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Fall 2012 Application Sweat Thread

Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 11:57 am
by dasgut
So I figured I'd get this one started. I think I'm literally "sweating" 24 hours a day. I'm either at the gym or thinking about apps! What's everyone doing to get over the admissions season stress? What are you going to do in the time between your acceptance (or unfortunate rejection) and beginning grad school?

Re: Fall 2012 Application Sweat Thread

Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 12:00 pm
by betafj
Start with the assumption that I will rejected by all of the schools I have applied to, and realize that it's actually not that bad.

Re: Fall 2012 Application Sweat Thread

Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 12:04 pm
by dasgut
betafj wrote:Start with the assumption that I will rejected by all of the schools I have applied to, and realize that it's actually not that bad.
I second that! I was (essentially) rejected by every school I applied to last time around. There were a couple of "informal" semi-admits, but nothing tempting enough. Now, I living in an awesome city and have a good job with great hours, money, time, and the ability to do whatever I want for fun!

Re: Fall 2012 Application Sweat Thread

Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 3:34 pm
by twopi
Well right now trying to come up with a PhD-alternative plan or at least something to do next year!

I'm also finding myself terribly unmotivated to do math lately, and I fear this will remain until I get one acceptance. It's as if the uncertainty of being able to pursue professional mathematics is making me go what's the point?

How are y'all doing?

Re: Fall 2012 Application Sweat Thread

Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 3:59 pm
by betafj
What can I do in a year to make application stronger so that I will be accepted next year? Or do I just have to say good bye to a career in math?

Re: Fall 2012 Application Sweat Thread

Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 12:24 pm
by dasgut
betafj wrote:What can I do in a year to make application stronger so that I will be accepted next year? Or do I just have to say good bye to a career in math?
I'm kinda in the same boat. Though I think I'll get accepted to SOME program. The question for me is: what school would be lucrative enough for me to forfeit all the fun and quality of life I have right now?

What would you do if you don't go PhD?

Re: Fall 2012 Application Sweat Thread

Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 2:40 pm
by dasgut
Yale math admit drop appears to be beginning. Anyone hear anything yet?

Re: Fall 2012 Application Sweat Thread

Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 4:00 pm
by betafj
Waitlisted... this is not good

Re: Fall 2012 Application Sweat Thread

Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 4:44 pm
by Topoltergeist
betafj wrote:Waitlisted... this is not good
Did you get an email, or was it posted in their message center on the application website, or both?

I applied and haven't received any news from them. Granted, one of my references submitted a letter a week+ after the deadline.

Re: Fall 2012 Application Sweat Thread

Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 4:50 pm
by betafj
I got an email that asked me to check the decision on their website.

Re: Fall 2012 Application Sweat Thread

Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2012 11:12 am
by arsenalmath
Has anyone heard from any Texas schools yet??

Re: Fall 2012 Application Sweat Thread

Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2012 12:59 pm
by dasgut
arsenalmath wrote:Has anyone heard from any Texas schools yet??
Nothing yet. Still waiting. You might be able to find out what's up at UT if you can talk to one of the coordinators. They've been very friendly to me in the past.

Re: Fall 2012 Application Sweat Thread

Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2012 1:16 pm
by bemonocled
I'm pretty sure that gradcafe is driving me insane. 12 applications and I haven't heard anything back yet. Every day feels like a week, etc. To make matters worse, my official GRE scores still haven't arrived at my top choice (Caltech) despite ETS resending them twice. I did SURF at Caltech last summer and I'm pretty sure I'd have no chance there normally but we'll see how much a faculty member vouching for me actually helps.

Looking at past gradcafe years, it looks like the next 2-3 weeks should be interesting for most of us.

Re: Fall 2012 Application Sweat Thread

Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2012 2:13 pm
by sparkplug
Haha. I understand completely. I check gradcafe every hour. Also haven't heard back from any schools, despite the fact that allegedly some have been sending out some admits/rejects to other applicants. :/

Good luck to all. Don't stress too much! :]

Re: Fall 2012 Application Sweat Thread

Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2012 5:05 pm
by dasgut
Question...

Will I get carpal tunnel checking gradcafe every five seconds? :lol:

Re: Fall 2012 Application Sweat Thread

Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2012 6:54 pm
by mhancock743
Where do you browse on gradcafe that you'd want to refresh so often? It seems like their math/statistics forum is pretty stagnant. I'm just asking because I need an outlet for my app anxiety as well.

Re: Fall 2012 Application Sweat Thread

Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2012 6:55 pm
by dasgut
I'm on the results section constantly!

Re: Fall 2012 Application Sweat Thread

Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2012 6:56 pm
by sparkplug
This link, no?

http://thegradcafe.com/survey/index.php?q=statistics

Or I guess swap out statistics with math, or your program of choice

Re: Fall 2012 Application Sweat Thread

Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2012 7:11 pm
by mhancock743
wow i missed that whole section of the site! thanks!

Re: Fall 2012 Application Sweat Thread

Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2012 7:27 pm
by dasgut
sparkplug wrote:This link, no?

http://thegradcafe.com/survey/index.php?q=statistics

Or I guess swap out statistics with math, or your program of choice
Ha ha. Now don't you feel like a drug pusher? :p

Re: Fall 2012 Application Sweat Thread

Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2012 11:38 am
by bemonocled
Finally got in somewhere last night :) Now I have a wicked hangover to show for it! :shock:

Re: Fall 2012 Application Sweat Thread

Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2012 11:51 am
by dasgut
bemonocled wrote:Finally got in somewhere last night :) Now I have a wicked hangover to show for it! :shock:
Ha ha, lucky bastard! Congrats! Wanna share some of that luck w/ me?

Re: Fall 2012 Application Sweat Thread

Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2012 3:05 pm
by sparkplug
They don't send out admits over the weekend, do they? :lol:

Re: Fall 2012 Application Sweat Thread

Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2012 3:53 pm
by omgmath
I sure hope so. I haven't heard back from any of my schools yet. One day I'm optimistic about my chances, the other day I'm trying to come up with a viable Plan B.

Re: Fall 2012 Application Sweat Thread

Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2012 5:32 pm
by dasgut
sparkplug wrote:They don't send out admits over the weekend, do they? :lol:
There are two posted admits from UChicago today. So no clue!

Re: Fall 2012 Application Sweat Thread

Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2012 10:11 pm
by mhancock743
sparkplug wrote:This link, no?

http://thegradcafe.com/survey/index.php?q=statistics

Or I guess swap out statistics with math, or your program of choice

it's a little funny – I was actually tossing around the idea of creating a website that was pretty much exactly what their 'results' section is. (this was quite a few weeks ago before I learned of gradcafe's obviously). I figured an admissions database would be pretty useful.

If you want proof, go to http://www.admission-report.appspot.com

Its the web app just in its "hello world" stages that I started to build! :lol:

glad to know something like this already exists though!

Re: Fall 2012 Application Sweat Thread

Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2012 12:17 pm
by Txe
What's the etiquette for e-mailing a school and asking about the status of your application? In particular, about how long should one wait before doing so?

Re: Fall 2012 Application Sweat Thread

Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2012 2:16 pm
by sparkplug
mhancock743 wrote: it's a little funny – I was actually tossing around the idea of creating a website that was pretty much exactly what their 'results' section is. (this was quite a few weeks ago before I learned of gradcafe's obviously). I figured an admissions database would be pretty useful.

If you want proof, go to http://www.admission-report.appspot.com

Its the web app just in its "hello world" stages that I started to build! :lol:

glad to know something like this already exists though!
Haha. It's definitely a useful tool but also makes me very neurotic sometimes.

My girlfriend is applying to law school right now, and lawschoolnumbers.com is a even more intense version of gradcafe. So much more.

Re: Fall 2012 Application Sweat Thread

Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2012 4:25 pm
by wine in coffee cups
sparkplug wrote: My girlfriend is applying to law school right now, and lawschoolnumbers.com is a even more intense version of gradcafe. So much more.
Seriously, lawschoolnumbers is AMAZING, way beyond thegradcafe results. Feast your eyes on this, for example: http://harvard.lawschoolnumbers.com/stats

Re: Fall 2012 Application Sweat Thread

Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2012 7:02 pm
by mhancock743
so there's room for improvement then? perhaps I'll continue to work on it. :)

Re: Fall 2012 Application Sweat Thread

Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 10:33 pm
by dasgut
So stats friends, who thinks Stanford will release decisions by Friday?

Re: Fall 2012 Application Sweat Thread

Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 7:15 am
by nchen5
dasgut wrote:So stats friends, who thinks Stanford will release decisions by Friday?

I guess it's today!

Re: Fall 2012 Application Sweat Thread

Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 6:40 am
by kuz
nchen5 wrote:
dasgut wrote:So stats friends, who thinks Stanford will release decisions by Friday?

I guess it's today!
Hmmm, didn't get an email today. Judging by the five acceptences up on the gradcafe, I guess that's a bad sign... :(

Re: Fall 2012 Application Sweat Thread

Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 9:32 am
by dasgut
kuz wrote:
nchen5 wrote:
dasgut wrote:So stats friends, who thinks Stanford will release decisions by Friday?

I guess it's today!
Hmmm, didn't get an email today. Judging by the five acceptences up on the gradcafe, I guess that's a bad sign... :(
Hard for me to feel bad for a guy who's been admitted to Princeton ;)

Re: Fall 2012 Application Sweat Thread

Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 12:11 pm
by nchen5
People on GC have been calling to find out the decisions... well, where's my courage gone? I kinda don't want to know now...

Re: Fall 2012 Application Sweat Thread

Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 8:33 pm
by kuz
dasgut wrote:Hard for me to feel bad for a guy who's been admitted to Princeton ;)
Hah. True. I guess I really shouldn't complain. Stanford would just be a bit more... convenient for me (I have family nearby, the weather is better, the faculty in my field is slightly larger).

Re: Fall 2012 Application Sweat Thread

Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2012 6:41 pm
by meredith
Here's a horror story for everyone:

A friend of mine applied to a bunch of schools and had some weird connections from his advisers and stuff, so a week or so ago, one of his professors asked if he had gotten any emails from one of the schools he had applied to, because apparently they were trying to contact him. His email had sorted the messages into the junk mail, and he ended up missing a chance for a visit/interview that the school would have paid for.

So now I'm not only checking normal email, this site, and gradcafe obsessively, I'm also checking my spam box on a daily basis.

Re: Fall 2012 Application Sweat Thread

Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2012 5:50 pm
by dasgut
A nerdy joke I just came up with to relieve everyone's stress:

Question: What do you call a logical beatdown via the internet?

Answer: Modus PWNens

Re: Fall 2012 Application Sweat Thread

Posted: Wed Feb 29, 2012 9:39 pm
by YNWA2406
At what point is it acceptable to email and ask about your status? I've only heard back from 3 of the 13 schools I applied to and, while I've gotten into those three and two of those my top two choices right now :mrgreen: , I'd rather not make an official decision until I've heard more from other schools.

Re: Fall 2012 Application Sweat Thread

Posted: Wed Feb 29, 2012 9:52 pm
by mhancock743
YNWA2406 wrote:At what point is it acceptable to email and ask about your status? I've only heard back from 3 of the 13 schools I applied to and, while I've gotten into those three and two of those my top two choices right now :mrgreen: , I'd rather not make an official decision until I've heard more from other schools.
I e-mailed one this past Sunday – no response yet. I guess I'm not surprised, but it would at least be nice here ANYTHING back ( excluding the case where the response is a rejection on the grounds of being a pest ). I've been compulsively checking my e-mail at work to the point where today I just about convinced myself to to send myself an e-mail ...you know just to make sure my e-mail was working normally. :roll: