As of today, I have applied to four graduate schools. I've finished the online applications for all four, submitted my Statement of Purpose (except to one school, pending an email inquiry), sent my GRE scores, and emailed instructions to my professors on how they can send/submit their letters of recommendation for me.
I can't send my transcripts from Metro until the semester ends, because I need those grades on there, and that will be mid/late December, which is in time for all of the deadlines, but still makes me feel a little bit nervous. I don't want to send my other transcripts until then either, because I don't want them to be looking at all my crappy older grades without the better, newer grades. (That's probably just irrational, but whatever.)
I still have five more schools to finish my applications to, but I'm glad that I've made progress and have some apps in. I still have no idea how good or bad a candidate I am; I can't tell if I'll be lucky to even sneak into my lowest-rated programs or if I can expect several programs to invite me. But all I can do at this point is apply and wait.
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...and wait...and wait...and wait...and wait..........
Yeah, no kidding, huh.
And I doubt I'll be anyone's first choice, so I probably won't even hear as early as you did.
Finishing your apps produces an odd feeling as stress is replaced by a kind of passive agony. So enjoy this period in which you can actually be doing something to get yourself into grad school while you can. (I guess pwning your classes next semester is a good thing to invest energy into, but I doubt it will entirely keep you from going half-crazy with impatience and the typical roller coaster thinking - Of course I'll get in somewhere with funding! No one will want me, this is a disaster! etc.)
The roller coaster thing is bad. One professor, and many people online, told me that I shouldn't just be applying to schools in to 50-100 range (as is my plan), but should apply to some higher-ranked schools because I have good qualifications. Yet on the other hand I've heard that programs are very competitive (even non-top-ranked programs), and I KNOW my qualifications aren't really very good. And yet I really have no idea what the population of people who want to go to grad school in math is like, or what people are looking for, or what kinds of students are admitted at the schools I'm applying to, or...
This morning I was imagining getting into grad school and then flunking out, which I hadn't thought of before. (I have, of course, considered that I might not finish, but flunking out is a different thing.) What a horrible thought!
Oh, well. If I don't get in anywhere, I will take some graduate-level courses next year and try again.
And whenever I go (assuming I can someday go), I'll just go, and do what I have to do, and flunk out or not. Right?
I would recommend seriously discounting the encouraging words of people online. There is, on many boards, a culture of supportiveness that defies reality (e.g. you have a 2.8 from Directional State College and a 950 GRE - you might as well apply to top programs because you never know!), and often, these people know little more (or even less) than you do.
It's worth keeping in mind that you have to not only get into a program, you have to get out of it successfully, so the plan to get into a program where your credentials / abilities are marginal might not be such a great idea. People really do flunk out.
This isn't to say that you shouldn't apply to top 50 programs, but I thought I'd offer a bit of commentary on the other side.
Right, I agree about people online. But I also heard this from a professor. But what does he know? Probably not much/any more than I do.
As it is, my schools are in the 50-110 range or so. I hope I get into one of them.
Re: your prof, I would wonder how many students he has successfully sent to PhD programs in the last 5 years or so, since the competitive landscape has changed a LOT since he went to grad school.
But maybe it would be worth sending an application to a higher ranked program / "reach" school if you can find one that you feel you are a good match for. (Where "reach" is a top 30 or top 50 school, or whatever.) This can function as insurance against the regret of having not applied to higher ranked schools in the event that you get admitted to the majority of the schools in the 50-100 range you apply to.
Are any of them in Texas or Oklahoma?
Yep - Texas A&M and UNT are on the list.
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