TMP

sugar cane

I'm pretty sure that's why I never applied to Penn again.

Just apply for that job. It'll still take a while for the job people to get back to you. If you hear from the PhD program in the meantime, you can just call up the library people and withdraw your application.

So, should we be fearful or optimistic for this week?

Getting waitlisted last year felt like... almost felt like getting accepted! It was just a psychological validation that I was damn good enough for the program. But there just weren't enough money to go around. I was largely concerned whether or not I was good enough to get into a PhD program and those waitlist notifications were just enough for me. Seriously, I bounced all across the campus from my class to my apartment when I got my first waitlisted e-mail. If you're really interested in the school, make sure you show it! Unless of course they say it's already ranked. Interpret it as positive news.

sea shell

Reasons which I believe are tied to departmental politics. Other professor is back from sabbatical last year and should be able to give my app a good push this year.

casual dress

I finally organized my Internet bookmarks.

It absolutely happens! It happeend to me quite a few times last year. I thought I had really good rapport with one of the professors and I knew that he was due for another graduate student. We maintained close contact right up to my application submission. No news for a long, long time.... boom! Got rejected. I e-mailed him to find out what happened... and he gave me legit reasons. So... that and other things have led me to be much more cautious this round. They can say all they want but my answer is, "Just show me the money first." I ain't gonna believe anyone until I see the official letter.

Unless these classmates are going to decide your jobs in the future, ignore them. They haven't grown up enough to NOT say those things. They're so nosy. Tell them that your personal life isn't any of their business. Remember, people always looking for juicy gossip so don't give them anything new to talk about. Also, given the trend these days, it's easy for a lot of people to assume that parents are always helping their children. My parents barely helped and I lived below poverty line while in graduate school. As for professors, what were their expectations of you? Did they expect you to become an academic? The issue could be that you didn't meet their expectations, especially as it seems like they're losing their trust in you. How is the DGS? The departmental chair? Is there a way you can reach out to your adviser again? You sound like you need a strong support system right now. Get some friends whom you can really trust and just hang out, and let them ask questions and just be calm in your answers. I also suggest finding an outsider who can perhaps evaluate the situation more objectively and give you some guidance.

natural beauty

The other thing is... if they write back to you along the lines of "You were very, very qualified and there was nothing wrong with your application." Maybe they would go as far as to suggest that fit is an issue. But what they WON'T say is department politics. This type of rejection hurts the applicant the most of all because department politics are completely out of the applicant's control and that also cost the applicant $. So if you cannot find a satisfactory answer, assume department politics. Also, sometimes even contacting faculty beforehand to see if they'd be interested in taking students don't necessarily correlate to finding out about their sabbaticals. I honestly did not even know that two of my PAs were going to be on sabbatical this year when I contacted them in the fall. Now I have to twiddle my thumbs and just hope that my applicant will be strong enough to get through the process. I swear, professors never tell you about their sabbatical plans.

For me... still nada and 5 more to hear from!

printing press

This professor is waaayyy meaner than the one in "So you want a PhD in Humanities?" Although I must admit that I heard some echos of starving while doing archival research and how archival research in a foreign country can make one go crazy from a recent PhD in Latin American history in my history seminar. Whatever he said was quite enough to make half of the people forget about being history majors. Admittedly, I really didn't know exactly what reading for history really meant until I went into my MA program and it took me... a while to understand what graduate seminars were all about. Ugh. Nowadays, sometimes I don't even know how to describe what is it that I do and why it's important.

Congrats on UCLA! Seriously? But I can probably see why they'd wait until Year 3 to give you money to live on... maybe they were worried about people dropping out before getting their MAs? Good move though.

way UP

This has kept me awake on a quite few occasions. I don't know what or how to feel about it. Maybe I'm wasting my time but I'd like to hear some thoughts. I applied to this one school where I have very good fit with two professors and it's my third try this year (I really had no idea what I was doing in my first year). Sounds good so far. Problem? Every other professor, my university and in other programs, asked if I would or encouraged me to apply to this particular school because of perfect faculty matches. I was quite stunned by the number of academics (in academia and out) suggesting these professors. Almost as if there are no other option. I'm fairly certain that my last rejection form another school was just because of this. When I met with the professors at this rejected university a few months back, they actually wondered aloud whether or not I'd be better off at this school than their own program. I quickly assured them that it was one of my top TWO choices. (FAIL, of course.) Of course, my family and close friends would love it if I go there. No question about it. I wasn't in love with the area but one of my friends was generous enough to let me stay with him for a few nights so I could really see the place for myself and see if my opinion changed. Now I'm actually okay with it. What keeps me up at night is... what am I going to do if I don't get in? What if I don't get in anywhere else because they think I would choose this particular school over theirs? If I do get in, how quickly will I accept the offer considering that so many people want me to go to this program? I want to do things because I want to, not because everyone wants me to. And... even though I have good support of the two professors there, circumstances forced me to change my application a bit so now my own professors and I don't really know what my chances are. I remember talking with this professor at this school a while ago and she asked if I was applying elsewhere. She wanted to be sure that I was applying to a range of schools besides her school because my field is so competitive. Sometimes I just want to tell her, "Look, I know all of your friends and they all told me that I have to work with you. If anything, you're the first choice of adviser according to them. Your name was always named first. So, please don't disappoint me or our friends. What are you going to say if I don't get in?" I just want to send her an e-mail right now and tell her that I know X, Y, Z, A, B, and C and they all told me to work with her. I mean, I don't know if she even has any clue that I've been told over and over again to work with her. Well, sorry for the ramble but I wonted to see if anyone was in a similar position and wondered about the outcomes.

With that, you can so qualify for SNAP. One of the best things to come out of FDR's presidency.

Congrats! $23K? Seriously? It used to be around $16K, like 2 years ago. That's REALLY generous for Ann Arbor. So get yourself a nice apartment in a house in Kerrytown. And start shopping...fast. I wonder where the money came from... probably due to cuts... as usual.

I couldn't remember which weekend was the open house for invites. Now I know. Either way, most likely by the end of this month. Chill.

toy soldier

No, you are too late. By e-mailing now, it will make you look like you're trying to suck up. You just gotta sit patiently and twiddle your thumbs while waiting.

What makes you think AU is religious/conservative?