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2017 Applicant

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Everything posted by 2017 Applicant

  1. You don't need to prove anything to your fellow students. And professors probably care more about your learning and your teaching than your clothes. That being said, if you're going to get nice clothes for student teaching, you might as well wear those to class, too. If you can't afford them for each day, then just go casual. Also, I think this is the wrong forum for this question, so this thread may be deleted soon.
  2. I'm sorry. Tell him how you feel (if you haven't already). It's not selfish to let him know that his withdrawn position is making you upset, especially since you seem to be upset because you're concerned for him. Opening up to you would probably help him, too. Plus you could possibly help him deal with his stressors if he let you know about them. Lack of communication is toxic for a relationship, so if this is one you care about I'd recommend assertively telling him how this affects you and why you would like him to open up.
  3. This is almost enough to convince me to join student government.
  4. Well, the deadline is past, so no use in worrying about it now. And to be fair, if a department says that a writing sample is not required, chances are they are not going to waste their precious time reading any writing samples that are submitted anyway. I've seen schools that explicitly said "any recommendations received past the third recommendation letter will be ignored."
  5. It means that someone at least scanned your application and saw that the field for "Writing Sample" was empty. I have received automated emails from schools before deadlines because I hadn't submitted one of the supplemental items. It sounds like this email came from a human, though, so I think the safest thing you can conclude is that they have at least begun the application reviews.
  6. Knowing how the service industry is, I bet any barista that does this has been conditioned by multiple customers complaining that "this is not a medium!"
  7. To play devil's advocate, I don't really see how it could help to email them either. Chances are, if they've already made a decision about you they'd probably notify you about it as soon as they could. And even if they are able to pinpoint a date when you will hear back with a definitive decision, you are still going to have to wait until that day to get your answer. I don't think knowing when that day will come will change much. In my own opinion, I prefer the excitement of "maybe I'll hear back today!" over "exactly two weeks to go until I hear back." The fact of the matter is, a question like "when can I expect to hear back?" carries no urgency (unless you are being pressured to make a decision somewhere else, which you say is not the case here). It's also risky, because they have already answered it for you (albeit in two vaguely different ways). Sending an email asking this risks you coming off as impatient, inattentive, unconfident, or pushy, with no reward at all. I would really only send emails that will meaningfully impact either your application or your final choice of where to attend. It's natural to be curious and anxious about hearing back, but it's just something we all have to wait through.
  8. @2017applicant I was really freaked out reading your reply because I couldn't remember posting anything, and wondered if someone had gotten into my account to write that.
  9. @boilermakers I wonder - do you even have the ability to accept the offer yet? I'm wondering because I'm in a similar boat, and although I received my unofficial acceptance packet a while ago I still have not gotten a notice from the graduate school yet via their website and thus can't accept or decline the offer. I wonder if it's because they're waiting to select fellows first.
  10. That doesn't sound like jealousy to me, but it sounds like they're trying to put you down on your choices. Is there some background we're missing? Like, are you looking at programs on the other side of the country and maybe your loved ones are subconsciously/subtly trying to make you reconsider your choice to go because they want you to stay around? My advice is to be firm about your choices and proud of your accomplishments. Let them know Yes, like so much in life the process is subjective, and a whole bunch of people on an admissions committee had the same subjective opinion that you are a great fit for their program The program is great for you, hence why you applied (I'm assuming this is true for you haha) Money is really secondary to your happiness, but if they hark on the financial aspect and you are being funded at a PhD program remind them that the stipend plus tuition and fees amounts to a lot; plus, you are getting PAID to learn, position yourself, and get a degree - that's pretty damn good You may not like grad school, but you may not like a lot of other things you could be doing instead. There's no way to find out until you try.
  11. This is a kind of selfish perspective. Of course no one likes a braggart (though it's pretty early in the application season to conclude these people are "never" coming onto the site again and are just here to brag). But at the same time, no one has an obligation to tell you any personal information about themselves or give you proof that they've actually been accepted. The posters you are talking about probably just want to share their excitement with a lot of people. If your reaction to that is "that's my spot," "I don't believe you," or "how does that information help me" then maybe those threads aren't a place you actually want to hang out.
  12. There's no point in worrying. In the very unlikely event they are changing their minds without keeping you informed of their concerns, there is nothing you can do about it. It's best to just be patient and wait for the official acceptance.
  13. Can you explain this a little more? I saw some messenger bags I might like to buy that advertised compartments for laptops, but now I am worried that that's not good enough.
  14. I don't imagine they do this out of ill will. Put yourself in their shoes. Think back to when you were selecting which programs you were going to apply to. There are hundreds across the country. Some you know right off the bat you don't want to apply to. Some resonate with you immediately, so you put them down on your list. But others require more careful consideration (do you have enough schools on your list? do you really want to spend the money for that extra tenth application?). Now just pretend each of these programs was anxiously waiting to hear from you about whether or not you were going to apply. Some of them you can give answers right away, but the others take more time. There's a lot of stuff to sift through.
  15. You shouldn't be worried at all. First of all, I'd consider Monday or Tuesday to be within the realm of "a few days" from Thursday. Secondly, it would not reflect very well on the program's ability to choose good students if they accepted you and then decided that they actually wanted to rescind your offer within a couple of days. For that to happen, it seems like there would need to be a major blemish on your application that was fairly well-hidden. And even then I think they would probably contact you about it as soon as they found out. Unless you know of anything like that in your application, you really shouldn't worry. You've been accepted.
  16. I 100% agree with @rheya19's advice. I'd even go so far as to say excuse yourself from the house - absolutely do go to the mall, or a coffee shop, or somewhere you can relax and have time to yourself. I struggle with a controlling parent, too. When I was younger it used to be easier to just give in, but now I really regret setting that precedent. Luckily I don't live at home anymore. Haha I remember early in high school I thought I would apply to a few colleges close by because I couldn't deal with the stress of living on my own. By the time I had to apply to colleges, any school less than a two-hour drive from home was not an option.
  17. I didn't mean it was inappropriate to ask for a response ASAP. I still maintain that it was inappropriate for them to mention they're asking because it seemed like OP was more interested in another program. I just can't imagine a way of phrasing that to make it redeemable. At the very worst, they are prescribing an opinion to OP that was never there in the first place. At best, it comes off as a program with bad self-esteem, so to speak. On a separate note, I know for sure that not every department follows the selection procedure you outlined. On one of my visit days, we noticed that there was a very large group of visiting students, and the graduate director made it clear that they were expecting an incoming cohort of 15 (less than the number of students in attendance). He told us that they actually had insurance to cover the costs of any students over the 15 they were expecting. Apparently they provided the agency with statistics from past years to justify why the large number of acceptances is likely to result in only 15 matriculations. I guess in this way the department was able to accept the top students and accept their "safety" students without worrying about being able to afford everyone. This also has the benefit of being able to send out all acceptances/rejections at once, and not putting pressure on your top students to make up their minds quickly.
  18. I'd say it's probably not worth it. It sounds like a generic admitted students day, in which case they're probably going to try to convince you to come with some information that isn't necessarily specific to your intended program. And since you're pretty much sold on the school anyway, it may not be very helpful to you. I think you could probably do better by exchanging back-and-forth emails with students and faculty in your intended department. I think a better idea would be to move into town a decent amount of time before orientation. You can get your bearings in the city, start making friends, meet with professors who can tell you a bit about their work and your program. I don't think you'll miss out on making bonds with your classmates - I've attended a graduate program before which had a department-specific visit day, and while people were friendly we still went a whole 6+ months without seeing each other again. Just my two cents.
  19. Just tell the POI these things (not that their email was distressing, but everything following that). This is the truth, and it's completely understandable. In my opinion, the email your POI sent sounds pretty inappropriate. I've mentioned that I'll be visiting other places to one of my POIs, and they were completely supportive and encouraged checking out all of my options. And that POI is at my top choice - I just want to use all of the resources at my disposal to make completely sure I'm making the right decision. I'm shocked that this person would guess at your intentions in an email they sent to you.
  20. I think @AP offered some good advice, and it sounds like you are quick to dismiss it simply because he or she is not in your shoes. This piece of advice is key: Whether you didn't get into any grad schools, you got denied a grant, you got dumped by a long-term partner, or whatever, this piece of advice *always* applies. It is tempting to think "this isn't fair," "why do I have to go through this", etc.. And on one hand it's natural and healthy. But you can't keep that outlook forever or else you'll never move on. You need to remember that this one thing doesn't define you, that there are lots of other options left in life. I've made big mistakes before. There is a strong desire to wallow in them. I think that comes from a place of desperation, where we want very badly to change what has happened. The unfortunate truth is that you can't change what has happened. The other, amazing truth is that you have the rest of your life ahead of you to not repeat your mistakes and to accomplish things that will make you proud of yourself. That might mean reexamining your goals, wants, and needs. There's no shame in that. It's easy to miss the meaning in the cliche "don't take life so seriously," but what I've written here is what it means to me.
  21. Has anyone here applied to the Temple University College of Education? I haven't heard anything from them, and when I log on to MyTU and click on My Applications, it shows the status of my application as "Completed" (not "under review" or anything like that). I'm not trying to be impatient, but I was curious if anyone else can confirm or refute that "Completed" means the application has been submitted and will be/has been reviewed. I only ask because I've had numerous problems when trying to submit this application (e.g., transcripts that were once marked as 'received' were changed to 'not received' for no reason at all), and I'm not so sure that my application hasn't been dismissed on that basis. Long story short: if you've applied to Temple CoE and haven't received a decision, what does your application status say?
  22. I understand your frustration. I really dislike the personal statement prompts that ask you why your research interests fit well with the program AND how the program will help you reach your goals (for me and probably many others, those are pretty much the same thing). Some ideas from a non-expert: it sounds like they want to know specifically how the money will help you. If you're using it for tuition, maybe talk about how it will help free up your time to carry out your time-intensive study plans (then it doesn't sound like you're being sarcastic when you bring up "not being a shitty student"). I don't know if you plan to attend conferences or give talks, but if you could provide specific examples of those, too, it would probably make you look like you're taking the program seriously and have good plans for the money.
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