TakeMyCoffeeBlack

Who wants to play: How many bottles of wine will TMCB drink in the next two and a half weeks? 4 weeks? 6 weeks? Person closest without going over gets a bottle of wine... or at least a picture of a bottle that I've drunk in their e-mail.

Eh, it was Christmas time when I made the signature. Should probably change it now... Santa Claus would probably have been more appropriate as a substitute for accepted, no?

Well, the non philosopher mentioned it, but worth mentioning a hundred more times, no?

I had this really embarrassing moment when a POI called me on behalf of the masters portion of a dual program, and I had expected a student might call me to kind of recruit. I didn't recognize his name right away, and asked if he was a student... "Well, no, I'm actually the director of the program." OH, you mean you're the guy I wrote all about in my SOP for both the Ph.D. and Masters program, and who liked me enough to accept me to both programs and then call me to talk to me about my options? So, avoid that...

I know some folks here aren't too eager to talk about this... In my case, get a job and start my life with my girlfriend. Figure out where I fell short (the only "loose end" in my application - other than perhaps fit at individual programs or general competitiveness of applicant pools - is my GRE quant score, so I imagine I could get that up) and work toward improving that not for 2015 but for 2016 (so two years out of official academia, though I'd look into doing research voluntarily or even as an assistant at nearby universities). Maybe take some stats and econ courses. But I'd rather stay positive... We should all be hearing, for better or worse, in the next month or so.

I wouldn't worry about it too much at this point. Sounds like you did fine. The best any of us can do now is hold back the tears.

I'm growing more impatient every day... It's sad, really. And none of my programs typically announce anything until Jan. 31 anyway.

Dear grad schools: I get it you. You have a lot of applications to read. But if you could just, you know, skip a few and read mine and fall in love with me for some reason and contact me ASAP, I'd really appreciate it. Best, TMCB

What country are you in? I'm currently a Fulbright scholar in Germany. I'm doing alright socially, but I understand the troubles of the language barrier (and I already went through the socially reclusive stage when I studied abroad in 2012). I'm not sure what your commission is like, but I know that ours has made it pretty clear that they'd relocate us if there were sufficient reason. Social isolation and (possibly?) depression should count. Feel free to PM me.

Often professors are back to work before students. It's possible (but curious that nobody's posted here).

Ha! Those telemarketers gave me heart attacks last Jan-March!

Not that it varies in any way from historical data available on the results page, but I got a response to an unrelated inquiry from Colorado-Boulder confirming that decisions will be announced "at the end of January." Of course, because the program has historically announced acceptances in January, and rejections Feb. 1, I'd like to draw conclusions from that, but that would be silly...

Congrats! I have a linkedin, and I keep my profile updated, but I'm not active on it otherwise. It's a nice way to control the message about you if people google you, but otherwise it's just an online resume.

I can speak modern high German, but no Old Norse.

I'd just like to point out that the very link you provide makes my case of using trivial as a somewhat-synonym for silly: "Silly season in journalism slang is from 1861 (August and September, when newspapers compensate for a lack of hard news by filling up with trivial stories)."

That would probably make my month. Did they have more questions for you?

I've been hoping someone looks at my LinkedIn. No bites yet.

My inclination is to respond that happiness is not trivial, but then you've already made that point by suggesting that achieving happiness might indicate superior intelligence (or, perhaps, more "useful" knowledge for a single individual?). So argue away, Internet stranger! Of course I might respond that there's nothing intelligent about prioritizing only individual contentment over our communal responsibilities. But then I'm no fan of attempts to rationalize selfishness at the expense of others (but that leads to an argument about ideologies).

I never thought to ask directly, "Are you taking students?" Which seems silly, since it's so obvious... But considering the professors whom I did contact responded with several lines explaining why I'd be a good fit for the programs, I'm going to cross my fingers and hope that means they're taking students. I'll ask directly, of course, should I receive any acceptances.

I've only had one that really bothers me of all the schools I've interacted with. She's just as nasty on the phone as in e-mail (if she responds to an e-mail)...

Having my girlfriend in Germany the past month has been beyond helpful with keeping my mind on the important things in the present. Dropped her off at the airport today, and so that's over... I'm all the more eager, too, because any acceptances I may (or may not) get will mean that we get to start scoping out apartments sooner. Best of luck to everyone! Hopefully I can get myself into the research groove over the next few weeks and keep my mind off grad school.

Even though I know we shouldn't be hearing anything for at least two weeks (and historically none of my schools announce before Jan 31) I'm developing the obsessive checking disorder...

My adviser knew a couple days before last year, I believe, but was sworn to secrecy.

Whereas Starbucks may be on every corner, NYC has decent local places every other, and some are beyond exceptional. If I lived in a city like NY, I'd be short on rent because of my cafe addiction.

Nice to see some posting activity here for sure. Anxiety building up... I'd imagine the OSU is a troll. We have sources that could confirm.