cupofnimbus

I've picked up this really obnoxious foot tap.

The program at Durmstrang is ranked better, anyway. No big deal.

This is a really rough cycle given that Hogwarts rejection... Still, I hear the DADA Department there has had a hard time keeping good faculty, so it may not be the best bet for the near future.
 
Highlight of my obsessive results checking day.

I've picked up this really obnoxious foot tap.

I've picked up this really obnoxious foot tap.

Hey, congrats to the Delaware admit! Is that you, IRTheoryNerd?

Awesome! That will be very helpful, especially since I don't want to bother people who have enough on their plate in transitioning!
 
And I'm certainly not despondent, or without hope! I'm disappointed that it looks to be going that way, of course. Of my remaining applications, one is a presumed rejection (Vanderbilt), one is a long-shot (UPenn), and the last is a wild card that has started distributing decisions (Maryland). I'm lucky that I'm in a good place in life right now, and maybe now isn't the right time for me! It'll happen, if it's going to happen for me, and when the time is right. I'm optimistic for the long-term.

Obviously.
 
(This would be less funny--or more funny?--if Florida hadn't done that to their CS department for football money...)

Claiming a UMD acceptance (IR). Feels good. 

That was me.
 
I've applied for 4 rounds.
 
Finally.

There's also some question floating around as to whether or not there's really any value added by going to "top tier" schools--the ones that the hires all seem to come from. And, frankly, going to a top tier school guarantees you nothing. All that hard work is still going to show in the final product (your dissertation, your future research, your professional demeanor). I think you're on the right track with your work-ethic!
 
And a caveat on my view of things: I landed on the schools I applied to by following the people I liked (where they got their degrees, what schools they were at, what my personal limits were) + a couple of applications because they're good programs (Michigan). My view on things is also a little skewed because I attended a tiny, insignificant teaching school for undergraduate that no one has ever heard of and had the most amazing experience with it. I went on to a graduate school that valued hard work above all else, with people who worked in their fields and wanted to show it to us. If it weren't for academics like that (who wanted to teach, who wanted to research the things they valued without concern for prestige, who had so few students that they genuinely cared when my personal life went to pieces during my undergraduate--then graduate--career and tried to help), I wouldn't be remotely interested in academe. So, I'm in this for doing things that way, and for doing research on a subject that I'm so passionate about, I'm going to find a way to research and work on it, even if I'm not a PhD.
 
tl;dr: yay, work ethic!

On the off chance that the admissions committee at Stanford completely overlooks "fit" and calls me with an acceptance offer this morning, they're going to get an earful of the loudest, most ridiculous hiccups ever.

There's also some question floating around as to whether or not there's really any value added by going to "top tier" schools--the ones that the hires all seem to come from. And, frankly, going to a top tier school guarantees you nothing. All that hard work is still going to show in the final product (your dissertation, your future research, your professional demeanor). I think you're on the right track with your work-ethic!
 
And a caveat on my view of things: I landed on the schools I applied to by following the people I liked (where they got their degrees, what schools they were at, what my personal limits were) + a couple of applications because they're good programs (Michigan). My view on things is also a little skewed because I attended a tiny, insignificant teaching school for undergraduate that no one has ever heard of and had the most amazing experience with it. I went on to a graduate school that valued hard work above all else, with people who worked in their fields and wanted to show it to us. If it weren't for academics like that (who wanted to teach, who wanted to research the things they valued without concern for prestige, who had so few students that they genuinely cared when my personal life went to pieces during my undergraduate--then graduate--career and tried to help), I wouldn't be remotely interested in academe. So, I'm in this for doing things that way, and for doing research on a subject that I'm so passionate about, I'm going to find a way to research and work on it, even if I'm not a PhD.
 
tl;dr: yay, work ethic!

There's also some question floating around as to whether or not there's really any value added by going to "top tier" schools--the ones that the hires all seem to come from. And, frankly, going to a top tier school guarantees you nothing. All that hard work is still going to show in the final product (your dissertation, your future research, your professional demeanor). I think you're on the right track with your work-ethic!
 
And a caveat on my view of things: I landed on the schools I applied to by following the people I liked (where they got their degrees, what schools they were at, what my personal limits were) + a couple of applications because they're good programs (Michigan). My view on things is also a little skewed because I attended a tiny, insignificant teaching school for undergraduate that no one has ever heard of and had the most amazing experience with it. I went on to a graduate school that valued hard work above all else, with people who worked in their fields and wanted to show it to us. If it weren't for academics like that (who wanted to teach, who wanted to research the things they valued without concern for prestige, who had so few students that they genuinely cared when my personal life went to pieces during my undergraduate--then graduate--career and tried to help), I wouldn't be remotely interested in academe. So, I'm in this for doing things that way, and for doing research on a subject that I'm so passionate about, I'm going to find a way to research and work on it, even if I'm not a PhD.
 
tl;dr: yay, work ethic!

I'm staring down a solid red cycle and, even though I was directed to this forum pretty late in the game, it has been a huge help the last couple of weeks. A select few of my friends have even dipped a toe in this river, and the rest think there's no chance I won't be admitted anywhere, which makes explaining that I'm being rejected (so far) universally pretty awkward! I'm disappointed, of course, but a tiny community of support from people who are running the same gauntlet is just as nice for me as it is for lonestar.
 
As for the second bit, believe! I am hoping like crazy that I get some good feedback on my application so I can pull off a better one next year, but I've seen the data and it's not hopeless for people who go to "second-tier" schools, particularly if you frame your expectations a little differently. The tenure system is struggling and adapting to see opportunity in different places can afford you satisfaction and success beyond what you might expect from a "second-tier" institution.

All things considered, I really don't know how I would be making it through this cycle without this little support group of ours.

There work day isn't over yet. If the theory that DGSes run out of the building after pressing send is true...

Me too. The Harvard Symbology/POI Robert Langdon acceptance a couple of weeks ago really made my night.

I've actually been rating my rejection letters! So far, Ohio State's the best one I've received, with points granted for tact, gentle comfort without condescension, and writing more than a couple of lines.

Rebel.

You have to earn them, though! Every level has their own mark of rank.
 
Pre-Comps graduate students have coffee stains, ABDs have permanent key imprints on their cheek from falling asleep on their computers, assistant professors have a haunting weariness in their eyes, etc. Once you're a real boy full professor, you've earned your patches! And the right to fall asleep mid-lecture, give a big snore, and then go back to it.

If you'd said "you prob'ly think this post is about you..." then I'd have gotten that one.

Assumed you were female, but I'm from an Italian-American neighborhood. Toni with an 'i' is always female, and Tony with a 'y' is always male.

You have to earn them, though! Every level has their own mark of rank.
 
Pre-Comps graduate students have coffee stains, ABDs have permanent key imprints on their cheek from falling asleep on their computers, assistant professors have a haunting weariness in their eyes, etc. Once you're a real boy full professor, you've earned your patches! And the right to fall asleep mid-lecture, give a big snore, and then go back to it.

You have to earn them, though! Every level has their own mark of rank.
 
Pre-Comps graduate students have coffee stains, ABDs have permanent key imprints on their cheek from falling asleep on their computers, assistant professors have a haunting weariness in their eyes, etc. Once you're a real boy full professor, you've earned your patches! And the right to fall asleep mid-lecture, give a big snore, and then go back to it.