Happy to be here

Oh, and just call the room where you do any prospectus, thesis, dissertation defense--the room of requirement.

I've actually thought a lot about this., so here it goes graduate applicant community. If we were to look for all the parallels of the Harry Potter world with the PhD application process, there's a few arguments I'd like to make. First, I think the sorcerer's stone should definitely be hidden in New England somewhere. I first thought that Stony Brook would be a fitting university, hence stone and everything, but I wanted somewhere more prestigious. Maybe some scandal where some goons from Princeton or Yale pansies took it from there and kept it locked away with some three-headed dog hiding it. I can see some of the Ivy League schools paralleling the house of Slytherin and pulling some Quidditch stunt like that. Second, I think that if I were to be accepted at Rice University, I should receive said notification via Owl. Their school mascot gives them a leg up in this category. Third, I thought about which professors resemble Hogwart's faculty. I would go out on a limb here and say that Hagrid probably has the best parallel in Chris Ellison at UT-San Antonio. Both very nice and helpful, but also both thickly bearded. I also see Mark Regnerus at UT-Austin as a kind of young Severus Snape. Just sayin. As for Dumbledore, perhaps Bob Wuthnow at Princeton? Both of them are semi-retirement age and vastly superior to all who stand in their way. I wonder who would be a good parallel for "he-who-shall-not-be-named"? I mean really, who is the ultimate evil-doer out there in Sociology PhD-dom? Can someone help me find a supervillain out there fitting of this title? Surely there's some wicked secretary, or screw-you-out-of-life faculty member out there who when they are not publishing, teaching, and making their grad students lives miserable, are hell bent on destroying the universe as well. Your advanced statistics class=arithmancy. Seriously, look it up. D.A.D.A (that's, defense against the dark arts for all you muggles out there) probably parallels any Professionalization Seminar. Think about it. So, to answer your question Lizzla, I think the sorcerer's stone is probably kept safe somewhere for a reason. DONT go looking for it, seriously. I can definitively say that Wisconsin does not have it though. I look at them as the stupid all boys school with that one guy who disrespected Hermione at the Christmas ball. Any other Harry Potter-Sociology PhD parallels out there? -I am Happy to be here, and I really am.

Nothing yet, so whatevs Georgia.

I once knew a man who was waitlisted at his top choice school. It drove him to...insanity. Think of Harry Potter and the mirror thing. "Best to leave it alone, Harry, and don't go looking for it." But seriously, for mental health's sake, I would look at a waitlisted status as a rejection. (If it turns out as a late acceptance, then hey, that's cool). That way, you're never disappointed. I've seen many tears shed over the waitlisted status. Like, grown men and everything. I've had to simply leave the room more than once.

I've been trying to commit more time to my RA work and keep the blinders on. Just get buried in the other work you have going on, and do your best to forget about it. I've also really been limiting my time I spend on this frakking website. It's just not healthy to be on here, ever, really.

No Notre Dame invite here either. I think sometime this week I'll walk up to some kid eating ice cream, smash it into his face, and say, "You will remember me forever."

Just got my rejection from Wisconsin-Madison today. To this I say, "I didn't want to live in the cold for five years anyway." It was kind of a long shot for me, so I'm not too upset. Badgers are a stupid mascot anyway. Sorry for the double post.

That's right, you've reached the right place. You've applied to schools heading after that Sociology grad degree, and hey, maybe you've even gotten into some, but here is where it all comes out. Welcome to the thread where you say something like: "I just got rejected from X university." Follow it up by some kind of snotty remark such as, "Their loss, those jerks." Double bonus for the, "This was my dream school! I'm devastated!" So there.

I just got an email saying I was a finalist for admission to Rice. They're doing interviews in late February and flying people out to Houston. (This is a great opportunity, but nerve-racking too, interviews are always tough.) Not sure about what it means in terms of who is accepted and rejected. In fact, it's not even a true "acceptance" per se, just a notification as a finalist for acceptance.

Anyone claiming the Duke admission that was just posted?

They're one of the better sociology of religion programs out there.

Keep this thought in mind, rejections are going to happen to everyone. I will get them, others will get them. It's just a part of the game. No matter what credentials that an applicant brings in, there's always something to give pause and bring a reason to reject. Try not to take it personally--it's all just a crapshoot. Remember that it only takes one school to accept you for you to be able to move on to grad school.

Exactly! Aaaa! I hate that crap. And any kind of email filtering would just asking for trouble too. I hate everyone.

I agree with barilcious on that last post. Hang in there! It's still so early, I think that universities are only going through the very beginning of their admits. Welcome to the waiting game, it's beginning to get serious.

I've got a book review forthcoming, which is not a real research publication. Other than that, just paper presentations.