Decision Dates

Sats · Post by **Sats** » Thu Feb 12, 2015 10:26 pm

slowdweller wrote:
Sats wrote:Duke sent a wave of responses out early this morning.
Thumbs down on my end, but I hope someone else got in!
I'm glad they let me know early on.
I'm neither in nor out yet... Did they send an email with the decision or an email telling you to check the website?

Yeah, got a little email telling me to check the website. I assume that's how most universities tell you their responses. Keep your hopes up!

shep23 · Post by **shep23** » Fri Feb 13, 2015 3:23 pm

Maryland send out at least 1 interview request today (Astronomy). Also, Columbia Astrophysics apparently gave its first acceptance today (astro again)

DivineHorseCloud · Post by **DivineHorseCloud** » Fri Feb 13, 2015 4:53 pm

shep23 wrote:Maryland send out at least 1 interview request today (Astronomy). Also, Columbia Astrophysics apparently gave its first acceptance today (astro again)

Hi were you accepted to Columbia astro? Was there any info on whether they are doing an open house and when it might be?

Sportsfan77777 · Post by **Sportsfan77777** » Fri Feb 13, 2015 5:32 pm

DivineHorseCloud wrote:
shep23 wrote:Maryland send out at least 1 interview request today (Astronomy). Also, Columbia Astrophysics apparently gave its first acceptance today (astro again)
Hi were you accepted to Columbia astro? Was there any info on whether they are doing an open house and when it might be?

I did not apply there, but...

"Admission letter did not indicate open house info..."
Source: http://www.thegradcafe.com/survey/index.php?q=astro*

DivineHorseCloud · Post by **DivineHorseCloud** » Fri Feb 13, 2015 5:46 pm

Sportsfan77777 wrote:
DivineHorseCloud wrote:
shep23 wrote:Maryland send out at least 1 interview request today (Astronomy). Also, Columbia Astrophysics apparently gave its first acceptance today (astro again)
Hi were you accepted to Columbia astro? Was there any info on whether they are doing an open house and when it might be?
I did not apply there, but...

"Admission letter did not indicate open house info..."
Source: http://www.thegradcafe.com/survey/index.php?q=astro*

I wrote that entry. -_-

Really want to visit their department...

slowdweller · Post by **slowdweller** » Fri Feb 13, 2015 11:58 pm

For a Friday in mid-February, it was a fairly slow day today for admissions. Not many schools sent out mass acceptances. I called Harvard and Berkeley and they said they should be releasing first round of offers next week.

blackmass · Post by **blackmass** » Sat Feb 14, 2015 12:19 am

slowdweller wrote:For a Friday in mid-February, it was a fairly slow day today for admissions. Not many schools sent out mass acceptances. I called Harvard and Berkeley and they said they should be releasing first round of offers next week.

I thought so too. Guess we'll see what next week brings.

wompwomp · Post by **wompwomp** » Sat Feb 14, 2015 12:21 am

slowdweller wrote:For a Friday in mid-February, it was a fairly slow day today for admissions. Not many schools sent out mass acceptances. I called Harvard and Berkeley and they said they should be releasing first round of offers next week.

No mass rejections yet either. This is surprisingly late.

This drawn out process is driving me bonkers. Draining the life out of me. My sleep pattern is wrecked. My work is suffering. My heart goes through some crazy palpitations every time I get an email. If this continues, I am probably going to die of arrhythmia in the next week or so.

My headstone will have the carving "Graduate school applicant".

jagjitsinghsidhu192 · Post by **jagjitsinghsidhu192** » Sat Feb 14, 2015 12:51 am

slowdweller wrote:For a Friday in mid-February, it was a fairly slow day today for admissions. Not many schools sent out mass acceptances. I called Harvard and Berkeley and they said they should be releasing first round of offers next week.

Agreed. I would have bet my mortgage (if I had one) on one from Harvard, MIT, or Princeton sending out their acceptances this week.

Good job haranguing the guys at Harvard and berkeley by the way!!

PhysicsIsCool · Post by **PhysicsIsCool** » Sat Feb 14, 2015 1:41 am

wompwomp wrote:
slowdweller wrote:For a Friday in mid-February, it was a fairly slow day today for admissions. Not many schools sent out mass acceptances. I called Harvard and Berkeley and they said they should be releasing first round of offers next week.
No mass rejections yet either. This is surprisingly late.

This drawn out process is driving me bonkers. Draining the life out of me. My sleep pattern is wrecked. My work is suffering. My heart goes through some crazy palpitations every time I get an email. If this continues, I am probably going to die of arrhythmia in the next week or so.

My headstone will have the carving "Graduate school applicant".

AH this is exactly how I feel. Heart racing. Terrible sleep. Never done so poorly in classes as I'm doing right now because I can't focus...and the only two schools I have left to hear from are Harvard and Berkeley! I thought for sure I'd hear something by the end of this week!

slowdweller · Post by **slowdweller** » Sat Feb 14, 2015 7:36 am

jagjitsinghsidhu192 wrote:
slowdweller wrote:For a Friday in mid-February, it was a fairly slow day today for admissions. Not many schools sent out mass acceptances. I called Harvard and Berkeley and they said they should be releasing first round of offers next week.
Agreed. I would have bet my mortgage (if I had one) on one from Harvard, MIT, or Princeton sending out their acceptances this week.

Good job haranguing the guys at Harvard and berkeley by the way!!

I think Harvard and MIT were delayed because of the snow-storms in Boston, which lead to a couple of snow days this past week. It's good though, because this gives my advisor more time to harass people at those places

wompwomp wrote:
slowdweller wrote:For a Friday in mid-February, it was a fairly slow day today for admissions. Not many schools sent out mass acceptances. I called Harvard and Berkeley and they said they should be releasing first round of offers next week.
No mass rejections yet either. This is surprisingly late.

This drawn out process is driving me bonkers. Draining the life out of me. My sleep pattern is wrecked. My work is suffering. My heart goes through some crazy palpitations every time I get an email. If this continues, I am probably going to die of arrhythmia in the next week or so.

My headstone will have the carving "Graduate school applicant".

Excellent description! I think my heart skipped a beat when I got this email from UChicago a few days ago, which ended up saying something like "Choosing the right graduate school" or some ***. Luckily I'm happily unemployed these days so I don't have any work which has to suffer

Catria · Post by **Catria** » Sat Feb 14, 2015 10:16 am

slowdweller wrote:I think Harvard and MIT were delayed because of the snow-storms in Boston, which lead to a couple of snow days this past week. It's good though, because this gives my advisor more time to harass people at those places

Same would hold true at Tufts, Northeastern... and these snowstorms affected New York City (and therefore Columbia), as well as Yale, UConn.

gradapp2015 · Post by **gradapp2015** » Sat Feb 14, 2015 8:52 pm

MIT decisions are out!

flobadobadie · Post by **flobadobadie** » Sat Feb 14, 2015 9:18 pm

I don't believe they've all been sent, there are four on gradcafe for this year, there were 21 last year. Golly gosh I hope they haven't all been sent.

entropy19 · Post by **entropy19** » Sun Feb 15, 2015 9:49 am

flobadobadie wrote:I don't believe they've all been sent, there are four on gradcafe for this year, there were 21 last year. Golly gosh I hope they haven't all been sent.

The numbers went up from 4 to 8.. I really hope there's a 2nd round for MIT.. and also for Stanford

And I guess Harvard/Princeton/Berkeley will come out early next week (probably Monday or Tuesday)?

blahblah · Post by **blahblah** » Mon Feb 16, 2015 9:41 am

Today is a holiday for at least MIT and Harvard, so probably no acceptances today.

gradapp2015 · Post by **gradapp2015** » Mon Feb 16, 2015 10:42 am

It's a holiday almost everywhere, so I think no acceptances at all. Unless a holiday from classes means profs are more able to meet to finish admissions decisions since they don't have class?

heisenbergh23 · Post by **heisenbergh23** » Mon Feb 16, 2015 10:50 am

gradapp2015 wrote:It's a holiday almost everywhere, so I think no acceptances at all. Unless a holiday from classes means profs are more able to meet to finish admissions decisions since they don't have class?

It is not a holiday everywhere. The only universities I know so far that have holiday today are MIT and Harvard. Other universities I have applied have no holiday today.

gradapp2015 · Post by **gradapp2015** » Mon Feb 16, 2015 10:59 am

Berkeley has a holiday

PathIntegrals92 · Post by **PathIntegrals92** » Mon Feb 16, 2015 12:43 pm

I didn't apply to Yale, but I think it's strange that they sent out rejections first.

Or did people just not post their acceptances for some reason on grad cafe?

mbgnjasb · Post by **mbgnjasb** » Mon Feb 16, 2015 1:56 pm

It is very strange. Somebody just posted that Duke has waitlisted him/her. Duke also sent multiple rejections last week. I find it weird that I haven't heard anything from Duke....I mean I have not been accepted, rejected, or waitlisted. What does this mean ?

Sanhedrin · Post by **Sanhedrin** » Mon Feb 16, 2015 2:08 pm

PathIntegrals92 wrote: I didn't apply to Yale, but I think it's strange that they sent out rejections first.
Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2015 9:43 am

I wish more schools did it this way. Now these applicants don't need to spend weeks waiting in vain for some hint of a positive response. If Stanford, Caltech, and MIT already know they don't want me, I wish they'd tell me that instead of leaving me to anxiously wonder if I'm on a wait list or something.

gradapp2015 · Post by **gradapp2015** » Mon Feb 16, 2015 3:08 pm

Well, MIT has sent acceptances today despite their holiday. I think we can expect Harvard decisions very very soon.

wompwomp · Post by **wompwomp** » Mon Feb 16, 2015 3:49 pm

Sanhedrin wrote:
PathIntegrals92 wrote: I didn't apply to Yale, but I think it's strange that they sent out rejections first.
Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2015 9:43 am
I wish more schools did it this way. Now these applicants don't need to spend weeks waiting in vain for some hint of a positive response. If Stanford, Caltech, and MIT already know they don't want me, I wish they'd tell me that instead of leaving me to anxiously wonder if I'm on a wait list or something.

Agreed. I'd rather they straight up reject me if I miss their initial cut.

sabreitweiser · Post by **sabreitweiser** » Tue Feb 17, 2015 6:41 am

Maryland posted some decisions online yesterday, but hasn't emailed about them (or at least I didn't get one; I only saw thanks to obsessive website checking).

My first response is a ding, c'est la vie! 9 more to go.

Robbie · Post by **Robbie** » Tue Feb 17, 2015 10:38 am

[quote][/quote]

Does anyone know when would UCLA / UC Davis send first round of offers for international applicant? I'm from China. Actually both have sent some for U.S. applicant, as thegradcafe indicates.

Catria · Post by **Catria** » Tue Feb 17, 2015 1:27 pm

Robbie wrote:Does anyone know when would UCLA / UC Davis send first round of offers for international applicant? I'm from China. Actually both have sent some for U.S. applicant, as thegradcafe indicates.

Same goes for Carnegie Mellon, too... and here the international with a degree from an US university (U on TGC's system) is probably a senior in an American undergrad. On the other hand, if I'm not mistaken about CMU, then I should expect an offer by next week if admitted if past cycle is any indication.

wompwomp · Post by **wompwomp** » Tue Feb 17, 2015 3:03 pm

Looks like Cornell sent a wave of acceptances and rejections out. I got neither...

UIUC also sent a wave of acceptances out. Nada again.

All this waiting....

PathIntegrals92 · Post by **PathIntegrals92** » Tue Feb 17, 2015 3:08 pm

Do you think UCLA is finished anyone? For Domestic?

I guess I could now assume I got rejected from UIUC ( not surprised) and probably UCLA.

Edit: I know USC sent out an acceptance because someone here posted it, but it doesn't seem like many people post for that school on grad cafe. Are they finished? It was one of my top choices :/

gradapp2015 · Post by **gradapp2015** » Tue Feb 17, 2015 3:55 pm

If we were expecting to hear from Harvard early this week, today's the day! Wonder if they'll get them out before closing time today...

wompwomp · Post by **wompwomp** » Tue Feb 17, 2015 3:56 pm

wompwomp wrote:Looks like Cornell sent a wave of acceptances and rejections out. I got neither...

UIUC also sent a wave of acceptances out. Nada again.

All this waiting....

Rejected by Cornell. Boom.

PhysicsIsCool · Post by **PhysicsIsCool** » Tue Feb 17, 2015 3:57 pm

gradapp2015 wrote:If we were expecting to hear from Harvard early this week, today's the day! Wonder if they'll get them out before closing time today...

Ahhhh so anxious!! How do you know today's the day?

gradapp2015 · Post by **gradapp2015** » Tue Feb 17, 2015 4:12 pm

Well, we know it's coming this week and I assume they don't want to lag behind MIT by too much.

gradapp2015 · Post by **gradapp2015** » Tue Feb 17, 2015 5:46 pm

Wow, Stanford and Cornell just destroy TGC... we need to get some good news back up there! Hopefully lots more acceptances soon!

Sats · Post by **Sats** » Tue Feb 17, 2015 5:59 pm

I saw some UBC acceptances on gradcafe. Has anyone heard anything from them?

shep23 · Post by **shep23** » Tue Feb 17, 2015 6:04 pm

Random tidbit: I know the admissions chair at U Virginia Astronomy and apparently they're only taking 3 people this year.

YodaT · Post by **YodaT** » Tue Feb 17, 2015 6:10 pm

um, yeah I still have no word from Maryland. All I see on the application page is: Under Departmental/Program Review.

zeper · Post by **zeper** » Tue Feb 17, 2015 7:06 pm

YodaT wrote:um, yeah I still have no word from Maryland. All I see on the application page is: Under Departmental/Program Review.

yeah, I checked now, and the same notice appears on my page. I dont know is this giving a hope, or showing something went wrong...

on the other hand, it might be that they are evaluating internationals later.

Sanhedrin · Post by **Sanhedrin** » Tue Feb 17, 2015 7:14 pm

gradapp2015 wrote:Wow, Stanford and Cornell just destroy TGC... we need to get some good news back up there! Hopefully lots more acceptances soon!

It's not funny how meaningless a 990 is to Stanford. So many top scorers (who must surely have great letters of recommendation too) rejected. I wonder what it comes down to. Publications? I suppose if you're Stanford you have the luxury of only accepting students with publications.

YodaT · Post by **YodaT** » Tue Feb 17, 2015 7:21 pm

zeper wrote:
YodaT wrote:um, yeah I still have no word from Maryland. All I see on the application page is: Under Departmental/Program Review.
yeah, I checked now, and the same notice appears on my page. I dont know is this giving a hope, or showing something went wrong...

on the other hand, it might be that they are evaluating internationals later.

to me it sounds like they need to fix their system. i got an email a couple weeks ago that said my $75 was being deposited back into my account (no reason). i did qualify for a fee waiver but at time of application i had to pay... so this gives me hope they actually looked at my application?

considering this, i may be unofficially waitlisted and acceptance determined by number of declines in the coming weeks. so, to all of you that got into MIT, Princeton, Stanford (along with Maryland)... let's be serious you're not gonna end up at Maryland.

flobadobadie · Post by **flobadobadie** » Tue Feb 17, 2015 8:25 pm

Sanhedrin wrote:
gradapp2015 wrote:Wow, Stanford and Cornell just destroy TGC... we need to get some good news back up there! Hopefully lots more acceptances soon!
It's not funny how meaningless a 990 is to Stanford. So many top scorers (who must surely have great letters of recommendation too) rejected. I wonder what it comes down to. Publications? I suppose if you're Stanford you have the luxury of only accepting students with publications.

Publications don't seem to help. I have it on good authority that Stanford determine their offers by drawing names out of a hat.

PathIntegrals92 · Post by **PathIntegrals92** » Tue Feb 17, 2015 8:42 pm

At least schools like Stanford, Michigan, and Maryland send rejections letter early on.

I just wish more schools ( UIUC, UCLA, USC, Rutgers, Penn State) did that so I can just plan my visit days and move on =).

TakeruK · Post by **TakeruK** » Tue Feb 17, 2015 9:30 pm

Sanhedrin wrote:
gradapp2015 wrote:Wow, Stanford and Cornell just destroy TGC... we need to get some good news back up there! Hopefully lots more acceptances soon!
It's not funny how meaningless a 990 is to Stanford. So many top scorers (who must surely have great letters of recommendation too) rejected. I wonder what it comes down to. Publications? I suppose if you're Stanford you have the luxury of only accepting students with publications.

Many professors have told me that a very low PGRE score is alarming and cause for concern, but a super high PGRE score is meaningless since they have had a lot of experiences where high test scorers perform very poorly in research because the skills you need to score 990 are not necessarily the same skills you need to do well in grad school.

So, many professors probably do not see much difference in scores above 80th percentile, for example. In addition, I think the reason for a high "average admitted PGRE score" for top schools is not because PGRE scores are important for admittance, but because top students tend to do well on the PGRE (not all top students do well though). So I really think the correlation between high PGRE and acceptance is just a correlation, not a causation.

blackmass · Post by **blackmass** » Tue Feb 17, 2015 10:21 pm

shep23 wrote:Random tidbit: I know the admissions chair at U Virginia Astronomy and apparently they're only taking 3 people this year.

Wow, that is interesting and pretty surprising. I would have thought they'd accept way more. I know they interviewed 13 people at the very least. That being said, I also saw one acceptance posted on grad cafe over a week ago. If there were only three spots, I'm willing to guess they've all been sent out.

shep23 · Post by **shep23** » Tue Feb 17, 2015 10:21 pm

Cal tech astronomy rejections have been sent out

Robbie · Post by **Robbie** » Tue Feb 17, 2015 10:26 pm

Catria wrote:
Robbie wrote:Does anyone know when would UCLA / UC Davis send first round of offers for international applicant? I'm from China. Actually both have sent some for U.S. applicant, as thegradcafe indicates.
Same goes for Carnegie Mellon, too... and here the international with a degree from an US university (U on TGC's system) is probably a senior in an American undergrad. On the other hand, if I'm not mistaken about CMU, then I should expect an offer by next week if admitted if past cycle is any indication.

Do you know when would those schools send offers for international students??

Sanhedrin · Post by **Sanhedrin** » Tue Feb 17, 2015 10:45 pm

TakeruK wrote:
Sanhedrin wrote:
gradapp2015 wrote:Wow, Stanford and Cornell just destroy TGC... we need to get some good news back up there! Hopefully lots more acceptances soon!
It's not funny how meaningless a 990 is to Stanford. So many top scorers (who must surely have great letters of recommendation too) rejected. I wonder what it comes down to. Publications? I suppose if you're Stanford you have the luxury of only accepting students with publications.
Many professors have told me that a very low PGRE score is alarming and cause for concern, but a super high PGRE score is meaningless since they have had a lot of experiences where high test scorers perform very poorly in research because the skills you need to score 990 are not necessarily the same skills you need to do well in grad school.

So, many professors probably do not see much difference in scores above 80th percentile, for example. In addition, I think the reason for a high "average admitted PGRE score" for top schools is not because PGRE scores are important for admittance, but because top students tend to do well on the PGRE (not all top students do well though). So I really think the correlation between high PGRE and acceptance is just a correlation, not a causation.

Well, then what DO top schools use to distinguish between competitive candidates?

I guess what I really want to know is this, if I'm confident I WILL do well in research how do I demonstrate this to Stanford? First author papers in good journals? My professors always talked about authoring as an undergrad like it was some sort of anomaly, or like it was just an unnecessary plus on an application. I don't know why I let myself believe this. It's been a long time since any of them applied to grad school. Okay, end of rant.

wompwomp · Post by **wompwomp** » Tue Feb 17, 2015 10:59 pm

Sanhedrin wrote:
TakeruK wrote:
Sanhedrin wrote:
It's not funny how meaningless a 990 is to Stanford. So many top scorers (who must surely have great letters of recommendation too) rejected. I wonder what it comes down to. Publications? I suppose if you're Stanford you have the luxury of only accepting students with publications.
Many professors have told me that a very low PGRE score is alarming and cause for concern, but a super high PGRE score is meaningless since they have had a lot of experiences where high test scorers perform very poorly in research because the skills you need to score 990 are not necessarily the same skills you need to do well in grad school.

So, many professors probably do not see much difference in scores above 80th percentile, for example. In addition, I think the reason for a high "average admitted PGRE score" for top schools is not because PGRE scores are important for admittance, but because top students tend to do well on the PGRE (not all top students do well though). So I really think the correlation between high PGRE and acceptance is just a correlation, not a causation.
Well, then what DO top schools use to distinguish between competitive candidates?

I guess what I really want to know is this, if I'm confident I WILL do well in research how do I demonstrate this to Stanford? First author papers in good journals? My professors always talked about authoring as an undergrad like it was some sort of anomaly, or like it was just an unnecessary plus on an application. I don't know why I let myself believe this. It's been a long time since any of them applied to grad school. Okay, end of rant.

Haha, yeah, it's super confusing, right? I have reasonably good stats, plus some publications ( working on a first author publication), even contributed to quite a high-profile publication. My professors were quite optimistic about my chances, but it hasn't worked out too well for me yet.

I would guess a lot of it also comes down to "fit" - how well you advertise yourself in your SOP. That is the place where you get the chance to convince the PIs that you would be a valuable addition to their labs. Given that they are going to be investing a lot of time and money on you, they'd probably want the "best fit" applicants, those who can contribute the most.

I've always sucked at advertising myself, so I'm not too surprised by how things are working out.

loser2winner · Post by **loser2winner** » Tue Feb 17, 2015 11:05 pm

My life is a joke. I hope my failure can lead to others' successes and make the world a better place. Thank you very much.

PathIntegrals92 · Post by **PathIntegrals92** » Tue Feb 17, 2015 11:08 pm

You know something. I have no idea what the formula is for getting into the top 10 school. I just don't think there is.

I think the most important thing for places like Harvard is your recommendation letters. They have to be great, Excellent, Stellar, and extremely strong. Not just good and strong. Make the cut off for the PGREs and you are solid and I would say 750+ with confidence. GPA requires some scrutiny, but demonstrate that you challenged yourself and did well in key courses.

Obviously, research experiences have to be strong! very strong! Your LORs will mostly support this. I don't think it's about number of publications, but the quality at undergrad level. I also don't think it is necessary to have it. I know this because I have talked to a grad admissions coordinator, personally, at a top 10 school.

Make yourself stand out. I am confident that they would take a hard look at you, before making the decision.

Well I didn't apply to Harvard and places, but that's my hunch after talking to profs at top 10s +friends at top 10s.

You know what, after writing this post I was about to blab more. Now I am just going to quote my high school physics teacher. She said this after we get our extremely tough exams back. "No point in looking back, just keep going". She also gave each of us this article about a scientist. Damn I really forgot who it was. This scientist had won the Nobel Prize, but didn't go to a top school or w/e. It was a good read. In the end, it's not about where you go. It's about who you become. Work hard and do what you love people.