer be in bliss or total despair (hopefully bliss!).

Edited February 2, 2018 by Albert01

[megabee]

18 minutes ago, Qw23 said:

Saw that U Penn started to schedule interviews. Panicked again.

Anyone know how Penn interviews work? Is it that everyone on the shortlist gets an interview, or is it confirming fit for some applicants?

[ComparativeStreak]

Still no news from Chicago?

[buckinghamubadger]

19 minutes ago, Albert01 said:

IT's also my first choice too. I really hope we can hear something positive from it by today. I truly don't want to spend another weekend in dark and anxiety; I would rathrer be in bliss or total despair (hopefully bliss!).

I've gotten an offer (without funding Info) and an interview request on a Sunday, so even if we don't hear back today, you never know

[artibasos]

1 hour ago, skhann said:

Who's that MS Physics guy or girl that got into UCSD program? That's a very peculiar academic background.

me.

[Chuck Mangione]

Does anyone know if UCSD has acceptances all at once or staggers them? Striking out seems like a heavy possibility.

Edited February 2, 2018 by komina12345

[luminalcoin8]

4 minutes ago, komina12345 said:

Does anyone know if UCSD has acceptances all at once or staggers them? Striking out seems like a heavy possibility.

@komina12345, how many schools have you applied to?

[Chuck Mangione]

3 minutes ago, luminalcoin8 said:

@komina12345, how many schools have you applied to?

15, but assuming non-replies mean rejection, I am 0/5 so far.

[SDMSK]

@megabee I was just reacting to the post about the interview. I wish I know too. I hope it's the latter which means not hearing from it now should be at least not that bad of a sign.

[luminalcoin8]

57 minutes ago, komina12345 said:

15, but assuming non-replies mean rejection, I am 0/5 so far.

Ok, hmm. At the risk of sounding flippant, I think it's way too early for you to assume striking out across the board.

To illustrate: it seems like you've applied to schools that are pretty selective- i.e. have acceptance rates that are on average around ten percent. If you had, say, a ten percent chance of getting into any given school, the chances that you would be rejected from the first five schools you hear back from are better than not: .9^5=~59%

However, the changes of getting rejected everywhere with those same odds are considerably lower: .9^15=~20.5%. From what it sounds like, you have a pretty competitive profile, so I don't think it's unreasonable to assume you have at least a 10% chance of getting into any given school, making for an ex ante probability of getting in to at least one place at 79.4% at the beginning of the cycle and 65.1% now that you've (presumably) been rejected by five schools.

Obviously these probabilities are dependent on the quality of the applicant (again, it seems like you are more qualified than average) and these calculations are extremely rough, but I hope they give you a sense of why you have reason to keep hope. Even very qualified applicants can expect to get rejections galore in an environment this brutally competitive.

Edited February 2, 2018 by luminalcoin8
clarification

[encyclopediabrown]

For those of you feeling a lot of anxiety about hearing nothing so far, on February 2nd the year that I applied I had zero offers. By mid-February.... I still had zero offers. A rejection from UCSD rolled in and I told my girlfriend, "Well, I guess I'm not going into academia." That same night I got my one and only fully funded Ph.D. program offer. I've got my Ph.D. now and a nice tenure-track job (at least until they figure out they've made a huge, huge mistake.) All it takes is one! And that one can take a while to come.

[PoliSci45889]

Just got a rejection from Princeton :\

[cpmethods]

3 minutes ago, PoliSci45889 said:

Just got a rejection from Princeton :\

same here, kinda still hurts..

[SDMSK]

5 minutes ago, PoliSci45889 said:

Just got a rejection from Princeton :\

 

4 minutes ago, cpmethods said:

same here, kinda still hurts..

Same here. Better than false hope.

[buckinghamubadger]

4 minutes ago, PoliSci45889 said:

Just got a rejection from Princeton :\

Me too. To be real it was a long shot and not the best fit of the long shots for me. Still wish I'd have gotten in. 

3a/1r/0w/6 Pending

[MagChiAki]

a rejection from Princeton 0a/2r/7p

What a week.

[possibleirphd]

3 rejections in a row. Did anyone else still feel it their heart drop to their stomach lol 1a/0w/3r/7p

[possibleirphd]

3 rejections in a row. Did anyone else still feel it their heart drop to their stomach lol 1a/0w/3r/7p

[luminalcoin8]

Claiming an NYU acceptance and a Princeton rejection

[jnewcomb08]

princeton rejection...but probably to be expected as i mentioned how badly i wanted to work with a professor who is no longer there, lol.    oh well.

Edited February 2, 2018 by jnewcomb08

[sbs2018]

Also in the Princeton rejection club. No worries, we are good company!