Listing Grad school responses (Admits & Rejects)...

dbl · Post by **dbl** » Wed Feb 21, 2007 12:09 am

I chatted with the professor whose group I work in (he's a senior faculty at a very good Ivy astro program). Basically, the majority of departments have already sent out their first round of both acceptances and rejections. At this point, if you haven't heard anything, its probably because you're somewhere on a waiting list (again, note that this applies to most universities by now, not all).

The only people who are going to know where you are on the waiting list is the faculty at each department. The most they can really tell you is one of three things: you'll probably get in, you're 50/50, or you're at the bottom of the list. This is supported by what he told me and a professor I e-mailed at one of the colleges I haven't heard anything from yet.

This is where its good to have a previous contact in the department - you have a better chance of getting a response. Also note that whether contacting a faculty member is a good idea is an unanswered question and depends on whether that person had a good day or a bad day.

Asianbob · Post by **Asianbob** » Wed Feb 21, 2007 2:51 am

I'd rather be one of the first chosen as a definite accepted applicant. The waiting sucks.

schmit.paul · Post by **schmit.paul** » Wed Feb 21, 2007 2:55 am

backsidaa,

thanks for the info...i'm still waiting to hear from Berkeley, Stanford, and Harvard... for some reason Harvard's been on my mind a lot lately

rjharris,

Thanks man. Yeah, I would have applied to MIT for particle physics if I had known that there was absolutely no chance to get in as a plasma theory student. I knew funding was very limited, but no one in the plasma faculty discouraged me from applying as a plasma theory student, which I assumed to be a sign that they would at least consider the applicants and admit one or two of them. They also told me that, because Alcator is so well funded, I could mention a willingness to do theory support for the Alcator project, which I believe I did, and they still were inflexible. Oh well, Princeton Plasma Physics is a much larger and well-funded program and probably better for an aspiring theorist (that is, if Caltech or :crosses fingers: Harvard doesn't suck me into high energy theory!). are you leaning toward any of your acceptances right now?

nimbus · Post by **nimbus** » Wed Feb 21, 2007 9:31 am

Has anyone heard from UIUC or UCSBarbara Biophysics?
I´m afraid Chile is 12-14 days away from the USA by s-mail

monomer · Post by **monomer** » Wed Feb 21, 2007 12:24 pm

Just got acceptance from Yale, via website.

dan1234 · Post by **dan1234** » Wed Feb 21, 2007 2:41 pm

Just called the Princeton physics office - it seems that ALL who have been admitted have already been e-mailed.

Quaoar · Post by **Quaoar** » Wed Feb 21, 2007 3:16 pm

Hmm, I'm a bit confused on Stanford Physics. Last year, it seems like people were getting acceptances to the program in early February, but this year the only responses I see on this thread so far are from Biohysics. Has anyone heard from Stanford's Physics department?

rjharris · Post by **rjharris** » Wed Feb 21, 2007 3:35 pm

just got the e-mail from caltech physics.

said that the committee was in the process of finalizing admissions, but i'd be recommended for admission. woot.

dbl · Post by **dbl** » Wed Feb 21, 2007 3:42 pm

Same here on caltech.

physgeek · Post by **physgeek** » Wed Feb 21, 2007 3:54 pm

I also just got an email from Caltech, so excited.

Quaoar · Post by **Quaoar** » Wed Feb 21, 2007 4:10 pm

Nothing from CalTech for me; since the tone of the e-mail seems to indicate that the selections are all but final, I guess I'll have to assume I was rejected.

T.Bain · Post by **T.Bain** » Wed Feb 21, 2007 5:04 pm

Although I have been following this thread for quite some time, I just now decided to create an account and add some information.

So far I have only heard back from University of Toronto (Physics) with an acceptance by email yesterday morning. I am stil waiting on any sort of response from UW, UCSB, UCLA, UCSD, Chicago, Columbia, and NYU (All physics departments, with emphasis on experimental high energy/collider physics)

I was curious how many (if any) others on this site were leaning towards experimental high energy? I don't seem to see too many people mentioning it.

I'm hoping what everyone is saying is true, that if you haven't heard anything by now, you're probably on a waiting list. I would love to go to Toronto, but I still don't want to see 7 rejections in a row now.

phun · Post by **phun** » Wed Feb 21, 2007 5:13 pm

@qauoar:

I've been following this thread religiously and haven't seen a post about stanford applied physics. are you sure about what you said?

Quaoar · Post by **Quaoar** » Wed Feb 21, 2007 5:30 pm

@phun: Whoops, I meant biophysics, not applied physics.

izobel · Post by **izobel** » Wed Feb 21, 2007 5:38 pm

I have only heard from Cornell so far (rejected). I have yet to hear from six schools and I'm starting to get nervous. Has anyone actually heard from Hawaii, Columbia, University of Wisconsin-Madison or University of Santa Cruz for Astronomy?

Quaoar · Post by **Quaoar** » Wed Feb 21, 2007 5:46 pm

@izobel: UCSC Astronomy doesn't get back to people until March 1st. I checked the thread from last year and that's when the first people started getting replies from them.

sg83 · Post by **sg83** » Wed Feb 21, 2007 6:05 pm

@izobel
was the Cornell rejection by e mail or s mail??
Are u an international student?

anyon · Post by **anyon** » Wed Feb 21, 2007 6:08 pm

got an acceptance email from berkeley physics today.

dbl · Post by **dbl** » Wed Feb 21, 2007 7:16 pm

A friend of mine already got into Wisconsin-Madison for astro. Cornell astro has already made their primary wave of acceptances - I don't know if they've notified everyone though yet about rejections. If you haven't heard from them, it probably means you're on the wait list.

Asianbob · Post by **Asianbob** » Wed Feb 21, 2007 7:55 pm

How long is a typical waitlist?

kdub · Post by **kdub** » Wed Feb 21, 2007 8:55 pm

I was accepted to Hawaii astronomy a couple weeks ago by phone. I'm also waiting on Columbia and Santa Cruz.

Bufalay · Post by **Bufalay** » Wed Feb 21, 2007 10:30 pm

Hey Travis Congrats on Toronto you sack!

izobel · Post by **izobel** » Thu Feb 22, 2007 12:46 am

My rejection from cornell was via email and i'm not an international student.

::sigh::

Quaoar · Post by **Quaoar** » Thu Feb 22, 2007 2:46 am

Just got accepted to UCSC Astronomy.

shivaraj · Post by **shivaraj** » Thu Feb 22, 2007 5:57 am

Hi CPT,
It would be better if you can update the main list ( I think there are new additions like chicago, Princeton, Berkeley, UIUC, penn State etc)

nb · Post by nb » Thu Feb 22, 2007 7:54 am

Can anyone explain what is it s-mail and how long it takes until a letter arrives form USA to the middle east ??

newscience · Post by **newscience** » Thu Feb 22, 2007 8:47 am

I was accepted to Columbia and Santa Cruz for astronomy; found out yesterday. Exciting to visit NYC!

Daharoni · Post by **Daharoni** » Thu Feb 22, 2007 1:28 pm

Just for accepted to Rutgers Physics by email

nimbus · Post by **nimbus** » Thu Feb 22, 2007 1:53 pm

@nb
s-mail stands for snail mail, it takes 12 days from the USA to Chile, South America (2 bussines days via Courier like DHL, TNT and others). So, how long does it take to ........middle east?

Daharoni · Post by **Daharoni** » Thu Feb 22, 2007 2:14 pm

I just got accepted to UCLA physics as well! I am so excited about this. I went to UCLA for undergrad and absolutely loved it. I would recommend it for everyone. Also my girlfriend got in there too for philosophy (UCLA is ranked like 7th or 9th or something for that).

Anyways, now I can start sending rejection letter to my back up schools also UCSB and UCSD.

They are giving me an extra fellowship for 16000 the first year and 4000 the next 5 years!

I AM SOOOOO HAPPY!

dan1234 · Post by **dan1234** » Thu Feb 22, 2007 2:20 pm

congrats Daharoni, i completely understand how you feel! my girlfriend got into uchicago chemistry (physical chemistry) and i got in for condensed matter (theory??) with a pretty sweet offer, so we're both VERY excited to check it out. We have an overlap with Yale, too, but I think UChicago would be better as far as our interests go.

In complete honesty, does anyone have a concrete idea of how UChic stands are far as condensed matter goes? I know there are obvious favorites (Harvard, MIT, etc.), but what about beyond that? I really appreciate the responses.

EDIT: By concrete, I mean something not out of US News

-Dan

dbl · Post by **dbl** » Thu Feb 22, 2007 2:22 pm

I don't know how long waitlists are. I've been told they definitely do take people from waitlists and until you get rejected, you might still get in. But again, that depends a lot on the individual school and how many people go there. Best thing to do is e-mail if you don't mind the risk.

soluyanov · Post by **soluyanov** » Thu Feb 22, 2007 2:59 pm

dan132, it depends much on what exactly is interesting to you. Check out Leo Kadanoff, he has some cond mat projects. He is a megastar.

dan1234 · Post by **dan1234** » Thu Feb 22, 2007 3:05 pm

heh, yeah, the "kadanoff construction" section in my textbook clued me in to that one

phun · Post by **phun** » Thu Feb 22, 2007 5:11 pm

about uchicago condensed matter:

I did an REU there.
Sidney Nagel is a good man. His research seemed interesting, too (granular materials).

jormiga · Post by **jormiga** » Thu Feb 22, 2007 8:13 pm

I have worked with Tom Witten (UChicago). Part of his work is on theoretical soft condensed matter (thin sheets.) There is an article about this area of research in this month's Physics Today, so you might want to take a look. He is an awesome person and scientist, by the way.

schmit.paul · Post by **schmit.paul** » Thu Feb 22, 2007 9:18 pm

yeah phun, sid nagel gave our distinguished lecture at my institution last semester, very interesting and well-respected guy.

Just got offer from UCLA with $20,000 fellowship, and Caltech finally sent me my official admission notice with a graduate teaching assistanceship offer...$24,500 over 9 months. Any idea how far $24,500 goes in Pasadena (including whatever amount gets stolen in taxes)? I imagine I'll be living like a pauper...i need to look into dedicated graduate housing. Here's to hoping for one of those fellowships to come through...

JackSkellington · Post by **JackSkellington** » Thu Feb 22, 2007 9:23 pm

Congratulations on UCLA and Chicago! They're both great schools from what I understand. I know UChicago has produced a number of Nobel laureates...

Lately Ive felt like I really dropped the ball and overlooked some great programs in cmt, but I can't apply for them now. I have this nagging feeling that I've competely screwed up some potential opportunities (altho I can't complain too much about my options). I guess its natural to second guess oneself....Anybody else ever feel like that??

izobel · Post by **izobel** » Thu Feb 22, 2007 9:28 pm

Well, I dropped upwards of $500 on grad school applications and have been rejected by email by two of the 7 programs I applied to (UCLA, Cornell). I have not heard from any other schools so, yes, I too am starting to second guess.

On the upshot I got a job offer from Boeing today. If I accept I'll still be in LA.

phun · Post by **phun** » Thu Feb 22, 2007 9:59 pm

@Daharoni:

Well, this might sound like a stupid question, but what about UCLA physics dept. do you especially like (as to make you wanna go there over UCSB or UCSD)? which professors in biophysics or condensed matter (both experiment and theory) are known to be good advisors? And also, how would living on 26k in LA be like? (I got an offer, and I'm interested in finding out more about UCLA)

xanth · Post by **xanth** » Thu Feb 22, 2007 11:27 pm

Has anyone heard from Brown yet?

jormiga · Post by **jormiga** » Thu Feb 22, 2007 11:37 pm

$24,500 over 9 months is good money even in Pasadena, schmit. If you want to have roommates, you can pay as little as $500/month for housing. If you want to live alone, it would probably cost you about $850 and up. You are not going to live like a pauper, at least for 9 months

In the summer, Caltech will pay you $500/week at the very least for doing research.

I received the official acceptance from Caltech materials today, and they offered me a $26,000 over 12 months fellowship. I think is possible to live on that in LA, phun, but sadly, you will not have too much left to spend in beers

.

schmit.paul · Post by **schmit.paul** » Fri Feb 23, 2007 12:07 am

thanks for the info jormiga, and congrats on the fellowship. I assume you'll be visiting during their information weekend...what are you thinking of going into? I'm nearly dead set on high energy theory, especially if I go to Caltech, but i'm interested to hear what their condensed matter theory group is doing in case something really captures my interest.

i'm hoping either the NSF or the NDSEG comes through so I can come in to grad school with the first 3 years paid for....anyone know what exactly happens if you wind up accepting an offer at a school other than the one you declare as your "top institution" on the fellowship applications? They've got to be transferrable, but I'm not sure what the formalities are for those two fellowships.

Daharoni · Post by **Daharoni** » Fri Feb 23, 2007 3:24 am

@phun

First of all, I would normally consider UCSD and UCSB but since they are not that good for philosophy (especially compare to UCLA) they are kind of out of the question. It is important for me to go to a school that is good for my girlfriend as well... SD is like 30th, SB is like 40th and UCLA is 9th. I have visited both UCSD and UCSB... their locations are amazing and SB has an amazing physics program.

Saying that, here is why I love UCLA so much.
The grad students seemed to be relaxed. Everyone was so helpful and willing to spend time talking about physics. Almost all my professors were amazing teachers and are doing great research too. I had professors that would come sit in on discussion section just to make sure everyone was doing ok. The department is large enough to where they have really good people working on every field. We also just got a new Physics and Astro Building, it is very nice. If you are considering doing plasma physics, ucla is top and has the largest equipment out of all American universities (I took a tour of the wear house and it was amazing). UCLA also is in a wonderful location... westwood is very nice and you are 5 or 10 minutes from the ocean. I applied under condensed matter but I think I will go into High Energy and UCLA is really good for that. I never had school spirit as I was growing up but I am such a huge UCLA fan now. Almost everyone walking around is wearing some article of clothing with UCLA on it. Anyways, you can email me at daharoni at ucla dot edu if you have specific questions (that goes for any one considering UCLA). Just out of curiosity will you message me and tell me what fellowship they offered you. I am not sure how common the one I got was.

Gti337 · Post by **Gti337** » Fri Feb 23, 2007 11:40 am

Just got the Princeton rejection.

likeafox · Post by **likeafox** » Fri Feb 23, 2007 11:42 am

me too...

Richter · Post by **Richter** » Fri Feb 23, 2007 11:48 am

Got rejection from Princeton...
Never mind, man.... It is Princeton's loss

Daharoni · Post by **Daharoni** » Fri Feb 23, 2007 1:48 pm

I just got the Princeton rejection email. They sure did it nicely... much nicer than Yale.

dbl · Post by **dbl** » Fri Feb 23, 2007 4:03 pm

Rejected from columbia physics 1/2 hour ago.

artist · Post by **artist** » Fri Feb 23, 2007 4:16 pm

Hooray, I just got into Rice physics with a yearly stipend of $23,800.

I was also accepted into Wash. U., but haven't heard back from UIUC or USC, so I assume I am on the waiting lists there.

Listing Grad school responses (Admits & Rejects)...

Biophysics

astronomy anyone?

update please

s-mail