Physics updates/acceptances (2010)

meno · Post by **meno** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 1:08 pm

peglegjeff wrote:Accepted at Texas! First acceptance... I was starting to get a little worried there...

Those of you who've applied at Texas: Check your application status on the Texas website! They didn't send an email or any sort of notification, so you just have to logon and see.

Thanks! That acceptance just made my day. Are we supposed to email the department now or something?

kroner · Post by **kroner** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 1:21 pm

congrats you guys.

still no decision for me.

peglegjeff · Post by **peglegjeff** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 1:50 pm

meno wrote:Thanks! That acceptance just made my day. Are we supposed to email the department now or something?

I'm assuming they'll send something out later today... if not, I'm planning on emailing tomorrow to get details (and hopefully some financial info). I'll let them know they should offer me some big fellowship to compete with my utter lack of other offers...

matonski · Post by **matonski** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 3:20 pm

peglegjeff wrote:Those of you who've applied at Texas: Check your application status on the Texas website! They didn't send an email or any sort of notification, so you just have to logon and see.

Are you talking about this page? I'm guess the part where it says , "We have received all credentials required to process your application. Your file has been forwarded to the Graduate Committee for review," will change to the decision later on? Or is there a different status page?

peglegjeff · Post by **peglegjeff** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 3:45 pm

matonski wrote:Are you talking about this page? I'm guess the part where it says , "We have received all credentials required to process your application. Your file has been forwarded to the Graduate Committee for review," will change to the decision later on? Or is there a different status page?

Yeah, that's the page. Where it said "We have received all credentials..." it now has:

University of Texas wrote:We're pleased to inform you that you've been accepted to The University of Texas at Austin. We recommend that you contact your graduate adviser as soon as possible. It's a pleasure to welcome you as a graduate student.

peglegjeff · Post by **peglegjeff** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 5:10 pm

Harvard's mailing out their rejections now.. got the one I was expecting today.

geshi · Post by **geshi** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 5:56 pm

Just got accepted to Arizona today via email

rahuldatta · Post by **rahuldatta** » Tue Mar 02, 2010 3:20 pm

Hello guys,
I am a bit confused about how the whole process of accepting and declining admission offers works out. I have a couple of admits from UMich Ann Arbor Physics and PennState A&A and a couple of waitlists. If everybody has till April 15 to accept/decline offers, it might well happen that someone from the waitlist gets an admit after April 15 (which could be his/her dream school); but that person might already have accepted another offer. What does he/she do now?

And one more query to international students....
Can you ask the univs for an I-20 only after you accept their offer? Can you have I-20s from multiple universities?

Thanks in advance for your help

Helio · Post by **Helio** » Tue Mar 02, 2010 3:33 pm

rahuldatta wrote:Hello guys,
I am a bit confused about how the whole process of accepting and declining admission offers works out. I have a couple of admits from UMich Ann Arbor Physics and PennState A&A and a couple of waitlists. If everybody has till April 15 to accept/decline offers, it might well happen that someone from the waitlist gets an admit after April 15 (which could be his/her dream school); but that person might already have accepted another offer. What does he/she do now?

I would first of all email the waitlist schools and ask for the chances of getting in off waitlist. If you are at the bottom or even middle of the list your chances are pretty slim to none. They should tell you until April 14th/15th, so you should know before making a decision. If they dont, I would see that as a sign of bad organization and just plain stupid (I am looking at you Ohio State). The ones you have so far are pretty good, I wouldnt really worry too much.

rahuldatta wrote: And one more query to international students....
Can you ask the univs for an I-20 only after you accept their offer? Can you have I-20s from multiple universities?

Thanks in advance for your help

You do ask for an I-20, they give it to you (it is an automatic thing for people getting an F-1 for the first time and for people who already have an I-20 it is a bit more complicated) and your I-20 is tied to your school... so you can only get one.

rahuldatta · Post by **rahuldatta** » Tue Mar 02, 2010 3:37 pm

Thanks helio....so one might have to wait all the way till April 14/15 before one can make a decision

matonski · Post by **matonski** » Tue Mar 02, 2010 3:39 pm

Yeah, for example, Maryland's open house is April 10!

matonski · Post by **matonski** » Tue Mar 02, 2010 3:50 pm

Rejected from MIT

Ryalnos · Post by **Ryalnos** » Tue Mar 02, 2010 3:59 pm

Impressive! 7 rejections posted to thegradcafe.com within 10 minutes of when I received mine.

matonski · Post by **matonski** » Tue Mar 02, 2010 4:02 pm

I'm proud to be the first on there!

peglegjeff · Post by **peglegjeff** » Tue Mar 02, 2010 4:06 pm

And I'm rejected at MIT... not too surprised, but disappointed none the less.

For those of you accepted at Texas: I talked to Matt (Grad coordinator) today. He said financial offers will likely be sent out next week.

notnaps · Post by **notnaps** » Tue Mar 02, 2010 4:50 pm

Rejected from MIT.. Looks like I will not be heading anywhere east of where I am right now..

grae313 · Post by **grae313** » Tue Mar 02, 2010 5:15 pm

rahuldatta, it may happen that you get an acceptance after April 15th. If you are accepted to a place you really want to attend but have already agreed to attend another institution, I've seen students advised in the past to politely inform the school whose offer you accepted of the situation. They probably don't want a graduate student that isn't really excited to be there, and will most likely be understanding of the situation.

admissionprof · Post by **admissionprof** » Tue Mar 02, 2010 10:50 pm

grae313 wrote:rahuldatta, it may happen that you get an acceptance after April 15th. If you are accepted to a place you really want to attend but have already agreed to attend another institution, I've seen students advised in the past to politely inform the school whose offer you accepted of the situation. They probably don't want a graduate student that isn't really excited to be there, and will most likely be understanding of the situation.

Grae is (as usual) correct. We once had a student who had accepted, and then got an offer from her dream school on April 20th. She asked us for a release (see the details of the "council-of-graduate-schools-resolution"), and we granted it. Nobody wants a student who doesn't want to attend. It was annoying, since we'd turned down a couple of people on the waitlist once she'd accepted. In the past 20 years, this has happened once.

matonski · Post by **matonski** » Wed Mar 03, 2010 3:34 am

Nope from UCLA. I was checking my web status obsessively and it got updated at 11 at night.

campsoup · Post by **campsoup** » Thu Mar 04, 2010 12:59 am

i got in to uchicago today by snail mail.

delton · Post by **delton** » Thu Mar 04, 2010 11:51 am

Rejected from Brown via Email / Embark.

=( x_X

delton · Post by **delton** » Thu Mar 04, 2010 3:39 pm

Accepted at Stony Brook via Email!

"According to an agreement between the US graduate schools, you have until April 15, 2010, to accept or decline our offer. If you accept, you will be one of the approximately 25 students, selected from more than 400 applicants, to start their Ph.D. studies in our Department in the Fall of 2010."

Very excited!!! What a roller coaster of a day!

blackcat007 · Post by **blackcat007** » Thu Mar 04, 2010 6:12 pm

Finally I got an offer from TAMU. I am sooooooo relieved!!!

kroner · Post by **kroner** » Fri Mar 05, 2010 12:34 am

congrats

blackcat007 · Post by **blackcat007** » Fri Mar 05, 2010 6:43 am

kroner wrote:congrats

Thanks

ads · Post by **ads** » Fri Mar 05, 2010 9:34 pm

Hello everybody. Have been reading to keep up to date with all the action here over the past couple of weeks, and just couldn't resist joining you all here. Am applying this year but no joy yet! Though I've been very ambitious with my choices of schools (just posted my profile up).

Congrats to all who have places

. Solidarity with those who do not yet

.

Any news on UPenn from anybody? Any internationals?

fc_pga · Post by **fc_pga** » Sat Mar 06, 2010 4:06 am

Finally got my first acceptance today - UCSB. Yay.

moyses · Post by **moyses** » Sat Mar 06, 2010 5:17 pm

I still don't understand very well the financial support in US universities. What you call stipend is the total amount of money that you get?? Or it is possible to make more money as a first year graduate student??
For example, I got accepted at NYU and they told me that the stipend is around 23k. This means that I will only receive 23k or I can find other ways to make more money? (like research assistantships ...)

Another question is: It is possible to live in NY with 23k/year?

blackcat007 · Post by **blackcat007** » Sat Mar 06, 2010 5:35 pm

moyses wrote:I still don't understand very well the financial support in US universities. What you call stipend is the total amount of money that you get?? Or it is possible to make more money as a first year graduate student??
For example, I got accepted at NYU and they told me that the stipend is around 23k. This means that I will only receive 23k or I can find other ways to make more money? (like research assistantships ...)

Another question is: It is possible to live in NY with 23k/year?

what this 23k is tax free??

I thought there would be taxes on them.. thus effectively we will be getting something less than the amount stated..

mobytish · Post by **mobytish** » Sat Mar 06, 2010 6:15 pm

My understanding is that you do pay some taxes on them, but not as much is if it was a salary. I could be wrong, but that's my impression.

YellowXDart · Post by **YellowXDart** » Sat Mar 06, 2010 7:25 pm

fc_pga wrote:Finally got my first acceptance today - UCSB. Yay.

Congrats!

blackcat007 wrote:what this 23k is tax free?? I thought there would be taxes on them.. thus effectively we will be getting something less than the amount stated..

Any money you make in the U.S. will be taxed, including your stipend. I'm making around $2000 a month right now and end up paying about $400 per month for taxes. The amount varies from person to person based on the amount of exemptions you claim.

moyses wrote:I still don't understand very well the financial support in US universities. What you call stipend is the total amount of money that you get?? Or it is possible to make more money as a first year graduate student??
For example, I got accepted at NYU and they told me that the stipend is around 23k. This means that I will only receive 23k or I can find other ways to make more money? (like research assistantships ...)

Another question is: It is possible to live in NY with 23k/year?

The stipend is the total amount you get in addition to the tuition waiver. It is possible to make more money through fellowships, but the stipend already includes a RA or TA. Typically, you'll do a TA for your first year or two, and then move onto an RA which often pay more but not significantly so. As far as surviving in NYC on 23k a year, it will definitely be tight, but there are plenty who do it. My mom raised two kids on about $12,000 a year (although it wasn't in NYC). I just hope you don't have a taste for designer clothes and cavier.

zxcv · Post by **zxcv** » Sat Mar 06, 2010 7:45 pm

YellowXDart's tax estimate is off but he's right that there is no such thing as tax free income in the US -- he must be getting huge refunds when he files taxes each year. The real federal tax rate for somebody making around $2000/month is closer to $100/month.

Heads up for those who applied Berkeley -- all the grad admission decisions have been made. If you haven't heard back yet, contact Donna for your status.

grae313 · Post by **grae313** » Sun Mar 07, 2010 2:32 am

Also the stipend is usually for the academic year--9 months of TA/RA. You get more if you secure a summer appointment.

YellowXDart · Post by **YellowXDart** » Sun Mar 07, 2010 2:11 pm

Actually, I only got an $800 refund for last year, so that brings down my taxes to around $340 per month. Your financial offer should indicate whether it's for 9 months or 12 months.

theoretical_phys · Post by **theoretical_phys** » Mon Mar 08, 2010 10:00 am

Received an email from Oxford this morning, they want me to interview with them. I'm guessing they will not have funding!

jmason86 · Post by **jmason86** » Mon Mar 08, 2010 3:40 pm

Just got into UNM Physics/astro via email. W00T!

tincanman · Post by **tincanman** » Mon Mar 08, 2010 9:58 pm

zxcv wrote:Heads up for those who applied Berkeley -- all the grad admission decisions have been made. If you haven't heard back yet, contact Donna for your status.

Really? I emailed last night and still haven't heard back from Donna, but it seems from gradcafe that others were rejected by email today. In any case I wish they'd hurry up and send the bad news...

jmason86 · Post by **jmason86** » Mon Mar 08, 2010 11:41 pm

Ditto.

tincanman wrote:
zxcv wrote:Heads up for those who applied Berkeley -- all the grad admission decisions have been made. If you haven't heard back yet, contact Donna for your status.
Really? I emailed last night and still haven't heard back from Donna, but it seems from gradcafe that others were rejected by email today. In any case I wish they'd hurry up and send the bad news...

blackcat007 · Post by **blackcat007** » Tue Mar 09, 2010 3:57 pm

Accepted to University of Florida!!

lapen · Post by **lapen** » Tue Mar 09, 2010 6:33 pm

blackcat007 wrote:Accepted to University of Florida!!

Congrats!

matonski · Post by **matonski** » Tue Mar 09, 2010 10:22 pm

Still waiting for Caltech, Santa Barbara, UT Austin, and Columbia. My hopes aren't high though since each of those schools have sent out a good deal of acceptances already and zero rejections according to gradcafe.

blackcat007 · Post by **blackcat007** » Wed Mar 10, 2010 3:01 am

lapen wrote:
blackcat007 wrote:Accepted to University of Florida!!
Congrats!

Thanks

moyses · Post by **moyses** » Wed Mar 10, 2010 4:52 pm

Does anyone who got accepted to NYU already received the official offer letter? I still haven't received mine and I'm a little worried. Maybe it is OK since I'm an international student and received the informal e-mail friday (5).

terrence · Post by **terrence** » Thu Mar 11, 2010 5:43 am

moyses wrote:Does anyone who got accepted to NYU already received the official offer letter? I still haven't received mine and I'm a little worried. Maybe it is OK since I'm an international student and received the informal e-mail friday (5).

I got the unofficial acceptance mid-february and received the official offer letter last week, so I wouldn't be worried.

terrence · Post by **terrence** » Thu Mar 11, 2010 11:19 am

Is there anyone who received a rejection from Berkeley without inquiring via email or phone?

rp · Post by rp » Thu Mar 11, 2010 11:38 am

zxcv wrote: Heads up for those who applied Berkeley -- all the grad admission decisions have been made. If you haven't heard back yet, contact Donna for your status.

i contacted her and received no response. i think a large fraction of the applicants do read this forum, so i guess she's flooded with inquiries.

terrence wrote:Is there anyone who received a rejection from Berkeley without inquiring via email or phone?

there's a lot of berkeley acceptances on grad cafe, so I think there's not much chance by now. i wonder why they take so much time to send the rejection after they decide on it, ideas anyone?

matonski · Post by **matonski** » Thu Mar 11, 2010 11:59 am

terrence wrote:Is there anyone who received a rejection from Berkeley without inquiring via email or phone?

I did. They sent me an email just a couple days ago.

username1 · Post by **username1** » Thu Mar 11, 2010 1:39 pm

Dunno if this is interesting to anyone but I just received an email from boulder saying they have not made a decision on my application yet and that the first round of acceptances and rejections have gone out. The email was unsolicited. and to keep the rumors going, I was told by a boulder student that they have two open houses, anyone want to confirm/deny this?

mike164 · Post by **mike164** » Thu Mar 11, 2010 2:04 pm

username1 wrote:Dunno if this is interesting to anyone but I just received an email from boulder saying they have not made a decision on my application yet and that the first round of acceptances and rejections have gone out. The email was unsolicited. and to keep the rumors going, I was told by a boulder student that they have two open houses, anyone want to confirm/deny this?

I too received a similar e-mail.

My friend called UMD today. The secretary said that she is making offers right now and she is expecting to complete it by today. Next week they are closed for spring break. It seems they are also planning to send out rejections before spring break.

terrence · Post by **terrence** » Fri Mar 12, 2010 8:24 am

matonski wrote:Still waiting for Caltech, Santa Barbara, UT Austin, and Columbia. My hopes aren't high though since each of those schools have sent out a good deal of acceptances already and zero rejections according to gradcafe.

I am waiting for Caltech and UCSB too, I hope they will send their final decisions soon.

matonski wrote:
terrence wrote:Is there anyone who received a rejection from Berkeley without inquiring via email or phone?
I did. They sent me an email just a couple days ago.

Thank you, I also got the rejection email yesterday.