johndiligent

I figure it'll be someone who speaks little to no English, won't understand why I'm jumping around excitedly and shouting at them, and they'll either run away or punch me. It'll be awesome.

Too adult, literally. I work in an adult boutique.

Yup, rereading the letter again and again to make sure it's real will be the first,second third, and eighth thing I do.

Whoever is closest to me. If it's some stranger at Starbucks or something, so be it.

Many people have been complaining that no one is using the chat feature. It's one of those excellent catch-22's because no one is using it because no one else is using it. I'm hoping those who are interested in live chat will post their interest and time zone here, so we can agree to a few times and dates to collectively log on and complain about letter writers, waiting, rejections, etc. for when you really need some live commiseration. So ---- 1. Are you interested in chat events? 2. What time zone are you in? 3. What days or times do you think would be most appropriate to your schedule? Of course, we probably won't be able to please everyone but I'd like to get an idea whether we should be aiming for evening in Great Britain or evening in California or what.

I doubt it. It's the first semester of first year (not sure how many years your programme is but I'll bet it's between 2 and 4). Find out what went wrong, do well henceforth and develop a strong CV.

True, but in Montreal, you can spend almost the entire winter underground, so it matters less.

Ha! I'm sensitive about the morality of mail-opening since my mum and dad opened (and continue to open despite very frequent requests not to do so) all of my mail for all of my life. Every letter from a boyfriend, every note from a pen pal, every gift from a friend, every piece of correspondence from a mentor - my parents rip open, read, and then once they've read it, tell me that I've received something in the mail at their address. As a result, I think that something that is addressed to someone else - even an admissions committee - is the business of the author and the addressee. NO ONE ELSE. It's a felony, Mom! But I digress... If I were your friend, I'd just send all four LOR's to every programme. Let them decide which ones they want kept in consideration.

I only had to submit a list of read texts for one school and I unfortunately didn't save it, but I listed it by class and year.... So I'd list the first section of, for example, third year Latin, and list the author and works that we read in the class. Sadly, mine also asked for works read in translation (which, for an Honours Classics student should be just about every major Classical work, right?) so it was an irritatingly long process.

I have a friend who attended several years ago and is now faculty at a reputable institution in the contiguous United States. I can't tell you much more than that but it was good enough to get her tenure.

If it was either an invited talk (i.e. you were invited by an organisation or society) or there was a selection process (conference, seminar or some such), then I would list the individual talks on your CV under the appropriate heading. If the talks were on your own initiative I wouldn't.

Can you reveal the institution? If so, I'm sure there might be a bit more specific insight.

Exactly. It's really the LOR writers that are stressing me out. I could apply again but I really just don't want to have to ask them to write again, and since I'm not in school right now, there really aren't people who know me any better.

I'm getting to the point where I'm worried about everything. The good part is I'm sure I'll be convinced of my rejection by the time results come around so I'll either be fully prepared for it or very pleasantly surprised.

I agree. This one is pretty good. The Chronicle of Higher Education forums are also a nice sesquipedalian oasis in the l33t desert.

I'd mention things that may still be relevant but haven't necessarily made the trip to your CV or resume. But do put a note that tells them to see CV for more, just in case they think the form answer is exhaustive.

The year I went to the university was the Year of the Double Cohort. For those outside of Canada, the Double Cohort happened when the province of Ontario got rid of Grade 13, meaning that the number of applicants effectively doubled, since Grades 12 and 13 were matriculated at the same time. Further to that, Canadian universities - ever out to increase their enrollments - let in way more students than they had ever accomodated before (or reasonably could). Course selection was tough because there were so many students that if you didn't register immediately, pretty much every class you could take was closed. I'd gone to university in the hopes of studying English (including Film and Drama) since I wanted to be a filmmaker, but every single English course was closed. Every single Philosophy class was closed. Every single History class was closed. Everything that I'd gone to university interested in was closed. So I took the only Humanities discipline that was open: Classics. Even though at the time I had no idea what it was. Of course, I ended up falling in love with it.

I was very fortunate in that my ex-fiance worked in something that exists everywhere (grocery stores). He's a manager, has seniority and could transfer pretty much anywhere in Canada and likely get work anywhere else. We broke off our engagement because he really struggled without the idea that there was no end in sight to the life-upheavals and moving. Two years somewhere, then I'll be following up with a PhD, for which I'm considering schools in the U.S., the U.K. and Israel, so that will complicate things, and then who knows where I'd be adjuncting, etc. afterwards and how many places I'd jump around to before I got a permanent position (hopefully). We were working but our long-term plans couldn't jive. I know that's not the most encouraging response I could have given but I'm commenting more to acknowledge that it is indeed a struggle. And my cousin could tell a similar story about his relationship with his ex-wife, which was made worse by the fact that they were both academics and both trying to pursue a career in this very uncertain field of ours.

You may have been waitlisted. They tend to send for-sure rejections early, at the same time as they send the for-sure acceptances, so you may be waitlisted informally or formally.

This is such a great question. If I could go back and re-start my academic career, in actuality I'd do exactly what I did (Classics and Religious Studies) but better. I really do love my field but it would be great to have a better sense of what classes, projects, languages, etc. I'd need, get better grades, and go to an undergrad institution that could have prepared me better than my alma mater. But, in the spirit of the question, if I had to go back and do something completely different, I'd do physical anthropology, either forensic or primatology. I loved physical anthropology and did very well in it, and would have kept at it if I hadn't transfered to an institution that only teaches cultural.

Is there anyone else you can ask instead? Where he did the same thing last year I'm not sure it's worth putting all your hopes on him. I realise it's late in the game to ask someone else but the semester hasn't started yet and most of the academics I know have relatively flexible schedules at the moment so it's a possibility.

Ha! Love it.

By the way, I wanted to say that your question is a really good one, jacib, and a good way of highlighting our different approaches to the discipline.

While I want to base myself in Religious Studies, the best places for me to publish would be in journals that cater more to Classical archaeologists and socio-historians - essentially an audience very familiar with Greco-Roman social history and archaeology. I'm studying Christians as a social group but within the context of the ancient world, not within the context of Christian history or the history of religion. Where I could see myself publishing: Greece & Rome, Near Eastern Archaeology, Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology, Journal of Roman Studies, Journal of Roman Archaeology, Material Religion, that sort of thing. My professional associations are also pretty broad because I have national and international religious studies memberships in order to help with the job hunt, but then I'm a member of Classics and Archaeology associations in order to attend/present at conferences, and meet people working in relevant, related areas.

Still no LOR, huh?