University (Undergrad/Grad) Applicants?

**Latro** · 11-09-2011, 08:46 PM

Anyone else applying to university in the next month or three? Where are you applying? What's your field of study planning to be? How are you dealing with keeping up with everything else in the meantime?

I'm applying to PhD programs in applied mathematics; I'm still fishing around for places to apply to. I have two in mind other than my undergrad institution as definite places to apply; they're good schools that I think I'm in a good position to get into. It's a shame so many of the best universities are so far away, as I really would rather be within a few hours' drive from home, or at least one day's drive from home, not a few days' drive from home.

Feel free to throw in tips if you've already gone through the application process and aren't applying in the next couple months; feel free to vent about stress; etc.

**kari** · 11-09-2011, 08:57 PM

im going through this process right now. very stressful. deadlines are the first of december, so i need to get it all done soon. im finishing up my undergrad this year and will be applying to 3 places for graduate study in bassoon performance. i can only go if i get accepted and get an assistantship. all the places im applying to have an assistantship opening for the coming fall, but only one person per school gets it.

each place i apply to i need to take a live audition at, and each school requires that i play slightly different material. so its a lot to prepare for on top of the rest of the application process.

im not applying to anywhere near my house, the farther away the better. the closest place is a 5 hour drive, the other 2 are much further. i like that my parents wont really have the option to visit me as it will force me to become truly independent finally.

btw i hate trying to write statements of purpose. i just feel like im bullshitting the entire thing. do people reading those really take them seriously? i mean they have to know that 99% of people are just making it up.

**idem** · 11-09-2011, 09:40 PM

I'm going through the undergrad application process, and it's really stressful. Fortunately I got all my standardized tests out of the way last fall, but still - I've heard people say that "applying to college is like taking another class," and so far this seems to be pretty damn true. The essays are the worst part; I'm generally a good writer and enjoy writing, but trying to reveal my true and deep emotional self or whatever in 250, 500, 100 words isn't exactly easy. There are only so many creative, original things I can come up with to say. Plus I somehow decided it would be a good idea to apply to a lot of "elite" and therefore application-work-intensive schools, and added to the rigorous courses I'm already taking...

I met my November 1 deadlines and thus have been taking a bit of a break, but it's only a matter of time until the whole thing starts up again.

I'm currently planning on majoring in physics.

**Latro** · 11-09-2011, 09:48 PM

	Originally Posted by kari To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	btw i hate trying to write statements of purpose. i just feel like im bullshitting the entire thing. do people reading those really take them seriously? i mean they have to know that 99% of people are just making it up.

I hate the "so tell us about yourself" bit; I like the "tell us about your research and your subsequent research interests" bit. At at least one of the schools I'm going to apply to, the application has separate sections for each of these.

As for the distance, I think my preference would be a distance where visitation in either direction couldn't happen on a regular basis, but that on special occasions it wouldn't be a very big deal; that is to say it wouldn't require a flight, nor an extremely long drive. 6 hours or so drive would be fine, for example. But I live in Virginia, and one of the schools I plan to apply to is the University of Minnesota; that's a 19 hour drive, apparently. Huge task, but I'm going to have to make the drive at least once or else sell my car here and buy another one there if that's where I decide to go. And I'd rather not do the latter, as I'd almost certainly wind up with a car that isn't as good as the one I have.

**Zolo** · 11-09-2011, 11:56 PM

I'm going to be applying for Master's programs for statistics. Not because I want to, but because I pretty much have no other choice at this point. I need 3 letters of recommendation, but I've only found 1 professor to write one so far. I hate asking people I barely even know for favors like this.

**Imperator** · 11-10-2011, 12:11 AM

I'm applying to Masters and Ph.D programs in classics, ancient history, and Greek and Latin. Little bit of "spaghetti theory" going on, I'm applying to a wide variety in quality, probably end up around 15 total.

Taking the GRE again Friday. Gotta email a prof and get both his letter and his corrections on my writing sample back. Personal statement will be done tomorrow. Hopefully, I'll get in somewhere with some funding, and can start the next cycle.

Entire process is a massive pain in the ass though.

**Monte314** · 11-10-2011, 04:47 AM

I am an admission interviewer. If you have specific questions with which I might be able to help, PM me ( don't want to derail this thread).

**Merle** · 11-10-2011, 11:30 AM

I applied to PhD programs last year and it was a massively stressful process. The amount of effort, time and money that goes into one application season is insane! Maybe if I had experience of applying to university in America as an undergrad I would not have been so surprised... but wow, it was pretty much a full time job for 5 months, all while I was actually working a full time job and doing a full time master's degree.

Good luck to everyone here in the process of applying - don't let it take over your life toooo completely! I hope you all get in somewhere you'll be happy attending!

**druggie** · 11-10-2011, 01:14 PM

applied to professional school (pharmacy) last year. it wasn't a huge amount of stress, but the stress was certainly still there. i guess it wasn't that bad for me b/c i only applied to 1 school. even then, i had to write a standardized test (pcat) and go through a bunch of interviews. the interviews were mmi format so it was almost like a verbal iq test.

**Axion004** · 11-10-2011, 07:53 PM

I am applying next year starting in August. It is extremely stressful trying to balance everything alongside work plus school at night and exercise. I am not applying as a doctorate student though, only for a MS.

**Thinktress** · 11-11-2011, 03:13 PM

I have an undergrad degree and I want to go to nursing school. I'm just attempting to register to take a couple of pre-requisites so that I'll be able to be admitted to nursing school in the fall. So I'm going to take these courses at an inexpensive community college. I don't think there's anything at all to their admission process. Just basically fill out the form, send your transcript, and then register, from what I understand.

11-09-2011, 08:46 PM	#1
Latro Veteran Member [85%] MBTI: INTP Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 3,410	Anyone else applying to university in the next month or three? Where are you applying? What's your field of study planning to be? How are you dealing with keeping up with everything else in the meantime? I'm applying to PhD programs in applied mathematics; I'm still fishing around for places to apply to. I have two in mind other than my undergrad institution as definite places to apply; they're good schools that I think I'm in a good position to get into. It's a shame so many of the best universities are so far away, as I really would rather be within a few hours' drive from home, or at least one day's drive from home, not a few days' drive from home. Feel free to throw in tips if you've already gone through the application process and aren't applying in the next couple months; feel free to vent about stress; etc.
Latro is offline post a comment

11-09-2011, 08:57 PM	#2
kari Member [26%] MBTI: ISTJ Join Date: Mar 2011 Posts: 1,041	im going through this process right now. very stressful. deadlines are the first of december, so i need to get it all done soon. im finishing up my undergrad this year and will be applying to 3 places for graduate study in bassoon performance. i can only go if i get accepted and get an assistantship. all the places im applying to have an assistantship opening for the coming fall, but only one person per school gets it. each place i apply to i need to take a live audition at, and each school requires that i play slightly different material. so its a lot to prepare for on top of the rest of the application process. im not applying to anywhere near my house, the farther away the better. the closest place is a 5 hour drive, the other 2 are much further. i like that my parents wont really have the option to visit me as it will force me to become truly independent finally. btw i hate trying to write statements of purpose. i just feel like im bullshitting the entire thing. do people reading those really take them seriously? i mean they have to know that 99% of people are just making it up.
kari is offline post a comment

11-09-2011, 09:40 PM	#3
idem Member [17%] MBTI: INTJ Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 707	I'm going through the undergrad application process, and it's really stressful. Fortunately I got all my standardized tests out of the way last fall, but still - I've heard people say that "applying to college is like taking another class," and so far this seems to be pretty damn true. The essays are the worst part; I'm generally a good writer and enjoy writing, but trying to reveal my true and deep emotional self or whatever in 250, 500, 100 words isn't exactly easy. There are only so many creative, original things I can come up with to say. Plus I somehow decided it would be a good idea to apply to a lot of "elite" and therefore application-work-intensive schools, and added to the rigorous courses I'm already taking... I met my November 1 deadlines and thus have been taking a bit of a break, but it's only a matter of time until the whole thing starts up again. I'm currently planning on majoring in physics.
idem is offline post a comment

11-09-2011, 11:56 PM	#5
Zolo Member [06%] MBTI: INTJ Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 258	I'm going to be applying for Master's programs for statistics. Not because I want to, but because I pretty much have no other choice at this point. I need 3 letters of recommendation, but I've only found 1 professor to write one so far. I hate asking people I barely even know for favors like this.
Zolo is offline post a comment

11-10-2011, 12:11 AM	#6
Imperator Core Member [113%] MBTI: InTJ Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 4,544	I'm applying to Masters and Ph.D programs in classics, ancient history, and Greek and Latin. Little bit of "spaghetti theory" going on, I'm applying to a wide variety in quality, probably end up around 15 total. Taking the GRE again Friday. Gotta email a prof and get both his letter and his corrections on my writing sample back. Personal statement will be done tomorrow. Hopefully, I'll get in somewhere with some funding, and can start the next cycle. Entire process is a massive pain in the ass though.
Imperator is offline post a comment

11-10-2011, 04:47 AM	#7
Monte314 Core Member [407%] MBTI: INTJ Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 16,303	I am an admission interviewer. If you have specific questions with which I might be able to help, PM me ( don't want to derail this thread).
Monte314 is online post a comment

11-10-2011, 11:30 AM	#8
Merle Veteran Member [55%] MBTI: INTP Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 2,206	I applied to PhD programs last year and it was a massively stressful process. The amount of effort, time and money that goes into one application season is insane! Maybe if I had experience of applying to university in America as an undergrad I would not have been so surprised... but wow, it was pretty much a full time job for 5 months, all while I was actually working a full time job and doing a full time master's degree. Good luck to everyone here in the process of applying - don't let it take over your life toooo completely! I hope you all get in somewhere you'll be happy attending!
Merle is offline post a comment

11-10-2011, 01:14 PM	#9
druggie Member [02%] MBTI: INTJ Join Date: Oct 2011 Posts: 109	applied to professional school (pharmacy) last year. it wasn't a huge amount of stress, but the stress was certainly still there. i guess it wasn't that bad for me b/c i only applied to 1 school. even then, i had to write a standardized test (pcat) and go through a bunch of interviews. the interviews were mmi format so it was almost like a verbal iq test.
druggie is offline post a comment

11-10-2011, 07:53 PM	#10
Axion004 Member [24%] MBTI: INTJ Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 986	I am applying next year starting in August. It is extremely stressful trying to balance everything alongside work plus school at night and exercise. I am not applying as a doctorate student though, only for a MS.
Axion004 is offline post a comment

11-11-2011, 03:13 PM	#11
Thinktress Veteran Member [52%] MBTI: INTJ Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 2,112	I have an undergrad degree and I want to go to nursing school. I'm just attempting to register to take a couple of pre-requisites so that I'll be able to be admitted to nursing school in the fall. So I'm going to take these courses at an inexpensive community college. I don't think there's anything at all to their admission process. Just basically fill out the form, send your transcript, and then register, from what I understand.
Thinktress is offline post a comment