MammaD

This. Exactly. Mmajum01, thank you!

I'm in a little different situation with regard to funding. I served 17 years in the military and after this semester will have 3 years of education benefit left (tuition + a housing stipend). Plus, I'm older, we've been smart (read: saved like fanatics while our friends bought gadgets and cars) with finances, and the move would actually save us money because the housing market there is better (less expensive) than here. So, I might have to get a job if I get into the one program I have yet to hear from without any stipend, but we're prepared to make anything work. My kids and I have health insurance through my husband -- it's not great care, but it's serving our needs and I'm thankful for it. In my case, there aren't many schools where I could really dig into my research interests while also contributing clinically, so if I don't get into UNC (I only applied to 2 programs, both there), I'll consider another path entirely toward what I will do with the rest of my life.

Sigh. A result for UNC MCH went up ... MPH program, but it's a sign that there's life in that dept. I can't decide whether no news is bad news.

Awww, mpheels, I was really rooting for you. As for the weekend thing, it seems UNC does most of its notifying on the weekend, so I'm kind of hoping to hear from MCH this weekend. I'm definitely ready to move on if I've been rejected. Anabele, I think no news is probably just that ... no news. Don't give up hope until someone sends you a letter with the word "regret" in it. I got my UNC Epi rejection last Sunday. I knew it was a long shot but I'm still a little shaken confidence-wise. Good luck and be sure to let us know when you hear!

I'm not a lesbian, but I have several 30+ lesbian friends in Ithaca and I lived there for 4 years as an undergraduate. Everything you've heard is true (very gay-friendly), and just as there are hotspots for the undergraduate crowd, there's plenty going on for grad students, adults our age (or yours ... I'm almost 40 now), etc. Just in terms of places to live, I wished so much I could have applied to school in Ithaca but what I'm looking for academically just isn't there. It's a beautiful place to live, tons going on culturally, terrific restaurants, and a really energetic, positive vibe. I can't recommend it highly enough. Good luck to you!

Welcome to our new friends and good luck to all!

I heard from UNC Epi yesterday ... rejection. I guess I knew it was a long shot but my confidence is really shaken as I wait to hear from the other department I applied to there. I was applying to reproductive/pediatric Epi, in case that is helpful to anyone reading. Good luck to all!

I worry about the not-having-tons-of-time thing, too. I got rejected today from one of the two programs I applied to. I knew it was a long shot but my confidence is still shaken. Now everything rides on that other program and I don't think I can put myself through another application cycle if this one isn't fruitful. Goobah! We do have similar stories. I wish you and your family much luck in the coming months of transition!

Oh, and while I didn't faint, I did drop my phone like it was made out of fire, and even after going to the website every day for the last 6 weeks to check the status (including this morning), I fumbled at my computer and could barely log myself in. 1 down, 1 to go. I hope some of you all got better news today!

Just got my rejection letter from UNC Epi. Feels good to know, at least. Now to focus all my hope that MCH takes me.

See? Today there are results from Accounting, Art history, Anthropology ... maybe now they're going alphabetically through the big bulk of decisions? I think they've already taken their very top and rejected their very bottom.

Actually, there seem almost to be as many results from UNC on the weekends as during the week, which boggles the mind. I don't think it's the faculty, though ... and from the looks of the Results page, Philosophy and English kept the grad school pretty busy the last few days! I just want to know. I thought I'd hear something by now. Even a rejection would be welcome just to be done waiting.

Two more UNC Epi acceptances this morning on the Results list. If they're waiting until March to reject me, I think that would be very mean.

sophiak, please talk to someone in person, the sooner the better. I don't know what else to say, other than that you need real-life support right now. Maybe start with a friend or a chaplain, your RA if you live in dorms ...

For real, I would totally do that if this thesis and book I'm writing (same topic, different audiences) weren't devouring my life! Somehow, they're not distracting me all that much because the topic is pretty much why I want to get a PhD and be a researcher. I absolutely LOVE IT and the fear of rejection also feels like a fear that I'll never get to study or have an impact on the population I'm interested in. I guess on some level I know I'll find a way somehow, but getting a PhD from one of the two programs I applied to seems like the *most direct* way. Which I realize is kind of scary and sad at the same time. I'm almost 40 and I'm looking at another 10% or more of my whole life as the "most direct" means to the work I want to do.

You know, I was thinking this evening on my drive home from school that if I ever get an email from UNC, I may vomit and faint at the same time, perhaps dying from aspiration in the process, and never make it to the application website to find out what they wanted to tell me. Alternatively, my more real concern will come to pass: I never receive an email, and sometime in September, I'm walking around like a cartoon character with spirals for eyes, mechanically looking at my phone every time it signals an incoming email. "Did I get in?" I'll ask in a vacant voice, to no one in particular ...

Thanks, Mazaya! I'm trying not to lose hope. Tomorrow is 2/15, the date one of my programs sent out a bunch of decisions last year. If there's nothing tomorrow, it's gonna be another long weekend.

Well, at least there's life down there. I'm starting to feel like I'm alone in some alternate universe.

I'm 39, will be 40 this spring when I graduate with my MPH. I've applied to 2 PhD programs at the same school and my 3 kids (10, 8, and 5) will come with me. My husband has a few years left in the Army unless an early retirement option is offered. I'm a Veteran of 17 years (Army), myself. I'm in a financially good place and my kids are ready for the move if we have to make one. We really love where we are but I've heard where we might be headed is a great place to raise kids. Hopefully, we won't be without my husband for too long before he can either get out or get reassigned closer to us -- we'll let a year pass before starting to actively pursue reassignment (at that point he'll have 3 years left). I'm eager to get admissions decisions either way because of the kids ... getting registered for school, finding a church, selling this house, buying another, getting them settled, finding before-and-after-school care if I'll need it, etc. Part of me wishes I could have done this school journey without kids (back in my 20s), but the rest of me knows I'm only here because I had my kids -- the field I'm pursuing wasn't even on my radar before I became a mother. Good luck to everyone! I hope you all get into great programs and have bright futures!

Looks like great news all around! Congrats to all! Still waiting on UNC Epi and MCH. I had a hilarious and vivid dream about the faculty member I hope to work with there. I hope it's a sign.

I will turn 40 in the spring.

I'm not gonna make it another month. I have doubts about my capacity for another week at this point.

Oh for the love of all things holy ... these weekend acceptances on the results page are beginning to do me in! I just want to know. Either way.

If you are the dependent of a 100% disabled veteran, you are eligible for 4 years of education on the VA dime. If you are the dependent of a veteran who served after 9/11 AND transferred her/his benefit to you, you might have some funding there.

Time out