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Decision Dates 2018

Posted: Tue Dec 19, 2017 3:59 pm
by medphys761
Hi!

I decided it was about time to start this thread (similar to last year's http://www.physicsgre.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=6559) so we could all share admission status/dates along with interview requests.

I think it's a little early for actual decisions yet but I know some people have gotten information about interviews so I thought it would be useful to start this thread early.

So if you have gotten an interview request or an admission decision, post it here along with the date!

Good luck to everyone!

Re: Decision Dates 2018

Posted: Fri Dec 22, 2017 12:41 pm
by 911876gev
I haven't gotten an interview request yet but in early December when I emailed different groups of professors at each school (to give my CV and ask if there were openings in their group), everybody responded and most asked if i'd like to skype. So I have skyped or emailed with a bunch of professors at seven schools, and these meetings lasted around 45 minutes each. I'm studying particle/cosmology

Re: Decision Dates 2018

Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2017 7:49 am
by xuning
911876gev wrote:I haven't gotten an interview request yet but in early December when I emailed different groups of professors at each school (to give my CV and ask if there were openings in their group), everybody responded and most asked if i'd like to skype. So I have skyped or emailed with a bunch of professors at seven schools, and these meetings lasted around 45 minutes each. I'm studying particle/cosmology
What did they ask in the interview?

Re: Decision Dates 2018

Posted: Tue Dec 26, 2017 2:36 pm
by 911876gev
xuning wrote:
911876gev wrote:I haven't gotten an interview request yet but in early December when I emailed different groups of professors at each school (to give my CV and ask if there were openings in their group), everybody responded and most asked if i'd like to skype. So I have skyped or emailed with a bunch of professors at seven schools, and these meetings lasted around 45 minutes each. I'm studying particle/cosmology
What did they ask in the interview?
They mostly asked me details about specific projects that I had mentioned in my CV: "Can you tell me a little about your work", "What's the status of this experiment?". One person asked me about myself and my background. A few of the people didn't ask me questions about myself at all, but allowed me to ask them questions about their work and we were discussing about their projects for some time.

I don't know if these Skype meetings could be called interviews, they were more like Q&A sessions where I asked them about their own projects and tried to understand what they were all doing and what projects I could potentially work for them on.

Re: Decision Dates 2018

Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2017 7:08 pm
by TakeruK
911876gev wrote: They mostly asked me details about specific projects that I had mentioned in my CV: "Can you tell me a little about your work", "What's the status of this experiment?". One person asked me about myself and my background. A few of the people didn't ask me questions about myself at all, but allowed me to ask them questions about their work and we were discussing about their projects for some time.

I don't know if these Skype meetings could be called interviews, they were more like Q&A sessions where I asked them about their own projects and tried to understand what they were all doing and what projects I could potentially work for them on.
For Physics PhD programs, these are basically interviews. Probably informal if they were not scheduled as part of the admissions process. But even if you had a formal interview as part of the admissions process, conversations like what you describe is the norm for interviews in our field. Sometimes if it is a formal interview, they might take more care to ensure everyone gets asked questions in the same way and have the same amount of time to respond, but these are things you might not really notice from the interviewee side.

Re: Decision Dates 2018

Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2018 10:34 pm
by Byzantium1453
I skimmed the last couple of these threads for when people from this site announced they got admitted or rejected:

2017:

UCSD- 1/8
Duke - 1/13
Michigan State - 1/18
UA astronomy - 1/18
UM Anne Arbor astro - 1/21
UIUC - 1/24
UWisconsin - 1/24
UC Irvine - 1/24
Wash U- 1/26
U Chicago - 1/26
UCSB - 1/26
Washington Seattle - 1/27
UC Santa Cruz - 1/27
Colorado State - 1/31
UPenn - 1/31
NMSU astro - 2/1
UCLA astro - 2/1
Oregon - 2/2
Va tech - 2/2
Oklahoma - 2/3
Boulder - 2/3
Stanford applied - 2/6
Yale astro - 2/6
Cornell - 2/6
LSU - 2/6
UC Davis - 2/7
Harvard astro - 2/8
Johns Hopkins - 2/8
NYU - 2/8
MIT - 2/9
Maryland - 2/9
Berkley - 2/9
Columbia - 2/10
Harvard - 2/10
UConn - 2/10
U rochester - 2/13
Rutgers - 2/15
Penn State - 2/15
Minnesota - 2/20
Stony Brook - 2/22
Northeastern - 2/23
Caltech 2/24

2016:

Ohio State astro - 1/5
Berkley biophysics - 1/11
UMich - 1/13
RPI nuclear eng - 1/13
U washington - 1/15
Michigan state u - 1/15
UIUC - 1/21
Harvard - 1/25
UW madison - 1/25
U arizona - 1/27
Berkley astro - 1/27
Duke - 1/27
Cornell - 2/1
NYU - 2/2
UT Austin - 2/5
Carnegie Mellon - 2/5
UMd - 2/9
Columbia - 2/16
Yale - 2/16
UCSC - 2/16
U Michigan - 2/16
U Chicago - 2/19
Tufts - 3/2

Re: Decision Dates 2018

Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2018 12:21 pm
by un par de tenis
I'm just beginning to receive some emails that my applications are under review!

These are for LSU, Montana State, and Stevens.

Re: Decision Dates 2018

Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2018 12:51 am
by frostedflakes
I got an interview request for Berkeley Astro via email on Wednesday (1/3) and had my interview today (1/5). The prof said they'll get back to us with final decisions in early February.

Re: Decision Dates 2018

Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2018 1:06 am
by WashU2468
frostedflakes wrote:I got an interview request for Berkeley Astro via email on Wednesday (1/3) and had my interview today (1/5). The prof said they'll get back to us with final decisions in early February.
Congratulations, I hope it went well! What was your interview like? Similar to 911876gev's? Was it a prof you mentioned in your essay?

Re: Decision Dates 2018

Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2018 1:25 am
by frostedflakes
WashU2468 wrote:
frostedflakes wrote:I got an interview request for Berkeley Astro via email on Wednesday (1/3) and had my interview today (1/5). The prof said they'll get back to us with final decisions in early February.
Congratulations, I hope it went well! What was your interview like? Similar to 911876gev's? Was it a prof you mentioned in your essay?
Thanks! It was more similar to a job interview (talk about your strengths/weaknesses) than I expected (I was more ready to talk about my research). The interview was with a prof I mentioned in my essay, but had no contact with previously.

Re: Decision Dates 2018

Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2018 1:09 pm
by xuning
Got an interview on Wednesday Jan 10th from UPenn. The PI asked for a Skype interview this week.

Re: Decision Dates 2018

Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2018 1:59 pm
by WashU2468
xuning wrote:Got an interview on Wednesday Jan 10th from UPenn. The PI asked for a Skype interview this week.
Exciting! Department of Physics or Astronomy? If you don't mind, please post about how the interview goes afterwards. Good luck!

Re: Decision Dates 2018

Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2018 2:51 pm
by xuning
WashU2468 wrote:
xuning wrote:Got an interview on Wednesday Jan 10th from UPenn. The PI asked for a Skype interview this week.
Exciting! Department of Physics or Astronomy? If you don't mind, please post about how the interview goes afterwards. Good luck!
It’s from the department of physics. Unfortunately where I stayed had a very poor connection so we could not hear each other very well. He asked me why I wanted to do grad school, what I expected from it, asked about my projects and introduced me to a lot of his projects. Then he said he has several students graduating and is looking for new students, asked me what kind of projects I may be interested in, and encouraged me to ask questions. That's pretty much it. At last, he said he's not in the admission committee, but the committee will probably meet very soon and send out decisions. It was very informal. Hope it helps!

Re: Decision Dates 2018

Posted: Sat Jan 13, 2018 1:18 am
by WashU2468
xuning wrote:
WashU2468 wrote:
xuning wrote:Got an interview on Wednesday Jan 10th from UPenn. The PI asked for a Skype interview this week.
Exciting! Department of Physics or Astronomy? If you don't mind, please post about how the interview goes afterwards. Good luck!
It’s from the department of physics. Unfortunately where I stayed had a very poor connection so we could not hear each other very well. He asked me why I wanted to do grad school, what I expected from it, asked about my projects and introduced me to a lot of his projects. Then he said he has several students graduating and is looking for new students, asked me what kind of projects I may be interested in, and encouraged me to ask questions. That's pretty much it. At last, he said he's not in the admission committee, but the committee will probably meet very soon and send out decisions. It was very informal. Hope it helps!
That sounds like a pretty great interview to me!

Re: Decision Dates 2018

Posted: Sat Jan 13, 2018 7:53 pm
by xuning
As far as I know, at least three people have got an interview from MIT. They asked you to talk about your current research project, why you consider your project exciting, and what you want to tackle in MIT. I think MIT also asks every applicant about coding skills, regardless of their interests.

Re: Decision Dates 2018

Posted: Mon Jan 15, 2018 7:01 pm
by medphys761
For all the people interested in medical physics, I've gotten emails inviting me to the open houses for University of Wisconsin - Madison and UCLA

Re: Decision Dates 2018

Posted: Tue Jan 16, 2018 12:08 am
by Dewgale
I had an interview for McGill today, and I have already received a full acceptance from Simon Fraser University in Vancouver :)

Re: Decision Dates 2018

Posted: Tue Jan 16, 2018 12:41 am
by aspirantfall18
Had an Interview with the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa days back. approx. 20 min long...kind of weird...mostly the professors did talk...only asked one or two questions like background. Since then no reply.....

Re: Decision Dates 2018

Posted: Wed Jan 17, 2018 3:13 pm
by Quantum_Keiko
Got an offer from University of Washington today, physics Ph.D. program :D

Re: Decision Dates 2018

Posted: Wed Jan 17, 2018 3:53 pm
by Byzantium1453
Quantum_Keiko wrote:Got an offer from University of Washington today, physics Ph.D. program :D
Awesome! Did you get an email or was it on the site?

Re: Decision Dates 2018

Posted: Wed Jan 17, 2018 5:50 pm
by 911876gev
Got interview request from PI at Harvard via email today, when we talked she asked me about my research and coding skills, and we discussed her research in-depth. Interview was around 40 minutes. I hadn't contacted the PI before but I had mentioned her group in my personal statement.

Re: Decision Dates 2018

Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2018 12:03 am
by AstroMason
Dewgale wrote:I had an interview for McGill today, and I have already received a full acceptance from Simon Fraser University in Vancouver :)
Congratulations! Who did you interview with at McGill astro, if I may ask? I assume you're the same person who reported this on thegradcafe.
911876gev wrote:Got interview request from PI at Harvard via email today, when we talked she asked me about my research and coding skills, and we discussed her research in-depth. Interview was around 40 minutes. I hadn't contacted the PI before but I had mentioned her group in my personal statement.
What area in physics is this?

Re: Decision Dates 2018

Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2018 3:22 am
by Quantum_Keiko
Byzantium1453 wrote:
Quantum_Keiko wrote:Got an offer from University of Washington today, physics Ph.D. program :D
Awesome! Did you get an email or was it on the site?
Thanks. I got an email this morning, then I got on the site and saw that my application status has been changed to "congrats".

Re: Decision Dates 2018

Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2018 2:24 pm
by sumotongs
Some people have posted on thegradcafe that they got interviews from Harvard and Princeton.

Re: Decision Dates 2018

Posted: Fri Jan 19, 2018 4:49 pm
by 911876gev
Accepted to Duke, an email to check website came at around 3:30 pm. Financial decision was available, full aid.

Re: Decision Dates 2018

Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2018 5:17 am
by xuning
Both a friend and I have been accepted by UIUC.

Re: Decision Dates 2018

Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2018 1:25 pm
by histoscienology
Accepted to UIUC on Jan 20.

Re: Decision Dates 2018

Posted: Mon Jan 22, 2018 2:49 pm
by xuning
Got an interview from Caltech

Re: Decision Dates 2018

Posted: Mon Jan 22, 2018 6:33 pm
by pistachion
Admitted to the University of Minnesota for hep-th! Checked the website and my status had been changed. No financial aid information yet, though. Somewhat expected but the first decision is still exciting.

Re: Decision Dates 2018

Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2018 2:23 pm
by physics boi
Admitted to University of Toronto for CMT. My decisions are off to a good start :D

Re: Decision Dates 2018

Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2018 8:06 pm
by fupcan
I've seen some on grad cafe got interviews with UMD College Park. Do they normally do interview? I haven't heard from them :-(

Re: Decision Dates 2018

Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2018 10:17 pm
by Byzantium1453
Got an email at 8 PM notifying me I was accepted by UIUC! :D :D :D

First acceptance! I was growing super nervous that I hadn't heard from anywhere yet.

The package is TAing for a $22,715 stipend

Re: Decision Dates 2018

Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2018 2:07 am
by akander
Accepted by UIUC on the 23rd at like 6 am by email. Standard 22.7k stipend that everyone else is receiving.

Re: Decision Dates 2018

Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2018 3:33 pm
by fupcan
nmarquez027 wrote:
fupcan wrote:I've seen some on grad cafe got interviews with UMD College Park. Do they normally do interview? I haven't heard from them :-(
For which program?
CMT Physics?

Re: Decision Dates 2018

Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2018 9:40 pm
by common_2012
fupcan wrote:
nmarquez027 wrote:
fupcan wrote:I've seen some on grad cafe got interviews with UMD College Park. Do they normally do interview? I haven't heard from them :-(
For which program?
CMT Physics?
What about AMO? No message for me either..

Indeed I know some condensed matter people who got the interview..

Re: Decision Dates 2018

Posted: Thu Jan 25, 2018 3:35 am
by applepie
I got an acceptance from IU-Bloomington on 1/5. Financial aid offer is $18.3K stipend plus $5K first-year bonus.

I got an acceptance from Michigan State on 1/19. Financial aid offer is $27K stipend. I am very excited since Michigan is one of my top three. Visitation dates are Feb. 15-17.

I got an email from UCSD today to check my online application. I was excited, but alas, it was only a request to verify my education information.

Re: Decision Dates 2018

Posted: Thu Jan 25, 2018 8:00 am
by liuyuhang599
applepie wrote:I got an acceptance from IU-Bloomington on 1/5. Financial aid offer is $18.3K stipend plus $5K first-year bonus.

I got an acceptance from Michigan State on 1/19. Financial aid offer is $27K stipend. I am very excited since Michigan is one of my top three. Visitation dates are Feb. 15-17.

I got an email from UCSD today to check my online application. I was excited, but alas, it was only a request to verify my education information.
I also received that email from UCSD yesterday, my heart almost exploded. While it just told me to check my education background information. :(

Re: Decision Dates 2018

Posted: Thu Jan 25, 2018 9:33 am
by common_2012
liuyuhang599 wrote:
applepie wrote:I got an acceptance from IU-Bloomington on 1/5. Financial aid offer is $18.3K stipend plus $5K first-year bonus.

I got an acceptance from Michigan State on 1/19. Financial aid offer is $27K stipend. I am very excited since Michigan is one of my top three. Visitation dates are Feb. 15-17.

I got an email from UCSD today to check my online application. I was excited, but alas, it was only a request to verify my education information.
I also received that email from UCSD yesterday, my heart almost exploded. While it just told me to check my education background information. :(
Too..

Is it just their routine notice? Do you really have anything mistaken in educational background? I don't know if I should take this seriously..

Re: Decision Dates 2018

Posted: Thu Jan 25, 2018 12:17 pm
by dialatone
common_2012 wrote:
liuyuhang599 wrote:
applepie wrote:I got an acceptance from IU-Bloomington on 1/5. Financial aid offer is $18.3K stipend plus $5K first-year bonus.

I got an acceptance from Michigan State on 1/19. Financial aid offer is $27K stipend. I am very excited since Michigan is one of my top three. Visitation dates are Feb. 15-17.

I got an email from UCSD today to check my online application. I was excited, but alas, it was only a request to verify my education information.
I also received that email from UCSD yesterday, my heart almost exploded. While it just told me to check my education background information. :(
Too..

Is it just their routine notice? Do you really have anything mistaken in educational background? I don't know if I should take this seriously..
Oh weird, I got that same message. I had just assumed it was because I had swapped in an updated transcript with my Fall grades 10 minutes earlier, but maybe not.

Re: Decision Dates 2018

Posted: Thu Jan 25, 2018 12:24 pm
by winston.churchill
Maybe they just wanted to joke with you and play with your nerves xD

Re: Decision Dates 2018

Posted: Thu Jan 25, 2018 2:35 pm
by Dewgale
AstroMason wrote:
Dewgale wrote:I had an interview for McGill today, and I have already received a full acceptance from Simon Fraser University in Vancouver :)
Congratulations! Who did you interview with at McGill astro, if I may ask? I assume you're the same person who reported this on thegradcafe.
911876gev wrote:Got interview request from PI at Harvard via email today, when we talked she asked me about my research and coding skills, and we discussed her research in-depth. Interview was around 40 minutes. I hadn't contacted the PI before but I had mentioned her group in my personal statement.
What area in physics is this?
I interviewed with Dr. Jon Sievers. That isn't me - I actually didn't apply to Harvard. If I go to McGill I'll be doing data analysis for an experimental group, though I'm a theoretician.

Update, I've since been accepted to McGill with a fellowship from the McGill Space Institute, and I've been shortlisted at UVic!

Re: Decision Dates 2018

Posted: Thu Jan 25, 2018 10:10 pm
by applepie
common_2012 wrote:
liuyuhang599 wrote:
applepie wrote:I got an acceptance from IU-Bloomington on 1/5. Financial aid offer is $18.3K stipend plus $5K first-year bonus.

I got an acceptance from Michigan State on 1/19. Financial aid offer is $27K stipend. I am very excited since Michigan is one of my top three. Visitation dates are Feb. 15-17.

I got an email from UCSD today to check my online application. I was excited, but alas, it was only a request to verify my education information.
I also received that email from UCSD yesterday, my heart almost exploded. While it just told me to check my education background information. :(
Too..

Is it just their routine notice? Do you really have anything mistaken in educational background? I don't know if I should take this seriously..
I had not entered "Last two years GPA" since it was not a required field, and I was lazy. However, it was on the list of things they said to check in their message. I went ahead and added that. I also took the opportunity to update my transcript with fall courses and update my list of current courses.

Re: Decision Dates 2018

Posted: Thu Jan 25, 2018 10:27 pm
by applepie
I got accepted to Ohio State University (OSU). I didn't get an email, I just saw the decision when I logged on to the Applicant Center. I don't see any information on a financial aid package.

Re: Decision Dates 2018

Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2018 5:33 am
by Explorer33
Congrats to those of you who are getting acceptances!

What is typically the deadline by which you have to accept your offers?

Re: Decision Dates 2018

Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2018 9:08 am
by Byzantium1453
Explorer33 wrote:Congrats to those of you who are getting acceptances!

What is typically the deadline by which you have to accept your offers?
Most universities have signed an agreement that their offers are all valid until April 15th, though you are encoiraged to commit before then to free up space for people on the wait list.

Re: Decision Dates 2018

Posted: Sun Jan 28, 2018 2:48 pm
by astroprof
Yes, as Byzantium states, for graduate schools in the US, the universal reply date is April 15. This reply date is in regards to the financial support packages, your offer of admission (without guaranteed funding) may extend beyond this point (my institution, for example, has a two year period in which you would not have to re-apply if you choose to attend, even after declining our offer, but we would no longer be held to our initial offer of financial support in those circumstances). Schools may continue to make admissions (and financial support) offers after April 15, but if you want to change your mind after April 15, you must get release (in writing) from any school that you have committed to (most schools will do this, as no one wants an unhappy graduate student, but it is rarely done).

As long time readers of this site know, people on the wait list get very antsy as April 15 draws near. Most schools have a target class size that they desire - they need sufficient TAs to cover their courses, sufficient RAs to complete the research supported by grants, and may have a handful of fellowships that must be filled or the funds go to a different department. To achieve this target class size, most departments will over-commit. That is, they will admit more students than they can afford to support. But, even with the over-commits, it is possible that too few students will accept their offer, so other qualified students are placed on the wait-list and will be admitted (with funding) if space becomes available. For wait-listed students, the slow process of people deciding where to go can result in what appears to be an interminable wait in limbo, as it is not sufficient for some students to decline the offers (as that is what the over-commits are for), but, rather, it is necessary for an unexpected number of students to decline the offers for the school to start admitting students from the wait-list.

Thus, to ease the process for all involved, it is recommended that you decline offers as soon as you know for certain that you are no longer interested in the school. You do not need to have made a final choice. You will not hurt our feelings if you decline almost immediately, in late March, or in early April. We know students have choices, and that we are not always the best choice for all students. But we would like to be able to make an offer to someone on our wait-list if it is appropriate. And we know that people on the wait-list would really like to hear from us as soon as possible, as they are probably also weighing their options with other schools. So, please, as soon as you have made a decision to decline an offer, notify the department. And, also, as soon as you have made a decision to accept an offer, do so. Your fellow students will thank you.

Re: Decision Dates 2018

Posted: Mon Jan 29, 2018 2:13 pm
by Byzantium1453
Accepted into SUNY Stony Brook by email today!

Re: Decision Dates 2018

Posted: Mon Jan 29, 2018 5:14 pm
by xuning
Accepted to Upenn!

Re: Decision Dates 2018

Posted: Mon Jan 29, 2018 8:24 pm
by 911876gev
Also accepted to UPenn...visiting day is March 12

Re: Decision Dates 2018

Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2018 1:15 am
by Byzantium1453
Accepted to Wisconsin Madison and U Rochester by email today