Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

  • This has become our largest and most active forum because the physics GRE is just one aspect of getting accepted into a graduate physics program.
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secander2!
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Re: Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

Post by secander2! » Wed Feb 04, 2009 11:45 am

Thanks Ren and Sid!

@Ren, yes, I was notified by letter (more like a giant packet). And I agree, it would be a lot easier and faster to send an acceptance by email!!! Congrats on the UT acceptance btw! It's a really great school even if the fact that I have connections to Texas A&M means that I'm supposed to hate it.

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Helio
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Re: Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

Post by Helio » Wed Feb 04, 2009 11:50 am

sidharthsp wrote:
secander2! wrote:Got an acceptance from Cornell! I was a bit worried when everybody else started getting acceptances, but I think the delay just resulted from the fact that it takes a while for US mail to get to Europe.

congrats!!! great to hear that.....
congrats

robertson
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Re: Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

Post by robertson » Wed Feb 04, 2009 12:03 pm

hey guys, I haven't showed up for a long time, but is exams period here in Valencia. I'm getting slightly worse results because I cannot concretate! No acceptances no rejections so far, though today I met Elizabeth Jenkins from UCSD and she said I will be fine (god listen to her, she's not on the admissions comitte anymore :( ).
Congrats to you guys, helio, secander2, trani... You helped me a lot when I had doubts, you deserve the best (probably better news to come, stanford, MIT etc)! I will hopefully share my joy in few weeks.

tshafer
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Re: Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

Post by tshafer » Thu Feb 05, 2009 8:06 pm

I just got into Chapel Hill theory, even with my miserable PGRE! So relieved it's unimaginable... I guess my letters & other things DID count for a lot :D :D :D

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a13ean
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Re: Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

Post by a13ean » Thu Feb 05, 2009 10:16 pm

I just got accepted into Cornell CME with a fellowship. Cornell is my first choice, and I never thought I would get a fellowship to go there.

The first thing I did was call my parents, then I opened a bottle of Klaus Knoblauch sekt and make an apple pie =)

Good luck to you all -- I probably won't attend any open houses now since I visited Cornell over Thanksgiving. Now all I have to do is wait for my gf to get into her program...

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Helio
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Re: Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

Post by Helio » Thu Feb 05, 2009 10:18 pm

a13ean wrote:I just got accepted into Cornell CME with a fellowship. Cornell is my first choice, and I never thought I would get a fellowship to go there.

The first thing I did was call my parents, then I opened a bottle of Klaus Knoblauch sekt and make an apple pie =)

Good luck to you all -- I probably won't attend any open houses now since I visited Cornell over Thanksgiving. Now all I have to do is wait for my gf to get into her program...
congrats

senor_frijole
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Re: Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

Post by senor_frijole » Thu Feb 05, 2009 10:26 pm

Apparently I got into MIT?

Definitely unexpected...

happymonkey
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Re: Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

Post by happymonkey » Thu Feb 05, 2009 11:03 pm

@senor_frijole: congratulations dude, well done!

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Helio
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Re: Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

Post by Helio » Thu Feb 05, 2009 11:05 pm

senor_frijole wrote:Apparently I got into MIT?

Definitely unexpected...
congrats MIT has started as well.... now we are waiting for Harvard, Stanford and Princton to finally make up their mind

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secander2!
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Re: Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

Post by secander2! » Fri Feb 06, 2009 4:58 am

@Helio, thanks!!! congrats to you too! it looks like you've already got quite a few nice offers to ponder :D

@a13ean, that's great!!!

@robertson, thanks. I look forward to hearing your acceptances! You've got a really killer application!

@senor_frijole, that's really awesome!!!!

Hypatia
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Re: Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

Post by Hypatia » Fri Feb 06, 2009 5:23 am

senor_frijole wrote:Apparently I got into MIT?

Definitely unexpected...
Did they send you an email or a usual mail ? Did they call you?

senor_frijole
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Re: Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

Post by senor_frijole » Fri Feb 06, 2009 5:50 am

Hypatia wrote:
senor_frijole wrote:Apparently I got into MIT?

Definitely unexpected...
Did they send you an email or a usual mail ? Did they call you?
I got an informal e-mail from a professor on the admissions board.

honey20
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Re: Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

Post by honey20 » Fri Feb 06, 2009 6:07 am

senor_frijole wrote:Apparently I got into MIT?

Definitely unexpected...

would you let us know about your background?

sterculus
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Re: Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

Post by sterculus » Fri Feb 06, 2009 12:33 pm

honey20 wrote:would you let us know about your background?
I think he has a profile posted in the 2009 Profiles sticky (at the top of this forum).

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secander2!
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Re: Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

Post by secander2! » Fri Feb 06, 2009 12:34 pm

I just got the MIT email too!

sterculus
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Re: Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

Post by sterculus » Fri Feb 06, 2009 12:35 pm

secander2! wrote:I just got the MIT email too!
Congrats!

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Helio
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Re: Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

Post by Helio » Fri Feb 06, 2009 12:42 pm

secander2! wrote:@Helio, thanks!!! congrats to you too! it looks like you've already got quite a few nice offers to ponder :D

@a13ean, that's great!!!

@robertson, thanks. I look forward to hearing your acceptances! You've got a really killer application!

@senor_frijole, that's really awesome!!!!
Congrats and thanks... yeah.... now i am waiting.... and waiting and waiting

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a13ean
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Re: Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

Post by a13ean » Fri Feb 06, 2009 1:40 pm

Thanks everyone, good luck!

nonick
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Re: Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

Post by nonick » Fri Feb 06, 2009 1:45 pm

so the big envelope finally came -- count one more acceptance from Cornell :D

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quizivex
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Re: Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

Post by quizivex » Fri Feb 06, 2009 1:47 pm

Congrats to everyone. For those of you current and future students who feel you bombed the GRE and worry that your plans are ruined, take a note of secander2! (who was known as secander on the 2008 profile thread). He did decent on it last year, but he knew he could do better, so intstead of stopping there, he took a year off, got extra research experience, enjoyed life a bit, retook the GRE (and ****ed it up the ***), and he's already got two offers from top programs this year. If you really think something's missing from your app, it might help to take a year off or stay an extra year at your school and add to your credentials in one or many ways! :D

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coreycwgriffin
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Re: Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

Post by coreycwgriffin » Fri Feb 06, 2009 1:52 pm

quizivex wrote:Congrats to everyone. For those of you current and future students who feel you bombed the GRE and worry that your plans are ruined, take a note of secander2! (who was known as secander on the 2008 profile thread). He did decent on it last year, but he knew he could do better, so intstead of stopping there, he took a year off, got extra research experience, enjoyed life a bit, retook the GRE (and ****ed it up the ***), and he's already got two offers from top programs this year. If you really think something's missing from your app, it might help to take a year off or stay an extra year at your school and add to your credentials in one or many ways! :D
See, if I "took a year off" I would never go back. It's not that I lack the drive or motivation, but circumstances would end up such that I would never have the opportunity to try again. It has happened to a lot of alumni of my college as well as a lot of people who live in my area of the country.

I need to get the hell out of here, no matter where I go.

mhazelm
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Re: Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

Post by mhazelm » Fri Feb 06, 2009 1:55 pm

For those of you with acceptances, how many received phone calls? Some weird area code just called my cell... I went to answer it and accidentally hit the "Send busy tone" instead... I keep thinking it was someone from one of the schools I applied to! :?

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coreycwgriffin
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Re: Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

Post by coreycwgriffin » Fri Feb 06, 2009 1:57 pm

mhazelm wrote:For those of you with acceptances, how many received phone calls? Some weird area code just called my cell... I went to answer it and accidentally hit the "Send busy tone" instead... I keep thinking it was someone from one of the schools I applied to! :?
I've been getting a lot of "extended car warranty" spam calls that make me nervous like that, since I think they may be from grad schools.

Google the phone number it came from, and you might find that your call was from one of those numbers.

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Helio
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Re: Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

Post by Helio » Fri Feb 06, 2009 2:08 pm

coreycwgriffin wrote:
mhazelm wrote:For those of you with acceptances, how many received phone calls? Some weird area code just called my cell... I went to answer it and accidentally hit the "Send busy tone" instead... I keep thinking it was someone from one of the schools I applied to! :?
I've been getting a lot of "extended car warranty" spam calls that make me nervous like that, since I think they may be from grad schools.

Google the phone number it came from, and you might find that your call was from one of those numbers.
been getting the "second notice that your factory warranty has expired" phone call for the 20th time. at least it is an 800 number, so i know it is wrong, but when a none SoCal phone number pops up i get really nervous

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coreycwgriffin
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Re: Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

Post by coreycwgriffin » Fri Feb 06, 2009 2:13 pm

Helio wrote:
coreycwgriffin wrote:
mhazelm wrote:For those of you with acceptances, how many received phone calls? Some weird area code just called my cell... I went to answer it and accidentally hit the "Send busy tone" instead... I keep thinking it was someone from one of the schools I applied to! :?
I've been getting a lot of "extended car warranty" spam calls that make me nervous like that, since I think they may be from grad schools.

Google the phone number it came from, and you might find that your call was from one of those numbers.
been getting the "second notice that your factory warranty has expired" phone call for the 20th time. at least it is an 800 number, so i know it is wrong, but when a none SoCal phone number pops up i get really nervous
Well, I had gotten one from a 612 area code, which is Minneapolis, and I applied to University of Minnesota, so I was really paranoid about it.

tshafer
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Re: Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

Post by tshafer » Fri Feb 06, 2009 2:13 pm

quizivex wrote:Congrats to everyone. For those of you current and future students who feel you bombed the GRE and worry that your plans are ruined, take a note of secander2! (who was known as secander on the 2008 profile thread). He did decent on it last year, but he knew he could do better, so intstead of stopping there, he took a year off, got extra research experience, enjoyed life a bit, retook the GRE (and ****ed it up the ***), and he's already got two offers from top programs this year. If you really think something's missing from your app, it might help to take a year off or stay an extra year at your school and add to your credentials in one or many ways! :D
Definitely... I f-ed the PGRE up, and if my circumstances weren't so fixed (have to stay in-state, getting married, etc) I would have hung around another year. Still, it is (apparently) possible to get into a top-35 program for theory with a terrible GRE and phenomenal letters.

Tom

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dustdevil
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Re: Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

Post by dustdevil » Fri Feb 06, 2009 2:14 pm

Helio wrote: been getting the "second notice that your factory warranty has expired" phone call for the 20th time. at least it is an 800 number, so i know it is wrong, but when a none SoCal phone number pops up i get really nervous
Geez, I get that too, but I don't even have a car. :?

cato88
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Re: Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

Post by cato88 » Fri Feb 06, 2009 2:36 pm

quizivex wrote:Congrats to everyone. For those of you current and future students who feel you bombed the GRE and worry that your plans are ruined, take a note of secander2! (who was known as secander on the 2008 profile thread). He did decent on it last year, but he knew he could do better, so intstead of stopping there, he took a year off, got extra research experience, enjoyed life a bit, retook the GRE (and ****ed it up the ***), and he's already got two offers from top programs this year. If you really think something's missing from your app, it might help to take a year off or stay an extra year at your school and add to your credentials in one or many ways! :D
His profile seems pretty much the same except for the boost in the PGRE. It shows despite how much the PGRE is told not to be as important as GPA it obviously is. If colleges really cared about getting their students into the best graduate school they should require PGRE prep class.

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Helio
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Re: Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

Post by Helio » Fri Feb 06, 2009 2:44 pm

cato88 wrote:
quizivex wrote:Congrats to everyone. For those of you current and future students who feel you bombed the GRE and worry that your plans are ruined, take a note of secander2! (who was known as secander on the 2008 profile thread). He did decent on it last year, but he knew he could do better, so intstead of stopping there, he took a year off, got extra research experience, enjoyed life a bit, retook the GRE (and ****ed it up the ***), and he's already got two offers from top programs this year. If you really think something's missing from your app, it might help to take a year off or stay an extra year at your school and add to your credentials in one or many ways! :D
His profile seems pretty much the same except for the boost in the PGRE. It shows despite how much the PGRE is told not to be as important as GPA it obviously is. If colleges really cared about getting their students into the best graduate school they should require PGRE prep class.
and the year of year of research at CERN out of all places is nothing i guess :lol:

luckybohr
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Re: Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

Post by luckybohr » Fri Feb 06, 2009 3:08 pm

hey guys, UCSB should be out. just got an email half an hour ago.

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PhysicsPdx
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Re: Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

Post by PhysicsPdx » Fri Feb 06, 2009 3:46 pm

I was just accepted to University of New Hampshire! Now that that dam has been broken, let's hope it's a flood of acceptances from here on!

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coreycwgriffin
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Re: Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

Post by coreycwgriffin » Fri Feb 06, 2009 4:24 pm

I wish my damn could get broken...

...in before obvious non-implied puns.

cato88
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Re: Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

Post by cato88 » Fri Feb 06, 2009 5:01 pm

Helio wrote: and the year of year of research at CERN out of all places is nothing i guess :lol:
I was working under the assumption that he applied last year as senior which means unless he is part of some special
program where he could spend his senior year at CERN and still graduate in time then he started in summer of 08. That means that at the time of sending his application he only had 5-6 months at CERN maximum. Im not sure if I would be inclined to believe that 5-6 months at CERN will turn your application from being rejected at Rice to accepted at Cornell and MIT especially since CERN = hep which means there are time requirements for publishing. This would mean that every undergrad participating in collaborations for LHC should be adamant about having his work take place at CERN even though it would be the same analysis he could do at his home institution.

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Helio
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Re: Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

Post by Helio » Fri Feb 06, 2009 5:51 pm

cato88 wrote:
Helio wrote: and the year of year of research at CERN out of all places is nothing i guess :lol:
I was working under the assumption that he applied last year as senior which means unless he is part of some special
program where he could spend his senior year at CERN and still graduate in time then he started in summer of 08. That means that at the time of sending his application he only had 5-6 months at CERN maximum. Im not sure if I would be inclined to believe that 5-6 months at CERN will turn your application from being rejected at Rice to accepted at Cornell and MIT especially since CERN = hep which means there are time requirements for publishing. This would mean that every undergrad participating in collaborations for LHC should be adamant about having his work take place at CERN even though it would be the same analysis he could do at his home institution.
Actually, it does not matter really if you publish or not. It is more the aura of doing something that shows you are committed that is all they want to see. As long as you show commitment they will rate your application higher. Publications are just one sign that you are serious and you have to consider that the name CERN has a big aura around itself.

cato88
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Re: Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

Post by cato88 » Fri Feb 06, 2009 6:05 pm

CERN has a big name aura around it for the general/physics population but for anyone who has worked in experimental hep it is a nice place to conduct analysis but the data tier system implemented in the collaborations means that you do not have to be at CERN to do analysis and that your analysis at CERN is not inherently better than the analysis conducted at home institution. I would expect at least HEP professor to have a similar perspective and generally any physics professor because they talk to HEP professors.

rockwhj
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Re: Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

Post by rockwhj » Fri Feb 06, 2009 6:17 pm

Just got a call from U Penn!

PoincareSection
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Re: Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

Post by PoincareSection » Fri Feb 06, 2009 6:41 pm

Congrats! I wonder if UPenn is going to accept everyone at once or if it goes by group.

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WhatCanYouDoFermi?
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Re: Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

Post by WhatCanYouDoFermi? » Fri Feb 06, 2009 6:52 pm

PoincareSection wrote:Congrats! I wonder if UPenn is going to accept everyone at once or if it goes by group.
Let's hope it goes by group! At least we know that they can't possibly call everyone all at once :)

PoincareSection
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Re: Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

Post by PoincareSection » Fri Feb 06, 2009 6:55 pm

WhatCanYouDoFermi? wrote:
PoincareSection wrote:Congrats! I wonder if UPenn is going to accept everyone at once or if it goes by group.
Let's hope it goes by group! At least we know that they can't possibly call everyone all at once :)
Ugh... My phone just rang and it was a telemarketer :evil:

PoincareSection
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Re: Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

Post by PoincareSection » Fri Feb 06, 2009 6:58 pm

PoincareSection wrote:Congrats! I wonder if UPenn is going to accept everyone at once or if it goes by group.
Sorry, what I meant was research group.

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xudis149
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Re: Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

Post by xudis149 » Fri Feb 06, 2009 8:02 pm

Hi everybody,

I was soooo eager to join this thread and now I finally got my first acceptance ...from Brandeis University[by email]... :D :D :D :D

Boy..If anyone had seen my transcripts [loads of failures and retakes of courses..] and then my background in electrical engineering from India wud be definitely surprised.... I owe a whole lot to this website...Thank you grant and others for maintaining and running it...

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xudis149
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Re: Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

Post by xudis149 » Fri Feb 06, 2009 8:06 pm

congrats to all of you .... :D :D

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xudis149
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Re: Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

Post by xudis149 » Fri Feb 06, 2009 8:23 pm

What is the protocol in replying to the acceptance email... Should I say that I am thinking about the offer or a simple "thank you" would do?

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Helio
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Re: Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

Post by Helio » Fri Feb 06, 2009 8:37 pm

sidharthsp wrote:What is the protocol in replying to the acceptance email... Should I say that I am thinking about the offer or a simple "thank you" would do?
usually you don't reply unless you have a question really. and if you do just say thank you for the news. that is how i have been handling it really

cato88
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Re: Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

Post by cato88 » Fri Feb 06, 2009 8:39 pm

Helio wrote:
sidharthsp wrote:What is the protocol in replying to the acceptance email... Should I say that I am thinking about the offer or a simple "thank you" would do?
usually you don't reply unless you have a question really. and if you do just say thank you for the news. that is how i have been handling it really
especially to the automated UC e-mails that direct you to the website.

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xudis149
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Re: Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

Post by xudis149 » Fri Feb 06, 2009 8:50 pm

I have replied with a "thank you".....

hope more results starts pouring in .. especially after applying to 16 places.. Phew...

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secander2!
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Re: Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

Post by secander2! » Sat Feb 07, 2009 7:32 am

Thanks everybody and congratulations! Wow! sidharthsp, great job on overcoming all the setbacks!!!


A lot of action on this thread while I was gone. I guess I should weight in on my own situation :wink:

Thanks quiz!!! You're definitely right. Taking a year off was one of the best decisions I made and definitely one of the most fun! I'm really glad it is paying off. For those who may not be happy with the admissions outcome: even though you're always the same person, a year can make a large difference in your prospects! As for the "changes" to my application. I'd say there two big ones, and a few minor ones:

1. A nine-month Fulbright Grant to do research at CERN.
2. A 200 pt increase on the PGRE thanks to a summer of studying.

3. A publication [finally] of work I had done in 2007.
4. The receipt of all those graduation awards with cushy names.
5. The changing of one recommender (from an adjunct math prof to a CERN applied physicist)

I think cato88 makes some good points. Even though the PGRE shouldn't be very important, it is. Of course, a high PGRE alone won't get you into a top 10 school (I think), but a mediocre PGRE will keep those who are not a demographic minority out of them (unless you're a publishing god or something). Also, I guess I should note that my research at CERN is being conducted under a 9-month Fulbright fellowship, so it's not quite the "Senior year at CERN" thing. Now that I think about it, a "Senior year at CERN" would be a fabulous idea! Like Helio said, the CERN name has an "aura" and even though your research might not be any different, the fact it's being done at CERN legitimates it somehow. I think it is similar to how you can read a textbook and work physics problems at home, but the fact that you read the textbook and work the physics problems at a University legitimates you and eventually gets you a degree. The whole applications process is something of a game and everybody is looking to make their application stand out. My view is that research at CERN is no big deal objectively speaking, but seeing as it's hard for American undergraduates to get it (there are only ~15 places available in the Michigan REU), it's a bit of a "stand-out novelty item."

valkyrie
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Re: Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

Post by valkyrie » Sat Feb 07, 2009 2:03 pm

Helio wrote:
sidharthsp wrote:What is the protocol in replying to the acceptance email... Should I say that I am thinking about the offer or a simple "thank you" would do?
usually you don't reply unless you have a question really. and if you do just say thank you for the news. that is how i have been handling it really
I would reply, if only with a simple "Thank you". I received acceptance email followed by a few other emails from one school just as I was travelling and without email access for a few days. When I got back, the admission chair had actually emailed me asking to confirm I was indeed receiving these emails. By writing a quick reply, you are at least acknowledging the receipt and you don't leave people wondering if it went straight in your spam filter. :)

jsd
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Re: Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

Post by jsd » Sat Feb 07, 2009 4:20 pm

So, do we have any sense of whether or not MIT has finished its first wave?

cato88
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Re: Acceptance 2009.... Share your joy!

Post by cato88 » Sat Feb 07, 2009 4:22 pm

secander2! wrote: I think cato88 makes some good points. Even though the PGRE shouldn't be very important, it is. Of course, a high PGRE alone won't get you into a top 10 school (I think), but a mediocre PGRE will keep those who are not a demographic minority out of them (unless you're a publishing god or something).
I was just thinking about the numbers from what I read going 790 to 980 takes you at least for domestic applicants from the around the top 25% of applicant scores to the top 5%. That is a huge stride in making you stand out, you went from average to unique. Apparently domestic females rarely score above 900 so I suspect that a if a female went for it and made the PGRE a bigger priority then grades/anything and scored above 900 while still maintaining any GPA above 3.0 she would be a shoe in for any top 10 school because she would stick out like a sore thumb. That would be my advice for female applicants study for the PGRE it will make you stand out an absurd amount in exchange for a few months.



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