Pessimist

No, I did not receive an honorable mention. The comments I received were not as helpful as I hoped they would be. It would be great if they can rate each component of my application (essays, LORs, transcript, et cetera) separately so I know what I need to work on. But I do appreciate getting some feedback, as limited as it is.

I've retired from this forum a while ago after being rejected by all the programs I applied to, but I've just viewed my NSF rating sheets online and would like to discuss them here. For everyone who applied, would you mind sharing with us what your percentile ranking was and what ratings you got for intellectual merit and broader impacts? I think it'd be interesting to see how percentile ranking for the NSF fellowship corresponds to acceptances at top programs. I received a 70th percentile ranking and I got a Very Good on intellectual merit and an Excellent on broader impacts on the first rating sheet, and Very Good's on both on the other.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I don't think Harvard has sent out any official rejections yet. By now, I think it's quite safe to conclude that not having heard is equivalent to being rejected...

I think it's time for me to bid farewell to this forum... I've been rejected by all the programs I applied to (not having heard from Harvard definitely means I'm out, and I think I'm out at Princeton too). I may return next year, but I'm not sure. Good luck everyone with the rest of your admission results!

Internationalstudent08: Is Princeton also your last hope? (It definitely is for me!) Good luck everyone! I do hope they send out decisions soon (if they haven't done so already)!

Is the new post on gradcafe real? Can anyone confirm this?

I second that question! I'm in a very similar situation... Is it worth it to re-apply next year or are the rejections an indicator of my unsuitability for the economics profession?

It's sunny today so I made a trip to the campus mailroom... only to receive a heart-breaking rejection from Stanford :(

I applied for NSF but was still rejected (on 3/7). Does that mean there is something really wrong in my application that they're convinced that I won't win the NSF or that they wouldn't want me even if I do? Everything would be over for me on Monday when Princeton sends out its acceptances. 6 rejections, 0 admits. 1 more rejection to come, I'm pretty sure.

I was just wondering if anyone has any insider information regarding Stanford. According to its official website, "the Department receives more than 700 applications per year, and about 50 are admitted. The entering class size usually consists of 25 students." However, only about 15 acceptances (via email) have been posted on gradcafe. About 10 rejections have been delivered via postal service. Is it reasonble to assume then that there would be a second round of offers coming next week? I wish I had gone to check my mailbox today to see if a rejection from Stanford has arrived. It's too stormy outside and it's definitely not worth it to get soaking wet only to receive bad news...

Thanks for the advice. I've actually taken a course on statistical inference (using the textbook by Wackerly, Mendenhall, and Scheaffer) but neglected to mention it in my profile. I don't think doing a Masters sounds like a good idea for my case. Where should I find an RA job? Should I work for the Fed (assuming that they might hire me) or for a professor at a good school? For the latter, how do I go about looking for opportunities? I apologize if there's already a thread on this, I'm too lazy to look ;)

Judging from last year's gradcafe entries, it appears that rejections will be sent via postal mail in mid to late March.

I second that question. I would also really appreciate it if someone can review my profile (posted in the relevant thread) and suggest whether an RA job or a Masters degree (or neither of those options) would make me a more competitive applicant next year. Thanks in advance!

Thanks, little guy! It's almost a relief for me to know that I'll know for sure by Monday if I've been rejected by all the programs I applied to (it's quite safe to assume that I'm out at Harvard and Stanford). Should start considering alternative plans for next year.

Just received rejection email from MIT. Good luck everyone!

Would anyone volunteer to call/email to inquire?

I think all the rejections from MIT on gradcafe were sent yesterday - the person who posted today probably lives in a different time zone and he/she might not have seen the email in time to post it yesterday. I wonder if they'd send out another batch of rejections today. I'd rather they do it now than Monday... I can't imagine waiting through another tortuous weekend.

At this point I'm pretty sure I'll get rejected everywhere and I do think I can be considered a "seemingly well-qualified applicant," as Olm puts it. I'm going to try to find out what "went wrong" - if anything - with my applications to determine if it's worth it to re-apply next year or later. I'm not sure if I got a bad LOR (I do trust my professors a lot!) or if I have just over-estimated my chances.

Good luck AT and Olm and everyone else who has yet to be admitted anywhere (including myself)! It's been unexpectedly quiet today... It's almost 1pm EST.

Has anyone else not heard from MIT? I've heard that they don't reject people who applied for NSF until the awards are announced in late March. Is that true?

I hope those came out in a mass email...

Rejections from MIT are coming! (I'm getting myself mentally ready for that.)

My situation is surprisingly similar to Old Liner's and Internationalstudent08's. I'm not trying to brag, but coincidentally, I'm also 20. (I know it's irrelevant here.) Formally rejected by Yale, U Penn, and Berkeley. Still waiting on Harvard, MIT, Stanford, and Princeton, the first 3 of which have already admitted most if not all of their incoming class. I have no safety school at all to fall back on. I haven't really decided what to do once all the rejections come in. Any ideas?

At your suggestion, I just checked my Stanford ApplyYourself account. I didn't get any messages. I feel like at this point the notifications are coming from the department, not the graduate school. I'm actually quite surprised by how early the acceptances came out this year.

A long pause after 3 admits? Keep the emails coming! I'm ready for the final blow.