Discussion of 2008 Profiles/Results

cancelled20080417 · Post by **cancelled20080417** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 7:30 pm

That was the reason why I was shocked!

4 in a row!

fermiboy · Post by **fermiboy** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 8:26 pm

My UCSB still doesn't say anything. I hope this doesn't mean I'm rejected.

grae313 · Post by **grae313** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 8:42 pm

dammit, RG. I am so frickin' jealous!!!

fermiboy · Post by **fermiboy** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 8:46 pm

Hey grae313,

What does your UCSB app say? Are you still in limbo like me? I.E. "Decision Available" is still greyed out?

dlenmn · Post by **dlenmn** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 8:48 pm

Still no UCSB decision here. Perhaps I'm not yet rejected

cancelled20080417 · Post by **cancelled20080417** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 8:56 pm

I am so damn shocked!!! How can one get four acceptances in a row on the same day? Miracle!!

I am stunned, speechless, and freaking out more than anyone here coz
Cornell is not that cool compared to UC santabarbara and only God knows where I will be going.

I am not visiting any of these places coz that would make my decision more difficult coz I am pretty sure I am gonna like both of these places

I am just hoping for +ve reply from MIT and THAT IS IT! straight out to MIT without even visiting any of the places I am accepted to.

grae313 · Post by **grae313** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 9:41 pm

yep, nothing on UCSB website

I can't stand this waiting!

grae313 · Post by **grae313** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 9:42 pm

and yes, there is always the bright side... I haven't been rejected from anywhere yet.

grae313 · Post by **grae313** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 9:44 pm

Everyone, for the sake of future reference, please edit your posts in the 2008 profiles thread and list the dates and notification method of each of your acceptances next to your acceptances.

fermiboy · Post by **fermiboy** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 10:13 pm

Ok, I posted my meager stats.

twistor · Post by **twistor** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 10:32 pm

I was just going through everyone's stats and I realized how incredibly organized this has become (thanks to quizivex). I have never seen this level of self-organization on any other forum, ever. I wonder if only physicists have the abillity to self-organize in this way. Unbelievable.

dlenmn · Post by **dlenmn** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 10:34 pm

Yeah, it must be some kind of lowest energy state...

twistor · Post by **twistor** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 10:36 pm

You're probably right... quizivex has provided a nice template so no one has to do anything but edit it...

quizivex · Post by **quizivex** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 3:03 am

congrats RG! was cornell your first choice? and i think we have the same plan...i've been obsessively working out to keep my mind off admissions and of course get ready for spring break...

RG and nvanmeter are so hardcore... I've just been sleeping most of the time.

I checked with the records department at my school and found out that the transcript I requested in mid december was mailed January 22nd. That's over a month. I'm pissed.

That's absurd... You should demand a refund for the transcript??

oh yeah and i think we have conclusive evidence now that admissions committees do not read our posts....RG was accepted

Ha! Or maybe they're just hoping to spice up the department... or share his weed.

Looks like everyone's really interested in the UC's. Maybe I should've looked into them... but despite the nice campuses, nice weather and nice physics, I'd rather go to my semi-backup right near home back east than travel across the country. Sounds fun though!

And yea as grae313 said, be sure to update your acceptances (or rejections) in the profile thread...

Ugh. It's 2am and I just woke up... what a boring and lonely night this will be...

gcensr · Post by **gcensr** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 5:58 am

Accepted to UCSB and updated acceptances / dates in the other thread. Good luck to those who haven't heard and congrats to those who have!

trupti · Post by **trupti** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 9:11 am

Thanks quizivex... Already about 23 people have posted their profile or are planning to post...this is already bigger than any other organised database for a single year that i have seen...I will be applying next year and this will all help a lot!!...I hope a lot more people post
Maybe after all the admissions are over and everyone has got admitted to whichever place they wanted to, RG, quizivex, grae313 and garden

)should even post their SOPs..though the SOPs won't be as hilarious as their posts on the forum..I bet they will be more interesting then the rest of the general SOPs one finds on the net

GCS · Post by **GCS** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 10:06 am

here's an interesting post about admissions....

http://cosmicvariance.com/2008/01/29/th ... dmissions/

twistor · Post by **twistor** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 10:55 am

I wouldn't feel comfortable posting my SOP. It would pretty much identify me.

cancelled20080417 · Post by **cancelled20080417** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 2:06 pm

grae313 · Post by **grae313** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 2:08 pm

I'd post my SOP in August once I've started classes... but I'd be pissed if someone plagiarised it...

VT · Post by VT » Tue Jan 29, 2008 2:19 pm

RG, why are you schokced again? Did you hear from some other places also?

You are driving me and everyone crazy with your glowing acceptances from places like Cornell and UCSB, UCSD.
I wish I coud have sone better in my PGRE.,

it is quite interesting to know that you are also interested in CMT and biophysics.

I wish I could also get into one of my dream school, but I guess my GRE score wont' let that happen.

Good luck RG. It is quite amazing that you are getting accepted to so many prestigious schools earlier than some of the top national students like geomar, quizivex, gcenr, nvanmeter or naybody that I missed to list. This is quite a feat. Congrats. I am sure there must be something special on your application.

YOU shud definitely post your SOP, RG , if it does not reveal too much of the information about you.

Anyways, time to leave for me.

Good luck to everyone.
bye.

VT · Post by VT » Tue Jan 29, 2008 2:25 pm

Grae, fermiboy, and others who applied to Cornell have the score in the range of 700, how positive are you guys of getting into Cornell?

How many applicants do you think were there for Cornell this year. Last year the average GRE score was 830. So I guess, I wasted my hard earned $80 by applying there.

I think I have slowly started losing my hopes. On top of my low PGRE, I am an international( though I go to a small liberal arts College in the States)

I did not apply to UCSB cuz on their website it clearly says that anyone with PGRE socre of less that 800 is considered less competitive and do not even have 1% chance of getting admission in their program.

This life is so depressing, but as Grae said there is always a bright side.... I have also not been rejected from any places I applied to.

dlenmn · Post by **dlenmn** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 2:34 pm

@ VT

I got a 710 and I doubt that Cornell will let me in (although one of my recomenders thinks I have a shot, so we'll see).

As for UCSB, I disregarded their 800+ only warning since their average is supposedly 770 <http://www.aip.org/gpb/pdf_files/097.pdf> Obviously, one of the two numbers is wrong. Has anyone asked them about this?

VT · Post by VT » Tue Jan 29, 2008 2:42 pm

dlenmn,
Do you go to Swarthmore College? That is an amazing place to be in.

VT · Post by VT » Tue Jan 29, 2008 3:00 pm

There are so many top applicants already. I wish there were no more than what we already have on this forum. This can only help 700s scorers to get in to some good places worth mentioning.

One questions that keeps bogging me, after all, why does it TAKE SUCH A LONG TIME FOR THE ADMISSIONS COMMITTEES to DECIDE?
I just want my rejections as EARLY as POSSIBLE so that I do not have to live a life in agony wasting all my time checking mails, emails etc.
I JUST WANT THIS TORTURE GAME TO BE OVER.

dlenmn · Post by **dlenmn** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 3:29 pm

@ VT

I don't go to swat, but I'm from the town. It is a cool place -- if it weren't home I'd have liked to go there.

I do know the department quite well because I've been around it for years and worked there a couple of times.

I do understand why it takes them so long to make up their minds (because they get an absurd number of applications, try to read many of them, and then try to pare them down).

It's funny... I took a break from visiting the forum for a good while, but then I checked in a couple of days ago to take a break from a problem set. Before that, admissions wasn't on my mind at all... now I've already checked my mailbox twice today! It silly because the schools I expect to get in to had applications due 1/1 or 1/15 (and I got my apps in right at the buzzer) and people haven't heard from them yet. Hell, Maryland's app isn't even DUE yet. I should stop frequenting the forums until people start hearing from Wisconsin, Colorado, Penn State, etc...

fermiboy · Post by **fermiboy** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 4:08 pm

@VT,

I still think I have a good shot at Cornell. The average is 830, and I'm only 100 point below. Hell two standard deviations in the score spread is around 120, if I remember right from the ETS website. Plus, from my research, these average scores are heavily skewed by the Chinese test takers, who usually score above 900, and make up the largest portion of the applicant pool.

zxcv · Post by **zxcv** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 5:13 pm

@ quizivex,

Could you add a section to the first post to add separate fellowship applications to the grad school listings in our posts? (e.g. NSF grad fellowship, which, by the way, thanks to forthcoming funding cuts, we now have a 23% reduced chance of getting.)

grae313 · Post by **grae313** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 5:40 pm

Yeah, UCSB's average PGRE score of admitted students is 770. Those are just number for being "competetive", but who knows what that means. It certainly doesn't mean if you score less than that you have a 1% chance of getting in. I'm not confident of getting into Cornell, but I think I have a decent shot. I'm only 80 points below their average, which as fermiboy said, is heavily skewed by the international students who are mostly 900+ if not 950+. I don't think anyone should be getting down about their chances until about two weeks from now.

grae313 · Post by **grae313** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 5:45 pm

wow, mrclean, 900 on the PGRE with a 3.3 year degree time

That's impressive!

I like how the profile thread is bringing some lurkers out of the woodwork! Everyone should post! I started reading the similar thread from 2007 last summer and it was a huge help, so I know that future students are going to love us for this.

vicente · Post by **vicente** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 5:56 pm

Did any international students besides RG apply to UCSB?

If so, please post your stats!

quizivex · Post by **quizivex** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 6:38 pm

Could you add a section to the first post to add separate fellowship applications to the grad school listings in our posts? (e.g. NSF grad fellowship, which, by the way, thanks to forthcoming funding cuts, we now have a 23% reduced chance of getting.)

@ zxcv,

I planned only to include items that directly influence our chances of admission. I thought the NSF and other fellowship decisions came after applications are submitted? If this isn't the case, or you believe simply applying for them is regarded highly by admissions committees, I'll add the spot. Though since a rather small percentage of students apply for them anyway, they could add it to the "Bonus Points" section if they choose.

wow, mrclean, 900 on the PGRE with a 3.3 year degree time That's impressive!

mrclean has a very shiny, spotless record

In regards to GRE scores and averages, always remember that half the students in any given class score below the average.

Seeing all the new members showing up and posting is awesome. Keep'm coming! Sorry Trupti, I wouldn't count on garden posting his stats... I think someone of his divine reputation would be admitted without having to go through the silly application process. In fact, I think the top schools all have to apply to garden to compete for his presence and try to get him to enroll!!

Edit: I filled out some of my profile. I won't list everything in full detail until later but this will give a rough outline.

quizivex · Post by **quizivex** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 6:56 pm

Oh yea and in regards to the %23 decrease in our chances of getting the NSF grant (and probably the same situation holds for general admissions), it just sucks. Too bad our options live and die by the whims of the funding agencies, and we just picked the wrong damn year to be born. I mean really, we'll have less a chance of having the future want compared to the guys from last year... just not fair.

@ VT

Firstly, post your stats

I really hope you get into one of your favorites. Too bad after 4 years of hard work the GRE caught you off guard. Your score certainly doesn't count you out completely. Look at RG, he's got 200 international 990s next to his app... maybe his sole author publications and litany of grad classes made all the difference. Your academic record was similar minus the GRE!

Basically I think we're in the same position, your GRE and my lack of prolific research both keep our applications from looking as strong as they could be. I still personally think the GRE is more fair than the expectations of research, (I'm only 21, I started learning physics when I was 18... I don't know why I'm expected to run my own research and change the world just to get into grad school. Physics takes a tremendous amount of time to master... why are are all profs so old?)

Anyway, it's no so much that schools will look at us and say "he's not good enough..." We're both clearly good enough... but you have lots of people out there with absolutely perfect records, and if there really are 100 or so of them out there, then there's just no room for us even if we are good enough to succeed there.

I just picked up some hard lemonade today (I'm not a big drinker but sometimes I like something new). How 'bout you pick a night in the upcoming week and we'll both get drunk smashed to forget our worries, and then we'll talk about it the next day on the forum?

VT · Post by VT » Tue Jan 29, 2008 7:17 pm

Thanks quizivex.
I feel sorry to myself when I compare my meager stat with glowing stats of other forum mebers like RG, nvanmeter, geomar, you and other. I have already posted my stat once. So I will go ahead and reserve a spot for now to show my appreciation for your initiative. This is by far the most organized and comprehensive database of grad school applicants that I have seen online so far. I will post my complete stat once the torture game is over. Probably, I am also superstitious.

quizivex · Post by **quizivex** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 8:07 pm

um I might have misunderstood zxcv's suggestion... if anybody wants to include fellowships you've applied to in your profile, just add them to your list of schools as if they're just another school. Add decisions and dates when they become available as usual.

hpharty · Post by **hpharty** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 9:26 pm

Congratulations to all of you!

I just got my Hopkins acceptance and updated my profile in the other thread. Feels goooooood.

dlenmn · Post by **dlenmn** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 9:50 pm

@ hpharty

Congrats on JHU.

Out of curiosity, when did you get your application in? (Sorry if I sound like a broken record with this question.)

hpharty · Post by **hpharty** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 10:17 pm

It was submitted 12/12 and all materials were in on 1/4

dlenmn · Post by **dlenmn** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 12:31 am

@ hpharty

Thanks. I didn't submit until 1/14 so I'll expect some more waiting...

Maxwells_Demon · Post by **Maxwells_Demon** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 1:20 am

According to your stats, quizivex, your application looks like it's gonna be a monster.... aka super strong.

Also, there's a lot of people on this forum... But do people that are already in grad school reply on this thing still? for advice, etc.?...

-Maxwell's Demon

grae313 · Post by **grae313** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 1:25 am

tnoviell is in grad school, and I know a few names from last year's forum check in every now and then. But for the most part, it seems there's a new group of people coming through here every year.

quizivex · Post by **quizivex** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 8:36 am

Thanks Maxwells_Demon, I hope it works out. "If" I end up in graduate school next year, I'll definitely continue posting on this forum.

cancelled20080417 · Post by **cancelled20080417** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 4:15 pm

Any body heard from UIUC and MIT??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????/?/?///////////////////./????????????????????????????????

nvanmeter · Post by **nvanmeter** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 5:27 pm

RG: did you get any financial info from UCSB or UCSD? b/c i didn't...i hope they send that stuff soon

cancelled20080417 · Post by **cancelled20080417** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 6:40 pm

I have not either. But the package will be coming thro snail mail, they do not send email, I guess.
I got email acceptance from UCSD though, claiming that financial package is on its way.

cancelled20080417 · Post by **cancelled20080417** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 6:50 pm

nvanmeter:
NO, Cornell is NOT my first choice, MIT and UIUC are my first choices. I would be very happy to get into any of them, but would be more excited if i have MIT than UIUC. But Cornell is def a good deal if I do not have any of these choices. I would pick UIUC instead of Cornell. UIUC has more money and varieties in research in CMT than Cornell or even MIT.
MIT is just for the prestige, o/w I really do not think there is much of a difference in terms of quality of research between MIT and UIUC.

Oh, I think I am dropping down Santa Barbara from my list, location is great but hey I can come visit Santabarbara or California for that matter every summer from MIT or UIUC( if I get in to these places)
So I am not very excited about UCSB. I have already dropped UCSD too from my list. i have been reading each of their webpages and types of research every day and this is helping me to cut down my options for now to Cornell only.

zxcv · Post by **zxcv** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 7:29 pm

Hey RG,

I know I've said a few mean things to you before. But if you've made up your mind about UCSB and UCSD for sure, you could do everyone on here a big favor by letting them know early... maybe they'll let in an extra person interested in studying CMT instead then

.

Anyways, ponder it

.

grae313 · Post by **grae313** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 9:23 pm

yeah, I remember reading a sort of "fight" on this topic last year. IMO(

) : If you are SURE, absolutely SURE you won't be going somewhere, it's the polite thing to do to let the school know immediately so they can admit someone else. BUT, if you have ANY doubt, it is your admit and your decision and you should take your time and be sure before you tell any school you won't be attending.

cancelled20080417 · Post by **cancelled20080417** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 10:01 pm

yeah, I am sending my email to UCSD this week. Since I have Cornell's letter on my hand, I am 100% sure that I am NOT going to UCSD.

Good luck to every one of you. But I am not so sure about UCSB yet. I will visit santabarbara though. I am really sorry, it is so beautiful there.

peder · Post by **peder** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 10:09 pm

I just realized what mass panic I'd incite on this board if I wrote in my profile that I had been accepted to all my schools with fellowships.