Today, I got back the result for my final PhD application. The process has been a long one.
| School | Application due date | Result |
| University of British Columbia | 01-Jan-2012 | Accepted – 27 FEB 2012 |
| University of Toronto | 16-Jan-2012 | Accepted – 6 MAR 2012 |
| McGill | 15-Jan-2012 | Wait list – 16 MAR 2012 – Rejected – 19 APR 2012 |
| Harvard (GSAS) | 15-Dec-2011 | Rejected – 23 FEB 2012 |
| Yale | 15-Dec-2011 | Rejected – 23 FEB 2012 |
| Columbia | 1-Dec-2011 | Rejected – 1 MAR 2012 |
| University of California, Santa Barbara | 1-Jan-2012 | Accepted – 2 FEB 2012 |
| Duke | 08-Dec-2011 | Rejected – 6 FEB 2012 |
| University of Michigan | 15-Dec-2011 | Rejected – 23 MAR 2012 |
Tally: 3-6, in a competitive field
Just for fun, I used the acceptance and rejection letters I received to make some word clouds:
Accepted:
Rejected:
If you need to tell what the message of a letter is at a glance, knowing these frequencies may be helpful. Also worth noting: the average acceptance letter contained 491 words, the average rejection letter only 116.
The shortest was a terse 90 words – the longest, an eloquent 818.
What are your grades / GRE scores like?
Congratulations Milan, have you decided on the school yet?