tiarabun

That sucks! Did you apply to the same school again?

I'm sorry but you got into NORTHWESTERN!!! i can only envy

I guess I've missed that! I've always assumed I would learn by email or website from past results. Thanks!

By mail only? Which department? My department secretary told me to contact the graduate studies coordinator but she didn't respond:(

I have already executed my plan b. I went to an interview for an adjunct position at a US university's satellite school in my city. Will start teaching in June.

That seems awfully irresponsible!

I think you are entitled to feeling angry for a while. I felt "betrayed" by the system after receiving my first rejection last week. It's perfectly understandable. If you are as good as you've described, man, you are freaking awesome already, PhD or not! People who score a 4.0 GPA with extensive research exp can't be that incompetent! Throw yourself a pity party for a day or two. Cry yourself out if you have to, then do what you have to do next. You are still awesome!

I applied to AMST too Contacted the school a few times Heard nothing I'm assuming rejection already

I applied to brown and UMD but I have heard nothing so far. I emailed UMD's director of graduate studies but got no reply I'm taking it as a bad sign so I'm gonna get on with my plan b

That's exactly how i feel! you can go all parental on me. i guess i needed it cuz my parents, though loving, know NOTHING about how academia works. everything they know about school, they learned it from me. i'm the only child of middle-school educated parents. part of the reason i wanna get a PhD is to make my parents proud because i know i will never make a lot of money. i do know i come across as more naive compared to friends my age. sometimes i dont even know if thats a good thing or bad thing. I have friends who didn't go to college being much more accomplished than me right now. some make good money doing sales jobs, some are married, some have kids. whenever i tell them how much i hated the "real world", they just shrug and tell me that's is how it is and i need to suck it up. i thought they just didnt know better, but now im starting to think they are the ones who have figured it out literally a decade ago when i was still living in fantasyland

thank you everyone. that is very very sweet to hear such kind words and encouragement. i'm so glad this community exists! i guess much of my depression stems from the fact that this PhD application thing is an all or nothing process. so many of us has put our lives on hold for the past few months to wait for something to happen. so many sacrifices were made. it just stings a lot to know a good deal of time, effort and fees spent on these applications are worth nothing. every time when someone asks what do i do for a living, i just get so embarrassed to tell them i'm only teaching part time to wait for my grad school acceptances. everyone seems to think with so many degrees and such awesome GPAs and awards, i should be out there making big bucks or be snapped up by any program. for a while, i thought that was what i should be doing too. I switched job right after i got my MA and became a decently paid cubicle monkey. I felt iffy on the first day of work. At first i thought i just needed sometime to adjust to a new environment. it wasn't ideal, but i was better off than many people who made only half of what i made but had to work twice as hard. a few months later, i started asking why i was even doing it? what i did was meaningless. i wasn't doing anything that will benefit mankind. i was only going to work and putting up with shit from the management for money. it was nothing like me, nothing like that straight A girl full of dreams many years ago. i decided to follow my heart and practically fired my boss. i think my chances with my other two schools are pretty slim. other than having to swallow the shame of being rejected, my biggest fear is that i'll have to become a cubicle monkey again, to submit to twisted values and become the person that i've always hated. i've been sort of chillaxing for a couple of months. im glad my parents have been pretty supportive and i have a small income to pay my bills. the best thing that happened in the past months was the (re)discovery for my love for writing. i'm not an english native speaker, but when i studying journalism as an undergrad, i had a Pulitzer winning professor as my mentor. he once told me I had print in my blood (he said that means im good at writing). i didnt believe him because i was more interested in broadcasting back then. i had done non fiction writing for many years for a living. i knew i was pretty good, but i wasn't particularly passionate about it. Until a couple months ago, i became bored and angry with the stupid storyline of a TV show that i was following, so i picked up my laptop and began writing this novel. I have been writing almost every day since. I have written more than 70,000 words so far. I don't think I have ever written anything longer than 30 pages, and that was my BA honors thesis. I don't know if my novel is worthy of publishing, but i just couldnt be more proud.

i honestly cant speak for everyone here but this is my story: all through my post high school adult life, i have known im good at coursework when other student dreaded exams and assignments and presentations, i loved it the only thing i hated was group projects cuz i didn't want to share my credits with others or let them bring down my grades im no genius, but i do know as long as i try, i cant be that bad at something, at least with coursework a B is the worst grade on my transcripts, and i almost cried when i got it to me, school/college/university is my sanctuary (high school doesnt count cuz i was rebellious) it gave me confidence and made me realize i could be as good as i wanna be until i graduated with my BA and entered the "real world" i loved my first two jobs, but things werent like in college in the real world, fairness and honestly don't exist, or at least not highly valued you cant argue with your bosses even if you know they are idiots you cant fight for your raise like how you fight for an A in order to find my self worth, i did a coursework based MA part-time it was tough having to balance my work life and study life, but i loved it grad school, like college, was like a shelter to me i loved stealing every second from my daily commute to prepare for classes, so i could kick everyone's asses i felt smart and witty and special after i graduated with my MA, i felt so lost i only had work to prove myself but my post MA job sucked so i quit and decided to return to the one place that i felt truly at home i thought as long as i tried, i would get into a good program after all, it's school, duh professors are supposed to love me, like they always did i've been rejected by employers, bosses, clients, coworkers, or boys before rejections sucked, and i've always taken rejections really hard the only way to cope was to tell myself "their loss, not mine" you know what? they probably werent that good to start with anyway, whatever finally, the day came when i got my first PhD rejection my heart almost exploded when i saw the word "denied" it may sound silly, but i actually felt a little betrayed like the only thing that i have always counted on rejected me, telling me that i wasnt really that good, that i thought too highly of myself "get on with your loser life","be a laughing stock of those who didn't want you" were what have been echoing in my head until a thought stuck me: maybe god (or whoever that is) is using this failure to teach me a lesson I need to accept rejections, not to dodge or dismiss rejections perhaps at age 27, i need to come to terms with the fact that i cant always be the jewel in everyone's eyes and PhD isnt supposed to be a safe haven for an adult woman maybe i have applied for the wrong reason and it creeps through my applications maybe it really is a blessing in disguise

I just got my first rejection on VALENTINE'S DAY how cruel are you UT Austin!

no wonder i didnt get the interview cuz i got just my rejection congratulations though!

i, too, have only applied to three school. i wish i could have applied more but grad school applications are just so damn expensive! and i havent heard ANYTHING so far. i wonder if im unofficially waitlisted.

i know that feeling. i feel like on one hand i definitely want to get in because this is what i've been waiting for, on the other i just want all my rejections to come in already (if i am to be rejected) so i can get on with my (sad and pathetic) life and move forward

i have become this commitment phobe ever since i've decided to apply to PhD. i refuse to commit to anything that will last longer than three months or go beyond August because i dont even know where im gonna be i dont want to look for full time work for now just to resign when grad school comes along i dont want to renew my gym membership because they are impossible to get out of my love life is completely stale. i dont even want to go on dates and lead someone on if i'm gonna be continents away in a few months (i have the worst of luck when it comes to long distance relationships) the worst is, i dont even know all these waiting and sacrifices are going to be worth it cuz i havent even received any acceptances so far its so easy to tell people to stay positive but it sucks to be the one agonizing P.S. the only thing that i have committed myself to is to write a novel on topics that im absolutely passionate about (vampire, romance, US history, DC, grad school life), which turns out to be the best way to keep me sane!

someone posted on the result page that UT would be sending out results next week. and the person learned about that via a phone interview. i didnt even know UT does phone interviews!

i just turned 27 and i graduated with my part-time MA last year When i first considered applying to PhD programs, i thought I might be too old but the more i read online and the more i talk to my professors, the more i realize mid-late 20s tend to be a pretty good age to embark on a PhD program because we have certain life experiences and we have a better idea of what we really want having been in the "real world" for a while

im really sorry your dream hasnt come true YET but it doesnt mean it wont do you still have more pending applications? do you know what your weaknesses are? if you really really want to go to grad school, you can work on them and make a better application next time i understand your frustration, totally im sure everyone would understand why it sucks and everyone would feel like giving up if we were in your shoes but the world needs another passionate human being who cares more than just living an unchallenging life!

I have been working on my own vampire romance novel since November. I never knew I could love writing so much (even thought i was a reporter and I wrote for a living) It's the best way to keep my mind off my applications I've written 65000+ words and I can't be more proud Once I'm done I'll pay amazon to have it professionally copy edited and sell it online

Congrats to all of you! Still no word from UT I feel like my chances are getting smaller by the second

I have heard nothing from the schools I applied and I sort of feel like I have overshot. I have struggled for the longest time abt whether I should get a phd, but I have always had a job so It was tough for me to pull the trigger. It wasn't until last fall when I finally got fed up with work and quit to give phd a shot. My plan is iif I don't get into any program, I will job hunt aggressively again. But i know when I do have that kind of security, it will be hard to give it all up again. That's why I think this is my only shot

me too. im glad i have a MA. at least i can teach at a small college and pay my bills and my very expensive grad school applications!

im so sorry! their loss! and you still have several to hear from!