FALL 2008 rejections

  • This has become our largest and most active forum because the physics GRE is just one aspect of getting accepted into a graduate physics program.
  • There are applications, personal statements, letters of recommendation, visiting schools, anxiety of waiting for acceptances, deciding between schools, finding out where others are going, etc.

cancelled20080417
Posts: 482
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 6:30 pm

Post by cancelled20080417 » Wed Feb 13, 2008 11:29 pm

yeah, I do n really care Yale's rejection. UIUC is on top in CMT. MIT's rejection is a pain in the ass. Right now, my ass is on fire and I am sitting on a bucket full of cold water. just kiddin

User avatar
grae313
Posts: 2296
Joined: Tue May 29, 2007 8:46 pm

Post by grae313 » Thu Feb 14, 2008 2:07 am

RG, bummer about MIT, but you can't really be sweating Yale with admits from Cornell, UCSB, and UIUC!

tnoviell
Posts: 235
Joined: Sun Nov 05, 2006 10:31 am

Post by tnoviell » Thu Feb 14, 2008 2:24 am

Around this time last year I was rejected from Duke. Does that count?

KB
Posts: 23
Joined: Sun Oct 21, 2007 12:03 am

Post by KB » Thu Feb 14, 2008 2:43 am

I'm with you astrofan. I found the e-mail rather condescending.

"You have a fine record, and I'm sure you'll be able to pursue successful graduate studies elsewhere."

*** 'em

User avatar
will
Posts: 399
Joined: Sun Nov 04, 2007 3:26 pm

Post by will » Thu Feb 14, 2008 3:19 am

If I got one of those, I'd reply immediately that I've not been accepted anywhere else, and if they're so sure I belong somewhere, why not there?

User avatar
fermiboy
Posts: 437
Joined: Fri Nov 16, 2007 7:41 pm

Post by fermiboy » Thu Feb 14, 2008 4:05 am

We should all send rejections to our rejections.

User avatar
twistor
Posts: 1529
Joined: Thu Apr 13, 2006 2:47 pm

Post by twistor » Thu Feb 14, 2008 11:38 am

"You have a fine record, and I'm sure you'll be able to pursue successful graduate studies elsewhere."
Translation:

You're record is not good enough for this school but probably is good enough for some lesser school.

That's the most condescending rejection I've ever heard of. I'd send them an email letting know what you think of them. They don't have to accept you but they don't have to be rude about it.

astrofan
Posts: 140
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2008 12:55 am

Post by astrofan » Thu Feb 14, 2008 5:41 pm

I agree in principle, but you also have to be careful when sending replies to these schools. You may need the school/professors at school in the future.

Hence, I can flame them semi-anonymously on this forum. :lol:

TheHawkBat
Posts: 35
Joined: Fri Oct 26, 2007 1:58 am

Post by TheHawkBat » Thu Feb 14, 2008 6:23 pm

Just got my rejection from Cornell. However, I can't really care too much, I already have two fine offers :D

User avatar
fermiboy
Posts: 437
Joined: Fri Nov 16, 2007 7:41 pm

Post by fermiboy » Thu Feb 14, 2008 6:26 pm

Was the rejection via s-mail or e-mail? I wonder when I'll get mine.

User avatar
dlenmn
Posts: 578
Joined: Mon Dec 03, 2007 10:19 pm

Post by dlenmn » Thu Feb 14, 2008 7:13 pm

@ fermiboy

The Cornell rejections that showed up recently on gradcafe were on dead tree... their recent acceptances seem to be by email.

User avatar
fermiboy
Posts: 437
Joined: Fri Nov 16, 2007 7:41 pm

Post by fermiboy » Thu Feb 14, 2008 7:26 pm

Well I still have hope then. I haven't heard anything. All you potential Cornellians out there please go to Stanford, Harvard, MIT, Princeton, etc.

TheHawkBat
Posts: 35
Joined: Fri Oct 26, 2007 1:58 am

Post by TheHawkBat » Thu Feb 14, 2008 11:00 pm

My rejection was by snail mail.

User avatar
fermiboy
Posts: 437
Joined: Fri Nov 16, 2007 7:41 pm

Post by fermiboy » Fri Feb 15, 2008 1:09 am

Just got home. I got the same letter from Cornell. I knew it was a rejection because it was small white envelope. ***.

User avatar
grae313
Posts: 2296
Joined: Tue May 29, 2007 8:46 pm

Post by grae313 » Fri Feb 15, 2008 1:13 am

:cry: that really sucks

User avatar
fermiboy
Posts: 437
Joined: Fri Nov 16, 2007 7:41 pm

Post by fermiboy » Fri Feb 15, 2008 1:22 am

My GRE score is killing me. I'm so pissed at ETS right now. Because of one shitty day my last four years of hard work is meaningless to the admissions committees. Let me tell you something Cornell, you will rue the day that you rejected Fermiboy.

User avatar
fermiboy
Posts: 437
Joined: Fri Nov 16, 2007 7:41 pm

Post by fermiboy » Fri Feb 15, 2008 1:23 am

Oh yeah. Go Ducks!

User avatar
jdhooghe
Posts: 204
Joined: Tue Jun 12, 2007 9:28 pm

Post by jdhooghe » Fri Feb 15, 2008 2:13 am

Are you trying to find out if someone is a witch fermiboy?

User avatar
fermiboy
Posts: 437
Joined: Fri Nov 16, 2007 7:41 pm

Post by fermiboy » Fri Feb 15, 2008 2:18 am

What do you mean? I don't get it.

User avatar
jdhooghe
Posts: 204
Joined: Tue Jun 12, 2007 9:28 pm

Post by jdhooghe » Fri Feb 15, 2008 2:21 am

Ni!

User avatar
butsurigakusha
Posts: 293
Joined: Sun Oct 07, 2007 8:05 pm

Post by butsurigakusha » Fri Feb 15, 2008 2:22 am

Monty Python, witches, newts, ducks... get it now?

User avatar
grae313
Posts: 2296
Joined: Tue May 29, 2007 8:46 pm

Post by grae313 » Fri Feb 15, 2008 2:23 am

Ni!

User avatar
fermiboy
Posts: 437
Joined: Fri Nov 16, 2007 7:41 pm

Post by fermiboy » Fri Feb 15, 2008 2:23 am

I see. Who are you who are so wise in the ways of science? Get that?

User avatar
fermiboy
Posts: 437
Joined: Fri Nov 16, 2007 7:41 pm

Post by fermiboy » Fri Feb 15, 2008 2:27 am

I think my favorite scene is the repressed peasant.

Peasant: Listen. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.

User avatar
jdhooghe
Posts: 204
Joined: Tue Jun 12, 2007 9:28 pm

Post by jdhooghe » Fri Feb 15, 2008 2:28 am

I think I'll put that movie in now while I grade this huge stack of papers...

User avatar
grae313
Posts: 2296
Joined: Tue May 29, 2007 8:46 pm

Post by grae313 » Fri Feb 15, 2008 2:33 am

ugh. don't remind me about the papers I have to grade

User avatar
jdhooghe
Posts: 204
Joined: Tue Jun 12, 2007 9:28 pm

Post by jdhooghe » Fri Feb 15, 2008 4:57 am

I want to do thermal physics homework but this fecking stack of mechanics papers won't go down!

/smoosh

There we go, now it looks like a smaller stack. Oh noes! It's growing again! God help us all!

marten
Posts: 134
Joined: Thu Aug 30, 2007 10:21 am

Post by marten » Fri Feb 15, 2008 9:17 am

HELP HELP! I'm being repressed!

User avatar
twistor
Posts: 1529
Joined: Thu Apr 13, 2006 2:47 pm

Post by twistor » Fri Feb 15, 2008 11:16 am

Undergraduates should not be involved in grading papers.

User avatar
jdhooghe
Posts: 204
Joined: Tue Jun 12, 2007 9:28 pm

Post by jdhooghe » Fri Feb 15, 2008 12:09 pm

But I needs the $10/hr and two hours a week max to helps pay for the foods

User avatar
quizivex
Posts: 1031
Joined: Tue Jan 09, 2007 6:13 am

Post by quizivex » Fri Feb 15, 2008 7:36 pm

I was always annoyed that my school has a policy that undergrads cannot be TA's or do anything that involves grading another undergrad's work. This kept me away from a number of instructional jobs that would've been somewhat fun and looked good on my resume...

Though I'd imagine grading papers for certain classes could be dreadful... for instance, I always respected our TA for modern algebra. She had to pore through 25 people's proofs of like 8 problems every week, most of them full of incorrect answers and bad mathematical arguments. She had to try to figure out why each little thing was wrong so she could explain why she took off points, fairly assign partial credit and so the students couldnt' accuse her of improper grading... sheesh.
Last edited by quizivex on Fri Feb 15, 2008 7:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
grae313
Posts: 2296
Joined: Tue May 29, 2007 8:46 pm

Post by grae313 » Fri Feb 15, 2008 7:36 pm

HAH! I get three hours a week max per section.

astrofan
Posts: 140
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2008 12:55 am

Re: FALL 2008 rejections

Post by astrofan » Wed Feb 20, 2008 1:02 am

guess I should be worried now about the rest of my schools :cry:. Too bad staring intently at my phone does not make it ring!

User avatar
jdhooghe
Posts: 204
Joined: Tue Jun 12, 2007 9:28 pm

Re: FALL 2008 rejections

Post by jdhooghe » Wed Feb 20, 2008 2:24 am

30 people in an upper division math course! Crazy...I have 5 people in my topology course right now. Speaking of which, I now remember why I hated introductory proofs so much....arrrrgh. Apparently I am not a very logical person.

@Grae

I know it is partly a budget consideration but I would love to sit one of those people down at a desk and have them grade even one lower-division homework set. 2 hours a week my ass. Although I do have strange pleasure at giving out zeros....that's a perk, isn't it? Haha, I love dots...weeeeeeee
Last edited by jdhooghe on Wed Feb 20, 2008 4:44 am, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
grae313
Posts: 2296
Joined: Tue May 29, 2007 8:46 pm

Re: FALL 2008 rejections

Post by grae313 » Wed Feb 20, 2008 2:55 am

oh, good! I'm glad it's not just me. I get a little irked sometimes when someone gets a perfect score, like, "damn! foiled!" Some of it is just so gawdawfully bad though... the worst is when it's an odd problem so the answer is in the back of the book, and they do some work which is wrong, get the wrong answer, check it in the back of the book, erase their wrong answer, and write in the correct one. I get so mad when they try to BS me like that, I give them zero credit, and then scrutinize their paper for any possible reason to deduct as many points as I can.

Or how about when someone copies someone else's homework, and then they turn them in right ontop of each other so that you can tell right away that they are identical when you deduct points from two papers right in a row with the exact same mistakes. Like, "If you are going to cheat, at least have the brains to not put your papers right next to each other so it is obvious..."


Or how about the ones that didn't do the homework, then five minutes before class they try to copy their friends paper so you get *** like this:

Problem 3.46 a) x = [Vt/a]*sin^(-1)[sqrt(xta-3.467*e^(-4))] = 9.7m

with no work to show how the equation was derived...

User avatar
twistor
Posts: 1529
Joined: Thu Apr 13, 2006 2:47 pm

Re: FALL 2008 rejections

Post by twistor » Wed Feb 20, 2008 11:23 am

quizivex wrote:I was always annoyed that my school has a policy that undergrads cannot be TA's or do anything that involves grading another undergrad's work. This kept me away from a number of instructional jobs that would've been somewhat fun and looked good on my resume...
At my school the policy is the same. TA positions are reserved for graduate students because of funding issues. Recently I have begun to have some interest in private tutoring.
quizivex wrote:Though I'd imagine grading papers for certain classes could be dreadful... for instance, I always respected our TA for modern algebra. She had to pore through 25 people's proofs of like 8 problems every week, most of them full of incorrect answers and bad mathematical arguments. She had to try to figure out why each little thing was wrong so she could explain why she took off points, fairly assign partial credit and so the students couldnt' accuse her of improper grading... sheesh.
Ha! I took a very abstract math class last semester where all the homeworks were proofs. I only got less than 100 on the first assignment. This seemed very strange to me so I did an experiment. I submitted an assignment where I knew at least one of the proofs wouldn't stand up to scrutiny; I skipped an important step and then claimed to derive the desired result. Since I got a 100 on this assignment I can only conclude that the grader wasn't even reading my proofs. I had mixed feelings about this because I had done some pretty elegant proofs (IMO) and I would've liked at least some feedback from someone as to their correctness. But I was also happy knowing that no matter what I did I was going to get an A.

User avatar
twistor
Posts: 1529
Joined: Thu Apr 13, 2006 2:47 pm

Re: FALL 2008 rejections

Post by twistor » Wed Feb 20, 2008 11:26 am

Or how about the ones that didn't do the homework, then five minutes before class they try to copy their friends paper so you get *** like this:
I don't even understand why professors assist on grading homework. For my first two years of college I had no homework that was graded. Oh, there were assignments, but you did them on your own and checked the back of the book to find out if you were right. If you couldn't do the problems then you couldn't do the test and that was that.

User avatar
twistor
Posts: 1529
Joined: Thu Apr 13, 2006 2:47 pm

Re: FALL 2008 rejections

Post by twistor » Wed Feb 20, 2008 11:28 am

But I needs the $10/hr and two hours a week max to helps pay for the foods
When I made the comment about grading papers I was thinking about it as a conflict of interest. You would be grading the homework of your peers. Besides funding issues I think that's a reason most schools don't allow undergrads to grade homework assignments.

neoslovakia
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri Dec 07, 2007 4:25 pm

Re: FALL 2008 rejections

Post by neoslovakia » Wed Feb 20, 2008 2:21 pm

Damn, just got my rejection letter from Cornell. My dad decided to call me up at 9 am and wake me to tell me. That was nice. Well my first rejection. I've gotten in plenty of good places, so I wont feel bad... :cry:

User avatar
celts
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Feb 17, 2008 12:41 pm

Re: FALL 2008 rejections

Post by celts » Wed Feb 20, 2008 3:09 pm

That whole not being allowed to grade as an undergrad might be a good thing. I started ta'ing as a temporary means of earning money before immersing myself into research. I got really into it and forgot all about doing research! I applied to a bunch of REU's for my last summer and luckily got into 1. I'm jealous of all of you with lots of research experience! It will look way better on the apps!
Last edited by celts on Wed Mar 26, 2008 1:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
butsurigakusha
Posts: 293
Joined: Sun Oct 07, 2007 8:05 pm

Re: FALL 2008 rejections

Post by butsurigakusha » Wed Feb 20, 2008 3:13 pm

I would have been happy to get into only one REU. But I didn't.

User avatar
celts
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Feb 17, 2008 12:41 pm

Re: FALL 2008 rejections

Post by celts » Wed Feb 20, 2008 3:19 pm

REU's are weird. They aren't always looking for the best qualified or the ones with the most experience. Sometimes it's just about your connections there.
Last edited by celts on Wed Mar 26, 2008 1:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
zxcv
Posts: 402
Joined: Mon Dec 17, 2007 11:08 pm

Re: FALL 2008 rejections

Post by zxcv » Wed Feb 20, 2008 3:24 pm

I did three REU's (only one in physics). The easy way to get in seems to be to convince a professor at a school with an REU that you would make a contribution to their lab if you worked there. It helps to visit, but email can work, too. Then apply to the REU program with their blessing. They'll support you because it means they get free help and the REU program will let you in immediately because there's someone who's specifically sponsoring you.

This is how I got into two of the programs I did, including the coveted one last summer at UCSD.

I suppose that system might work for grad school, too, but I was too lazy to try it very hard.

astrofan
Posts: 140
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2008 12:55 am

Re: FALL 2008 rejections

Post by astrofan » Thu Feb 21, 2008 5:18 pm

Penn State astronomy rejected me today. Not as condescending in the letter, but also no stats so I guess Berkeley wins in that regard.
Last edited by astrofan on Thu Feb 21, 2008 11:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
dlenmn
Posts: 578
Joined: Mon Dec 03, 2007 10:19 pm

Re: FALL 2008 rejections

Post by dlenmn » Thu Feb 21, 2008 8:52 pm

@ astrofan

Did you apply physics or astro? (I'm guessing the latter based on your handle.)

User avatar
butsurigakusha
Posts: 293
Joined: Sun Oct 07, 2007 8:05 pm

Re: FALL 2008 rejections

Post by butsurigakusha » Sat Feb 23, 2008 4:51 am

Well, it looks like I am not going to get into Berkeley, Stanford, or Caltech, and I am predicting rejection by MIT as well. I think I will get over it in a few days, but, for now, I am very bitter and angry about this. :evil: These schools haven't sent me rejection letters yet. I kind of want to preemptively send them rejection letters, before they get the chance.

Oh, well, maybe the government will get fed up with the anti-american, quasi-treasonous antics of schools like Berkeley and cut off funding. That would put a smile on my face.

If I am ever in a position of authority, where I have the power to approve or deny funding, I will remember these schools, and they won't be fond memories.

User avatar
zxcv
Posts: 402
Joined: Mon Dec 17, 2007 11:08 pm

Re: FALL 2008 rejections

Post by zxcv » Sat Feb 23, 2008 5:00 am

Don't worry, you'll be in good company with those rejections :D. At least we both have some very respectable options at this point.

User avatar
butsurigakusha
Posts: 293
Joined: Sun Oct 07, 2007 8:05 pm

Re: FALL 2008 rejections

Post by butsurigakusha » Sat Feb 23, 2008 5:31 am

Right now I've got UIUC and UCSD. If I get into UCSB, that will give me 3 great options, any of which I would be happy to attend. It is really more of a pride thing, I don't know if my ego can handle this rejection.

I have been living for all these years, and getting into grad school is pretty much all I have to show for it. I've been mediocre in every other aspect of my life, and have done nothing noteworthy. Getting rejected by the top schools, it shows that I have fallen short in this part of my life as well.

Man, since I started writing this post, my mood switched from bitter to depressed. :| Not a sad sort of depressed, more of a not-feeling-anything sort of depressed.

User avatar
jdhooghe
Posts: 204
Joined: Tue Jun 12, 2007 9:28 pm

Re: FALL 2008 rejections

Post by jdhooghe » Sun Feb 24, 2008 4:39 pm

Same with me But. I spend all this time focusing on my work and I now have shite to show for it. It is rather depressing... :cry:

User avatar
WontonBurritoMeals
Posts: 102
Joined: Sat Feb 23, 2008 9:43 pm

Re: FALL 2008 rejections

Post by WontonBurritoMeals » Mon Feb 25, 2008 12:41 am

butsurigakusha, your getting rejections is what bothers me the most. Aside from a lack of publications, your profile is great!

If you dont' get into a top school, it really hurts my chances!

May the wind be always at your back,
-Wonton Burrito Meals



Post Reply