NightGallery

Dreaming. Obviously.

Disc 6 of Roots, a dead dragonfly, and a Victoria's Secret catalog.

And I wish I had yours! 3 acceptances! Congrats. I'm in cryptic limbo-land...

Speaking of Magna, at my uni it was 3.84 and up. I missed it by a cat's whisker. Hence I graduated cum laude. Talk about frustrating!

I'd have applied to more reach programs. Maybe would've undertaken safer coursework to have boosted my 3.83 GPA higher.

I love music and anthropology, and the best way to obtain a career writing and researching within those frameworks is to earn a PhD in ethnomusicology. The fact that I enjoy writing and research as much as I do only adds weight to my resolve to pursue a doctorate. Aiming high, living large, and living NOW. Believing that my own passions are what I excel at. That's why.

Thanks! I was feeling a bit brow-beaten in here. Money is a very real and legitimate concern, but by no means is it a deal breaker for me. It's all about priorities. Knowledge is indeed priceless in perspective to oneself and humanity at large. Excelsior!

The post to which I responded, to me seemed to indicate that lack of funding was deal breaker — not just something that was merely undesirable.

I respectfully and completely disagree. If given the choice between abandoning my academic plans and taking on debt, I will choose debt. Do I care about funding in the PhD programs I've applied to? Of course I do. But I'll be damned If I'll just quit if all I am able to secure is a program with little or no funding. When one considers the lifetime earning potential of a PhD, even 200K is not unworkable. May I ask how you've arrived at such an opinion? Do you have any student debt? I don't think the integrity and viability of pursuing a career path should be weighed against money; but that is, in the end, my own opinion. First and foremost, my doctorate will be for my own academic enrichment and that of the discipline to which I belong. Money is a distant third.

Oh, I feel your pain on this issue. After no offers and just one waitlist spot, I now wish I'd bitten the bullet and applied to 10 programs(which my advisor assured me was very excessive) instead of only 6.

What about loans?Is there just a staunch refusal on your part to accrue any debt? I would go ahead and take on the debt rather than let lack of funding hold me back...

It's really tough this year... I have a 3.89 GPA, excellent letters, and I visited 5/6 of the programs I applied to, contacted/communicated with professors of interest, met with them etc. The catch phrase included in every letter of rejection I've received is that this year is "extremely competitive". Ugh! it's like an unwelcome mantra coursing through my consciousness. Help!

I got rejected from one of my top picks today, and am very disappointed. I'm down but not out yet. Your post has really helped put things in perspective for me. Thanks.

Your stress over your age is overblown. Relax. I had a POI tell me that he thought 25 was too YOUNG for the PhD track his program offered. Really, there are plenty of folks 30+ in PhD programs.