What is GradCafe and is it Helpful?

The Beginning...

We’re in the thick of decisions for postgraduate studies, and if you’re anything like me, you’ve been trying to find out information about whether or not decisions have gone out for the programs you applied to like crazy. It’s all-consuming.

When I was getting ready to apply to different programs, I was checking r/gradadmissions on Reddit and was met with a plethora of helpful information, but something that came up a lot was Gradcafe. When I tried to find out what it was on the subreddit, there were almost always comments about how it’s better that you don’t know or to stay off of it because it’s not good for you. So I listened. I didn’t go on Gradcafe, but as we got closer to mid-January, I decided to bite the bullet to see what Gradcafe was all about. The people who said to avoid it were completely right.

What is Gradcafe?

Gradcafe is a platform where you can post whether you got accepted, waitlisted, or rejected from a school with your GPA and GRE scores. The website has a forum portion where you can connect with other applicants and learn about the potential new city you’re moving to. There’s a plethora of helpful information. While I think Gradcafe is useful because you can connect with other applicants and see when people are accepted or were waitlisted, you can prepare yourself for the inevitable rejection that’s bound to come soon and connect with other applicants. So, while it’s helpful, in my own experience, it’s also caused me problems.

Is Gradcafe helpful?

I can only speak for myself but the problem doesn’t stem from the platform itself but from the incessant checking of it, the constant refreshing to see if anyone got into the program, to see if your chances are entirely gone. Whenever I check Gradcafe, my anxiety skyrockets, and I immediately question everything about my application and the things I did before. I questioned whether I was good enough and felt like a failure despite not getting any news. That’s why, in my opinion, Gradcafe isn’t helpful.

I used to believe that maybe no news is good news, but now I feel it’s the opposite. When I see decisions sent out and I didn’t get an email that day, I just know I’m going to be rejected. It turns into a slow burn of waiting to be rejected from your dream schools, a feeling that makes me think that paying for the application was one of the worst purchases I’ve ever made.

Are there fake results?

There’s the unfortunate reality that people post fake results for some reason, so while I saw that there were two decisions for the program I applied to right after each other, they could very well be fake. For all I know, the school didn’t release any decisions yet.

Checking Gradcafe and waiting to see if you should be expecting something soon is torture, and the people who post fake results absolutely suck, but there’s always the fun side of it.

When I’m feeling particularly down about what’s to come, I check Gradcafe’s results for Hogwarts (I highly recommend doing this). That’s right, people post the decisions they’ve received from Hogwarts there. I know it’s supposed to be ket under wraps, but some just can’t help spill the news. Some get into their dream programs; others have their dreams crushed. Hogwarts is brutal with their admissions.

The end...?

This wasn’t to come down on Gradcafe in the slightest because I genuinely believe that it’s a great resource. If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t be checking it constantly. It’s just that jolt of anxiety that lingers throughout the rest of the day and the way it makes you feel, but that’s life, I guess. I probably cannot offer much comfort in this situation, but just know you’re not alone in feeling like this. We’re all in the trenches, hoping for the best but expecting the worst. It’s also easier said than done but try not to check Gradcafe all day.

Don’t forget, universities release things differently, so not all hope is lost, even if it feels like it!

I wish you the best and that you get into at least one of the programs you applied to!