coyabean

Yes. I don't care about intent. Intent is actually quite irrelevant. If someone didn't INTEND to kill your dog do you mourn less? So, yeah, it's the way the process is acted out in reality that is my concern. In particular this bothers me because I am so deeply committed to the idea of what education can and does mean for people. Of all industries I feel like education should be the most transparent and accessible.

I'm actually rather honored.

I'm looking for somewhere else to direct this energy. So far, nothing. I can't do my normal stuff - look for apartments, obsessively plan for my move, go shopping, redecorate -- because it all depends on where I am moving for school which brings me back to obsessing over getting accepted. I need something though. I cannot afford a drinking habit -- in more ways than one.

DO NOT READ AFTER HITTING SUBMIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Again, I repeat, DO NOT READ AFTER HITTING SUBMIT!!!! People tend to read what they know is meant rather than what is there. And I think it's reasonable to think a very minor typo can happen in this process. The horror stories we hear are, I think, mistake riddled sloppy SOPs and, presumably, you sent a clean, well-written SOP with a very minor slip-up. I think it's ok.

Well they are setting the power dynamic up from the start. Between this board and the earlier link to a discussion about costs and grad apps on a philosophy board I am beginning to think that it is all designed to remove any and all leverage that the applicant might have in the process. Restrict admissions, set up financial barriers, control all communication and shroud the process in secrecy -- it all unsettles the applicant, puts them on the defensive. Once off-balance it becomes easier to assume an authority position. The poor candidate is replaceable and expendable and they are afraid to challenge the authority, even after they are enrolled. Or, I have too much time on my hands?

Wish it was a nice cognac, a lambrusco or even a cordial but see earlier post about how much this process costs soooooo it's mostly beer, crown royal bummed from my roommate or plain ol' water. I also like a nice mug of tea -- cream and sugar. i was close to eating myself out of all versions of "fit" so i got back on my eating plan but some days its all i can do to not spend my gas money on a bottle of rum and a box of doughnuts.

I did, too. I still keep my LSAC file up to date. I don't even want to go to school but I can't help but cringe at the differences. And I go to all these talks about the "pipeline" issue with diversity in academe and no one ever discusses this! You take a student who hasn't had a paycheck in four years and a family who is struggling to help when and where they can and tell them, "oh. you can be an elite PhD after ten years of shit wages and only AFTER you pay the $1000+ entry fee and get acclimated to a culture so different from yours as to be foreign OR you can spend a couple hundred bucks, go to law school and three years later be in a position to take care of yourself and maybe even help your family." Pipeline is looking more like the gulf of Mexico to me.

Beginning to feel like Elle Woods had the right idea. LOL

There is but it varies by school. At my school I had to have a certain number of earned credit hours to qualify. I was six hours short. Yet, had I waited until next semester it would have been too late. So, a financially indigent student has to make decisions about their future based on economic guidelines beyond their control. It sucks. If I had not had another route to go I would have lost the momentum of being in school while applying -- which helps. And I, theoretically, would have had a year after graduation to languish. That sucks. And its the arbitrariness of the rules. It's just like the cost of apps -- designed to keep the student aid office from getting too many requests. The institution's needs are put before the students'; although the institution supposedly exists FOR the students. And now I'm angry, again! GAH! Someone better let me in a program so I can get to my work or I'm gonna blow smoke out my ears.

me, too

Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! Next time think "I wonder if coyabean has gotten her two impressive fully funded offers yet?"

The kind folks at Nebraska sent their monthly newsletter today and in it adcomm members discuss how they approach applications. Thought it might be of interest to you guys as well. http://www.unl.edu/gradstudies/prospective/articles/200912.shtml I expected mostly pat advice but some of the biggest questions asked here are tackled including the one about whether or not to address weaknesses and other biggies. Excerpts: It is also helpful for the student to be upfront if part of his or her application is not as strong as it could be. For example, if a student had lower grades one semester, he/she should explain why in the letter of intent (perhaps an illness or death in the family). A lower GRE score in one area compared to another could be buttressed with a discussion of course work or a writing sample that emphasizes strengths in that area. Explaining upfront keeps us from guessing and possibly rejecting the application. We are much more likely to consider a student's application if we know the reason behind a weakness or steps you have taken to address it. It is always to the student's advantage to address the weakness rather than ignore it At our admissions committee meetings, not only do we look at the qualifications of the individual (e.g., GRE scores, grades, reference letters and writing sample), but we also look at how they fit with our department's strengths. I read letters of recommendation closely and what these letters tell me about the student is of critical importance.. Not news to the obsessive-compulsive amongst us here but it may be nice to hear it from someone else. Happy Waiting Season to you all.

GRE 2x = $300 $20/per score report over the four = $140 Transcripts = $55 10 apps = approx. $565 Mailing and assorted costs = $60 nigh on a thousand dollars or so. has no one questioned how this is a financial threshold for poor applicants?!!!! this is CRAZY!!!!

For reasons that are a mystery even to me Jay-Z and Beyonce are my aspirational soundtrack. All that braggadocio, maybe? I mean when I hear "I don't run rap no more, I run the map" or "I'm a survivor; I'm gonna make it; keep on surviving!" I feel like I am going to PWN this grad school thing. LOL Oh and don't judge me but Adam Lambert's got some good sugary pop to imagine yourself a superstar to.

Yeah see. Working poor is liveable in some cities -- Chapel Hill, Atlanta -- than it is someplace like NY. As a native New Yorker that idea did not apply to me. But I did look and was glad nothing major jumped out at me. Also I have hair issues. I cannot live three hours away from a salon. lol

That's my thinking on the matter. I am more productive when the sights, smells, aura of a physical location aren't making me suicidal.

Thank you. Few things get my goat like this line of reasoning. In the end, if you do not think you are at all unique or cannot offer diversity of thought or experiences to the graduate cohort I am going to say that you should reconsider why you are applying.

You obviously missed the above post where this kind of comment? Is NOT A GOOD THING!!!! It makes me angry...and you wouldn't like me when I'm angry...

Ok wow. Thanks for the citation guys. I did take my SOP down after working through it. I didn't feel like posting each subsequent draft and my OCD wouldn't let me leave an imperfect product out there for the world to see. I'll PM the OP. However, let me just say that it worked for me to address because it, honestly, informs my research. If it did not I would probably have chosen to go unlikelygrad's route.

We're still venting, right? Well I hear the same thing and I'm getting angry. I mean Bruce Banner Hulk angry. On my other online sites I promised not to say another word about the process about a week ago and I have held to it. But recently I did say something about my current coursework along the lines of wishing I had a peer group to read my stuff and give me feedback like I'm ALWAYS doing for others. But I don't have that, for various reasons. Well someone I consider a friend took the opportunity to go snarkfest on me about how she's so "sorry I'm such a fucking genius that no one can read my work" and how "i'm the most overprepared person for grad school ever" and basically how my concerns are invalid. I went a little off the wall. Besides missing the point and taking the opportunity to passively aggressively insult me she did what everyone is doing: assuming my concerns are invalid. That burns my arse!!!! I am smart. I will give people that. I'm not being coy or asking for validation. But I'm smart enough to know how difficult the friggin' odds are!!!! If this was about proving I was smart then, sure, I'd be crazy to be obsessive maybe. But it's not about that. It's about a host of things I cannot control. Funding is down. Programs are being cut and reducing incoming cohort sizes. The job market has a glut of wannabes also applying that maybe would not have three or four years ago. It's just as likely that I'll get lost in a sea of applications and department politics as it is that someone will have the time to even read my stupid file. So screw everybody for acting like I'm crazy for having concerns. I gave up a lot to do this and if I wanna be concerned about my chances then I think it's a good sign. It means I'm not taking it lightly or taking anything for granted. And now I will try to be done.

That was another thing. I have three lawyers in the family and a ton in my sorority. Each and every one of them felt it their duty to pull me aside and BEG me not to go to law school. :/

I think what seems unfocused is if you apply to two different schools with two totally different proposed courses of study. But applying to, say, anthro and af. am. studies is not a stretch. I applied to two programs at one school but I spoke about the same proposed course of study -- that will work in either discipline and would actually use about the same committee members -- at the advice of a prof at the school. To not appear unfocused don't be unfocused. But if two disciplines intersect at your interests and you can explain how then I do not think it is frowned upon.

It sounds to me as if those SOPs have been scrubbed for identifying information? Fit is kind of key. Think of it like dating -- my standard app analogy, btw. Would you want to date someone who cannot remember your name or shows no interest in getting to know you? Same with schools. The fit paragraph is about showing you've done your homework, you picked them for a reason and that if they take a risk on paying you to come there you'll at least pretend to be happy. So, try to make the fit work. Now, I've found that the easier I found it to write the fit sections of my SOP the more prepared I was to apply to that school. If I had problems writing it then it usually meant I needed to reevaluate why I was applying to that school.

And I just cannot hold it any longer!!! Every time I see your post name I want to say something very, very bad. But I have refrained! Is there a prize?

Man I hate to advertise for them. Just google law school board. There are two majors that will pop up. You'll know them when you see them.