astreaux

I'm not saying the A Wuffle and Bernard Grofman are the same person... I'm just saying I've never seen the two of them in the same room together. 

My beef with visitation is mostly the evasive discussions of placement. I was accepted at 2 places. I visited both. Both programs that otherwise have a very quantitative focus (particularly in my subfield - American) suddenly became very qualitative when the topic of placement came up. Anecdotes of great placements are quickly recalled, but no one mentions the other great students that didn't get any offers and are now on their second post-doc.
 
The reality when you are in a program like this one (upper teens / low twenties in the rankings) is that about two thirds of a cohort will defend dissertations. Of those, about half will find tenure track jobs. Most importantly, it varies quite a bit by subfield and by advisor. When you visit, ask specific questions about subfield placement. "How many Americanists were on the market last year? How many placed and where?" You might have a very good idea of who your advisor might be. Ask her about her placement record. "Who was your most recent student to finish? Where did he go?"
 
When you are visiting you are in the driver's seat. Ask for more money. Ask for a longer guarantee. Unless you set fire to the building during your visit they won't rescind the admissions offer. After the admission offer and before you accept is the only time for the next six years that you are in the dominant position.

Next week is going to be the most emotional week of my life. Be ready emotional outlet forum! 

You have to hand it to Wisconsin for being prompt with both good news and bad news. Gentler to all that way, in my opinion.

This. Everyone is different, of course, but the same life choices that give you maturity and perspective may also impose constraints. If I am fortunate enough to get into a PhD program this year, I'll be taking a whole family with me. New jobs, new schools, new friends. That is an enormous amount of inertia to overcome.

Not everyone is ready for grad school at 22. God knows I wasn't. If you are, there will never be an easier time to go.

Man I leave gradcafe for five minutes and... WTF! Can everyone just agree to refrain from the life advice tit-for-tat until late March when we'll all have to make critical life decisions? Can we all go back to the happy, supportive and insightful forum that literally saved me from going crazy a few times already this January?

This. Everyone is different, of course, but the same life choices that give you maturity and perspective may also impose constraints. If I am fortunate enough to get into a PhD program this year, I'll be taking a whole family with me. New jobs, new schools, new friends. That is an enormous amount of inertia to overcome.

Not everyone is ready for grad school at 22. God knows I wasn't. If you are, there will never be an easier time to go.

The sad part:  in a few years' time, you will find yourself dancing in your desk chair because of how a ROC curve ended up looking.  GET OUT WHILE YOU CAN, KIDS.

I can claim one of the Duke admits as well. So incredibly relieved.

I just got the formal notification, so I'm ready to go public:
 
I am delighed and very, very relieved to claim a Duke admit.

Congrats to the Madison people, it's an amazing program.
 
Of course, also congrats to everyone else who heard today, I am sure all of the acceptances were well deserved!
 
Those (like me...) still waiting, don't give up hope! The cycle has only just begun!

Huge congratulations to the Wisconsin admits who have heard so far. I hope to meet a bunch of you when you come up here to the visit weekend. Out of sheer idle curiosity, does anyone want to share which professor contacted you?

Congrats to all Wisconsin admits. That's one great program you got into.
 
And here is to hope that those of us who didn't receive an e-mail yet have POIs who are just lazier than the others

Long-time lurker, first-time poster. I'll claim the UNC admit (and one of the UC Davis admits). Thanks for the messages!
 
The admissions letters came from the graduate school. The short version is that the letter suggested for UC Davis was that the department, not the graduate school, would be in touch regarding funding packages. It was the same for UNC, except their letter was even shorter.

Are you sure it's not you? I ask because you say you had a crappy life before this. There are people who are just miserable no matter what happens. Are you sure that's not you? Also, are these feelings just your interpretation or are they legit? Are your professors really sexist, do they really favor the male students who just pull things out of their ass, do they really shoot down all the intelligent things you say, do you really say intelligent things, do your classmates really talk down to you, and do they really laugh at you?

I keep checking my e-mail, but my acceptance letters aren't showing up. Is there something wrong with my e-mail or theirs? I'm really worried... 

I don't know if this will make any difference in when notifications go out, but I just spotted this on the Wisconsin portal: "City of Madison Declared snow emergency thru 7AM 01/28/14."
 
A snow emergency in Madison must mean that they are getting seven feet of new powder and the streets aren't fit for a tauntaun.

Then you might need to read this: http://io9.com/5931217/science-proves-luke-skywalker-should-have-died-in-the-tauntauns-belly
 
Skimming ought to suffice. (Gosh I love the internet.)
 
I'd be content with partial cost reimbursement, should further visits even become a possibility.

I don't know if this will make any difference in when notifications go out, but I just spotted this on the Wisconsin portal: "City of Madison Declared snow emergency thru 7AM 01/28/14."
 
A snow emergency in Madison must mean that they are getting seven feet of new powder and the streets aren't fit for a tauntaun.

Person: So what do you want to do?
Me: Well, I'm applying to grad programs in constitutional law. 
Person: So you want to be a lawyer?
Me: No. I want to be a professor. 
Person: ... you know, lawyers make a lot of money. 
 
DIDN'T KNOW THAT. THANKS. I'll do what I love instead and we can call it even.

I feel the same way... Speaking for myself, I think it's because last year I was chock full of naivete and unfounded confidence. This year, however, it's more like humility and fear bordering on paranoia. I know that silence early in the cycle translates to depressing notifications later on.
 
That said, it's still too early for any of us to be worried (about most schools, anyway). One or two more weeks, and the silence will start to take on more significance. Because I have wayyyyy too much time on my hands right now, I looked at the notifications over the last two cycles and made a weekly coding system (intentionally skewed to better reflect the schools to which I applied). Anxious anal-retention follows:
 
1/16 - 1/22: roaring success
1/23 - 1/29: fairly early
1/30 - 2/5: ramping up
2/6 - 2/12: critical mass
2/13 - 2/19: nearing danger
2/20 - 2/26: likely failure
2/27 - 3/5: epic failure
 
So, basically, I'm wigging out this year, and it helps tremendously to talk to other folks in similar straits.

When the snail mail finally arrived at 12:30, there was nothing but address labels from the March of Dimes, a rabies shot reminder from the vet, and a very premature solicitation from the AARP.

"Oh, come on!"
- Gob Bluth

This is at best 3rd hand information, so take it with an enormous block of salt, but the rumor is that decisions are made and ~48 people will be getting acceptance letters. I can't stress enough how skeptically you should take this, as I have no direct connection to those making decisions.

Dire Straits

:::insert sound of a balloon deflating:::