purpleperson

Got my first official decision (a rejection from Ohio State University.) This has been an implied rejection for me for at least a week now, but my app on the website was finally updated to reflect it officially. Even though: 1) I didn't expect to get in here, 2) it wasn't a top choice, and 3) I didn't especially want to live in Columbus, Ohio, I still ever-so-slightly feel this sense of "Fuck you, Ohio State!" (no offense to those who got into this school and are happy. You should be. From what I can tell, it's a wonderfully awesome school. There are just some people (like me) who are bitter and immature ) Sadly, I think I will be saying fuck you to a lot of universities across the U.S.A. in the next month and a half.

I've gotten several emails like this -- one of them just yesterday -- from various schools. I know -- in my heart of hearts -- that they're conspiring to never utter (neither now, nor in mid or late February, nor any part of March, nor ever) any words to me other than that my application is in a committee being reviewed.

I have no problem attending a school that is ranked below 75. As a matter of fact, the school I most want to attend is just that. I believe that good work is being done at all varieties of schools. I applied to 13 places. 2 - Top 20 2 -- Between 21 and 30 2 -- 40s 1 - 50s 4 - 60s 2 -- ranked below 75 I would have applied to more "ranked below 75" schools if there were more of them in cities I like. Too many, though, were in places I'd never want to live. I consider everything in the 40s and higher to be out of my league, and everything 50s and lower in my league. But one never knows what will happen. And I'm just generalizing, of course. Technically, they're probably all out of my league! I honestly don't expect to get in anywhere.

It seems like all the programs that have begun to notify are very high-ranking ones. Interesting. Anyway, my GRE score is absolutely not stellar, but I did break the equivalent of "1200 on the old scale." I'm also a person who does pretty well on math (for an English major). I'd actually rather my math score be lower and give some of the points to my verbal.

I just noticed that someone posted a Temple University acceptance on the Results Board. It says they were notified via email on 1/23 (they only just added it to the results board today, though.) I applied to Temple. Question: when schools are referred to as accepting people "in waves," does that usually mean three consecutive days or several different days but in the same week? Or can "waves" also mean some people one week, another set of people another week, another set of people the week after, etc.?

So far, for me, the only ones I applied to that have very apparently begun to notify (may not be complete) are Northwestern and Ohio State. That said, I am not crushed at all by either the implied or actual rejection I knew they were long shots for me, and I knew the chance I was taking when I (foolishly) laid down the cash for those applications. The schools I think I have a legitimate shot at haven't started notifying. I'm not depressed or down just yet. I feel nervous and without a whole lot of confidence, though.

Northwestern's acceptances seem to be happening right now, via phone. There are a few acceptances up.

A friend of mine who's applied a couple times told me that he heard back from schools on weekends, weeknights...all of it. He said he'd hear from a school 8 p.m. on a Saturday, 11 a.m. on a Sunday, etc. I think from now to March 15th or so, it's possible on any day to hear from a school. Very exciting. Yet demoralizing. It's only February 1, so very early, yet I feel increasingly demoralized every day that passes that I hear nothing. It's insane!

At my most negative, I think I'm not getting in anywhere, and that I not only won't get in anywhere, but I'll be a person who literally never hears from a program even with a rejection until mid-March. At my most positive (while applying), I thought I was good for 2 to 3 acceptances (didn't distinguish between high rank and lower rank schools; I just told myself 2 to 3 places would want me.) At my most positive (now, as we draw closer and dread begins to sink in), I think I will get into 1 out of 13 or 1 wait-list out of 13. I did the best I could with my application, and it definitely wasn't "thrown together" in two or three weeks before apps were due. But I just don't feel confident when I think of other people's credentials, test scores, writing samples, etc. It sucks feeling this way, but it is what it is. I, too, feel like I have wasted my money. Yet I couldn't make myself, back in the fall, not try. Anyway, even though I know it "takes just one acceptance," I think I am not alone when I say that when things are wide open, as they are for most of us right now, one can't help but want a few acceptances to feel validated that one actually belongs/deserves to be in a Ph.D. program, as opposed to one (what we think of as a "fluke") acceptance. That said, I know it's an irrational way of thinking. I know a bunch of people in Ph.D. programs right now who applied to 13 or so and only got into one, and they are in those programs now and legitimately belong there! So....don't feel that way. That is, that way that I sorta feel but am telling other people not to, lol. p.s. no love from OSU for me either. I keep seeing people's acceptances, but every time I check my status, I see "Pending. Your application is in review." This is code, mind you, for "LOL! Stop checking your status here, as if you ever had a chance in hell with us. You ridiculous fool you." Anyway, my honest projection: 0 or 1 out of 13.

Well, I'll chime in with my general sense of things. And I'm sure people more in the know will completely shoot it down. But from what I've observed and heard (on here and from real life friends who've applied), good news comes in February. Doesn't mean there's no such thing as early and mid-March acceptances, just that you have a little reason to feel disheartened if February passes and you've got no acceptances. A friend of mine told me that she did hear from places in early and mid-March, but that they were M.A. programs, not Ph.D. I also hear that some schools just never even tell you one way or the other, which I think is really, really rude. People want closure, and given that they worked hard and spent money on apps, I think it's rude of schools to just never even send an email saying that you're rejected. I think this can be done pretty easily, even if it's via mass but blind-copy email to the big lot of people who aren't accepted. All of that said, I plan to react emotionally in the following way: February passes with no acceptances = feel pretty disheartened but still with *slight* hope if a few schools are still pending. March 15th passes with no acceptances = feel 99% sure I didn't get in anywhere and will not.

It sounds to me like you're in. If I were in your position, I'd tell people I'm *really really* close to (like a significant other, parents, a best friend), but not everyone just yet. Inside, I'd probably 80% celebrate and 20% hold back until it's official. To the DGS, I'd just reply to his documents with a thanks very much and a "looking forward to receiving official word!" (with the exclamation point, but just one.)

My app status for Ohio State says "pending / in review" also. Seeing as how OSU is like my 9th or 10th choice school, it would be silly for me to get upset about it. But if I were talking to someone in my position who really, really wanted to go to Ohio State, I'd say there's time yet. Some of the people they are offering to right now are not going to go to Ohio State, and the school will be opening things up more, I'm sure, to other applicants.

There are a few schools I applied to that I think I have a better chance at than others because 1) they are lower ranked, 2) one of my advisors explicitly said she thought I had a better chance at them than at the more prestigious schools, and 3) the lower-ranked schools that publish GRE minimums are in line with my low(ish) GRE score. But I really don't use the term "safety" school, not even in my head, because I don't think of them as safety schools. Honestly, I don't think I'll get into them. I hope, but I don't think...I'll get into them. Furthermore, something about the term "safety school" implies that you don't really want to go there but you'd consider it if that was the only place you got into. For me, these "safety" schools I applied to (or, as I said is the way I refer to them, "lower-ranked schools" I applied to, are places I prefer over some of the higher-ranked ones. There's a school I applied to that's in the 90s on the rankings, and I'd rather go there than to some schools I applied to that are in the 40s. Since I've only been around the PhD application process once (this year), I haven't noticed a rise in the usage of the term "safety" school. However, I would say that almost every time I have heard someone use it on this board, they've put quotes around the word to show that they know that there is no such thing, or if they don't use quotes, they still follow up to say they don't believe it really is a safe school but only so relative to the other schools they applied to.

I applied at Ohio State, too, and I too was inclined to check my application status yesterday after hearing on this board that a couple acceptances have happened. My status said "your application is in review." Ohio State is kind of a long shot for me even as a second or third round pick, honestly, but yeah, I'm totally checking too, having seen the couple of acceptances. This is my first go at the Ph.D. thing. I can see how, based on previous years' threads, the "depression" and "low morale" starts to set in for people seeing early acceptances to schools at which they've applied. The whole "implied rejection" thing. So far, for me, I've only heard Ohio State, and it's sooooo early, and there's no need to get depressed at this point at all, but I'm still already thinking....fuuuuuck...there's no way....I hate you people who got accepted (just kidding, of course.) Honestly, I think it's cool for everybody who gets accepted. It's gonna be happy times for a lot of people....

I've purposely stayed away, too, though not since as far back as September -- more like early December. I check in and glance around, but not daily. I just can't let myself be too obsessed with all of this, though I do think of it plenty just in daily life. After this post, I hope to just stay away from GC for at least another ten days and then see what's up. It's mostly too early to hear anything. I think the vast majority of notifications will be mid-Feb and later, unless you're a super star who's getting the really early acceptance and fellowship nominations. I so don't know what to expect. I have gotten such mixed predictions from advisors and friends. I've gotten as mixed as "you're not likely to get in anywhere and if you do, you'll be damn lucky" to "you're getting into four or five, easy" (and this from a person on an admissions committee at a university, though not English, who claims she knows the process and what characteristics of candidates get in) to "you'll get into at least one. I doubt 'several', but I'm confident you'll get into at least one to two." I'm dying to know which of these people is right. I'm well aware I could get into none. I'm tired of the not knowing. I can deal with it if I get into none; I just want to know so I can really think about what my future plans are. I'm so glad that I'll know within the next month and a half. It's been such a long process. I've been thinking about Ph.D. applications since March of 2013, though I didn't decide to do English until August 2013.

I'm thinking about it a lot in the past few days. I want to hear from at least one school at the end of January. The not knowing is killing me. I want to know if I will get in. DAMMIT! Of late I keep thinking about how these committees are in session pretty much right now. January/February. Reading our materials. Determining who is best. I can't believe it's just around the corner. We all need to stay busy. I *have* been busy. I'm still really eager for answers, though.

For some reason, I've assumed that the absolute earliest I could expect to hear from a school is January 28th/29thish. I can't believe the time is actually approaching! I have been really busy and distracted (just went on a week-long vacation, have started teaching again, am just really busy with family, friends, etc.), so much so that I haven't thought about Ph.D. acceptance as much as I was in November and most of December. My "not obsessing" and being so busy actually worries me, though. I almost feel (lol ) like the more obsessed people will get acceptances because they, like, karmically deserve it based on thinking about it more than I have? (this is what runs through my mind...) Anyway, I really hope to hear from at least one school at the end of January, even if it's a rejection. It's like I just want some answers, even if it's knowing for sure that I'm NOT going to a particular school -- it's a little satisfaction, a little bit less "not knowing." About receiving phone call offers of admissions...I'm fine with it.

Ditto the above for me. Sometimes I don't even do the "let it flow" thing for personal statements and non-technical, non-nuanced texts. But if I do ever "let it flow," it's for personal statements, my personal journal, non-nuanced writing, or otherwise "easy" writing. That being said, if when I am writing something particularly analytical and argumentative with a lot of nuance, and I get stuck for too long, I will "let it flow" for a small patch of writing, and then go back and sharpen it. Usually, though, writing with carefulness and meticulous-edit-as-I-go works for me for in that context just fine. To answer the OP's question, though it does vary for me depending on the content, I'd say on average, a typed double-spaced page would take me about an hour, assuming I"m focused the whole time and not checking other stuff, like email, Facebook, youtube, or grabbing a snack. It's taken me longer at times, though, certainly. I'm glad to hear that other students take a long time to write a page, or a paragraph, too, because there was a time when I felt like it was just me. I thought..."other people get this sh*t done so much quicker than I do." I know some people who do just zip right through. But I think they also don't write all that well. They might write well enough and it's still quite smart. But I've looked at the work of a particular person who just zips right through, and I found a lot of fault in the flow of the writing, (even varying sentence length, etc, transitions missing where needed, etc.), some logical inconsistencies, etc. One of my advisors (LOR writers), while complimenting me, told me that I write well and that that was important. She said she's been advisor to a lot of students (or just had students in her classes) who were brilliant with ideas and theory but had a lot of trouble putting it on paper in a way that made the same sense that was in their mind. So....take your time with your writing.

I submitted my first application on November 12th; the last (of 13) was submitted December 13th. So, I got them in pretty early. From this thread, I'm sensing I fall somewhere in the middle or even on the "less" side of the obsessed spectrum. I think plenty about whether I'll get in or not, but I haven't been on this board constantly, haven't checked my email any more than usual, and certainly haven't been logging into the applications making sure they are complete. I did follow-up, but I'm doing it sporadically (and I consider it a major chore as opposed to something I want to do). I followed up enough to know that 9 out of 13 apps are 100% complete, and the remaining four just have a small item pending that I don't think will interfere with my file being reviewed. I'm not too paranoid about not getting reviewed, because I sense that they review your application if most of the stuff is there, and that they're understanding about one deadbeat letter-writer or a community college transcript that you didn't even get a degree from, things like that. If they accept you, they'll ask for the missing item. I'm really, really trying to treat an acceptance as something that would be an extremely pleasant surprise and NOT an inevitability. I should just assume the competition is too great, and I'll be left out. Anyway, we all need to just stress the fun/good things in our lives. I'm into cooking lately. Kinda fun. Watch a good movie, watch a good television show. Enjoy life.

Take the job and quit in 7 to 8 months if you have to. People do this all the time because they need money while they're waiting for something better. If you do your best while you are there and give them some notice when you quit, there's no problem. Good friend of mine kept taking jobs with the intent to find something better later, and he did just that. He's doing quite well making 80K now, but he stayed at a job for four months previous to that -- one which paid him 40K -- one which he went to every day and did his time but was sending out resumes to other places all the while.

Yeah, but I'm not in Philosophy, so you won't be competing against me.

Are you applying only to Ph.D. or to M.A. programs also? Because if it's some M.A. programs, too, you'll probably get in to at least that.

I think...Loyola University Chicago. Northwestern. Rutgers.

Yes, I have an M.A. already. I teach community college and have for four years now. I'm also not in Philosophy. I'm in English. I just keep posting on y'all's board because I like this crowd better than the English crowd. My boyfriend is in Philosophy, though. He has an M.A. and teaches at community colleges, too. He applied to Ph.D. programs in 2009 (for fall 2010) and 2011 (for fall 2012) and was rejected from all. No, he was wait-listed at Michigan State, but that's it. He had low GRE scores, though, so don't be discouraged by his failure to get in. He didn't break 1000 on the GRE, but he reads high level theory all the time and is highly intellectual. He's a fan of Spinoza (sp?) But he does not like the GRE.

I had thirteen statements of purpose, and I only wrote something along the lines of "I'd be interested in working with...." in three of them. And I didn't so much say I wanted to work with them as I did that some of their work could conceivably inform my own. There was ONE statement of purpose in which I did say explicitly that I want to work with _____. I did this because I'd had email interaction with the woman and read up a bit on her, and I got the sense that she would like people explicitly saying they want to work with her (even if said people are not worthy, which I am most definitely not.)