Is it really necessary... (results page)

[digits2006]

Well I think it's awesome when Ivy league people are complaining that they didn't get it. I am an average student and it gives me hope when I see that. I don't mean to rag on any Ivy league people, but it seems sometimes like they thought it was a shoe in when they applied. They are like I went to XX school with a 4.0 and 1600 and blah blah blah.. It just makes me smile

[kdilks]

My favorite is when people are shocked that they didn't get into their "safety" school, especially when it's a top 50 program. If you haven't figured out that there's no such thing as a safety school in graduate admissions, you're in pretty bad shape.

That has to do more with people not being to properly gauge where they stand than with the non-existence of safety schools.

[ebaronov]

My favorite is when people are shocked that they didn't get into their "safety" school, especially when it's a top 50 program. If you haven't figured out that there's no such thing as a safety school in graduate admissions, you're in pretty bad shape.

SUNY Stony BrookMolecular And Cellular Biology (MCB), PhD (F10)Rejected via E-mail on 5 Feb 2010I5 Feb 2010I don't see why.....is it possible to be rejected for overqualified?

This guy probably received an email couple of days later offering him to skip the phd (because he is totally overqualified) and accept a tenured position in the department.

[chocker]

The worst part of result page is it's existence.

It wouldn't be possible to survive without those comments

[Jade]

Well I think it's awesome when Ivy league people are complaining that they didn't get it. I am an average student and it gives me hope when I see that. I don't mean to rag on any Ivy league people, but it seems sometimes like they thought it was a shoe in when they applied. They are like I went to XX school with a 4.0 and 1600 and blah blah blah.. It just makes me smile

Yeah. Being proud of having a good academic record is good, but they need to be careful. I've served on my grad school's adcomm and the sense of entitlement sometimes reeks in these students' SOPs. You need good grades and scores, but after a certain point, it ceases to matter. That's when fit comes in and I'd prefer to get a perfect score on that.

[downtownchick]

Seriously? The best part of the result page is the Notes column. Sense of humor is good for health. Where're the proctology results? I couldn't find them.

[unclelurker]

OP - Graduate school may seem like a Liz Lemon dealbreaker, but this is not a religion. This is not a cult. Take your pedestals and go offline for a bit. If you want data, do some research on admission and funding at your schools. It is okay to be disappointed in the process and express that in an online forum. Gasp.

It sounds like somebody insulted your top school of choice, and you feelings got hurt. Then you started a thread about how immature the results section is, when you clearly benefit. Or, maybe, somebody wrote something wittier than yourself on the rejection note. And now you are jealous. Burn.

The fake results are a mere reminder that this is a horrendous process that I am choosing to visit upon myself. Every time I hit refresh.

And, for your reading pleasure

maybe it is a cult

the future awaits - and all the related articles in this series

HONESTY - my daily affirmation. Oprah!

[Venetia]

Just saw this in the notes section on the Results page:

"This is a stupid, evil website that only made the last month and a half worse."

...were we just DISSED? Lol. Hilarious.

[breakfast]

OP - Graduate school may seem like a Liz Lemon dealbreaker, but this is not a religion. This is not a cult. Take your pedestals and go offline for a bit. If you want data, do some research on admission and funding at your schools. It is okay to be disappointed in the process and express that in an online forum. Gasp.

It sounds like somebody insulted your top school of choice, and you feelings got hurt. Then you started a thread about how immature the results section is, when you clearly benefit. Or, maybe, somebody wrote something wittier than yourself on the rejection note. And now you are jealous. Burn.

The fake results are a mere reminder that this is a horrendous process that I am choosing to visit upon myself. Every time I hit refresh.

And, for your reading pleasure

maybe it is a cult

the future awaits - and all the related articles in this series

HONESTY - my daily affirmation. Oprah!

I think I need to clear some things up:

1) I am not talking about the obvious fake results. The Ball State jokes were pretty funny, and there have been other clearly fake results that were funny. I am talking about the real results where people bitch and moan in the notes because they think they are a shoe-in for top 10 programs. If you find out you've been rejected from Yale or Berkeley, you shouldn't be surprised, and you definitely shouldn't throw a tantrum.

2) I don't have a "top school". There are certainly programs I'd like to go to more than others, but I went into this process knowing that there was a good chance I'd get rejected across the board. My "top school" becomes whatever one accepts me. I think that's where a lot of this anger from these people comes from. They think because they went to an ivy for their undergrad and got perfect GRE's and a perfect GPA, they are somehow entitled to admission to every and any program they applied to.

[JerryLandis]

Yeah, I see no reason to get annoyed at the OP. Being disappointed about not getting in is completely acceptable, and I definitely understand the impulse to take out all the frustration on a website full of strangers. Still, some results posts are really unnecessary and immature. People who think they have a right to admission in insanely competitive programs could do with a year of rejections, just to soften the ego a bit and get a lesson in humility!

Most of us are facing bitter rejections here, and it doesn't really help to see individuals thinking they're so much better than everyone else that there can't possibly be more qualified students out there for their desired positions. In a way, I actually find such posts to be insulting because they suggest that everyone but them deserves to be rejected, and those being admitted do not deserve their acceptances.

[murpstud]

Well they got rid of all the Ball State entries...so I can't see if anyone else got into the same program I did...

[unclelurker]

I think I need to clear some things up:

1) ... If you find out you've been rejected from Yale or Berkeley, you shouldn't be surprised, and you definitely shouldn't throw a tantrum.

Really? I mean, really? I'll cry if I want to. And watch out, RyanF, your privilege is showing. We are all buying into the elitist package of academics, and I wasn't annoyed until this post. I think OP provoked a reaction on the results page, or there is a rash of inappropriate "tantrums" that coincided with the start of the thread. Tsk, tsk. I imagine the shuddering disapproval during teatime. The results page has angry comments! Like crumbs on the linen!

I like getting hit in the face with the reality stick just as much as the next qualified applicant. It is great to be prepared, experienced and everything else that goes into the package for applying (most of these forums discuss those topics in detail) - but then to have a smarmy poster profess a "best manners" is just great propaganda for academia. Glad to see that you read the first article that I linked. You are assuming that the majority of applicants are overreaching in their ambition and underwhelming in their accomplishments, and do not deserve the coveted spot to which you will be (have been?) selected. If surprise, anger, dialogue and venting isn't allowed - on an online forum! - then I pray that you do not revel in or celebrate your inevitable multiple fellowships and acceptances. Because that would be too gauche. And immodest. Rendering the results page useless, if no one can say yea or nay with any enthusiasm. Again, go to research to find data. Here is entertainment.

I hope that you do go to Y or B, and do well in your studies. I hope that when prospective applicants come visit your department, you counsel them in a similar fashion - 'If you find out you've been rejected from Yale or Berkeley, you shouldn't be surprised, and you definitely shouldn't throw a tantrum.' Pearls! Pearls I say!

2) I don't have a "top school". There are certainly programs I'd like to go to more than others, but I went into this process knowing that there was a good chance I'd get rejected across the board. My "top school" becomes whatever one accepts me. I think that's where a lot of this anger from these people comes from. They think because they went to an ivy for their undergrad and got perfect GRE's and a perfect GPA, they are somehow entitled to admission to every and any program they applied to.

East Coast represent! My team is Entitlement U. I think you are in my league. It really is ridiculous to imagine the coach, for whom we have spent hours in practice, might not choose our special talents to start on varsity. And by 'our', I really mean 'my' talents. The coach is just waiting to call my name. I know it. Don't be angry at all the money and sacrifices, it wasn't going to happen for YOU. Of course not. But it will happen for me. Please be quiet, I want to hear my name called. Shh. Shh. The pillow just stops you from screaming.

Of course, it could just be that posting online is notorious difficult to gauge tone or sarcasm. Perhaps those notes were not intended the way OP read them, just as hypocrisy was not intended in the OP? Who knows?

[breakfast]

This is starting to become a really interesting thread. I like seeing you attempt to analyze me, and get it all wrong.

I'll try to set you straight, again. Maybe you can have another go at me after this?

1) I have across the board rejections so far (wasn't interested in Yale at all, and didn't apply, by the way). I'm still waiting to hear back from two more programs (both masters programs, no possibility of a PhD program this year).

2) I did not go to an ivy for my undergrad. I went to a state school, did not have a perfect GPA (3.42) and had average GRE scores.

I don't have a sense of entitlement at all, and I don't understand where you're getting that from. I don't object to people venting in the forums (I'd rather people vent in the forums than the results page, actually), and I certainly don't object to people celebrating their acceptances (if you didn't get it the first time, I have none). My original complaint was about people who have a sense of entitlement, thought they were guaranteed a spot at a top 10 program, and then upon finding out they were rejected from that program, start to act like they were too good for the program anyway.

EDIT: Oh, and I've already read all of the articles you linked me to on the Chronicle, and I agree with them all, especially the Benton series. Again, my original complaint was about people with unreal expectations. I don't really understand what you're trying to say.

Edited February 15, 2010 by RyanF

[unclelurker]

Maybe you can have another go at me after this?

Valentine's was yesterday, but I like persistence.

I don't have a sense of entitlement at all, and I don't understand where you're getting that from. I don't object to people venting in the forums (I'd rather people vent in the forums than the results page, actually), and I certainly don't object to people celebrating their acceptances (if you didn't get it the first time, I have none). My original complaint was about people who have a sense of entitlement, thought they were guaranteed a spot at a top 10 program, and then upon finding out they were rejected from that program, start to act like they were too good for the program anyway.

I am talking about the real results where people bitch and moan in the notes because they think they are a shoe-in for top 10 programs. If you find out you've been rejected from Yale or Berkeley, you shouldn't be surprised, and you definitely shouldn't throw a tantrum.

I like the humble pie that you are eating. It tastes like rejection. And a bit of the anti-intellectualism popular these days. 'My scores are good. I'm not really that smart. I write notes on my hand. I got into grad school because of my work ethic.' Bullshit. Just own it. There are plenty of people you don't feel the need to apologize for who they are.

Maybe you won't get rejected to the grad school of your choice (because you are so tiptop), but for jobs when you don't try harder and apply to every last position that might possibly work. And then have the gall to criticize your colleagues for their emotions, expressed in an appropriate manner in an online forum. And with more humor than this thread, which is boring - not interesting. You don't like applicants reaching too high? And 'high' in your definition has nothing to do with caliber of research or professors, merely a US News rating generalization. Some would think that maybe it is better to try for good fit at great school, than to settle for mediocrity.

Unreal expectations/entitlement/verbal volleys in an online forum. You have a computer and access to the interweb? Check. Advanced coursework (maybe post baccalaureate) and preparation for application to graduation schoool? Check. Live in a college town? I'm guessing yes. Dress with the trappings of the hipster? Well, I think this quote is just a gem

I don't have a sense of entitlement at all

I'm going to make that my mantra.

EDIT: Oh, and I've already read all of the articles you linked me to on the Chronicle, and I agree with them all, especially the Benton series. Again, my original complaint was about people with unreal expectations. I don't really understand what you're trying to say.

That is the funny thing about the articles, the advice is don't go to grad school and yet who is listening? Not us. We are better than that. We will get picked. We are special. Consider the definition of a cult, and apply it to your grad program, and the similarities are eerie. Members reinforce rules, even on forums with weak affiliations to academia. Never criticize Top10! Never say you are better than that program and will totally teach it a painful lesson in grantsmanship! Top10 might be listening, and then punish all of us!

[breakfast]

blah blah blah

I still don't understand what you're trying to say to me. You sound like a crazy person who somehow has access to a computer and the internet. You ramble on and on and your argument never seems to have a point, other than trying to paint me as some elitist anti-fun hipster.

Never criticize Top10! Never say you are better than that program and will totally teach it a painful lesson in grantsmanship! Top10 might be listening, and then punish all of us!

I thought I've already made it very clear, but here it is again: My original complaint was that the people whining are making themselves look like idiots. Nothing more. I wasn't defending the "honor" of any program. I don't care if someone hates any program. I think it is hilarious (laughing at, not with) when people think they are too good for a program only after they've been rejected. Go ahead and criticize any program you want, I don't care.

That's it. That is the only thing I've been trying to say here.

But please, continue. In each of your responses, I am a completely different monster (first I'm an elitist ivy-league grad, next I'm an anti-intellectual hipster).

[JerryLandis]

This is hilarious. Sounds like someone has found a way to vent about their own application process, at the expense of RyanF's good name! I think this unclelurker fellow should be introduced to seadub, the angry person who likes to slander people over on the GRE/GMAT board. They'd probably get along great!

[hydrangea]

This topic started out pretty fun, as a place to catch the humor we had missed on the results page (even though that wasn't the intent), but now that it's turned into an argument (with a clear favorite from the audience), I don't think I am going to follow it anymore. Fun while it lasted.

[hadunc]

Did anyone else notice this post?

University Of Faggotry Race Relations, PhD (F10) Rejected via Postal Service on 15 Feb 2010 A 15 Feb 2010 Told in an email that I was "accepted not for my scholastic achievement, research or other valid qualifications, but because we desperately need a hermaphrodite eskimo in the department to satiate the gods of diversity." It feels good to know others think I'm not smart enough to get through things without help from affirmative action.

Yikes!!

[glasses]

Did anyone else notice this post?

University Of Faggotry Race Relations, PhD (F10) Rejected via Postal Service on 15 Feb 2010 A 15 Feb 2010 Told in an email that I was "accepted not for my scholastic achievement, research or other valid qualifications, but because we desperately need a hermaphrodite eskimo in the department to satiate the gods of diversity." It feels good to know others think I'm not smart enough to get through things without help from affirmative action.

Yikes!!

Ew.

[monkeefugg]

I like your duckie avatar, glasses

[glasses]

Thanks! I found it here: http://community.livejournal.com/iconomicon/

[hydrangea]

I think we should expand this to 'is it necessary?' acceptances.

YalePhysics, PhD (F10)Accepted via E-mail on 17 Feb 2010A17 Feb 2010Suck it bitches.

Suck it bitches? Sounds like a knuckle dragger to me...

[hubris]

Admittedly the bar is pretty low, but some of the responses are amusing, eg, "... we cannot admit everyone ... (oh, thanks, guys)".

Edited February 17, 2010 by hubris

[callmelilyb]

I totally have a new hobby now.

Did anyone see this one today?

University Of Texas, Austin EE, Electrical Engineering, PhD (F10) Other via Other on 17 Feb 2010 U 17 Feb 2010 Hello stupid American that thinks this is a chat room. My first choice would be your mom's anal tract.