iheartplato

Have you guys heard anything further yet about details for Monday? My last email was also March 11, which said that more details would be sent a week prior to the open house, but I still haven't received anything.

Yes, I'll be at the open house as well....so hopefully see you all there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwMFcI71tuQ

Oops! Sorry, GW, not Georgetown Anyway, I interpreted the above essentially as "Shoot for the stars, but have a backup plan in case it doesn't work out." I didn't really seem him as equating getting a TT job with a 2nd tier PhD as the same thing as going from the South Bronx to the NBA.

You guys are really great

Well, thanks for being forthright about your opinion on it, realist. It seems to be a bit of a Catch-22...I think I would be quite happy in the 4th tier funded program, barring the severe placement issues that seem to be in the inevitable result from completing a degree there. So I guess I need to decide which is the bigger risk--attempting to botch relationships with schools and professors in order to attain better chances at placement success down the road, or complete the degree at a low-ranked school and potentially damage my placement chances. Um. Is 11 am too early to start drinking?

Thanks for the info guys...it is helpful. And yoon, no, I didn't apply to Chicago MAPSS--I'm pretty sure most deadlines for Fall have passed by now though, unfortunately. MissingVandyCandy, I definitely see your point about the delicate situation that would arise from attempting to transfer--I guess I was just hoping that it was more of a common occurrance and therefore could delude myself into thinking it's a super idea. You're right that it will likely be entirely different than undergrad or law school transfers, and as such, I don't know that I'm willing to put myself through it. Ughhh decisions are so difficult~!!! Timing-wise, for me, I definitely wouldn't consider leaving until the masters degree would be completed. It would then give me a masters thesis (ie, good writing sample), better grades/coursework, and by then I'd have developed relationships with potential rec writers as well. Those were the main areas my app needs strengthening in--GREs and SOP I think are strong. Alanapsci, I wish I could speak more to your timing issues, since you already have the masters degree. I would roughly guess that 2 years would be a better option, if only to give you adequate time to build your strength as a applicant...especially considering that the application processes tend to begin nearly a year in advance of your intended semester start, anyway! I'm still at a loss for what to do personally, but do appreciate the advice very much. Thanks a ton.

This application process has not exactly worked out as well as I had initially hoped. Though I am waiting on one more school (which seems unlikely), I am left with the option of attending a roughly 2nd-tier school, unfunded, or a roughly 4th tier school, funded. Not exactly an ideal choice. These would both be for PhD programs--I did not apply to any pure masters programs, though in retrospect now I wish I had. Waiting for another year to re-apply is not an option for me, nor would it really help since the same weaknesses in my application will exist next year unless I get some additional scholarly work/contacts in the field (and GPA boosting) under my belt. Has anyone taken (or known of anyone who has taken) the route of attending a lower-tier PhD program and transferring to a more reputable program after a couple of years? Is this a viable option, or unwise? Any advice is appreciated. I'm pretty stumped on what to do at this point. Thanks.

Congrats! That is very exciting, and I'm glad it worked out for you. Since no email was thrown my way, I guess I will need to cut my losses on that front. Anyway, congrats again to you~

I just called over there and they said that all decisions have been made. They are processing the rejections now, and I think the informal admit emails as well. I don't know if that means we will hear today or next week, but hopefully the sooner the better.

Thanks for the update.

you know...i don't really get it. i realize that 600-700 apps is a lot, but i submitted my application last November--does it really take THAT long to go through all of them when you have a whole committee sifting through them? this is more of a rant to the process in general as opposed to just Georgetown, but come ON--i submitted my app on time, is it so much to ask to get a definitive deadline as to when notices will go out so we're not all sitting around pulling our hair out with each passing week/day/hour?? if they're still figuring out funding--well, that's what a waitlist is for, right?? is it not possible to notify the rejects when they've made that decision, since Lord knows they did many of those right off the bat? i realize the admissions process is difficult and dependent on many factors--including the admissions committee's other personal obligations, jobs and whatnot--but it still doesnt mean that i'm any less aggravated by it all!

Um yeaaaahhh.......so if they could just go ahead and let me in now, that would be greeeeaaat. Thanks.

When did you all hear about the open house? I re-checked my admission packet but didn't see anything about it in there. I would definitely like to attend, though, assuming I'm invited! Unfortunately I was told pretty much flat-out that I would not receive any funding, which really sucks. I don't see how I can make it work otherwise...

I agree that's it's unfortunate that the application system is so imperfect. It truly isn't fair that the process is not more of a thorough evaluation of each applicant, as opposed to a quick snapshot of one's history and accomplishments. But, the unfortunate truth is that that is how most of the world seems to work--if you have flaws in your record, they show up, and people aren't subjected to the explanations for them as readily as they are to the flaws themselves. Believe me, I have fallen victim to this--my first two years of undergrad in a different major, in addition to my lack of motivation and other personal circumstances, harmed my overall GPA. No matter how much light I try to shine on those last 2 years of improvement as an undergrad, i don't have the overall stellar number to show for my hard work. I always felt that it was such a shame that it takes so much more work to recover from a slip in success than it would if the slip had never happened; but also, you do have to give yourself credit for MAKING that kind of recovery. Fortunately, you seem to have taken advantage of every recourse you can take. You took steps to get a Masters degree from a good school, which many people never get the chance to do. You proved yourself and your ability to perform in this field, and you succeeded in getting into a VERY good phD program as a result. As much as it sucks to have Ivy and other top-10 rejections under your belt, it does make sense that they use grades and/or GREs to essetially weed people out--they are looking for their versions of the best, and unfortunately, they make the rules on what criteria to use for evaluating this!! They probably get tons more applicants than other schools, and so can't be expected to thoroughly analyze applications that, while they may be brimming with merit otherwise, don't meet their basic numbers. I'm not saying I agree with it--I wish it were different myself!! But as the saying goes, life just ain't all that fair. I'm trying to come to terms with this myself, but there's really only so much you can do with it. You just gotta keep pushing yourself, continuing to persevere (which you seem to have done), and make the most of the situation you are in. Success comes in many forms, and not just from Ivy Leagues--but I think you know that already!!!