pears

yard sale

best of luck! my wager is that you'll be fine- as long as you've got conviction, passion, and good reason behind your plans, it's pretty hard to butt heads with someone who has the confidence to stick with their plans and not flim-flam their way into someone else's.

If they ask, tell them; if they don't, I would say it depends on the situation. My online forms for withdrawing and decisions (i.e., declining) have all asked me where I'm going/why I'm withdrawing. I mentioned to some students at my second choice that I was between their school and my top choice (soon to be my program, woohoo!), but I'll refrain from mentioning it by name when I email the GSC about my decision; there wasn't a form on their site, so I plan on saying something to the effect of "I've decided to accept another program's offer."

khaled: i'm with biscuits; the outback is a great car. my S.O. is probably going to give me his old 90s legacy, which also handles snow and ice surprisingly well, considering it's ancient and little. i don't know how outdoorsy you are, but hatchbacks are a wonderful thing for folks like me. i'm not sure what years have the best upkeep, but you may still want to consider gently used cars, especially ones that already have bike racks or ski racks (again, i don't know how outdoorsy you are, but for me, that'd be a big plus). sadly, i've heard that subarus from 2006 or so onwards have some upkeep issues after a couple of years, so if you're going the new or very-nearly-new subaru route, i'd say check the outback out, too, and see what suits your needs the best. also, REI gear/garage sales are truly amazing things. absolutely worth the extra $20, if you go more than once in your lifetime. i got an osprey pack with a few small holes in it for $200 less than its retail value, a pair of misdyed/faded work pants for $8, and a nanopuff with a burn hole and an easy-to-fix rip for $20 or so. you can find all kinds of great cold weather gear if you show up early.

alkalifly, i get the vibe that it's the same in archaeology, at least to some degree. i have no intention of doing anything except "pounding the ground" until i'm too old to work, at which point, i might pursue a law degree (among other things, i'm interested in NAGPRA, native rights, tribal consultation and legal reform, and so on). i really enjoy helping people, and, although academia is an easy route for funding, it just doesn't seem like the right path for me- at least not for a while. i'm sure the reactions depend on both the person and the field of study.

biscuits... i think our boston is showing.

temple run (i wish homestar runner were a valid option..)

i'm not a cornell or ithaca resident or grad, but i have a handful of very close friends who spent time there- mostly for undergrad, but also grad, and one who lived there their whole life. among those friends, one is trans*, one is bi, one is gay; the rest are straight, but outspoken allies. in sum, my understanding is that ithaca is an awesome place to be an LGBTIQetc. person. might take a little digging compared to, say, nyc, but i got the impression that my friends always had mostly-or-entirely-queer social events of all sorts going on every weekend. sorry that wasn't too helpful, but i've only ever heard really positive things about queer life in ithaca, so i felt the need to add my 2 cents!

montana's bookstore has a big selection of stuff, but a lot of things i wanted were sold out in my size/preferred colors. i ended up finding more stuff on fansedge- they seem to have a lot of stuff for NCAA schools, especially D-Is.

khaled: will you be bringing a car with you, or will you be purchasing one? if you're purchasing one, i highly recommend older subarus. newer ones (2007 and later) aren't so wonderful, but 2001-2006 subarus handle really well on all kinds of snow, including the sketchy stuff we get in the sierras in winter (read: black ice, general awfulness).

JOEY DOESN'T SHARE SCHOOLS!

little feet

i had a less than ideal GPA that floated around the 3.2 overall range, and not much higher for my majors (3.35 or something like that). Ws abound, too. generally a pretty ugly undergrad transcript, compared to most. the only saving grace was that i kicked butt and took names my last 3 semesters, but it was hard to salvage my extreme slackertude from my first half of undergrad. i did my best to compensate by having a stellar writing sample (i chose the topic, so it was something i was super interested in, and i asked the professor to tear it apart and help me build it back up), strong LoRs, lots of work experience, and a great SoP (i've wanted to be an archaeologist my whole life, so, again, it's just natural enthusiasm there). i committed today, but at each of the programs i was admitted to, professors instantly remembered my file. many said i had one of the most unusual blends of classes they'd seen (in a good way!), and all of them remarked that they really enjoyed my SoP. i made up for the numbers with my writing and by reaching out to mentors; if you really love what you do, and you're doggedly pursuing grad study for the right reasons with a clear goal in mind, it'll show in your writing. so, major GPA is important, but a major recovery in the end of your undergrad can help a lot, as will really strong written application components. worked for me!

hah! well, i committed this morning, so perhaps letting people off the waitlist and removing myself from consideration at the rest of my schools will set off some big domino effect that gives you some good news today!

Might be a long shot, but it's worth a try. I just committed this morning; I'll be headed to Missoula in August to start working towards my MA in Anthropology. Montana was my top choice, so it's a dream come true for me! Any other committed or tentative future Grizzlies -- or current Grizzlies -- out there?

tooth fairy

i was in the same boat! the last few weeks have been a decision roller coaster for me; i got into my top two choices, but being the occasional self-defeatist that i am, i never expected to find myself in a position of choice, let alone a difficult one. i ended up having to look into every factor all over again, from cost to classes. as others have said, "second tier" considerations come into play now. i was deciding between two small cities with access to many outdoor resources and party-loving undergrad populations, so they seemed similar at first glance. after talking to students and non-students residing in both places, what i found is that one had more of a "bourbon and beer" vibe, while the other was "shots and lots of makeup"; i would probably be incompatible with the undergrads of the latter. also, the "bourbon and beer" place is a little more crunchy with more access to the kinds of outdoor things that matter the most to me, so my decision was made there. long story short, talk to students and residents as much as you can. everyone will offer a unique insight, and after talking to 5 or so people, you can start to pick up on the general "vibe" of a place. also, reading between the lines for things like enthusiasm helped a lot, especially when it came to talking about the program, the professors, and social life. also, my decision was essentially made for me when i sat down and created "dummy schedules" for each place. i went through the course listings and made up schedules to compare credit load, class choices, and so on. this is probably easier for me to do as an incoming terminal MA, but, again, my choice was basically made for me, because it became immediately obvious that one program would do my interests the most justice, even though they had seemed similar at first. so, yeah. talk with students as much as you can, and pretend like you're a student yourself (i.e., check out schedule/course choices, housing options, and so on as if you were already enrolled). i thought my choices were neck-and-neck, but after some careful mulling and observation and research for the "little things," one instantly became the obvious choice. hope that helps!

an update, as promised: unless a million things somehow go horribly wrong at some point in the next few hours, i'll be committing to university of montana tomorrow night. long, arduous decision-making process over the last week (seriously, it's been taking up a ton of space in my head since i first got my MT acceptance a couple weeks ago) woohoo!! i went from being a jumbo to being a grizzly. incessant fun-poking will ensue, as i'm a short, skinny, freckly, soft-spoken, extremely non-intimidating person, at least as far as appearances go! my whole family called me "jumbo shrimp" during my freshman year of undergrad. lord knows what kinds of awful punny nicknames they'll come up with now! edit/ps: so many smarty-pants in this thread. loving it. congrats to all!

C-Diggy: just PM'd you! thanks!

i wish i had your problems.

hopefully working for the USFS or BLM as an archaeology field tech in some cool, beautiful, wild place! whatever's left after taxes and expenses is going right to tuition.

thank you for supplying a lifetime first for me: spitting out my drink (i would say water, but.. well.. it may or may not be a bourbon and lemonade) from laughing so hard. i'm a sucker for cute heels — not all archaeologists are poorly dressed, i swear! — but i always carry a pair of comfy, super-worn-in flats with me. i have a coral pair with flowers (same material as the shoes) on the front, and another muted gold pair; between the two, i can't think of any business/professional outfits i have that wouldn't match one or both. it's nice to have an excuse to carry around a big, bright, adorable bag anyway! edit: as much as i like cute clothes, i should also note that i spend a lot of my time in wolverine steel-toed boots, carhartt carpenter pants, extremely unflattering field shirts and fleeces, and a camo budweiser hat, so take my advice with a grain of salt. i'm only a shovel bum, after all.

i had a good chat with a new friend last night about the "academic bubble"; we're both in the middle of taking time off after undergrad and before grad, although i'll be starting grad a year before her. long conversation short, we both agreed that there are pros and cons to willingly staying in the "bubble" of continuing education, e.g., having no understanding of how major "real world" things like insurance and home ownership work, but being able to successfully navigate and politic in socially delicate situations in ways that our "real world" counterparts can't. i'm very fortunate to have two very supportive (albeit divorced) parents, one of whom is the source of my excellent healthcare and a godmother who is an expert at all things tax and insurance, and both of whom are independently wealthy and extremely supportive of my academic pursuits (i'm an only child and a total nerd, so i guess they didn't have a very excuse not to be, hah!). sadly, my friend is not so lucky; she's one of many and a first gen college grad. i can't imagine how difficult it would be to wade through such murky waters without a strong, supportive network of friends and family who've got all this stuff down pat and have a lot of understanding of and/or respect for academic pursuits.

i'm with newleaf on this one: i'm currently occupying 3 spots, and i intend to commit within the next week; i have a few friends who are occupying 2-4 spots who also intend to make a decision within the next week or 1.5 weeks. some of my programs, as well as my friends', have requested a response within the next 2 weeks so they can begin moving through their waitlists, both official and unofficial. i think there will be a lot of card-shuffling, so to speak, between now and 4/1.