ianfaircloud

This is so helpful. Thanks. I'm going to follow up with the faculty with whom I emailed, and I'll post the result here. Would you please post any updates, too? If the school is going to drag its feet on this, I'm going to look for ways to apply some external pressure. Brian Leiter, for example, agrees that Boulder owes refunds. The last thing their department needs now is further embarrassment from refusing to give us what we're due.

I realize there's another thread on CU Boulder. This thread is specifically related to receiving refunds from CU Boulder for application expenses. Application expenses include fees paid and financial expenses directly related to application to CU Boulder. In my case, these are the fees I paid in order to send transcripts and GRE scores. Has anyone received refunds for these application expenses? I emailed some members of the department, and last I heard, there were no plans in place to refund these expenses. I will be following up with these professors. Meantime, have any of you heard about refunds (*beyond* the application fee)?

Penn, for two reasons, next week (on Friday, February 7): (1) very early deadline, and more importantly, (2) history of releasing decisions at the end of the first full week of February. I'm excited about that one.

I also like to listen to pure shit, 80s pop trash. Synth-pop garbage. I really don't know why. I think it's some kind of personal defect. I think it's loud, predictable. It's a sensory experience.

I think we'll hear from University of Chicago today. I'm sticking to my prediction. It's still early. I'm speculating that, aside from U Chicago, we won't hear from anything until Monday. Then next week, we'll hear from like six important departments. It's going to explode next week. That's my guess. I'm putting myself out there, and I could be wrong (as I was with UNC). But it's a fun way to pass the time.

Nahh, you could be right. It seems clear to me, but you could be right.

Who's the greatest classical pianist of the 20th century? My vote (and this is sentimental): Arthur Rubenstein. I used to listen to him play Chopin on my way to school in the 10th grade. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mgf_6upXw94

Yeah, after I wrote this post, I wondered if this is meant in the historical sense. Like, "I study contemporary analytic philosophy," i.e. 20th century analytic philosophy, or something. And that's a cool field. Maybe I should have done that...

Question: Did some people select 'analytic' as their only area of interest? How does that work? I'll be honest with you. I'm not sure what that would mean. I understand what people typically mean by analytic philosophy, and I certainly fit the analytic description more than the alternative. But I don't think of 'analytic philosophy' as an area of interest for me.

Sounds like we have very similar taste in music. I am trained in classical piano, but I have a wide range of interests. With a good attitude, most music can be appreciated. Interestingly, I can't listen to music when I'm thinking very deeply about anything. But when I'm really having trouble staying on task, putting on headphones can make a real difference. Sometimes the music gets me into the mode of thinking, and perfect silence sustains it.

Also, I agree that "informal notification" is vague. Could mean lots of things: (1) The committee has told you that only the dean can extend formal offers. (2) The committee hasn't formally decided, but a member of the committee is certain that you are among the admitted students. (3) The committee has formally decided but has not released the information. Etc.

Yeah, don't do it. You are hesitant because you know there's something not right here. You'll come off as overly confident and immature. What's the hurry? You can wait just like everyone else. (At least that's what this member of faculty might say to herself.) Unless you have some special reason to reach out to this person, some reason that other applicants (in the good case) don't have -- e.g. you worry that your application was improperly submitted, you worry that you may have overlooked an email from the admissions committee, or something like that -- then you shouldn't reach out to this person. That's advice. I could be wrong. Also, I don't think it's silly that you asked about it on this forum. Hell, if I knew someone on an admissions committee, I'd be tempted to ask, too.

Very helpful! I appreciate it.

Sorry - Checked out for a few hours here. So I'm very surprised to hear this from you Hopephily, though I don't doubt that you heard it. If USC releases stuff next week, it will be much earlier than in years past. But things change from year to year. To the bigger issue: the guy at USC admissions with whom I spoke early this afternoon (Eastern time) tells me that all of my transcripts are now in my file. But I have absolutely no confidence in their system. So am I still worried? Absolutely. I emailed the department directly to check in. If they're rendering decisions in the next week, then some of us may be too late. (Unless, as some have said, despite what USC admissions said, the scanned-uploaded copies suffice for a complete review of the application.)

Where exactly does that quote, "Submitted: Thank you for applying . . . ," appear? Wow. If I get screwed by this, I'm going to be ultra pissed. I assume it appears after logging in with the PIN and password. It appears above the list of recommenders' names. Is that right? So your application is being reviewed, and mine is scattered among files in a wet basement somewhere.

You know, I guess there's no way to know. If they're this disorganized, who knows whether your application will get reviewed. Seriously! The department doesn't have the time to do the job of the admissions office. To answer your question directly, this is what my site said today: "We are reviewing your application. The status of your application is updated daily and/or as changes occur to your file. Because of the volume of materials we receive, please note that it typically requires 8-10 business days from the date of receipt for documents (such as transcripts) to be processed into your file. "

OKAY, I talked to USC on the phone. It was horrible. I just posted on the first page of this thread (post #20?). So you may miss my post. Please read it!!! It's important info for you who applied to USC.

HOLY SHIT. I've rarely encountered such a bureaucratic mess of incompetence. I just got off the phone, after a 40 minute phone call with USC graduate admissions. Some poor file clerk, probably overworked and underpaid, had to look up my file according to MIDDLE, FIRST, LAST; LAST, MIDDLE, FIRST; FIRST, LAST, MIDDLE INITIAL; etc., and every other permutation, rational and irrational. He said there were some 50+ people with my name who applied to the graduate school this year. He found each of my transcripts in different files. Note also that USC is one of only a few schools that required transcript cover sheets, which I believe is total bullshit. Bottom line, if you have this trouble with USC, plan on being on hold for 20+ minutes. Be really nice to the person who answers, because his job is ridiculous. I feel sorry for this man. He was so friendly and so lost. Here's the info you need: Telephone: Tel. 213-740-1111 When you call, there's an option to press TWO for grad admissions. Then you should press the number for "2012-2013" admissions cycle, because there's NO OPTION FOR 2014. The system is cold and institutional in demeanor, byzantine in its complexity, and otherwise clumsy and disorganized.

Did you get that email this morning??? I definitely uploaded the unofficial ones. And I definitely sent them official transcripts in November. So they've lost them. No doubt about it. I'll keep you posted. Will you do the same? I'm going to call them in 15 minutes.

No. And I know a lot of folks will say that was a mistake. It was a tough call, and it's a complicated issue (that can't be explained here). But basically I didn't want to draw attention to some related issues that are connected with my withdrawal from that practicum. My hope is that it will be overlooked. My worry is that it won't be. And the risk of explaining the withdrawal-failure is that eyes will be drawn to something that otherwise would have been overlooked. The risk of not explaining is that it may not be overlooked (hence my concern here), and members of committees are left guessing. I know a lot of people will think this was a very bad move. I guess I felt a bit trapped.

Thanks, friend. This is good to hear. Also, I've had worries similar to yours (above). Here's mine: I have an "F" on my transcript, signifying that I withdrew from a practicum at another graduate school after the withdrawal deadline. The practicum was not for GPA credit, so the "F" really indicates nothing about me academically. But here again, it's easy to worry that a member of an admissions committee could glance at it and set my application aside. With 300+ applicants begging for admission, these committees can afford to be risk averse.

You can't put a price on an opportunity. I'm not in a position to reapply next year. This is it for me. That's part of the reason I was very frustrated to hear that Colorado isn't an option this year.

This strikes me as good advice. I planned to call them first thing this morning. (It's still 8:00 a.m. at USC. So I'll wait another hour.) I'm hoping I don't have to resend official transcripts, because it's costly and time-consuming (for someone who has a few degrees). Also, my transcript has changed since November -- I have an 'incomplete' on my record. So I'd really, really like not to have to resend them. (Incidentally, a similar thing happened to me regarding Rutgers.)

Okay, so there's been a lot of conflict on this forum in the last 48 hours. Maybe here's something we can agree on: It's really, really, really frustrating to hear from an admissions office -- three months after you sent the transcripts -- that your transcripts are missing, particularly when all of your transcripts were sent together, and theirs is the only institution (of more than a dozen) that didn't seem to receive them. USC emails me this morning to say that it hasn't received my transcripts. This is pretty late in the game to hear about that. Now I suppose it's better than finding out after decisions are rendered that your transcripts were never received. (Apparently that happens, too.) I checked with every institution to ensure that all my materials were received, etc. But USC states clearly on the website that it will contact you if your file is incomplete. It's nice that USC contacted me, but one wonders whether completing the file at this late hour will be enough... Thoughts? Has this happened to you? Why am I so frustrated by this? Maybe I'm tired and ready to be done with this shit.

I think it's clear the person meant "thrilled" and grabbed the wrong word.