2011 Acceptances and profile discussions

BobD · Post by **BobD** » Sat Feb 19, 2011 10:38 am

Harvard sent out a bunch of acceptances on Feb 17 (according to gradcafe) and so far, apparently, at least one waitlist notification. Do you think they're finished, for domestic applicants? If so, boo hoo. What about MIT? Are they finished with acceptance notifications for domestic students also?

Dreaded Anomaly · Post by **Dreaded Anomaly** » Sat Feb 19, 2011 2:44 pm

BobD wrote:Harvard sent out a bunch of acceptances on Feb 17 (according to gradcafe) and so far, apparently, at least one waitlist notification. Do you think they're finished, for domestic applicants? If so, boo hoo. What about MIT? Are they finished with acceptance notifications for domestic students also?

Neither of them has sent me anything yet, at least. I would think that, if they were finished, they'd send out rejections.

CarlBrannen · Post by **CarlBrannen** » Sat Feb 19, 2011 3:22 pm

Dreaded Anomaly wrote:
BobD wrote:Harvard sent out a bunch of acceptances on Feb 17 (according to gradcafe) and so far, apparently, at least one waitlist notification. Do you think they're finished, for domestic applicants? If so, boo hoo. What about MIT? Are they finished with acceptance notifications for domestic students also?
Neither of them has sent me anything yet, at least. I would think that, if they were finished, they'd send out rejections.

Last year Harvard didn't bother to send out its rejections until early March. And there were some more in mid March. These included a few acceptances, but I'd bet that they were wait listed. In short, my guess is that if you haven't heard from Harvard yet, you're not going to go there.

Last year MIT sent out some acceptances around Feb 19th. I'm guessing these have gone out already as the grad cafe sample is showing 19 acceptances vs 16 acceptances for all last year. But it's possible they'll send out another group in a few days. But if you don't hear from them in the next 4 days I think that's out too. But they don't actually send out their rejections until early March.

-----------------------------------
P.S. Still no acceptances. If someone knows of a department who needs a hot shot electronics engineer / grad student, PGRE = 990, please send them my way. I'm easy to find on the web. Works cheap. House trained. Doesn't shed much. Theory or experiment. I'm fighting depression by writing a paper on how to derive the weak hypercharge and weak isospin quantum numbers from Hopf algebra:
http://brannenworks.com/E8/HopfWeakQNs.pdf

Astro-K · Post by **Astro-K** » Mon Feb 21, 2011 4:15 am

Accepted to New Mexico State astro today--batting .500 so far, with just one left to go!

fandangoya · Post by **fandangoya** » Mon Feb 21, 2011 3:57 pm

What would you guys say is the typical dress for an open house/visit? I was thinking of just a polo and khakis - would this be too informal or not?

admissionprof · Post by **admissionprof** » Mon Feb 21, 2011 4:01 pm

fandangoya wrote:What would you guys say is the typical dress for an open house/visit? I was thinking of just a polo and khakis - would this be too informal or not?

You should rent a tuxedo, and go in full formal attire.

Actually, if it's Minnesota, a polo and khakis would be a bit too cold, but otherwise it's fine.

WhoaNonstop · Post by **WhoaNonstop** » Mon Feb 21, 2011 4:41 pm

fandangoya wrote:What would you guys say is the typical dress for an open house/visit? I was thinking of just a polo and khakis - would this be too informal or not?

They are trying to impress you, not the other way around!

-Riley

db25 · Post by **db25** » Mon Feb 21, 2011 5:38 pm

To those "unofficially" accepted by Columbia physics (this year or in the last few years): how much time did it take for you to receive the official letter from the dean of the graduate school? Was it via email or snail mail? Should I consider the email I received, notifying me that I was recommended by the admissions committee, as a guarantee or is there a hidden danger?

Thanks

nonabelian · Post by **nonabelian** » Mon Feb 21, 2011 5:38 pm

has anybody heard from ubc at vancouver?

negru · Post by **negru** » Mon Feb 21, 2011 5:45 pm

db25 wrote:To those "unofficially" accepted by Columbia physics (this year or in the last few years): how much time did it take for you to receive the official letter from the dean of the graduate school? Was it via email or snail mail? Should I consider the email I received, notifying me that I was recommended by the admissions committee, as a guarantee or is there a hidden danger?

Thanks

There's always a hidden danger. There's always someone watching.

ruthrj · Post by **ruthrj** » Mon Feb 21, 2011 7:35 pm

Still no acceptance, waitlist, or rejection letters/emails for this astronomy student..... Really starting to believe I'm not getting accepted anywhere

WhoaNonstop · Post by **WhoaNonstop** » Mon Feb 21, 2011 7:58 pm

ruthrj wrote:Still no acceptance, waitlist, or rejection letters/emails for this astronomy student..... Really starting to believe I'm not getting accepted anywhere

They are just teasing you! If you haven't had any rejections that is good as well though... Start worrying at the beginning of March.

-Riley

The_Duck · Post by **The_Duck** » Mon Feb 21, 2011 8:00 pm

db25 wrote:To those "unofficially" accepted by Columbia physics (this year or in the last few years): how much time did it take for you to receive the official letter from the dean of the graduate school? Was it via email or snail mail? Should I consider the email I received, notifying me that I was recommended by the admissions committee, as a guarantee or is there a hidden danger?

From Columbia, I got a "we're recommending you to the dean" email and then a week later an email from an assistant dean with the official letter attached as a pdf.

I think the first email is pretty much a guarantee though. Very occasionally I think a department will want someone who doesn't meet hard lower limits set by their school (e.g. TOEFL or maybe GPA) and that can be a problem.

palex · Post by **palex** » Mon Feb 21, 2011 8:21 pm

nonabelian wrote:has anybody heard from ubc at vancouver?

Got accepted by e-mail on Saturday.

sphy · Post by **sphy** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 4:10 am

ruthrj wrote:Still no acceptance, waitlist, or rejection letters/emails for this astronomy student..... Really starting to believe I'm not getting accepted anywhere

Same story mate. This is really hard to bear especially when most of the students here have something to breath in for. I am Human. Trying to be

as the wise Indian Scripture "The Gita" instructs. I wish.........
phew!!!!!!

guthria · Post by **guthria** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 10:16 am

Accepted to the University of Arizona, Physics.

Happy.

guthria · Post by **guthria** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 10:20 am

Anyone from UofArizona here?

TR137 · Post by **TR137** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 10:54 am

sphy wrote:
ruthrj wrote:Still no acceptance, waitlist, or rejection letters/emails for this astronomy student..... Really starting to believe I'm not getting accepted anywhere
Same story mate. This is really hard to bear especially when most of the students here have something to breath in for. I am Human. Trying to be as the wise Indian Scripture "The Gita" instructs. I wish.........
phew!!!!!!

Meditation is a good idea at this point. Reflect on the likelihood that the profiles here are not a representative sample. Also keep in mind this process will drag on through March. These schools may have sent acceptances to fill their available spots, but most offers will be declined, then more acceptances will be sent.

grae313 · Post by **grae313** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 10:56 am

If you've received a letter or email or call of unofficial acceptance pending approval by the grad school, it's a done deal. The grad school does not make admissions decisions and approving the decisions of their departments is a formality. As mentioned, the only time it would be a problem is if you fail to meet the minimum requirements of the grad school (usually 3.0 gpa) in which case some strings might need to be pulled. If your gpa is over 3.0, please don't worry about it.

grae313 · Post by **grae313** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 11:04 am

fandangoya wrote:What would you guys say is the typical dress for an open house/visit? I was thinking of just a polo and khakis - would this be too informal or not?

You'll be walking around a lot, touring labs, facilities, the campus, and the town, so dress to be comfortable. Graduate school is a casual place and you will look very silly if you are too dressed up. In khakis and a polo you will probably be one of the better dressed of your group. If that's your style though, go for it.

bfollinprm · Post by **bfollinprm** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 12:14 pm

TR137 wrote: These schools may have sent acceptances to fill their available spots, but most offers will be declined, then more acceptances will be sent.

Yeah. If you compare the average PGRE scores here vs the published results on gradschoolshopper for certain schools (like, say, Stanford), you find that the posts here represent the top quartile of applicants (at least by this indicator). I bet that translates across schools. Put it this way: if we assume Chicago's application pool is just those who posted on physicsgre.com, to get to the 894 number for average PGRE score chicago reported last year they would have to either (a) enroll 2-3 people with scores in the low 700's or (b) enroll 5-6 in the 800 range that haven't been accepted already.

Either way, we should see more acceptances at some point across all but the very best (and small) schools (think Princeton and Harvard).

sphy · Post by **sphy** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 12:44 pm

TR137 wrote:
sphy wrote:
ruthrj wrote:Still no acceptance, waitlist, or rejection letters/emails for this astronomy student..... Really starting to believe I'm not getting accepted anywhere
Same story mate. This is really hard to bear especially when most of the students here have something to breath in for. I am Human. Trying to be as the wise Indian Scripture "The Gita" instructs. I wish.........
phew!!!!!!
Meditation is a good idea at this point. Reflect on the likelihood that the profiles here are not a representative sample. Also keep in mind this process will drag on through March. These schools may have sent acceptances to fill their available spots, but most offers will be declined, then more acceptances will be sent.

Thanks for your words of reassurance.
In my meditation my breath is becoming turbulent instead of streamlined.

sphy · Post by **sphy** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 12:49 pm

grae313 wrote:If you've received a letter or email or call of unofficial acceptance pending approval by the grad school, it's a done deal. The grad school does not make admissions decisions and approving the decisions of their departments is a formality. As mentioned, the only time it would be a problem is if you fail to meet the minimum requirements of the grad school (usually 3.0 gpa) in which case some strings might need to be pulled. If your gpa is over 3.0, please don't worry about it.

I don't know to whom it was addressed. But sounds soothing to my ear. Thanks.

drunkscientist · Post by **drunkscientist** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 1:10 pm

I received an email (typed on the institute's letter head) that read "You have been selected by our department for admission and full financial aid. After approval from the graduate school, you will soon receive the full admission package". They also invited me for a visit. Since I am from an international school, the G.P.A is not applicable to my case. What are your thoughts on this ? Can this be considered confirmed ?

grae313 · Post by **grae313** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 1:14 pm

Yes.

Unofficial acceptances are official acceptances that have not made their way through the bureaucracy to get their formal stamp of approval yet. The "grad school" does not evaluate applicants or make admissions decisions beyond making sure you meet the minimum requirements of the University and haven't committed a felony. I'll say it again: it's just a formality. When the department tells you that you have been recommended for admission or whatever the wording, that's it. You're in.

negru · Post by **negru** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 1:22 pm

so many mouth-breathers...

and why would the GPA thing not apply to your case? not impossible to rescale from one system to another you know...

cryingsun · Post by **cryingsun** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 1:40 pm

I just feel amused that someone who got into pton and still has not posted his/her profile is calling others mouth-breathers

WhoaNonstop · Post by **WhoaNonstop** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 2:57 pm

cryingsun wrote:I just feel amused that someone who got into pton and still has not posted his/her profile is calling others mouth-breathers

Remember, the main reason why people shouldn't post their profiles is because it might link with their attitude/personality on an online forum. It should make sense why he (definitely a he) does not post his.

-Riley

negru · Post by **negru** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 3:07 pm

oh, so now females have a biological dysfunction preventing them from trolling/being assholes?

grae313 · Post by **grae313** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 3:18 pm

Oh yes, and like our other dysfunctions, we're going to need support groups and special fellowship programs to helps us overcome this.

vesperlynd · Post by **vesperlynd** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 3:23 pm

negru · Post by **negru** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 3:23 pm

Also, maybe I'm not posting my profile because I'm a very modest person and don't like to show off.

bfollinprm · Post by **bfollinprm** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 3:25 pm

negru wrote:Also, maybe I'm not posting my profile because I'm a very modest person and don't like to show off.

That certainly fits my mental picture of you...

vesperlynd · Post by **vesperlynd** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 3:26 pm

bfollinprm · Post by **bfollinprm** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 3:27 pm

cryingsun wrote:I just feel amused that someone who got into pton and still has not posted his/her profile is calling others mouth-breathers

It's totally okay to be an ass-breather in negru morality.

negru · Post by **negru** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 3:28 pm

vesperlynd wrote:
negru wrote:Also, maybe I'm not posting my profile because I'm a very modest person and don't like to show off.
What about helping future applicants? I didn't post my profile to show off, but to let people know that your PGRE is not all that important. I'm sure Matto07 and others would agree.

My PGRE score would probably not help with that very much

astrok · Post by **astrok** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 3:30 pm

negru wrote:
vesperlynd wrote:
negru wrote:Also, maybe I'm not posting my profile because I'm a very modest person and don't like to show off.
What about helping future applicants? I didn't post my profile to show off, but to let people know that your PGRE is not all that important. I'm sure Matto07 and others would agree.
My PGRE score would probably not help with that very much

Modesty at its finest.

negru · Post by **negru** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 3:40 pm

Also, what would help future applicants more than knowing a random collection of stats would be learning to play the admission game. I can tell you I don't have a perfect PGRE, don't have any publications, no world-renowned letter writers, don't come from a top 10 school. I know what adcoms want and I give them that.

That's why I found it hard to resist responding to the above poster worrying about official admissions and intl GPA requirements. With all due respect, if you don't know these basic things, or can't figure them out by yourself, don't be surprised you're not getting top admissions even though you might have had decent stats.

negru · Post by **negru** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 3:47 pm

especially after the question had just been answered..

nonabelian · Post by **nonabelian** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 4:03 pm

palex wrote:
nonabelian wrote:has anybody heard from ubc at vancouver?
Got accepted by e-mail on Saturday.

is there a way you can see whether you have been accepted from your online application?

WhoaNonstop · Post by **WhoaNonstop** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 4:22 pm

WhoaNonstop wrote:It should make sense why he (definitely a he) does not post his.

negru wrote:oh, so now females have a biological dysfunction preventing them from trolling/being assholes?

negru wrote:Yes I also believe females should be surgically equipped with a spare hose to put out fires, so they will be as likely as men to become firewomen.

Did I make a mistake negru? Do we need to surgically equip you with a spare hose since yours doesn't work?

-Riley

HappyQuark · Post by **HappyQuark** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 4:36 pm

negru wrote:oh, so now females have a biological dysfunction preventing them from trolling/being assholes?

I'm almost positive he's mentioning your gender as a reference to the many posts you made in which you adamantly insisted that women are weak, inept and that they take advantage of cultural norms and government programs to receive undeserved privileges.

negru · Post by **negru** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 4:51 pm

HappyQuark wrote:
negru wrote:oh, so now females have a biological dysfunction preventing them from trolling/being assholes?
I'm almost positive he's mentioning your gender as a reference to the many posts you made in which you adamantly insisted that women are weak, inept and that they take advantage of cultural norms and government programs to receive undeserved privileges.

Yeah I was just playing the devil's advocate.

ruthrj · Post by **ruthrj** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 5:37 pm

Rejected from UT @ Austin Astronomy today through an e-mail inquiry on my application status. Know what made it worse? They got my name wrong in the reply e-mail too

Slightly better note, I'm waitlisted at U of Washington. Better than a flat out rejection, even if I'm not in the top of the list. The tally: no acceptances, 1 waitlist, and 1 rejection out of 9 schools..... Can only go up from here!

HappyQuark · Post by **HappyQuark** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 6:32 pm

negru wrote:
HappyQuark wrote:
negru wrote:oh, so now females have a biological dysfunction preventing them from trolling/being assholes?
I'm almost positive he's mentioning your gender as a reference to the many posts you made in which you adamantly insisted that women are weak, inept and that they take advantage of cultural norms and government programs to receive undeserved privileges.
Yeah I was just playing the devil's advocate.

I'm more inclined to believe that your reply was an attempt to shift attention away from your embarrassing comments (i.e. the ones Riley was referencing) by suggesting that he was making inconsiderate comments. I believe this because your history on the forum is one of constant backpedaling and borderline misogyny, hence why I find it hard to believe that you were playing devil's advocate on behalf of all womankind.

Also, you tend to be a bit of a cock.

HappyQuark · Post by **HappyQuark** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 6:34 pm

ruthrj wrote:Rejected from UT @ Austin Astronomy today through an e-mail inquiry on my application status. Know what made it worse? They got my name wrong in the reply e-mail too

Slightly better note, I'm waitlisted at U of Washington. Better than a flat out rejection, even if I'm not in the top of the list. The tally: no acceptances, 1 waitlist, and 1 rejection out of 9 schools..... Can only go up from here!

You ought to respond by saying.

"Should I assume that because <incorrect name> wasn't admitted to your institution that I, <correct name>, am still being considered for a position in your program?"

ruthrj · Post by **ruthrj** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 6:51 pm

HappyQuark wrote:
ruthrj wrote:Rejected from UT @ Austin Astronomy today through an e-mail inquiry on my application status. Know what made it worse? They got my name wrong in the reply e-mail too

Slightly better note, I'm waitlisted at U of Washington. Better than a flat out rejection, even if I'm not in the top of the list. The tally: no acceptances, 1 waitlist, and 1 rejection out of 9 schools..... Can only go up from here!
You ought to respond by saying.

"Should I assume that because <incorrect name> wasn't admitted to your institution that I, <correct name>, am still being considered for a position in your program?"

I was SO tempted to do that. Thanks for the laugh!

drunkscientist · Post by **drunkscientist** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 9:00 pm

@grae, I just got an official acceptance (before 10 mins) from the graduate school. Thank you very much !

@negru , its always nice to get a quick question answered in a forum like this especially, if you have been thinking about it a lot. It might be true that you know how to play the so called "admission game" better, but with my 2 Phys. Rev. publications one of which has more than 50 citations, I was still able to get into a couple of ivy schools. Thanks !

Finally, it is so immodest to claim that you are "modest". With no pubs, great recos, and other stuff you mentioned, there is nothing at all to be modest about !

palex · Post by **palex** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 9:08 pm

nonabelian wrote:
palex wrote:
nonabelian wrote:has anybody heard from ubc at vancouver?
Got accepted by e-mail on Saturday.

is there a way you can see whether you have been accepted from your online application?

No, it just says the application is complete, just like before. I have a friend with a better profile than me (IMO) who still hasn't herd anything from them, I wouldn't worry. I applied to HEP-th, if that matters. Also, I applied to the M. Sc, and if I do go there I'll just do direct transfer to PhD in a year.

negru · Post by **negru** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 9:33 pm

drunkscientist wrote:@grae, I just got an official acceptance (before 10 mins) from the graduate school. Thank you very much !

@negru , its always nice to get a quick question answered in a forum like this especially, if you have been thinking about it a lot. It might be true that you know how to play the so called "admission game" better, but with my 2 Phys. Rev. publications one of which has more than 50 citations, I was still able to get into a couple of ivy schools. Thanks !

Finally, it is so immodest to claim that you are "modest". With no pubs, great recos, and other stuff you mentioned, there is nothing at all to be modest about !

Yeah and my point was that spending some time reading on how stuff works those papers would have gotten you even better admissions (if possible).