Physics GRE Discussion Forums

djh101 wrote:

PathIntegrals92 wrote:I shouldn't be complaining because I have two acceptances so far. However, I just wish the schools who are pretty sure they are going to reject me would just do so. I have yet to hear from 5/7.

djh101 wrote:Looking back on things, I probably should have applied to at least one or two in-between schools. I didn't apply anywhere between Washington (U.S. News rank 22) and Oregon (U.S. News rank 54). Still waiting on Boulder and Washington, but so far I've been rejected to all the top-tier schools and accepted to all the bottom-tier.

I remember you mentioned in my post a while back that you were interested in quantum information/quantum computing. USC seems like a fantastic school for that despite it having a low US ranking. Congrats on your acceptances.

Thank you very much. It certainly is an excellent school (technically, though, almost all of the professors working in the field are part of the electrical engineering department) and I'm quite happy with my acceptances, but I can't help but wonder what other schools are out there that I might have gotten into. I started out browsing primarily in the mountain and west coast states and pretty much stopped looking after that since I already had a decent size list. To be honest, I don't even think MIT was that great of a fit for me and applied mostly because my girlfriend talked me into it.

Really, I'm just curious and don't mean to complain. I am quite thankful for getting into the schools that I did.

I didn't think you were complaining. =)... I too made a similar statement somewhere in this thread. I simply regretted not applying to some schools. I applied to UCLA (and UIUC) which might not have been the best fit, but UPenn was and I didn't apply.

I don't think it's a bad thing that they are mostly in EE because you'll pick up a lot of valuable skills applicable to the industry ( if you want that). For the schools I did apply to , I purposefully looked for prof's with students who get good industry offers. Most of profs I am interested in have joint appointments. I definitely do not want to go into academia, but who knows if I'll change my mind.

Catria wrote:Did Case Western even sent out offers? All I saw on TGC was that the rejections are now in...

Waiting just like you.

I didn't apply to Case Western.

I received the answer to my email inquiry at WUSTL: "Your name is on the list of second round offers. That said we have so few spots available this year I am not sure we will get to the second round." Hence my conclusion of being waitlisted.

PathIntegrals92 wrote:I didn't think you were complaining. =)... I too made a similar statement somewhere in this thread. I simply regretted not applying to some schools. I applied to UCLA (and UIUC) which might not have been the best fit, but UPenn was and I didn't apply.

I don't think it's a bad thing that they are mostly in EE because you'll pick up a lot of valuable skills applicable to the industry ( if you want that). For the schools I did apply to , I purposefully looked for prof's with students who get good industry offers. Most of profs I am interested in have joint appointments. I definitely do not want to go into academia, but who knows if I'll change my mind.

Reading my post, though, I could see how it might come off as somewhat insensitive. I don't want to be that guy expressing his upsettedness about not getting into his dream school, Stanford, amongst some people who might not have gotten in anywhere. There's actually a post on GradCafe written by someone claiming that he didn't think he was going to get in anywhere but, against all odds, he was accepted to Harvard, Stanford, and Caltech!

No, it's not bad, especially since all their grad students seem to be pursuing physics Ph.Ds, I just thought it was interesting, more so since all the EE and even some CS professors have physics Ph.Ds (they might as well just change the name of the EE department to the physics department). I'm not completely opposed to academia, but I would prefer industry as well. I'm making it my goal to exert as much effort into acquiring experimental, research, and publication skills as possible during grad school.

Catria wrote:Did Case Western even sent out offers? All I saw on TGC was that the rejections are now in...

Even i am waiting ! CWR is one place i would love to go ! not heard from them yet.

I saw a few Dartmouth waitlistees, yet they did not indicate a subfield... I am hoping this is not about theoretical cosmology.

People who got reply from Penn State and Carnegie Mellon: were you able to see admission decision in the application page or it was an email?

heisenbergh23 wrote:People who got reply from Penn State and Carnegie Mellon: were you able to see admission decision in the application page or it was an email?

That was an email...

Columbia astronomy has sent out admissions decisions

And Yale finally got some acceptances out the door...

All these schools are taking sooo longgg to send out their decisions - so frustrating!

And now my facebook feed is inundated with people talking about all the great grad schools they got into.

I wonder if I could hibernate today, and wake up on April 14. I can only dream...

Rejection #4... Dartmouth

First rejection: UCLA
I predict five more at this point...


Good luck to you all!

PathIntegrals92 wrote:First rejection: UCLA
I predict five more at this point...


Good luck to you all!

I know that feel. Stupid UCLA.

NYU sent out a mass rejection.

Although I'm still waiting on UPenn and Columbia

Since Columbia didn't extend an offer to me today, I'm still going to visit Carnegie Mellon, all expenses paid...

What the heck is taking Chicago and UPenn so long? Reject me already, damn it!

slowdweller wrote:What the heck is taking Chicago and UPenn so long? Reject me already, damn it!

Actually, UPenn sends out decisions by subfield; HEP-EX guys got theirs first, and the astrophysics guys afterward. No word from condensed matter, biophysics, HEP-TH at this point.

As for Columbia and Tufts: they are also victims of the inclement weather.

Has anyone heard anything from UBC and McGill? UBC's admission coordinator fee weeks ago told me that they will inform applicants by the end of February, but I never heard anything back from them. Now, when I send them emails, nobody ever replies. I also wonder when McGill releases decision.

So I wonder what is taking UPenn so long to review any HEP-TH applications, even if the open house date has been set? And Tufts/Vanderbilt?

heisenbergh23 wrote:Has anyone heard anything from UBC and McGill? UBC's admission coordinator fee weeks ago told me that they will inform applicants by the end of February, but I never heard anything back from them. Now, when I send them emails, nobody ever replies. I also wonder when McGill releases decision.

McGill decision dates are highly supervisor-dependent. I never received an official rejection from them but I simply presumed I was rejected by April 5. Plus changing prospective supervisors didn't help either.

Catria wrote:So I wonder what is taking UPenn so long to review any HEP-TH applications,

I don't think UPenn gives results by subfields, but they do one wave acceptance and then another really small one. I remember for Fall 2013 admissions, I don't think they accepted that many people for hep-th admissions. I only knew one student who was going to work in theoretical cosmology.

I feel like the same happened for fall2014.

As for 2015, I'll cross my fingers for you!

wompwomp wrote:And now my facebook feed is inundated with people talking about all the great grad schools they got into..

I thought it was considered bad form to post your acceptances on Facebook on account of your other applicant friends.

djh101 wrote:

wompwomp wrote:And now my facebook feed is inundated with people talking about all the great grad schools they got into..

I thought it was considered bad form to post your acceptances on Facebook on account of your other applicant friends.

Definitely bad form. At best, it looks like bragging. I think it's only okay to post on Facebook if it's either your first acceptance or the school you choose to go to.

Finally some movement in UChicago. Someone just got waitlisted, according to gradcafe.

Yet the people who got in on 2/6 were all HEP-EX and those on 2/19 were all astro people. Hence my suspicion that subfields play a role in the timing of handing out decisions.

Harvard just posted their rejections on their website. No notification e-mail though.

I contacted Penn State today, and they sent me an automated email which reads: "Thank you for contacting the Graduate Admissions Committee for the Department of Physics at The Pennsylvania State University.
If you are an applicant, the graduate admissions committee is very eager to review your application material for Fall 2015. We welcome the opportunity to help you through this application process."

What the heck? Have they still not reviewed applications? Has anybody heard from Penn State recently?

heisenbergh23 wrote:I contacted Penn State today, and they sent me an automated email which reads: "Thank you for contacting the Graduate Admissions Committee for the Department of Physics at The Pennsylvania State University.
If you are an applicant, the graduate admissions committee is very eager to review your application material for Fall 2015. We welcome the opportunity to help you through this application process."

What the heck? Have they still not reviewed applications? Has anybody heard from Penn State recently?

WTF? Haven't heard a thing from them yet, it's v annoying. Does your application status still say "Processing" on the WebAccess login page?

Moontrout wrote:

heisenbergh23 wrote:I contacted Penn State today, and they sent me an automated email which reads: "Thank you for contacting the Graduate Admissions Committee for the Department of Physics at The Pennsylvania State University.
If you are an applicant, the graduate admissions committee is very eager to review your application material for Fall 2015. We welcome the opportunity to help you through this application process."

What the heck? Have they still not reviewed applications? Has anybody heard from Penn State recently?

WTF? Haven't heard a thing from them yet, it's v annoying. Does your application status still say "Processing" on the WebAccess login page?

My application status only says "Completed". Where did you check it? Is it https://apply.phys.psu.edu/grad ?

heisenbergh23 wrote:

Moontrout wrote:

heisenbergh23 wrote:I contacted Penn State today, and they sent me an automated email which reads: "Thank you for contacting the Graduate Admissions Committee for the Department of Physics at The Pennsylvania State University.
If you are an applicant, the graduate admissions committee is very eager to review your application material for Fall 2015. We welcome the opportunity to help you through this application process."

What the heck? Have they still not reviewed applications? Has anybody heard from Penn State recently?

WTF? Haven't heard a thing from them yet, it's v annoying. Does your application status still say "Processing" on the WebAccess login page?

My application status only says "Completed". Where did you check it? Is it https://apply.phys.psu.edu/grad ?

Yeah there. Hrrrm my says processing, weird, though I know one of my LoRs was submitted way late because the guy I worked with last year is brilliant but an airhead, so there's a possibility they haven't even registered as mine being completed yet. Will email them now to check, oh god I hope I was at least considered

This Roberto person is trolling pretty hard. He/she sounds bitter for some reason.

seeyouauntie wrote:This Roberto person is trolling pretty hard. He/she sounds bitter for some reason.

I think he didn't get in anywhere, so he is upset at people who did. It's completely understandable, but it is not okay to take your frustration out on random people on the internet. He needs to work hard over a gap year, or lower his standards, instead of trying to make others feel bad just because he does.

Roberto wrote:

Roberto wrote:

jagjitsinghsidhu192 wrote:Just got wait-listed by Ohio State.

So, anyone here who has an offer from OSU, but does not intend to go there, please let OSU know of your intentions as soon as possible. The way my admissions season is going, this will represent one of perhaps three chances of going to grad school in the upcoming fall semester.

Thanks.

I got an offer from Ohio State University and do not intend to go since I already have better offers (e.g. MIT), and yet I'll wait until April 15 to decline, if I'll actually let them know at all. This is my second time trying to apply to grad school and the first time I failed miserably. Now I want to relieve all my tension and spite by "playing God" and rejecting schools when I feel like it, or not letting them know any decision. I was also thinking of sending fake suicidal emails to admissions committees that rejected me to make them feel sorry.

Anyway dude I won't decline Ohio State until last moment so just live with it.

Roberto

You are a mongoloid. I am better than you and I hope you won't get into any grad school sonna b***h. I'm going to Harvard to work with Matthew Reece and Lisa Randall

Real quality insulting going on here Roberto. Throwing my insult right back at me, and perhaps the most overused insult in the book. Like I said earlier, do whatever you gotta do.

In fact, everytime I re-read your reply, it gets funnier. It's so bad (the quality of the insults you are posting). Whether you are trolling or serious, you made my day with your little tirade. Thanks for that.

sorry i was sitting on a penn state offer, but just declined it. hopefully one of you gets my spot.

Lots of UChicago rejections... go claim yours if you haven't already!

Apparently all the Notre Dame acceptances are out. I had to email them just for them to tell me no T_T. Apparently there "may" be hope in a waitlist that's evaluated in april, but I'm not really keeping my hopes up.

I didn't think I was shooting super high there, but I guess my app really is just that weak, sigh. Maybe I'll have better chances with some applications in Europe ;_;


Also srsly has anyone heard from MSU? Are they done? I haven't gotten any emails back.

I just realized that you can add people to a "foe" list that hides all of their posts. Now I don't have to see Roberto's negativity any more.

shep23 wrote:

seeyouauntie wrote:This Roberto person is trolling pretty hard. He/she sounds bitter for some reason.

I think he didn't get in anywhere, so he is upset at people who did. It's completely understandable, but it is not okay to take your frustration out on random people on the internet. He needs to work hard over a gap year, or lower his standards, instead of trying to make others feel bad just because he does.

Yeah Roberto's really kicking off, which is a shame (although it apparently makes him feel better). Although all results aren't out yet, so I hope he does get an offer somewhere.

Hiya Sats, I've got an offer from Notre Dame that I'm planning to turn down, so I hope that'll help you off the wait list.

crimsonmist wrote:Yeah Roberto's really kicking off, which is a shame (although it apparently makes him feel better). Although all results aren't out yet, so I hope he does get an offer somewhere.

Hiya Sats, I've got an offer from Notre Dame that I'm planning to turn down, so I hope that'll help you off the wait list.

Son of a b***h. You know as well as me that I have offers, e.g. from Ohio State, which I haven't yet declined because I want to f**k those on the waitlist.

Roberto wrote:

crimsonmist wrote:Yeah Roberto's really kicking off, which is a shame (although it apparently makes him feel better). Although all results aren't out yet, so I hope he does get an offer somewhere.

Hiya Sats, I've got an offer from Notre Dame that I'm planning to turn down, so I hope that'll help you off the wait list.

Son of a b***h. You know as well as me that I have offers, e.g. from Ohio State, which I haven't yet declined because I want to f**k those on the waitlist.

Penn State started sending out rejections! I have not received mine yet, but I can feel it coming.

What's taking Tufts and Vanderbilt so long?

PathIntegrals92 wrote:Penn State started sending out rejections! I have not received mine yet, but I can feel it coming.

if you get in, i'd like to think you got my offer. you're not rejected unless they say so.

Is it me or spring break has slowed down the admissions processes at some schools?

Has spring break started for some schools? It doesn't start for my school until the week of the 16th.

Or midterm season... however, Vanderbilt really does have its spring break this week, hence its unresponsiveness to students' emails.

YodaT wrote:

PathIntegrals92 wrote:Penn State started sending out rejections! I have not received mine yet, but I can feel it coming.

if you get in, i'd like to think you got my offer. you're not rejected unless they say so.

Thanks! I'll keep you posted if I hear from them.

Speaking of, I checked my spam and my heart flipped when I saw the word "Penn", but it was just UPenn emailing some about random athletic event. :/ *sigh*

Does anyone has an idea when USC will declare the results. They have taken exceptionally long time this year.

the_cowboy wrote:Does anyone has an idea when USC will declare the results. They have taken exceptionally long time this year.

And Vanderbilt too... Tufts sent out a grand total of 1 rejection that is made public. A little early to conclude that I have been waitlisted at Tufts but I have received no response from them at this point. Unless Tufts acts like Yale did (i.e. rejecting some people before actually admitting others)

the_cowboy wrote:Does anyone has an idea when USC will declare the results. They have taken exceptionally long time this year.

I hope this is not the case for you...but when I applied to USC last year I got rejected by snail mail and the post mark date was sometime in MAY! ugh I was pretty pissed

Some people got rejected from Penn State yesterday. I still have some hope, as I am not rejected yet. However, looking at the past year's result at gradcafe, I found that no one was accepted by Penn State in the month of March and April. I can feel rejection coming, sooner or later!