2011 Acceptances and profile discussions

  • 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.
  • There are applications, personal statements, letters of recommendation, visiting schools, anxiety of waiting for acceptances, deciding between schools, finding out where others are going, etc.

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grae313
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Re: 2011 Acceptances and profile discussions

Post by grae313 » Thu Feb 03, 2011 12:41 pm

axiomofchoice wrote:I'm sure grae would love to have you at her parties :)
My parties? Uh... oh. Right. My Parties. Yes well, we all get dressed up in our formal wear and sit in giant leather armchairs next to a blazing fire and we sip very old scotch and talk about how much we hate those darn undergrads.

vesperlynd
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Re: 2011 Acceptances and profile discussions

Post by vesperlynd » Thu Feb 03, 2011 1:53 pm

..
Last edited by vesperlynd on Wed Mar 02, 2011 1:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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sphy
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Re: 2011 Acceptances and profile discussions

Post by sphy » Thu Feb 03, 2011 1:55 pm

vesperlynd wrote:Accepted to MIT. Holy cow, was not expecting this. Congrats to everyone so far, and to everyone who hasn't yet heard back, good luck and don't give up hope!

I should add my profile now.

Congrats.....

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WhoaNonstop
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Re: 2011 Acceptances and profile discussions

Post by WhoaNonstop » Thu Feb 03, 2011 2:46 pm

grae313 wrote:
axiomofchoice wrote:I'm sure grae would love to have you at her parties :)
My parties? Uh... oh. Right. My Parties. Yes well, we all get dressed up in our formal wear and sit in giant leather armchairs next to a blazing fire and we sip very old scotch and talk about how much we hate those darn undergrads.
Boring! Where is the Dance Dance Revolution eh?

-Riley

strikershootingguard
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Re: 2011 Acceptances and profile discussions

Post by strikershootingguard » Thu Feb 03, 2011 2:48 pm

Wow, all these acceptances are making me feel nervous! I'm keeping my expectations low (especially given my PGRE score, which isn't particularly outstanding for an international), but still, these are exciting times! I can't wait!

Congrats everyone!

negru
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Re: 2011 Acceptances and profile discussions

Post by negru » Thu Feb 03, 2011 2:55 pm

heard that Stanford adcoms won't be meeting for another 3 weeks.

uzbyte
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Re: 2011 Acceptances and profile discussions

Post by uzbyte » Thu Feb 03, 2011 4:57 pm

Hey, just noticed this section. And to everyone who mentioned me not submitting my PGRE, I agree with the general feeling. I was wavering about putting it on mine. I spoke with a few professors though and they said that a low score is more likely to hurt you than an 'okay' score helping...and every schools idea of what is low/high is a bit different. I got a 720 on it, which I really didn't feel was good enough. We'll see how it pans out. I did apply to some mechanical engineering dept's and biological engineering depts since my research area is in a different program depending on the school. I should add the additional programs to my list actually. I guess I figured it would be okay for me since none of my programs are actually hardcore physics depts...more interdisciplinary tangents. Thanks to everybody for the feedback though.

I did read a few other people's stat's from previous years with the same situation(ish). And they seemed to do fine. I have been out of school for awhile and would really rather them focus on my research experience than my GRE scores since they are very mediocre and also old at this point, but we'll see how that works out :P I hope it isn't application suicide however :cry:

It is nice to know that everybody else is going through anticipation hell as well...I check my email and this website practically hourly... sigh. Good luck to everybody though! Should know soon.... :)

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WhoaNonstop
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Re: 2011 Acceptances and profile discussions

Post by WhoaNonstop » Thu Feb 03, 2011 5:03 pm

uzbyte wrote:Hey, just noticed this section. And to everyone who mentioned me not submitting my PGRE, I agree with the general feeling. I was wavering about putting it on mine. I spoke with a few professors though and they said that a low score is more likely to hurt you than an 'okay' score helping...and every schools idea of what is low/high is a bit different. I got a 720 on it, which I really didn't feel was good enough. We'll see how it pans out. I did apply to some mechanical engineering dept's and biological engineering depts since my research area is in a different program depending on the school. I should add the additional programs to my list actually. I guess I figured it would be okay for me since none of my programs are actually hardcore physics depts...more interdisciplinary tangents. Thanks to everybody for the feedback though.

I did read a few other people's stat's from previous years with the same situation(ish). And they seemed to do fine. I have been out of school for awhile and would really rather them focus on my research experience than my GRE scores since they are very mediocre and also old at this point, but we'll see how that works out :P I hope it isn't application suicide however :cry:

It is nice to know that everybody else is going through anticipation hell as well...I check my email and this website practically hourly... sigh. Good luck to everybody though! Should know soon.... :)
You might make a note on your application profile about many of these programs not being physics, so you don't give someone in the future the wrong impression! However, I don't think it's such a bad deal to not include your score if you were applying to fields other than Physics.

-Riley

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LoronDotCom
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Re: 2011 Acceptances and profile discussions

Post by LoronDotCom » Thu Feb 03, 2011 5:28 pm

Waitlisted to Hawaii (astro) today. 115 applicants, they said I was in the top group of waitlisted candidates.

ruthrj
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Re: 2011 Acceptances and profile discussions

Post by ruthrj » Thu Feb 03, 2011 8:07 pm

Definition of bittersweet -

A friend of mine just got accepted into Florida Astronomy today. :D
I applied also and haven't heard anything yet. :oops:

zhermes
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Re: 2011 Acceptances and profile discussions

Post by zhermes » Fri Feb 04, 2011 3:05 pm

Princeton sent out some results.

What are the chances they made a mistake?

bfollinprm
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Re: 2011 Acceptances and profile discussions

Post by bfollinprm » Fri Feb 04, 2011 3:26 pm

Got in to Irvine today, though the stipend seems low for Orange County (21k+summer appointment). Anyone know anything about the housing situation there?

badphysicist
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Re: 2011 Acceptances and profile discussions

Post by badphysicist » Fri Feb 04, 2011 5:03 pm

bfollinprm wrote:Got in to Irvine today, though the stipend seems low for Orange County (21k+summer appointment). Anyone know anything about the housing situation there?

Is it 21k + tuition wavier? Because 21k + some summer money is enough for minimal living in the OC, just need to find roommates to share an apartment. It may be different for the area near UCI, but I've asked friends of mine who live in the area around CSULB and they pay ~1900$/mo for a 3 bed house, so it should be enough.


And Grats on your acceptance.

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grae313
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Re: 2011 Acceptances and profile discussions

Post by grae313 » Fri Feb 04, 2011 5:08 pm

In physics tuition waivers and insurance go almost universally without saying. They are part of everyone's standard offer.

badphysicist
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Re: 2011 Acceptances and profile discussions

Post by badphysicist » Fri Feb 04, 2011 5:24 pm

grae313 wrote:In physics tuition waivers and insurance go almost universally without saying. They are part of everyone's standard offer.
If that's the case he (she?) will be fine.
http://www.ofas.uci.edu/content/costs.aspx?nav=5

cryingsun
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Re: 2011 Acceptances and profile discussions

Post by cryingsun » Fri Feb 04, 2011 5:35 pm

zhermes wrote:Princeton sent out some results.

What are the chances they made a mistake?
Why do you think they made a mistake?

vesperlynd
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Re: 2011 Acceptances and profile discussions

Post by vesperlynd » Fri Feb 04, 2011 5:52 pm

.
Last edited by vesperlynd on Wed Mar 02, 2011 1:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.

cryingsun
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Re: 2011 Acceptances and profile discussions

Post by cryingsun » Fri Feb 04, 2011 6:19 pm

vesperlynd wrote:
cryingsun wrote:
zhermes wrote:Princeton sent out some results.

What are the chances they made a mistake?
Why do you think they made a mistake?
I was wondering the same thing yesterday about MIT. Congrats, zhermes!
Oh I get it now :oops: Congrats! Princeton is my dream school.

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kubikat
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Re: 2011 Acceptances and profile discussions

Post by kubikat » Fri Feb 04, 2011 6:34 pm

Yale just sent me a "congratulations".
I cried.

zhermes
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Re: 2011 Acceptances and profile discussions

Post by zhermes » Fri Feb 04, 2011 7:42 pm

@vesperlynd, @cryingsun - thanks! I think its my dream school too, that's why I'm only now becoming confident that this isn't a dream.

And congrats to you on MIT vesperlynd, hell of a place!

nonabelian
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Re: ==> Sticky: 2011 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

Post by nonabelian » Fri Feb 04, 2011 8:46 pm

has anybody applied to UBC Vancouver? If so, have you heard anything yet?

I currently a grad student at SUNY Stony Brook attempting to transfer.

SPat
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Re: 2011 Acceptances and profile discussions

Post by SPat » Fri Feb 04, 2011 9:07 pm

got a "congratulations" mail from Yale (for Physics). Am overjoyed...

axiomofchoice
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Re: 2011 Acceptances and profile discussions

Post by axiomofchoice » Fri Feb 04, 2011 10:38 pm

vesperlynd wrote:
cryingsun wrote:
zhermes wrote:Princeton sent out some results.

What are the chances they made a mistake?
Why do you think they made a mistake?
I was wondering the same thing yesterday about MIT. Congrats, zhermes!
Yeah I double then triple check the acceptance email to make sure that my name is indeed on it. My name is fairly unique so hopefully the chance of them mixing me up with someone else is small :roll:

Congrats vesperlynd! All your worries were for naught :)

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kubikat
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Re: 2011 Acceptances and profile discussions

Post by kubikat » Fri Feb 04, 2011 11:14 pm

SPat wrote:got a "congratulations" mail from Yale (for Physics). Am overjoyed...
Congrats to you! And to everyone else who's been accepted.

@SPat: does your letter say you've been accepted for the Fall Semester 2011-2012?
Mine says for Spring :? for some odd reason.

SPat
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Re: 2011 Acceptances and profile discussions

Post by SPat » Fri Feb 04, 2011 11:40 pm

kubikat wrote: @SPat: does your letter say you've been accepted for the Fall Semester 2011-2012?
Mine says for Spring :? for some odd reason.
It says Spring 2011-2012... didn't notice it till now. hope that's a mistake!

entanglement
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Re: 2011 Acceptances and profile discussions

Post by entanglement » Sat Feb 05, 2011 12:21 am

Got into Yale. Even mine says Spring 2011-2012! Must be a mistake.

liutian_min
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Re: 2011 Acceptances and profile discussions

Post by liutian_min » Sat Feb 05, 2011 1:19 am

Same as many of you, I also got the admission from Yale through their website. But that 'spring term' really looks weird. How can they make a mistake like this?

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kubikat
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Re: 2011 Acceptances and profile discussions

Post by kubikat » Sat Feb 05, 2011 1:54 am

liutian_min wrote:How can they make a mistake like this?
Recycling the text from the old letter.
admissionprof shared a lovely story about an applicant leaving the name of the wrong school in the personal statement. :D

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WhoaNonstop
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Re: 2011 Acceptances and profile discussions

Post by WhoaNonstop » Sat Feb 05, 2011 4:38 am

liutian_min wrote:Same as many of you, I also got the admission from Yale through their website. But that 'spring term' really looks weird. How can they make a mistake like this?
Grr for Yale Applied Physics! You guys are making me jumpy. ;)

-Riley

liutian_min
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Re: 2011 Acceptances and profile discussions

Post by liutian_min » Sat Feb 05, 2011 4:59 am

WhoaNonstop wrote:
liutian_min wrote:Same as many of you, I also got the admission from Yale through their website. But that 'spring term' really looks weird. How can they make a mistake like this?
Grr for Yale Applied Physics! You guys are making me jumpy. ;)

-Riley
I think it takes longer to review in programs like applied physics and applied math since there are applicants from a wider variety of backgrounds.

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modernphysics
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Re: 2011 Acceptances and profile discussions

Post by modernphysics » Sat Feb 05, 2011 9:25 am

Post is not here.
Last edited by modernphysics on Tue Mar 08, 2011 3:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Pastrami
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Re: 2011 Acceptances and profile discussions

Post by Pastrami » Sat Feb 05, 2011 9:39 am

What she's saying:

"Fine, you can take a picture, but you better not plaster this on some geek forum."

fandangoya
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Re: 2011 Acceptances and profile discussions

Post by fandangoya » Sat Feb 05, 2011 11:05 am

We shouldn't expect any decisions during weekends, right?

rhythm_keeper
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Re: 2011 Acceptances and profile discussions

Post by rhythm_keeper » Sat Feb 05, 2011 11:17 am

fandangoya wrote:We shouldn't expect any decisions during weekends, right?
Very unlikely.

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modernphysics
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Re: 2011 Acceptances and profile discussions

Post by modernphysics » Sat Feb 05, 2011 11:49 am

rhythm_keeper wrote:
fandangoya wrote:We shouldn't expect any decisions during weekends, right?
Very unlikely.
Don't be too mechanical !
Got a chance to post on a holiday only.

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modernphysics
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Re: 2011 Acceptances and profile discussions

Post by modernphysics » Sat Feb 05, 2011 11:53 am

:idea:
Last edited by modernphysics on Tue Mar 08, 2011 3:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Pastrami
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Re: 2011 Acceptances and profile discussions

Post by Pastrami » Sat Feb 05, 2011 12:49 pm

I was just joking, man. Good for you on your admissions!

xbomber88
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Re: 2011 Acceptances and profile discussions

Post by xbomber88 » Sat Feb 05, 2011 4:07 pm

For those of you who got into Yale did you hear by e-mail or postal mail? Just wondering because I don't have access to my postal mail until Monday and I'm kind of surprised and worried that I haven't heard from Yale. Also how do you check on the website? I went to check my status on the website and I can't find anywhere where it says anything about accepted or rejected or anything.

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WhoaNonstop
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Re: 2011 Acceptances and profile discussions

Post by WhoaNonstop » Sat Feb 05, 2011 4:44 pm

To the sixteen people posting on this thread who haven't added their application profile to the forum, why not do so?

To the many hundreds lurking, why not join and do the same?

-Riley

dada
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Re: 2011 Acceptances and profile discussions

Post by dada » Sat Feb 05, 2011 5:04 pm

because my profile is s**t and i am embarrassed but if i get an acceptance letter ill post it as a payback to all of youse

astrok
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Re: 2011 Acceptances and profile discussions

Post by astrok » Sat Feb 05, 2011 5:16 pm

WhoaNonstop wrote:To the sixteen people posting on this thread who haven't added their application profile to the forum, why not do so?

To the many hundreds lurking, why not join and do the same?

-Riley
I'm easily identifiable...I'll post my profile after I hear back from everyone.
Last edited by astrok on Sat Feb 05, 2011 7:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.

badphysicist
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Re: 2011 Acceptances and profile discussions

Post by badphysicist » Sat Feb 05, 2011 5:37 pm

dada wrote:because my profile is s**t and i am embarrassed but if i get an acceptance letter ill post it as a payback to all of youse
can't be worse than mine

liutian_min
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Re: 2011 Acceptances and profile discussions

Post by liutian_min » Sat Feb 05, 2011 5:56 pm

WhoaNonstop wrote:To the sixteen people posting on this thread who haven't added their application profile to the forum, why not do so?

To the many hundreds lurking, why not join and do the same?

-Riley
posted

matto07
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Re: 2011 Acceptances and profile discussions

Post by matto07 » Sat Feb 05, 2011 6:12 pm

Accepted to Cornell Physics (condensed matter theory)! Wasn't expecting my top choice to be the first one I heard back from...

t2kburl
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Re: 2011 Acceptances and profile discussions

Post by t2kburl » Sat Feb 05, 2011 6:32 pm

badphysicist wrote:
dada wrote:because my profile is s**t and i am embarrassed but if i get an acceptance letter ill post it as a payback to all of youse
can't be worse than mine
I have the worst ever posted PGRE score on this site. But the other aspects of my application have already got me 2 acceptances (not in Physics, though). It may be worthwhile to future users to see if and how a poor PGRE can be overcome. Don't be shy. Nobody's going to laugh at you for it (except, maybe Riley, but he'll do it in a way that you can laugh at, too) and it may do you some good to come out from under the shadow that score has hanging over you.
Step into the light!

Nice going matto07! If Cornell is your #1 and the funding is right, etc, be sure to withdraw your other applications so that others may not have to wait so long for their acceptance.

xbomber88
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Re: 2011 Acceptances and profile discussions

Post by xbomber88 » Sat Feb 05, 2011 7:04 pm

I'm not going to post my whole profile because I'm easily identifiable. But I will say that I'm a domestic student with a 3.9 GPA and 950 PGRE so I'm a little bit worried that there must be something else about my profile that is bad since I haven't heard from Yale and Cornell and so many other people already have.

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WhoaNonstop
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Re: 2011 Acceptances and profile discussions

Post by WhoaNonstop » Sat Feb 05, 2011 8:12 pm

xbomber88 wrote:I'm not going to post my whole profile because I'm easily identifiable. But I will say that I'm a domestic student with a 3.9 GPA and 950 PGRE so I'm a little bit worried that there must be something else about my profile that is bad since I haven't heard from Yale and Cornell and so many other people already have.
I'm at 890 PGRE and 3.9 GPA and I sent them a marvelous photo of my face and I haven't heard from Yale or Cornell yet.

-Riley

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grae313
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Re: 2011 Acceptances and profile discussions

Post by grae313 » Sat Feb 05, 2011 9:13 pm

I didn't get my acceptance from Cornell until mid February and they still offered me a small fellowship. If it's not March, it's not time to worry.

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WhoaNonstop
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Re: 2011 Acceptances and profile discussions

Post by WhoaNonstop » Sat Feb 05, 2011 11:04 pm

grae313 wrote:I didn't get my acceptance from Cornell until mid February and they still offered me a small fellowship. If it's not March, it's not time to worry.
Yeah. They're just teasing me.. I know it.

-Riley

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HappyQuark
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Re: 2011 Acceptances and profile discussions

Post by HappyQuark » Sat Feb 05, 2011 11:51 pm

WhoaNonstop wrote:
grae313 wrote:I didn't get my acceptance from Cornell until mid February and they still offered me a small fellowship. If it's not March, it's not time to worry.
Yeah. They're just teasing me.. I know it.

-Riley
Cornell has been playing hard to get with me as well.



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