Kind_of_blue

My worst anxiety dream of this season so far: after I get rejected from my top choice, my girlfriend (who, by the way, has absolutely no interest in applying to PhD programs) gets in instead, and then dumps me and moves out there. Even worse than the dream I had about the NYU admissions committee rolling around in laughter after reading my app. Having an overactive unconscious sucks...

This is a big worry for me too. The rest of my materials are all fine -- great grades and GREs, multiple publications, etc -- but my writing sample doesn't explicitly match the specific research interests I've outlined in my SOP. It's meant more as a general indication of my capabilities, given that the research described in the SOP is yet to be carried out. I'm hoping adcoms will see past that lack of 'connection' and will recognize the broader thematic / theoretical / historical interests that make my application cohesive. Or at least, I was hoping that. Right now I'm feeling like this poster -- I've made a mistake here, and won't get in anywhere.