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old dog, new tricks, yadda, yadda, yadda

Entries in this blog

Homeless

Or, at least that's how I feel. LOL I drove the 8 hours to Atlanta on Thursday and then drove around Atlanta for 10 yours on Friday scouting apartments and then drove 8 hours back home on Saturday. I am both crazy and exhausted. But I couldn't fathom renting sight unseen. And I have a wish list with items hard to judge from afar. I mostly want to walk to campus and I found that many places bill themselves as "close to Emory" but I would disagree. However, the area around sch
coyabean

coyabean

9

Too Much To Ask?

Soooooo...I'm not feeling loved. LOL I have my department letter with funding info and all but still nothing from grad schools. It's like all that work and energy then dead silence. Is it too much to ask for a letter on nice letterhead? A brochure? A catolog? A branded flash drive? I get that they are paying us to attend so they don't really have to snow us with swag or attention unlike professional schools and undergrad, but still. I would, at least, like a letter with the
coyabean

coyabean

9

What had happened was...

I get stalked. Like, not for play-play but really stalked. LOL So, I was going through and anonymizing all of my posts when the shit storm hit! An administrative MESS was threatening to upend my graduation, and thus, my life. I just got it resolved this week. In the interim I was all about this stupid stats class (that it turns out I did NOT need; part of aforementioned administrative mess) and putting together a 15 page appeal to get my issues resolved. I never got back around to
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6

Feedback

I posted this in the comments of another post, but I thought it should probably get its own post. Regarding my numbers and my acceptance (so far): I am most surely proof of that(numbers aren't everything). As best as I can tell my Verbal score led them to believe that I am not, in fact, a well trained monkey. And I got a lot of feedback regarding my research experience and a "name" LOR probably did not hurt. Mostly I heard how pleased they were with my thoughtfulness, "critical analysis", "
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0

Odds and Ends

It was a great visit. The department made a huge effort to be transparent and accessible and I appreciated that. It is too difficult to anonymize all the details so I will hit only the parts I feel can be of most general use: -- Be comfortable. We walked around alot! I felt bad for some of the guys in full suits and I don't think it was necessary. A sports jacket would have been plenty. The women were mostly clued in -- all those years in heels and pantyhose makes us more discerning, i thin
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5

48 hours before the interview

And I have no energy whatsoever. You may find this hard to believe but normally I am quite outgoing and upbeat. For the past 72 hours, however, all I've been able to manage is laundry, doing my nails and playing bejeweled. Crash much? But I've disconnected from the world and I'm prepping. I have profiles and notes on everyone I'm to meet -- they sent an itinerary. BTW, they have me meeting every single solitary person in the department plus a couple of adjuncts and cross-dis
coyabean

coyabean

11

Why I am giving up

I started writing my statement last summer. As in, during a research fellowship that dominated almost all of my time I reserved the prime cognitive hours of 2-4 am for working on my statement. I made calls to faculty and started my list of schools. I figured out time zones and kept phone appointments. I wrote, at least, 15 drafts of the essay through November/December. I spent food money applying. My friend? Wrote two drafts, applied to two schools and was admitted this week.
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coyabean

13

Confessions

** Sometimes, like right now when I'm feeling a little down? I pull out my LORs and read them. LOL ** I am obsessed with looking "scholarly" at my intervew(s) ** If I don't get it together I'm going to flunk out of school because I'm applying to grad school!
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coyabean

3

Perpetual non-motion

Things I am waiting for: -- responses to the two journals I submitted an article, -- response from a conference committee about a presentation abstract, -- response to an application for a research grant this semester -- response from 10 graduate schools -- someone pointed out that i neglected to mention the NSF HBCU STEM research grant -- order from Amazon At this point the only one I'm sure of on that list is Amazon, and I have to PAY them to like me. I do not likey th
coyabean

coyabean

8

The fit test

Responding to someone else's post reminded me of a lesson I (maybe?) learned this season. I have two groups of SOPs out there in the world. The first set were early deadlines and, as I've moaned about here, are not nearly as reflective of my voice as the latter set. Don't get me wrong, my mentors loved them and I guess they are adequate but I'm a bit OCD. I knew something was missing. Whether anyone else ever knows it doesn't matter to me. I'm absolutely the world's harshest critic of mys
coyabean

coyabean

0

What I have learned

I suck at waiting. I also fail at not receiving positive reinforcements. Sending my apps into a black hole with no immediate gratification? Sucks donkey, uh, ears. I know, I know. I better get used to it. This is how it goes. It is the life I have, happily, chosen. But it is a character flaw. All of you guys getting acceptances? NOT HELPING! LOL My first app due date was November 1. You'd think someone would just at least say "hi!" LOL
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0

I look good in green, no?

An e-friend got an acceptance today. And she's beautiful and thin with nice hair, a beautiful baby, a great house and a sexy husband. And an acceptance. Soooooooo, how much envy can one girl hold? LOL
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coyabean

0

Another day

I'm fighting the usual end of semester drama at my UG. *sigh* i really hate it here. Have I mentioned that? Another great LOR from Dr. Superstar, though. He always shows them to me first. Another reason he rocks. He also reallllly likes the idea of me and Emory. He gave another half dozen names to track down there from his immense mental rolodex. Seriously, the man even remembers people's email addresses! What kind of craziness is that? I was home last week and couldn't remember my mom's h
coyabean

coyabean

0

Updated Transcripts and Emory

Perfect! A forum post gave me what I needed most: something new to obsess about. Transcripts. My subatomic GPA is no secret. I took 21 hours this semester -- kiss my feet now or later, no matter -- and they are basically the last of my junior year hours and the first semester of my senior year. They look pretty solid. All of my graded coursework are actually As and Bs. It's the two semesters of withdrawals that hurt me. Anyway, think I should send updated scripts? Also had more conve
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0

Progress

Thanks to everyone for the great feedback on the SOP! I'm still fine tuning. There's some awkward places and wordiness -- my achilles heel. I'm feeling more confident about this draft, though. I think there is a lesson in there somewhere about me and this program having that elusive fit? Had a great talk with that prof from Emory. She got my work, knows Dr. Superstar, gave me some pointers on how best to position my app and said, "be sure to call me when you submit your application so that
coyabean

coyabean

0

Down We Go

I believe in transparency where information is concerned. One, I don't have memory capacity for duplicity and, two, I believe in karma. Well, I may have learned my lesson today! I shared my GRE scores and school list and was told, in no uncertain terms, by those other forum members (not GC) that I don't stand a chance. I have scoured the net for average GRE scores for each program but few of them make that information available. I am very close to applying to law school. I don't
coyabean

coyabean

7

Uh Oh

And then a nice man from UK totally emailed me and asked me to call him because he finds my research "fascinating". Uh Oh. LOL
coyabean

coyabean

5

Decision Time

Yes, I know I'm obsessed and obsessive. However, please note that I sold my house, divorced a husband, quit a job and moved to embark on this whole academia thing. I put pressure on myself to get everything exactly right. This morning I hit the yoga mat, made some very strong coffee and made some decisions. It is by no means scientific. In the end I disregarded almost all sensible advice and chose places based on a quasi-formula completely of my design. It consists of a place I would like
coyabean

coyabean

0

Full Disclosure

No need trying to look pretty on this thing. The point is to help, right? Well, maybe my crazy will help someone else feel more normal one day. I decided today that I ruined my USC app. The thing is my SOP gets better with every incarnation. Those apps that went earlier now suck by comparison. Writing is my thing. It's also my equalizer in this process. I'm published, I have professional writing experience, I have earned the occasional award, etc. And my GPA and GRE need all the equal
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2

Dook

So, I got my confirmation email from Duke. I am complete. Still looking at my GRE with a mean sideye. An 1180, 3.0, research experience, and one of my LORs is from a Duke superstar. I still worry. That stupid GRE and my GPA is only low because of a semester of withdrawals almost 10 years ago. *sigh* I hope they consider that. ANd the wait continues.
coyabean

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0

the good, the bad, the ugly

I tried to get off the train today. I even had an eggnog latte, grande please, written into my day. But, I got sucked back in. A peer called me about UNC's app. Even with a fee waiver this app is becoming the biggest hassle in the world. Apparently technology has escaped UNC? The online application is essentially demographic info. Everything else has to be mailed. To two different places. Some stuff goes to the grad school, others to your department. And when you click the link for the
coyabean

coyabean

4

Ever seen a person move at the speed of light?

Haven't done a thing for grad school in almost a week. Honestly, beyond paying app fees -- which I won't be able to do until next week -- I am finding it hard to care right now. My friends also in the process feel the same way. It's at the point where I want someone to just tell me yes or no so that I can move on with my life. I want a new mattress. I almost bought a new mattress and then I realized that I wasn't sure if a full bed would travel well with me to...well, I don't know whe
coyabean

coyabean

2

Agoraphobia in 5, 4, 3...

I made the mistake of leaving the house tonight. A couple of friends from the Great Fellowship are in town and we hooked up. Two GF mentors also came with. One is the coolest. The other? Is...special. Tonight's talk was all about apps, of course. We geeks commiserated and then special mentor made a point of telling me to spread my apps around because "her daughter, the one who graduated with honors from, you know, a top school applied to five and didn't get in anywhere!" I am fairly
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2
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