Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

YF17A · Post by **YF17A** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 4:34 pm

jsd wrote:So, do we have any sense of whether or not MIT has finished its first wave?

@jsd: I doubt it, since a "wave" lasting 2 days would be quite short indeed...they're probably taking a break for the weekend. At least I hope so

jsd · Post by **jsd** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 5:28 pm

YF17A wrote:
jsd wrote:So, do we have any sense of whether or not MIT has finished its first wave?
@jsd: I doubt it, since a "wave" lasting 2 days would be quite short indeed...they're probably taking a break for the weekend. At least I hope so

Me too.

robertson · Post by **robertson** » Mon Feb 09, 2009 1:03 pm

Hey guys, the pain is over!! Just received a call from MIT! I'm in! I'll see you on the open house.

For those of you who are still waiting, the chair of admissions told me that they will still call more people during today and the following dates. Don't know if there is another wave, but they will finish with this one rather soon. Good luck!

sterculus · Post by **sterculus** » Mon Feb 09, 2009 1:19 pm

Congrats robertson!

(sterculus continues to stare sadly at his phone)

secander2! · Post by **secander2!** » Mon Feb 09, 2009 3:24 pm

Congratulations robertson! With a profile like yours, I'm sure it won't be the last

coreycwgriffin · Post by **coreycwgriffin** » Mon Feb 09, 2009 3:27 pm

robertson wrote:I'll see you on the open house.

Won't see me there, that's for sure.

secander2! · Post by **secander2!** » Mon Feb 09, 2009 3:42 pm

Haha... me neither, unless MIT is willing to shell out $1500+ for my plane ticket

coreycwgriffin · Post by **coreycwgriffin** » Mon Feb 09, 2009 3:43 pm

secander2! wrote:Haha... me neither, unless MIT is willing to shell out $1500+ for my plane ticket

Well you actually applied there, at least. I would never apply to a school like MIT, even if my grades were better.

robertson · Post by **robertson** » Mon Feb 09, 2009 5:12 pm

1500$???
I have just found a return ticket for 600$, wheren't you living in Geneva right know? Check out air lingus' webpage, they have really cheap tickets.
Actually, they offer 300$, and if you're the luckiest guy in the world, you can add 300$ (approx) from Harvard.

Coreycwgriffin, you'll probably be accepted in the best university for you, and you never know, you could have also been accepted.

Thank you secander!

coreycwgriffin · Post by **coreycwgriffin** » Mon Feb 09, 2009 5:25 pm

robertson wrote:1500$???Coreycwgriffin, you'll probably be accepted in the best university for you,

That's what I'm hoping for.

robertson wrote:and you never know, you could have also been accepted.

Not with a sub-700 PGRE like mine.

rockwhj · Post by **rockwhj** » Mon Feb 09, 2009 6:01 pm

I got a call from MIT too, excited!

YF17A · Post by **YF17A** » Mon Feb 09, 2009 6:43 pm

I got the MIT call too! I've been staring at my phone all day...

dmahler · Post by **dmahler** » Mon Feb 09, 2009 6:51 pm

Did you get the call just now?! Seems awefully late in the day! Congrats!

YF17A · Post by **YF17A** » Mon Feb 09, 2009 6:59 pm

I know...I was in an orchestra rehearsal at 4pm CST and had to let it go to my answering machine...but figured there would only be one reason a Cambridge, MA number was calling me at that time

So don't lose hope!

sterculus · Post by **sterculus** » Mon Feb 09, 2009 8:37 pm

I had a second interview with Princeton plasma physics today and there was a lot of verbal winking and nodding regarding my application status ("Our visiting weekend is blah, make sure you keep that free", etc). They expect to make official decisions in ~2 weeks.

G01 · Post by **G01** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 12:29 pm

Got into Pitt and got an interview at Boston College!

Both are safeties for me, but still, its a relief to know that I will definitely be going to grad school now!

jsd · Post by **jsd** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 4:09 pm

robertson wrote:Hey guys, the pain is over!! Just received a call from MIT! I'm in! I'll see you on the open house.

For those of you who are still waiting, the chair of admissions told me that they will still call more people during today and the following dates. Don't know if there is another wave, but they will finish with this one rather soon. Good luck!

Well, I'm still waiting. I hoping that since all the people who have gotten in appear to be HEP or Theory (or both), that the Astro/Cosmology people are still deciding.

It also looks like there hasn't been many admits for the CM people either.

Congrats to all you who got in already.

YF17A · Post by **YF17A** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 5:13 pm

Agreed. It also looks like they e-mail the HEP experiment people, and call the HEP theory people. From last year's thread it looks like several of the CMT people got packages in the mail.

fastones3 · Post by **fastones3** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 10:48 pm

I can't remember where I heard this (maybe somewhere on this site) that MIT does admissions in groups, i.e. that they break down applications by research interests and pass them off to groups of professors in those subfields, who then judge the candidates.

The admissions decisions thus far seem to support this claim, but who knows. Only time will tell...

cato88 · Post by **cato88** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 11:14 pm

I dont think they admit in groups because they give all students the ability to shop around with groups.

fastones3 · Post by **fastones3** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 11:48 pm

cato88 wrote:I dont think they admit in groups because they give all students the ability to shop around with groups.

I think you misinterpreted my meaning of "group". I didn't mean specific research groups, but rather groups of professors in similar areas, as in HEP vs. CM vs. Astro, stc. Most departments admit based on preliminary interests to provide a balance for the incoming class, then once they get in, let them shop around "research groups" to find the right adviser.

I still don't know if this is truly how MIT does admissions, but just because they let new students shop around different research groups doesn't mean they don't. I mean, you don't know if a potential adviser is a match based on what you've read on their web page - that comes from working around and seeing who fits.

cato88 · Post by **cato88** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 11:51 pm

I didnt mean research groups I meant more along the lines of between the lab of nuclear science and condensed matter and different labs.
I think they split into expt and theory. The lab splitting s a rumor.

ekumahkay · Post by **ekumahkay** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 12:19 am

the anxiety is growing day-by-day. what should I do? I have lost apetite for food.

sterculus · Post by **sterculus** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 1:11 am

cato88 wrote:I didnt mean research groups I meant more along the lines of between the lab of nuclear science and condensed matter and different labs.
I think they split into expt and theory. The lab splitting s a rumor.

I've definitely heard that MIT is more subfield focused in their admissions process than most schools. I'm hoping that's true and that the plasma people are just being slow :/

cato88 · Post by **cato88** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 1:36 am

I still think its a rumor because

a) Director of grad admissions has never mentioned subfield splitting during a grad admissions talk.
b) Known people who have applied and received e-mail from a
professor in unrelated field about completeness of application ie
he must of been looking over it. There might be an effect if you state
in your SOP how you only want to work with Alan Guth and if you
cant you would be devastated or I am hell bent on wanting
to work with professor X who it turns out is not going to
take students the following year. If you did that at any school
there would be an effect.

sterculus · Post by **sterculus** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 1:43 am

Fine then, go ahead and spoil my MIT first wave hope

.

cato88 · Post by **cato88** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 1:47 am

sorry. The first wave includes people with fellowships so they are going to get phone called no matter what. If it was legal they would probably send a hooker gram to increase yield.

sterculus · Post by **sterculus** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 1:49 am

Nah, I'm just kidding with you cato. Thanks for the info.

trinitron · Post by **trinitron** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 7:28 am

"If it was legal they would probably send a hooker gram to increase yield."

That would have been awesome.

I'm pretty sure it is done by 'subschool' though. I was accepted by phone and was told that I was a member of that specific branch 1st year, and after that I could switch.

WhatCanYouDoFermi? · Post by **WhatCanYouDoFermi?** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 10:08 am

Guys, the MIT application form itself answers the questions about how they review candidates. Copying straight from it:

"Fields of Interest
Indicate your interests by checking no more than three (theory and experiment combined) of the categories listed below. If you choose specific areas, your application will receive special attention by faculty members in those areas. If you check one of the General Interest categories, your application will be reviewed by faculty members with a broad knowledge of all the research areas in the department."

I want to get a phone call from them so badly!!!

G01 · Post by **G01** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 10:55 am

Yesturday, I got responses from 3 schools!:

Accepted to Pitt with Assisstantship ($??,????)

Accepted to Boston U with TA ($27,300 for 12 months)

Interview at Boston College

I'm am pumped! BU was my first choice out of the realistic schools I applied to!

sterculus · Post by **sterculus** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 1:07 pm

Congrats G01!

Nice find WhatCanYouDoFermi - that was so long ago I didn't remember it :/.

xudis149 · Post by **xudis149** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 2:02 pm

thats great G01

what an awesome day

gnatman · Post by **gnatman** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 4:48 pm

Finally got my first acceptance! I had inquired on the status of my application materials at Texas A&M, and in the response they told me that they would be mailing me an acceptance letter in a day or two!

I'm so incredibly relieved. Everyone else can reject me now, and I won't give a lick, because I'm actually going to grad school!

G01 · Post by **G01** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 6:25 pm

gnatman wrote: I'm so incredibly relieved. Everyone else can reject me now, and I won't give a lick, because I'm actually going to grad school!

Amen!

jsd · Post by **jsd** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 7:44 pm

I got into Caltech a few minutes ago via a form email. Financial info to follow.

That makes waiting for MIT and my CS midterm tonight a bit easier.

Helio · Post by **Helio** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 7:45 pm

jsd wrote:I got into Caltech a few minutes ago via a form email. Financial info to follow.

That makes waiting for MIT and my CS midterm tonight a bit easier.

congrats

jsd · Post by **jsd** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 8:05 pm

Thanks.

sterculus · Post by **sterculus** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 9:28 pm

I got into Caltech too!

dmahler · Post by **dmahler** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 9:35 pm

How did the Caltech notice come? Also, did you apply to plasma or AMO at caltech? Sorry for the questions, but all this waiting is nearly killing me.

sterculus · Post by **sterculus** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 10:50 pm

I applied to AMO/Quantum Information but also mentioned my additional interest in plasmas in my SOP. The notice came by e-mail at about 3:30pm Pacific.

dmahler · Post by **dmahler** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 11:01 pm

darn... hah I applied to AMO too.... this sucks!
But congratulations!

sterculus · Post by **sterculus** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 11:15 pm

They started off the e-mail with

The Physics Graduate Admissions Committee at Caltech is still in the process of finalizing our decisions, however, because of your excellent application, the Committee is pleased to inform you that we will be recommending you to the Dean of Graduate Studies for admission to our program.

so it sounds like this is just a first wave. Don't lose hope yet!

rockwhj · Post by **rockwhj** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 2:04 am

I got the caltech email too. how does it compare to mit in high energy theory and particle cosmology?

robertson · Post by **robertson** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 8:12 am

I got the Caltech email too! I applied to HEP theory. Things are getting better

Rockwhj, I would say Caltech is better for string theorist wannabe, while MIT is better for the rest. But it's just an opinion. Both are exceptional.

rockwhj · Post by **rockwhj** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 1:43 pm

robertson, thanks. apparently we could probably meet on both open houses, i'm also planning to do HEP theory, hope to see you there.

chocolate · Post by **chocolate** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 1:19 pm

got accepted to UIUC

secander2! · Post by **secander2!** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 1:21 pm

Congrats everybody! Cal Tech and UIUC are really awesome places!

YF17A · Post by **YF17A** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 1:58 pm

NYU has started...got an unofficial e-mail this morning!

secander2! · Post by **secander2!** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 2:00 pm

Congrats YF17A!!! You're gonna have a hard decision to make!!!