coyabean

Take this with a grain of salt because it is all secondhand as I am in the same boat as you BUT every person I met during my fellowship last year said this. Academia is insular to the point of inbreeding. They trust the opinion of their peers more than any test or GPA because they understand all of the variables in those measurements. Consider it like peer review in publishing -- you are not legitimate until an established scholar cosigns you. By writing you a letter this is what is happening. I still find it hard to process, too. I come from working for ten years where I've never had anyone care enough to vouch for me. LOL I watched people get promoted based on family and friends. I never imagined I'd be in such a circle so I'm pessimistic to the point of paranoia. But I've had no fewer than FOUR active scholars pull me aside and basically say, "look, XYZ CHOSE you. that matters. do your part but believe s/he is doing theirs, too." So, maybe that helps?

Welllllll, ok. I'm a good southern girl, though, so I'll have my fingers crossed as I submit this because I don't want to jinx anything. - Above 90th percentile on Verbal and AW of GRE? - Awarded Research Fellowship - Article under review at peer-reviewed journal - Two Conference Presentations - A third Conference invite for this semester - 10 years of relatable professional experience (education administration; it relates to my research questions) - My main letter writer is a superstar not just in his field but for just about any person of color in academia. I've yet to talk to anyone at any school who does not know him. It's not Skip and them but very close. He promises me that I'll be able to choose among offers. :/ - Wrote grant for NES; it's pending - Um...I hear good things about my SOP? ** Do you have any idea how long it took me to write this? I had to keep stopping to edit out self-deprecating commentary and qualifiers. Jeez.

I don't hate this idea, but I am "tainted" by the private sector. The positives, as I see them: -- promote scholarship that actually gets read versus the dissert; even if by a small audience that is better than a e-doc gathering moss in a library server somewhere. at the very least the peer reviewers will have read it. -- it provides more information for the college-going public. as it stands how are potential students being forced to judge the quality of an institution? by the slick marketing campaigns and the very unbiased ranking systems. I like the idea of being able to compare recent published scholarship of faculty. While some schools make this possible by their internal tenure standards I have come across many profs who haven't published anything in 20 years. As a student this puts me at a disadvantage when entering a program. -- at this point anything else that forces folks to review why they are pursuing a phd might be a good thing in light of the statistics. The major negative: -- the peer review system is anything but blind. What mechanism is there to promote an egaliatarian approach that does not privilege those with name recognition in the publishing process? And "blind review" is hooey. People often know who they are reading. That some scholars are published prodigiously while others can't get an acceptance isn't entirely justified by the quality of the paper. For example, everyone knows my mentor in his field(s). They know his kinds of issues and his writing voice. They also know he's probably floating some new idea or theory because they've had dinner together or seen him at conference. So when a "blind" article hits their desk that sounds like something he would do or has talked about doing he gets some benefit of the doubt that I would not.

Who are these arbitrary culture police? I will tell whomever, however! As much as I've been through if I have good news and you don't and you cannot see far enough past the end of your nose to not internalize it then that's YOUR problem, not mine. I'm planning a facebook/lj photo shoot of me in the full school paraphenelia outfit i intend to purchase.

In this order: 1. Mom 2. The results page (don't say I never did anything for you!) 3. First name Paul, last name Masson.

This. It's both great and condescending to assume that everyone has your resources, goals, personality, needs, or life and can or even should experience rejection the same way you do. The individual as universal experience isn't a good research model. I also mean this universally. Sure, I'll live if I don't get in this semester, but like you I have concerns about saving, a mortgage, aging parents and other things that will need to be managed. I have a back-up plan, family support and a very high degree of resilience. But I will still be depressed if I don't make it this year and I will give it one more go-around before resigning myself to another life goal.

thanks for such a detailed follow-up! i really appreciate it. that makes me feel more confident.

So, what's the lesson here, if any? I'm not sure. Stories like this are scary because you only get one side of the story. I can't judge how I might potentially stack up against the adjunct's qualifications because they aren't detailed; but, I also cannot rule out becoming her. I'm sure everyone is like me in thinking they are different. We'll have to wait and see. I know one thing: no way in hell I'm going to spend five years adjuncting. I'll go into the private sector or government after a year or so with no teaching job. I'm too old for that crap.

Thanks guys!

I ordered three score reports from GRE at the last moment due to cash flow issues. With no way of checking with schools during the holiday season to verify they were recieved I am a bit worried about if they got there by the deadline. Will the schools contact me if they were not recieved or do the apps get trashed? I feel like someone here -- rising_star? -- said this happened to her during her season but just want to be sure.

It could be the writing snob in me but I have a hard time believing that dry is ever preferable to engaging. I think those who despise engaging writing are either not really reading something engaging or incapable of doing it themselves so they act as if there's some sort of cachet to being boring. I say if you can be both informative AND interesting, why in the world wouldn't you be? Perfunctory writing is for people cannot master being interesting. All IMO and YMMV.

Oh god, I thought I was suddenly 80 years old the first time I saw that kind of lexicon. I, literally, cannot email/fb/text the younger generation in my family because this is how they respond. It's horrible.

I believe it was also UNC where THREE profs I contacted? Were either dead or retired. One man was nice enough to email me back and at least tell me that and he seemed very apologetic. I also began to assume everyone who didn't respond was dead or in Florida retirement home. One school had links for the faculty bio. ONly every link fed back to the homepage. My best friend is applying to comm programs with an interest in internet studies and her programs were the worst! LOL I don't get it. It's like KFC running out of chicken. If you cannot do your core business for yourself how are you teaching it?!

OMG!!! I was not going to admit to this but since you did, I will, too! LOL I have even -- I kid you not -- slept with my laptop IN MY BED, all the better to logon quickly before my first cup of coffee. :/ I'm sick. Just sick.

Uh Oh. Guess my gratuitous name-dropping of Obama's cousin, twice removed, that I met once in an airport was not a good idea? j/k

I ditto about all of this. I also want to add how annoyed I am by all the people who insist that I read the website carefully but their websites provide no valuable information! I think it is Cornell and MSU who have almost no information about the current research being done. So, how exactly am I supposed to determine fit? And then the websites where there is conflicting info from the grad school and the department you are applying to is just lovely. If you don't want a million phone calls then make the information easy to access and accurate! I actually deplore the telephone. I LOVE a detailed website. Let me just surf and read. But few schools made it this easy. And Dear UNC: Your quasi e-application with damn near everything needing to be printed and mailed? Is CRAZY!!!! Signed, Me

I took some classes UG at a school with Abbey in the name. It was ok -- academically rigorous and all -- but there was definitely an agreed upon worldview, you know? Take for instance a class on Nietzsche where everyone but me seemed to be ok with considering him as a bit of a prankster. It did undermine how we discussed his philosophy. Or when the entire school was abuzz with an anti-abortion rally they were going to and I kinda wanted to vomit. Or when a prof framed everything in a literature class in the schema of a great chain of being. I did, however, enjoy studying the bible as a historical document and the people were super nice. But there were some considerations about how open profs and students were to contradicting opinions. Its not that they were actively against debate but that because everyone seemed to have the same default position that there was no debate. It could be an UG and grad difference though. I'd suggest sitting in on a class?

ditto to above. i cut and pasted one or two bullets from my CV and then said "see attached". I cannot imagine anyone cares at this level, though. I mean does anyone think my sorority functions will make me a stellar scholar? And if its that major -- starting a non-profit or something -- then it for dang sure isn't going to be relegated to a little box.

If you haven't already you might be interested in picking up "Whitopia". Despite the name it draws interesting conclusions about how and why adults filter their environments. Very interesting read.

As a native let me say that you have an EXCELLENT shot at UNC Charlotte. They are my safety, safety school and I am just under your cum GPA and GRE. I have had almost everyone there say that I would be welcome. I'm considering doing the MA in sociology or public history if I don't have an acceptance by the end of Feb. They have late deadlines and it's a fairly straightforward process. So, maybe do something similar? Find one or two schools with late deadlines -- some are as late as July for the Fall -- and see where you are in a couple of months before you submit anymore?

I have height issues.

I concur. It's high school, for goodness sake and there are many stories floating around here of these kinds of things being allowable if the school wants you. It is more likely that Harvard will keep you out of Harvard than this.

That gives me hope! Cause you just KNOW I'm gonna drop something about how something is like dating. LOL I love it. It's not just funny and effective but I am an affirmed believer that one doesn't really know something until they are able to draw those analogies to commonly held understandings. I read in Alan Alda's book once -- don't ask -- about some brilliant guy in like quantum physics or something who said if a concept could not be explained plainly then it was probably not a well-thought out concept. And this guy did something insane like figure out how to go to space (Sometimes I Talk To Myself might be the name of that book) and I was so happy to read that because I'd always held that belief but who am I, right? What's the point of being brilliant if you can't share it? And getting that little light to go on for someone else? Ahhhh, so satisfying. I see some of these folks at conferences and such who take such pleasure in being obtuse and I want to punch them in the clavicle. Jackasses. Being fluent in your subject matter is one thing; using knowledge as a weapon is another. And I like you. This bodes well for you when the war pops off. LOL

That's what I was thinking. See this thread: Also, the best way to prove you can do the work is to DO the work. Go to your fellowship or career services office and look for any upcoming research opps or fellowships! That's what I did last year and I think it has helped -- will tell you for sure in two months!

Two Buck Chuck!