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Applications all sent out. Yayyyyyyy!

Posted: Thu Dec 09, 2010 10:33 pm
by CarlBrannen
All my applications are sent out. Feels great. Less filling.

Only thing I have to do is get official transcripts and official GRE scores sent.

Waiting is going to be fun, compared with filling all those forms out.

Re: Applications all sent out. Yayyyyyyy!

Posted: Thu Dec 09, 2010 11:09 pm
by HappyQuark
CarlBrannen wrote:All my applications are sent out. Feels great. Less filling.

Only thing I have to do is get official transcripts and official GRE scores sent.

Waiting is going to be fun, compared with filling all those forms out.
Did you know that humans frequently respond to those they are envious and jealous of in a rude or verbally abusive manner?

On an unrelated topic, BOOOOOO! You suck! Eat *** and Die, pig face!

Re: Applications all sent out. Yayyyyyyy!

Posted: Thu Dec 09, 2010 11:15 pm
by CarlBrannen
HappyQuark wrote:On an unrelated topic, BOOOOOO! You suck! Eat *** and Die, pig face!
What can I say? After three days of constant typing I've got a 1000-yard stare. Of course my applications must have massive errors and silliness in them.

I figured that as long as some of the schools wanted stuff by Dec 15th, I should get all of them out by then, and at least give my LoR writers a little time.

Hmmm. Time to go see what's fresh on arXiv.

Re: Applications all sent out. Yayyyyyyy!

Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 12:35 am
by WhoaNonstop
I'm waiting to send my applications in after I have received my scores from ETS this Saturday. Everything else is done for me otherwise!

-Riley

Re: Applications all sent out. Yayyyyyyy!

Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 12:58 am
by axiomofchoice
WhoaNonstop wrote:I'm waiting to send my applications in after I have received my scores from ETS this Saturday. Everything else is done for me otherwise!

-Riley
Why? Are you dropping some of your schools basing on your score? Are you going to touch up your application to reflect your score?

Re: Applications all sent out. Yayyyyyyy!

Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 1:07 am
by The_Duck
axiomofchoice wrote:
WhoaNonstop wrote:I'm waiting to send my applications in after I have received my scores from ETS this Saturday. Everything else is done for me otherwise!

-Riley
Why? Are you dropping some of your schools basing on your score? Are you going to touch up your application to reflect your score?
I'm doing this so as to be able to self-report the score on the application forms. I know it's unnecessary, but my hope is that some may take a look at my application before they receive official scores if I've put down the scores on the web form.

Re: Applications all sent out. Yayyyyyyy!

Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 1:08 am
by WhoaNonstop
axiomofchoice wrote:
WhoaNonstop wrote:I'm waiting to send my applications in after I have received my scores from ETS this Saturday. Everything else is done for me otherwise!

-Riley
Why? Are you dropping some of your schools basing on your score? Are you going to touch up your application to reflect your score?
Slight possibility I may drop Princeton depending on score. Otherwise, I'm just waiting cause many of the applications have a slot to put "Physics GRE" and although I know they don't expect you to know this in time, I figured I could wait until then and enter it. =P

-Riley

Re: Applications all sent out. Yayyyyyyy!

Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 4:23 pm
by CarlBrannen
The_Duck wrote:
axiomofchoice wrote:I'm doing this so as to be able to self-report the score on the application forms. I know it's unnecessary, but my hope is that some may take a look at my application before they receive official scores if I've put down the scores on the web form.
I would do the same thing for the same reason, but the sense I'm getting is that nobody is going to look at applications before mid January.

Re: Applications all sent out. Yayyyyyyy!

Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 4:31 pm
by CarlBrannen
Good prospective physics grad students, who have completed sending out their applications, get a reward. I suggest an evening in bed, accompanied by 4 oz of white chocolate truffles, a small serving of an adult beverage, and a mediocre popular novel. In that order.

Image

P.S. The book on Julian Schwinger's elegant introduction to quantum mechanics through the algebra of symbolic measurements (also called the "measurement algebra") is just there for show. Wouldn't dream of doing physics on a celebratory evening. But perhaps a bit of the adult beverage will be sipped in his honor.

Re: Applications all sent out. Yayyyyyyy!

Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2010 1:01 am
by negru
Personally I'll be going for something more in this spirit:
http://crazy-frankenstein.com/pictures- ... sshole.jpg

Re: Applications all sent out. Yayyyyyyy!

Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2010 1:22 am
by CarlBrannen
negru wrote:Personally I'll be going for something more in this spirit:
After some effort, I managed to fix the link. I think:

Image

And my first LoR writer has turned in his opinions. I'm thinking maybe I'll actually get my applications completed. (I still need to send ETS scores and transcripts to most of the schools. It's a mess.)

Re: Applications all sent out. Yayyyyyyy!

Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2010 1:27 am
by WhoaNonstop
Woohoo myself on this thread. One of my recommendation writers was taking forever to finish his letter, but now he has started to submit. Feels good. =)

-Riley

Re: Applications all sent out. Yayyyyyyy!

Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2010 7:45 am
by CarlBrannen
WhoaNonstop wrote:One of my recommendation writers was taking forever to finish his letter, but now he has started to submit.
I've got one done and two to go, but I'm not worried. It seems that when you read the fine print, the schools with the Dec 15th deadlines take LoRs two weeks later.

And I've just had the official GRE score reports sent out. What a hassle. The online thingy wouldn't work. It put me into an infinite loop where I repeatedly had to modify my password and then got logged out, and then it locked my account. In retrospect there may be limited hours of operation with it. So I had to use the phone number 1-888-473-7267. I had a nice long conversation with the lady who takes the institution codes. If I end up in New Jersey I'll drop by and say "hi". Hmmmm. I've never dated a robot before. I mean, for more than just one date.

So, assuming my LoRs get there, I am done with the more intelligent schools (that don't require official transcripts until you actually are admitted and decide to go there):
Caltech
UC Berserkeley
Princeton

The less intelligent schools:
U. Tejas at Austin: 1 copy
U. the other W at Seattle: 1 copy
MIT: 1 copy
Stanford: 2 copies (I suppose the extra copy will be sent to Stanfod)
Harvard: 1 copy
UC Sand & Beach: 2 copies (maybe their copier is broken -- too much grit)

Okay, got my UCI transcripts sent to the above. A couple weeks ago New Mexico Tech sent me a big batch of transcripts for me to mail myself, and I can drop by Seattle and pick up transcripts from the University of The Other Washington tomorrow. I could have this wrapped up on Tuesday.

Re: Applications all sent out. Yayyyyyyy!

Posted: Tue Dec 14, 2010 2:28 am
by axiomofchoice
6 down, 3 more to go. Yay for me! The real work I still need to do is to write Berkeley's whatever personal history statement (oh wait, flash back to my college apps... maybe I should just steal a paragraph or so from my personal statement then).

At this moment I'm afflicted by a serious case of paranoia. I keep reading the websites of the schools in search of some missing requirements that I have not noticed. Not that my paranoia is unfounded: only 2 days ago did I remember that I'm supposed to send in 2 copies of transcripts to Stanford. Really??? Don't they have a copy machine? I do wish the requirements are stated more clearly, not all over the places. I hate seeing "ohhh here are the graduate school's requirements; but you should check the department you are applying to for any additional requirements, blah blah blah..." Is it that hard to give a clear checklist on the application itself on what to submit, instead of having the applicants to hunt all over the place? U of Chicago and U of Washington wins hand down in organizing things clearly.

Re: Applications all sent out. Yayyyyyyy!

Posted: Tue Dec 14, 2010 5:19 am
by The_Duck
Mine are in! Well, 10 of 12 anyway. Penn State's form is glitching and Michigan wants some "personal statement" in /addition/ to a statement of purpose. But transcripts & GRE scores are sent, fees are paid, half the letters are in.

I've found this forum extremely helpful during this process, from assessing my profile to writing my SOP to knowing that I could get my PGRE score on Saturday instead of Monday. Thanks to all who post here.

Now to settle in for the two month wait...

Re: Applications all sent out. Yayyyyyyy!

Posted: Tue Dec 14, 2010 8:22 am
by pymtab
axiomofchoice wrote:6 down, 3 more to go. Yay for me! The real work I still need to do is to write Berkeley's whatever personal history statement (oh wait, flash back to my college apps... maybe I should just steal a paragraph or so from my personal statement then).

At this moment I'm afflicted by a serious case of paranoia. I keep reading the websites of the schools in search of some missing requirements that I have not noticed. Not that my paranoia is unfounded: only 2 days ago did I remember that I'm supposed to send in 2 copies of transcripts to Stanford. Really??? Don't they have a copy machine? I do wish the requirements are stated more clearly, not all over the places. I hate seeing "ohhh here are the graduate school's requirements; but you should check the department you are applying to for any additional requirements, blah blah blah..." Is it that hard to give a clear checklist on the application itself on what to submit, instead of having the applicants to hunt all over the place? U of Chicago and U of Washington wins hand down in organizing things clearly.
UChicago has Ms. McNeill. She's awesome.
Every university should have (a) Ms. McNeill...

Re: Applications all sent out. Yayyyyyyy!

Posted: Wed Dec 15, 2010 6:00 pm
by CarlBrannen
Turns out that U. Washyourhandsington (new state motto) will only allow you to buy 5 official transcripts per day. I had one lying around so I was two short for satisfying everyone. UCSB wants two copies and got shorted. When UW gets around to sending the missing transcripts I'll ship them on to UCSB. 8 down, 1 to go.

Re: Applications all sent out. Yayyyyyyy!

Posted: Wed Dec 15, 2010 6:47 pm
by WhoaNonstop
CarlBrannen wrote:Turns out that U. Washyourhandsington (new state motto) will only allow you to buy 5 official transcripts per day. I had one lying around so I was two short for satisfying everyone. UCSB wants two copies and got shorted. When UW gets around to sending the missing transcripts I'll ship them on to UCSB. 8 down, 1 to go.
An educational institution that restricts you from spending money? What kind of place is this! There is a limit at my school, but they are free, which makes some sense.

-Riley

Re: Applications all sent out. Yayyyyyyy!

Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2010 12:10 am
by CarlBrannen
WhoaNonstop wrote:
CarlBrannen wrote:Turns out that U. Washyourhandsington (new state motto) will only allow you to buy 5 official transcripts per day. I had one lying around so I was two short for satisfying everyone. UCSB wants two copies and got shorted. When UW gets around to sending the missing transcripts I'll ship them on to UCSB. 8 down, 1 to go.
An educational institution that restricts you from spending money? What kind of place is this! There is a limit at my school, but they are free, which makes some sense.

-Riley
The University of the other Washington charges $9 each! And when I bought one a few weeks ago, they didn't bother to tell me there's a limit. Nor is any limit mentioned in their oodles of posters telling how to fill out the forms nor are they listed on the forms. Hmmm. Maybe they created the rule special for me.

My alma mater, New Mexico Tech, charges $15 for the first official transcript per academic year and the rest are free, apparently with no limit.

Did I mention that I'm thinking of starting up a waste paper pilot process plant in the area? Nice to get paper that's already sorted as to type...

Re: Applications all sent out. Yayyyyyyy!

Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2010 12:31 am
by axiomofchoice
I was up for some unpleasant surprises in my school, too. Past years we get 5 free transcripts every week, but since beginning of this semester, only 1 free per week, then $5 afterward. I initially thought I would just go there every week, but I eventually gave up and just paid. :wink:

I see fewer and fewer reasons for a school to ask for official transcript before they admit students. I also discover that my school can also send out official transcript via email??? Not sure how that works, but in any case, we should always think about the environment and save paper, and e-transcripts seem perfectly environment-friendly :lol:

Re: Applications all sent out. Yayyyyyyy!

Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2010 6:14 am
by negru
Why don't these schools just ask 5$ dollars more on the app fee, and take the damn transcripts themselves ?
Why is there a third party actually in charge of transcripts (national clearinghouse smth) ??
Why give them money, just so they tell my school to print the transcripts ???
Why can't the school just print and send everything ????
Why can't it send them online ?????
Why 2 copies ??????
???????

Re: Applications all sent out. Yayyyyyyy!

Posted: Fri Dec 17, 2010 12:45 am
by CarlBrannen
The University of Washyourhandsington saw fit to mail me my remaining transcripts. I sent them off to UCSB. Meanwhile, U. Texas, Austin now shows my GRE scores arrived on December 16th. The amazing thing is that I think I paid ETS to send them only around December 12th. Not sure how they got in so fast; I hope the same applies at the other schools.

WashYourHandsington public health advertisement:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOj3rku0lrA

Re: Applications all sent out. Yayyyyyyy!

Posted: Fri Dec 17, 2010 12:51 am
by WhoaNonstop
CarlBrannen wrote:The University of Washyourhandsington saw fit to mail me my remaining transcripts. I sent them off to UCSB. Meanwhile, U. Texas, Austin now shows my GRE scores arrived on December 16th. The amazing thing is that I think I paid ETS to send them only around December 12th. Not sure how they got in so fast; I hope the same applies at the other schools.

WashYourHandsington public health advertisement:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOj3rku0lrA
Just to give you some peace of mind. All of my GRE scores that I ordered via ETS on December 11th arrived on December 15th. So, interestingly enough, if you really were pushing to get something in for a deadline, you could still make it even after finding out your scores. =P

-Riley

Re: Applications all sent out. Yayyyyyyy!

Posted: Fri Dec 17, 2010 1:59 am
by axiomofchoice
WhoaNonstop wrote: Just to give you some peace of mind. All of my GRE scores that I ordered via ETS on December 11th arrived on December 15th. So, interestingly enough, if you really were pushing to get something in for a deadline, you could still make it even after finding out your scores. =P

-Riley
I actually I ordered some on the 13th and others on the midnight/morning of 14th, and all the scores are sent on the 15th. So maybe Wednesdays are when ETS post stuff.

Re: Applications all sent out. Yayyyyyyy!

Posted: Fri Jan 07, 2011 4:23 am
by satyad18
....finally! :D