5nickel

Hi! Started my program this academic year, and have really learned a lot from this experience. Am currently at a.. T10 school I guess? And got offers/interviews a few other T10s as well. Just one more voice to add to the research experience/faculty connection choir... The thing that really struck me is just how many students (myself included) in my current program (and those I was visiting) had already been in the school. Either through research, or prior degrees, nearly half the cohort had developed at least a years' worth of track record with the program before starting. In my experience at least, being near the department was incredibly informative for the professors, who got to know my work (and could write of it well to other schools), and for me to know exactly what I wanted out of a school when I was choosing.

Awesome!! Congrats Dak!

Time to reject some offers..! :x What's good form? Should I call? Will a very grateful email do?

Haha great point! Sure hope I'm not in that scenario 8( Also, run with it! :D

Yup, still deciding.

time for more neuroticism! So i have one school which said to another applicant they would send out offers after 2 weeks. but after 2 days, I got mine, and they asked me to decide within 2 weeks. I presume their hope is that they can admit other people, without having to make them feel 'wait listed'. Now i have another school that said they would come back to me after 2 weeks (which is now), but have just told me they'll tell me in another 2 weeks. Can I somehow presume from this behaviour that I've been placed on this 'pseudo' waitlist? :/ Yeah.. I know I'm just psyching myself unnecessarily, and making myself feel unwanted if they do accept me in the end.

Hm, quick question.. is it poor form to 'pit' my schools (where i've offers) against one another? I feel like since they're all in the same field, they would have a much better idea than me about the differences between themselves... and I'm tempted to ask Program X why they think I should pick theirs specifically over Program Y and Z.

Hm, starting to have a crisis of confidence that one of my potential schools might not be a good fit... that I don't quite think the way the profs do and therefore won't do well in the program. Any ideas of how I should test this? Finding out whether I have the same research interests as the dept, that I can do... but how does one figure out if one will actually be likely to succeed in the program?

Thanks for the congratulations guys!! Still holding out to hear from one more school, but the current one's going to be reallly hard to decline!

Holy crap, just got an acceptance. this is so unreal. this is.. such a huge discontinuity.

Agh. Waitlisted by the best school on my list. Thought the past few weeks were horrible.. guess the next few will be worse 😰 Not sure if it would've been my top choice, but I sure would've liked the choice!! Clinging on to the hope some of you have provided that waitlists at top schools can be optimistic... :(

Ah, thank you very much for the feedback all! The way they ask about other schools, it does seem to be as a check for them where else I think is relevant in the same field. And some have actually resulted in helpful suggestion of who else's work I can look at to further my interest! The school's on the west coast, feel free to pm me for details! And i can also confirm that march 3rd is the management visit date too for nyu.

Hm so in an interview the profs had me share where else I was applying and my PoIs there.. Why would they need that information..? Do they decide whether to accept you based on who else they think will accept you/whether you'll accept an offer? Is it in my interest to be honest..?

! wow i guess interviews do come on weekends.

awesome message, and so happy for you!! Congratulations!!

Awesome! Congrats!!

Hahaha I'd been lying on the floor for quite some days already, I believe the returns are stochastic.. That's a good reminder about tube strikes! Thank you! Awesome, hope we end up in London! All the best!! Thank you very much!

This. Is so. Helpful. Thank you!!! It's really great knowing beforehand what to expect, especially about the competition, which would surely have unnerved me when I got there!

Oh god another interview hooray!! With a trip out to the school in london. This process is giving me real emotional whiplash. I was just lying on the floor yesterday in desolation.

god i'm really hating this limbo.

Hm. The Les Miserables line "Another day another destinyyy" keeps playing in my head.

Same, I just had that experience a few days ago! My stance is that if you "fit" with every faculty, then you fit with no one. But I did keep an open mind with him, because obviously he has a lot more experience than me, and probably sees applications of my research interests beyond what I currently do. This did in fact turn out to be the case, and much like PobleNou, it turned out he was trying to move into a new area... though I still didn't gel quite as well with him as with the other faculty member I talked to. All the same, I read up quite a number of his papers, not just to be prepared for the interview, but to really find out if he would be a good advisor for me. Looking back, one thing I wish is that I had been clearer and more detailed about my own background and research interests. Because of the two of us, he's better poised to understand how I might fit into his field, rather than me understanding how his field would fit into mine. Perhaps I might have even been frank with him and asked him how he saw our research interests dovetailing.

same! figure they're just making their way through a big pile of apps

8!?? Omg! Good luck to you!! Enjoy your visit!

Thanks for quelling my anxiety re skype interviews! Another quick question! So I have separate interviews with two faculty at one of my schools.. I was just wondering what it means to have two faculty interview you separately? Does that mean that they need two people to okay you or something? or are they trying to see whose research you align with better, and as long as one of them sees collaboration potential then you're good?