DontHate

Interdisciplinary PhDs are supposed to be hard to get a job with

I feel like this is basically what everyone here has been saying, over and over again. sad face

I think there's three tiers of Ivies: 1. HYP (+ MIT & Stanford), 2. Columbia, Brown, UPenn 3. Cornell & Dartmouth In terms of selectivity I'm pretty sure that's how it stacks. Edit: Maybe switch UPenn & Dartmouth...

Damn, why couldn't she have just told you that earlier? What if you had applied to those schools and basically thrown your money away just because she couldn't get the guts to tell you? I think people waste a lot of time and resources being "polite."

Spanish teaching assistantship, through the Spanish government

I'm applying to a teaching program with a very high acceptance rate so I can go abroad next year and make some money if I don't get in. I also plan on working with some old professors to help them edit and translate some articles (which will give me a writing credit to put on my CV and pump up any 2nd round applications). I think for you, if you want to come/stay in the US, an au pair gig for a rich couple from the upper east side could be a good idea. They pay surprisingly well, and if you're educated you could also include tutoring duties and make even more.

So is it very hard to get into a prestigious school when coming from a lower tier school? Because I know people in my program at a big name who come from big public schools (famous ones but definitely not in the same rank as the program they're in now). Anybody know how that works? Did they have to set themselves apart in some way to make the jump?

You have to switch your documents to pdf to upload them. It's quick to do

I think the blog states true facts, but in a very pessimistic way, and from a perspective of bitterness and fatalism. I read through the whole thing the other day, and personally assured myself that nothing they said would deter me from my course.

I have a similar looking list, though not nearly as long. I scratched Duke off my list out of an irrational fear of living south of New Jersey, but their literature program looks pretty amazing. Which one is your "dream program"? Berkeley and Brown both look very sparkly to me.

Top 40 Most Influential Corgis of 2012: http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/the-40-most-influential-corgis-of-2012

I don't think anyone on here feels like they are the perfect applicant. Otherwise they wouldn't be on here.

Here's a question that didn't occur to me before: does it matter whether you format it as a resume or a CV? Or is it basically all the same?

For those who haven't seen it, here's a terrifying blog: http://100rsns.blogspot.ca/

Do you mind sharing which schools you applied to?

For those of you who were rejected last time(s) around, could you share what you learned? What do you think you did wrong before?

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: charisma matters in academia. Charisma is a type of intelligence. If you can charm your professors into wanting to back you up, then you will go far.

From everything I've heard, recs are super important. I'm pretty sure they can get you special consideration. So my answer would be yes.

I don't want to be a Debbie Downer right now, but I think if a program gets only shitty applicants, they aren't obligated to accept any that year (this is more common in departments of obscure foreign languages). So you do have to be good. You have to be good enough for them to want you. It's just that there are usually more than enough good people for the number of spots.

I think probably one easy way of figuring out what group you're in is looking at the names on your application. Big name profs, big name schools, those are two things that increase your probability of getting special attention. High numbers on your GRE & GPA probably do too. That could put you into the 50-60% category.

I don't think the likelihood of getting into a school is really 2% just because they only accept 2% of applicants. I think a lot of the applications they get have a 0% chance of acceptance, a few have a 30% chance and then some have a 50-60% chance, and very few have an 80-90% chance. I don't think every applicant is equal and it's just a lotto drawing. You need to assess your own strengths and figure out which group you're in.

I paid online. I don't think you need to mail in a check

One time when I was really drunk I went home with a bunch of oddly dressed gentlemen thinking they were members of the band TV On The Radio. Luckily, I escaped. Yay to learning from our mistakes!

Oh I'm definitely a nerd. Just not a Joss Whedon fan or a fan of whatever else is being referenced on here.

I have no idea what any of you are talking about.