Jump to content
Urch Forums

2016 Application Sweat Thread


tm_member

Recommended Posts

  • 4 weeks later...
  • Replies 1.3k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Back once again. Let's hope that second time is the charm.

With respect to last year I'm starting earlier, contacted more Professors, keeping everyone updated, and a thousand times more nervous.

Good luck

 

How are you keeping profs updated? I am wanting to do the same thing but am also trying to balance not doing it too frequently..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How are you keeping profs updated? I am wanting to do the same thing but am also trying to balance not doing it too frequently..

 

Ask for input on application statements, target schools, etc. Update your professors by getting their advice, and this way no one will feel as though they're wasting their time. The more pleasant your meetings are for them, the less of an inconvenience they will seem. That's my 5 cents.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Applying again after three years. I'm a lot more anxious than last time since it's make it or break it for me. I'm definitely better prepared, and my LORs will probably make that clear. However, my transcripts are still very patchy with a lot of mixed signals.

 

I settled on 22 schools, where 3 are health policy programs, 1 is applied stats and the other 18 are in economics. I might add a few more, but I'm not sure.

 

Retaking the GRE on Nov. 17th. I'm a little nervous because I don't have as much time to study as I did three years ago. Here goes nothing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello Fellow Applicants!

 

I thought I'd add my commentary too the mix. I ended up applying to 14 schools: 12 Econ, 1 Applied Econ and 1 Public Policy. My applications are pretty much done, but I am waiting to submit some of the ones that are due in January and February so that I can include this semester's grades (taking a bit of a gamble on the fact that I'll get an A/A- in masters level Math Stats). It seems like the others posting in the forum this year are applying to more highly ranked schools than I, but I'm just excited about the prospect of a PhD at all!

 

My biggest worry is that my partner, who is also applying to PhD programs, wont be accepted anywhere that I am, and vice versa. It generally seemed to work out that my reach schools are his safeties and his reach schools are my safeties. Alas!

 

Anyone else dealing with a two body problem?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I put those schools that were relatively close in ranking to the school in question. If asked to rank them in order of preference, I put the school in question as number one (why not?). I don't think that will factor in to your admissions decision in any way; I think it's only used by the graduate admissions office for the university.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Applied to 23 places. I come from a Top 50 school, unranked econ or math program but since the departments are so small, i got very individualized attention. The only blemishes I have on my application are a B in Real Analysis I and a B in Mathematical Probability. it was my first time taking 4 PhD level courses at the same time lol, i learned from that error. I did improve to A- on the respective second-semester sequence of these topics. Competing against PhD students in a class makes it hard to get an A, since professors scale according to how everybody performs. I hope adcoms see that when they see that the abstract of courses show mostly 500-600- level courses(grad at my school).

Other than that, I have a 3.8 GPA, great letters, pretty standard SOP, did a senior thesis on game theory, and took plenty of grad level math and econ courses.

 

Still it seems like i have no chance against Ivy-level students.

 

As a word of wisdom to anybody reading this, id recommend not packing every semester with math. better to space out courses and ace them than packing them all into one and get B's.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How are you keeping profs updated? I am wanting to do the same thing but am also trying to balance not doing it too frequently..

 

I try to ask them questions about programs, and in general how everything is proceeding (this year I had more stuff to tell them so it was quite easier, and I can't specify what the news was)

 

Experience is not helping me with time management... I realized I had to do a new SOP and I'm running late again

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
Don't think so... experience has taught me that when you see a single admission or rejection on grad cafe, it's just a troll

 

What I meant was that I received their unofficial offer letter in November, followed by the official one a few weeks later. Now, I am aware of some schools evaluating applications in rounds but a November offer seemed peculiar nonetheless, so I wondered if anyone else had heard from them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What I meant was that I received their unofficial offer letter in November, followed by the official one a few weeks later. Now, I am aware of some schools evaluating applications in rounds but a November offer seemed peculiar nonetheless, so I wondered if anyone else had heard from them.

 

You received and offer of admission from Penn State two months before the application deadline? That is absurd.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If true, I'll be putting all my chips on Penn State then. That's looks like a great assistantship package.

 

What exactly would be my incentive to lie here? This is the initial letter from the programme director:

 

http://s17.postimg.org/xbc09wob3/Capture.png

 

I only asked because I was not aware of what gradcafe is and wanted to know if anyone else got that offer. After reading the posts there, apparently Penn State likes me :eager:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow, it's been a while then. What have you done to improve your profile and where are you applying to?

 

applying to schools which are not so highly ranked such as Vanderbilt etc, also some policy schools like RAND

 

i had to settle my family finances so was working

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


×
×
  • Create New...