Application season off to a bad start...

[sumits2k]

I got rejected from 3 schools and waitlisted in 1 so far. And I've noticed I've been getting my rejections from schools several days after I see people getting accepted (on this website, gradcafe etc). This pattern has been a cause of panic for me. Do schools send out all the acceptances and waitlists first, and then rejections? (if this is true, I am F**KED!) Or do they do this in waves? (sets of acceptances/rejections at a time).

Apologies if this has already been discussed before (I didn't find one), but after my rejection from Colorado today and seeing students already getting replies from Austin, Penn State, Berkeley, Cornell, Columbia etc., I'm getting the terrible feeling there will be more rejections and 0 acceptances heading my way.

I'm applying to Astronomy btw. Any help will be appreciated, thanks!

[wiak2]

Don't know the answer, but I'm in the same boat. Just hoping to get one acceptance at this point.

[GeorgeThe4th]

It does appear that they mostly accept in waves. I looked at last year's postings on gradcafe, and it was right around this time in mid-february that the rejections began to flood in. Presumably that was the point that many of the universities had finished sending out their first big wave of acceptances, and so they followed it up with the rejections.

In any case, I noticed in your profile that you are applying to U Minnesota for theoretical/computational astro. I've been working with the computational astro group at MN for the past year as part of my senior thesis. The group is pretty small now, and after this summer there will probably be only one grad student left (one recently graduated, and another will this summer). Also I talked to one of the members of the admissions committee, and they told me that they have had more applications this year than any other year in the past. However, they also told me that they are aiming to get six new graduate students for this fall, which is a little more than normal.

So while I don't know anything regarding your application there, I do know that the group certainly -may- have the space, and that you definitely shouldn't rule them out yet.

[dfeld31]

Applied to 10 schools, only heard from 1 and it was a rejection. How many "waves" of acceptances/rejections are there? Is it usually... Acceptances late January/ early February... then rejections mid/late February.... then acceptances early/mid March, and rejections late March/ early April?

[Shadowknite25]

@sumits2k. I saw that you applied to LSU and Pittsburgh. I haven't heard from LSU, but I got accepted from Pittsburgh on 2/9. However, since I got accepted somewhere else, I will probably decline the offer. Your profile is a LOT better than mine, so if you haven't got rejected from Pittsburgh, I think you got really good chance of getting in. At least, if you're on the waitlist, there'll be an open slot for sure in the future for you.

[bfollinprm]

I'll just preface that this is only a slightly informed opinion, not fact, but I'll share it anyway. And, to be honest, this probably applies more to domestic students than international (international students can be rejected for many more reasons that can be university-specific), so no real help for the OP.

Probably not what you want to hear, but in general, if you are getting rejections from your "fit" schools around mid February, I'd start start making sure your safeties were actually safe bets for acceptances. If you haven't heard back from anywhere, don't panic--at this point, they're mostly weeding out those applicants who at the bottom of the pile and accepting those at the top; however, if you are getting rejections, it means you might have overestimated the strength of your application (unless your rejections are coming from reaches, of course).

[dfeld31]

I'll just preface that this is only a slightly informed opinion, not fact, but I'll share it anyway. And, to be honest, this probably applies more to domestic students than international (international students can be rejected for many more reasons that can be university-specific), so no real help for the OP.

Probably not what you want to hear, but in general, if you are getting rejections from your "fit" schools around mid February, I'd start start making sure your safeties were actually safe bets for acceptances. If you haven't heard back from anywhere, don't panic--at this point, they're mostly weeding out those applicants who at the bottom of the pile and accepting those at the top; however, if you are getting rejections, it means you might have overestimated the strength of your application (unless your rejections are coming from reaches, of course).

I don't really mind this.... since it's not really rejections i've been hearing, just crickets. I am scared though of all this "rejections swarm in after the acceptances", and it seems like acceptances were just pretty much dolled out. Time will tell i guess.

[sumits2k]

@sumits2k. I saw that you applied to LSU and Pittsburgh. I haven't heard from LSU, but I got accepted from Pittsburgh on 2/9. However, since I got accepted somewhere else, I will probably decline the offer. Your profile is a LOT better than mine, so if you haven't got rejected from Pittsburgh, I think you got really good chance of getting in. At least, if you're on the waitlist, there'll be an open slot for sure in the future for you.

Yeah I just got accepted to Pittsburgh! Thanks for the heads-up man.

@wiak2- I really hope you get in somewhere man. You're profile is quite similar to mine, so I'm hoping things turn out well for both of us. Let me know if need any help.

@dfeld31 - I think if you haven't heard back from anyone, you're application is on still on the table in most of the places. Post your profile and I guess we can give you a better idea of stuff. Good luck nonetheless!

Everyone else - thanks for all the info. I feel slightly less damaged now!

[Shadowknite25]

@sumits2k. I saw that you applied to LSU and Pittsburgh. I haven't heard from LSU, but I got accepted from Pittsburgh on 2/9. However, since I got accepted somewhere else, I will probably decline the offer. Your profile is a LOT better than mine, so if you haven't got rejected from Pittsburgh, I think you got really good chance of getting in. At least, if you're on the waitlist, there'll be an open slot for sure in the future for you.

Yeah I just got accepted to Pittsburgh! Thanks for the heads-up man.

@wiak2- I really hope you get in somewhere man. You're profile is quite similar to mine, so I'm hoping things turn out well for both of us. Let me know if need any help.

@dfeld31 - I think if you haven't heard back from anyone, you're application is on still on the table in most of the places. Post your profile and I guess we can give you a better idea of stuff. Good luck nonetheless!

Everyone else - thanks for all the info. I feel slightly less damaged now!

Congratulation! Pittsburgh is a beautiful city. Also, the cost of living there is so low, and the school really has money to support you. I had a hard time deciding to give it up. I forgot that you're an international student, so I guess it's more difficult to get in grad schools. I'm a domestic student, so I do feel lucky. Again, congrat!

[wiak2]

@wiak2- I really hope you get in somewhere man. You're profile is quite similar to mine, so I'm hoping things turn out well for both of us. Let me know if need any help.

Thanks and congratulations!! I just emailed Colorado since I didn't get a rejection and they said that I'm one of 12 applicants they're still considering. They'll let me know next week, so here's hoping! I love the mountains