shalacked again...

grae313 · Post by **grae313** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 12:43 am

Post here every time you check the mail and get bubcus, nada, zip, zilch!

I checked the mail today. There was a big envelope with fancy lettering on it and I got excited for half a second... until I realized it was a credit card company trying to talk me into getting their card.

twistor · Post by **twistor** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 1:20 am

About a week ago I thought I was getting a letter from the University of Wisconsin because I got a blue envelope with a W on it with no return address. Turns out it was Washington Mutual trying to entice me into a credit card.

xdebugger · Post by **xdebugger** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 1:20 am

Do schools usually inform by mail or email?

will · Post by **will** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 11:50 am

I get huge envelopes from universities in the mail everyday... for my roommate. =(

twistor · Post by **twistor** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 12:26 pm

I was notified by email.

grae313 · Post by **grae313** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 4:04 pm

Yes, well, unfortunately if I made this a post-every-time-you-check-your-email-and-get-shalacked thread, I'd be posting five times a day

fermiboy · Post by **fermiboy** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 4:48 pm

Haha the title of this thread is the story of my life.

quizivex · Post by **quizivex** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 4:56 pm

I just checked my apt mailbox... nothing

But I wasn't counting on anything since I put my home address on my applications... and I don't think I'll hear any decisions for at least another week anyway.

But I'm really pissed I still haven't gotten that $1 refund from that damn vending machine company whose machine wouldn't give me my peanut chews or my change!!!

butsurigakusha · Post by **butsurigakusha** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 5:15 pm

I didn't think the mail came on Sundays.

xdebugger · Post by **xdebugger** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 10:18 pm

I got an acceptance letter in mail from U of Washington Seattle with fellowship and TA position this afternoon. My first acceptance. Yay.

fermiboy · Post by **fermiboy** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 10:49 pm

Dammit, since RG got a Cornell letter today I was hoping I would have one in my mailbox as well. shalacked again...

zxcv · Post by **zxcv** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 11:23 pm

I'm just hoping the majority of acceptances really don't happen until February... otherwise I really will go crazy. Nothing yet by mail, nothing in my email, nothing on the UCSB website....

butsurigakusha · Post by **butsurigakusha** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 12:32 am

With others getting acceptances to UCSB and UCSD today, I have of course been checking my email and the website about every 10 minutes or so. Everytime I have a new message in my inbox, I get a little excited, and then a little angry when it is about something I don't care about, which is basically anything that is not an acceptance message.

Interestingly, one of them was from the department informing us of a recruiter from a company that hires physics bachelors having a meeting next week. Now that my graduate school prospects seem much less certain, I will definitely be going. It says there will be food, so I probably will go even if I do get an acceptance before then.

fermiboy · Post by **fermiboy** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 12:38 am

@butsurigakusha

I just looked at your profile and while you set the bar high in your list of schools, you definitely have the stats to back it up. I would be stunned if you were rejected everywhere.

butsurigakusha · Post by **butsurigakusha** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 12:45 am

I realize that I am overreacting, but it is more fun. I guess it's sort of an excuse to be even more of a slacker than I usually am.

I do kind of wish that I had applied to a few more safety schools.

I am also wondering if perhaps the letters that were written weren't as stellar as I like to imagine.

Also, my stats don't necessarily reflect the whole story. My GPA as appears on my transcript is good, but my school doesn't count grades from classes that I've repeated, and there are several from my dismal freshman year, truly embarrassing. Of course, they still appear on my transcript, and they could raise some flags. I have been hoping that since my grades every other semester since then have been quite good, that they would over look them.

Times like this bring to the forefront of the mind all the possible things that could go wrong and all the things that I failed to do.

zxcv · Post by **zxcv** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 12:54 am

butsurigakusha, you give me hope. Take some consolation in the fact that you're by far not the only one not to get in anywhere yet.

grae313 · Post by **grae313** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 1:21 am

ditto fermiboy's post. I couldn't wait all day at school today to check my mail. Nothing!

@ xdebugger

Keep your glorious acceptances out of this thread! This is for us sorry folk that haven't heard anything yet

marten · Post by **marten** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 9:54 am

butsurigakusha, you give me hope. Take some consolation in the fact that you're by far not the only one not to get in anywhere yet.

Ya, and consider this situation, you could be applying to physics programs without a physics degree! That makes every school a reach for me.

Marten

fermiboy · Post by **fermiboy** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 10:40 pm

Nothing in the mail, again. I've also been checking my USCB app like 20 times a day. Nothing of course.

VT · Post by VT » Tue Jan 29, 2008 11:23 pm

I have also been checking my mailbox and email couple of times, but nothing yet ..............
Why does Cornell send acceptances one after the other instead of sending all out together? I want the letter from them right now

grae313 · Post by **grae313** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 1:23 am

So I opened my mailbox and there was a big envelope crammed right in front and my heart almost skipped a beat... but it was just from Charles Schwab

butsurigakusha · Post by **butsurigakusha** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 2:19 am

I check my mail, and just as I expect, no acceptance letter from Cornell.

I didn't apply to Cornell, but it was nonetheless disappointing.

VT · Post by VT » Wed Jan 30, 2008 3:19 am

Thats so funny, hahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaaa

I am laughing in the middle of the night. I just cant sleep

quizivex · Post by **quizivex** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 8:30 am

I'm annoyed with not hearing anything too, but none of us should (yet) be thinking this means our chances are diminishing.

Practically nobody has heard anything. Most schools haven't contacted anyone yet. The only top school was Cornell. Nearly all acceptances last year came in Feb.

grae313 · Post by **grae313** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 1:52 am

nothing in the mail, but there was a package infront of my door when I got home.

It was just my breast cancer awareness t-shirt:

in short, shalacked again.

twistor · Post by **twistor** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 8:46 am

Isn't an upside-down heart "anti-boob"?

twistor · Post by **twistor** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 8:47 am

Maybe I should get a prostate cancer awareness t-shirt. It'll have the walnut shaped prostate gland and it'll say "I (walnut) prostates"

twistor · Post by **twistor** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 1:27 pm

I checked my mail today and I'm sorry to say that I was not selected as a potential grand prize winner in the Publisher's Clearinghouse. Shalacked again!

anthonyk · Post by **anthonyk** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 1:51 pm

another thing that is bad is when you don't get anything in the mail one day, so you keep checking and checking your mailbox because you think the mailman didn't come yet.... that happened to me yesterday.

fermiboy · Post by **fermiboy** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 3:15 pm

That happened to me the other day. So I started walking around my neighborhood looking at (AT, not IN!) other people's mail boxes to try to detemine if they got any mail. People were looking at me like I was some kind of psycho pervert.

anthonyk · Post by **anthonyk** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 3:19 pm

haha fermiboy i can just imagine. (not a bad idea though

)

hpharty · Post by **hpharty** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 3:29 pm

After seeing that neoslovakia was accepted to Penn I am really losing my mind today. I've been trying to quit cigarettes and wait for these responses all at the same time. I can hardly even sit still. Good lord.

My g-mail is open in Firefox all day at work and every time I glance over at it I am "shalacked" again.

butsurigakusha · Post by **butsurigakusha** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 3:53 pm

same with me, I have a tab on firefox opened to gmail at all times, same with facebook and this forum.

The thing that is causing me the most stress is the fact that people are already getting accepted to UCSD, when that was supposed to be my back up school. If I can't get in to UCSD, there is no way I'll get in to any of my schools. (Someone correct me if I am wrong.) My grades this semester have gone down the crapper, so my chances of acceptance next year won't be any better, it's not like I can retake the PGRE for a higher score.

twistor · Post by **twistor** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 3:59 pm

I check my email every 30-45 seconds when I'm at work. No joke!

Not just because I'm waiting to find out where I've been accepted, but also because I'm discussing possible funding with professors. No funding = no graduate school.

quizivex · Post by **quizivex** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 9:53 pm

The thing that is causing me the most stress is the fact that people are already getting accepted to UCSD, when that was supposed to be my back up school. If I can't get in to UCSD, there is no way I'll get in to any of my schools. (Someone correct me if I am wrong.) My grades this semester have gone down the crapper, so my chances of acceptance next year won't be any better, it's not like I can retake the PGRE for a higher score.

HAHAHAH that last line is classic! Seriously! A few people have already heard from my safety too... and I haven't! Like what else are we supposed to do... If I get rejected from Harvard I'll be annoyed but not insulted, since I know it's because they found 100 people with bigger resumes...but if I get rejected from my safety, I'm seriously going to send the chair an e-mail asking why...

"I've taken twice as many courses as your undergrad program requires and my GRE score is more than 200 points over your school's average. Please give me some hint as to why I wasn't wanted."

I mean what else can I do... take another extra year of classes at my school to improve my GPA and retake the GRE in April?

Until I hear from someone, anyone, I'll remain nervous. I'll worry I made some critical error that ruined my chances everywhere, such as a bad comment in my SOP, or got a bad rec, or put something inconsistent in my app etc...

grae313 · Post by **grae313** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 10:13 pm

I wouldn't worry if I were you, quiz. Not for another two weeks anyway... I bet you'll hear something soon.

agonizomai · Post by **agonizomai** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 10:45 pm

I also have been checking my e-mail every 30 seconds to a minute. In fact, I had difficulty finishing my QM homework because of this. I suggest we all adopt Modest Mouse's song 'Float On' in the interest of our mental health.

anthonyk · Post by **anthonyk** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 10:49 pm

this situation we are in reminds me of waiting for grades at the end of a semester. only this lasts for about a month and a half while waiting for grades lasts about a week.

i feel that we all nervously wait for our futures to unfold, but once we here from every school there will come a sense of disappointment. at least thats what happens to me with grades, even where the grades are good haha. i guess it gives us something to do.

grae313 · Post by **grae313** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 11:05 pm

another day with nothing

will · Post by **will** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 11:42 pm

"I've taken twice as many courses as your undergrad program requires and my GRE score is more than 200 points over your school's average. Please give me some hint as to why I wasn't wanted."

I'd start busting windows if they responded with every physics job seeker's favorite word: "overqualified."

VT · Post by VT » Fri Feb 01, 2008 12:15 am

two weeks from now! Thats crazy!

hpharty · Post by **hpharty** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 9:33 am

Has anyone else been looking back at any acceptances they might have and reading them over again just to make sure they didn't magically disappear, or make sure they even existed in the first place? I have done this a few times, and honestly it seems a bit crazy.

quizivex · Post by **quizivex** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 9:46 am

I'd start busting windows if they responded with every physics job seeker's favorite word: "overqualified."

Yeah, in fact I've heard of several cases (undergrad and graduate) where students have been rejected from what seem like safety schools, probably because the schools know they don't want to (and/or shouldn't) come there.

In fact, probably the best or at least one of the best applicants from last year on the forum I think was admitted to 5 of the 6 top schools but denied by his safety.

But I don't see how I'd be thought of as overqualified. My undergrad school has a very inferior reputation compared to this "safety" school, and my research experience is just average or a little above. And in fact, this school is one known for giving very little weight to the GRE

Has anyone else been looking back at any acceptances they might have and reading them over again just to make sure they didn't magically disappear, or make sure they even existed in the first place? I have done this a few times, and honestly it seems a bit crazy.

Actually I've done similar things in my past... Back in elementary and middle school I would check 2-3 times on the bus ride home that my homework was still in my schoolbag... fearing it had mysteriously escaped and I'd get in big trouble next day.

twistor · Post by **twistor** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 11:18 am

Weird. I do the same thing. I make it point to put things in my bag, but then check again to see if they're there once I get in my car. Maybe this is a problem specific to physics students...

hpharty · Post by **hpharty** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 11:23 am

I definitely do that same thing with homework and things for work. It all stems from those one or two times when I really did forget something way back when and my mother was infuriated with me. The whole experience lead to this massive paranoid problem that is acting up currently.

That and I really need those acceptances to be real.

twistor · Post by **twistor** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 11:30 am

Graduate school is bullshit. I bet if we all pooled our intelligence and focused it we could all form one badasssss vigilante task force. Who's with me? (If you're not with us, you're against us, and you will feel the full wrath of the Task Force)

twistor · Post by **twistor** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 11:34 am

RG, are you down with the Task Force? Cuz we're gonna need someone to drive the van...

zxcv · Post by **zxcv** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 11:51 am

This is the third day in a row I've had without any mail, at all (and I'm expecting the paper acceptance from Davis, too). If I believed in one, I'd feel I was being spited by some higher power.

cancelled20080417 · Post by **cancelled20080417** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 1:55 pm

yeah twistor, I am with the TASK FORCE! But what exactly is the plan you have in mind with this task force? Are we going to some kind of strip club and be : badasss" vigilant! That would be awesome. I am ready to drop out of grad school plan if this turns out to be succesful.

One think really scares me, GRAE's eyes! I just cannot read any of the posts cuz she keeps staring at me!! Idon know why

Ok, I jus could not help, so let me ask one question: Did any one of us figure out whose eyes are those? Or Grae did you take the picture of your own eyes?

anthonyk · Post by **anthonyk** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 6:08 pm

funny, this is my third day in a row with a completely empty mailbox as well. i look forward to starting classes on monday to finally get my mind on something else.