Venetia

Hey, I always snicker a little at the people that read the results page and worry, but now it's my turn... Someone listed an interview invite for the Medieval Studies PhD at Notre Dame. I was wondering if anyone received that? I know I didn't! I'm trying to be insouciant, but it's really not working...

I was just thinking something just along these lines. It's like what @Belltolls and @Pamphilia were saying. They note that applying to a department strong in their field means that it could in fact be more competitive, and in the case of the Medievalist the sheer impenetrability of the field can act against you. I don't mean to be biased in favour of my field, but it seems as if there would be fewer applicants who would wake up one morning and say, I think I'll apply to grad school to specialize in the Medieval period. Ergo, lots of keen people apply, all of whom are highly qualified (oh, Latin? yes, I've been studying it for years. Did I mention that I can also recite the whole of Beowulf in the original Old English...). So not particularly helpful. But then again, this is all conjecture. I'm just trying to find ways to distract myself from hitting F5. (And incidentally, no I cannot recite the whole of Beowulf in the Old English. I was just trying to create an image of an insufferably qualified candidate. And if you can? I hate you a tiny bit inside, but still wish you luck.)

This keeps happening to me! Especially the ones that are just initials. What's that all about? Also, I'm loving the Jack Harkness quote...

Yeah, I'm not deluding myself that being in a certain sub-field will help my chances. I was just curious about what scholarship is the most popular at the moment- personally, I thought Medieval stuff was becoming trendy, but I think that's just me being biased!

I saw a similar question on the Pol Sci board, and thought I'd ask the English crowd: does anyone know what the most popular/competitive subfields are? I'd hazard a guess, but I really do have no idea!

I got an email from Bev Hankins saying that some stuff was missing, and then another one to confirm that it had all arrived. So perhaps the emails only go out to inform when stuff is missing? I really appreciated being told- none of the other schools I've applied to contacted me at all!

Googling my name brings up my Twitter account...even though that account isn't affiliated with my last name! Both weird and annoying. I don't write anything particularly inflammatory (unless "I feel like going bowling" counts as inflammatory. Maybe to fans of petanque or boules), but I'd still rather be anonymous. I don't know how to fix it; I think I probably had my last name up initially and then removed it. Damn the Google cache! And my last name is uncommon, so I'm the only person that comes up. I can't even pretend it's not me...

Aside from the many obvious benefits of funding, I've also seen posts on this board advising people not to undertake PhDs without funding, saying that employers might look askance at people funding themselves, as it suggests that they weren't amazing enough to receive any grants. I don't know if that's the case, it's just what I've seen others say.

Okay, I'll start out by saying I know no inside secrets about the admissions mindset of US universities, I can only tell you what I've seen based on my own experience. Firstly, I would think that if you do amazing on your MA and have done amazing in your History classes on the BA, the adcoms wouldn't judge you on the fact that you don't in fact have a history degree. But again, I do not know this for a fact... Secondly, about the experience of an American studying in the UK- I'm an American that's done both BA and Masters in the UK, and I highly recommend the experience. At an undergrad level I had the chaUnce to focus on the subjects I liked very early on, as there are very few required classes to take (only those related to your discipline). At a Master's level it was great to be in the UK because of my research interests. As I'm interested in the Medieval period, the wealth of manuscripts my university had was a real boon. I wouldn't think that US universities would count it against you if you went to the UK. I like to think that it adds that touch of diversity to your application, especially if you go to a reputable school that they will have heard of. And of course you can always talk up the experience in the SoP...lol. That's my take on UK studies; although, I must admit I have had a couple of problems translating my grades accurately to the US system, and I won't be able to adequately judge if my UK degrees counted against me until results come out (eek!).

Update: It turns out that somehow two PINs were made for me, and the letter was submitted to my other application (which is empty and not submitted!). I have sent off emails to Graduate Admissions asking if they can get the reference from the other application and technical support to see if they can transfer it over. I also resent the reference request from the proper application to my referee, along with an email explaining the situation. I think this final method will be the one that works. Fingers crossed...but it is so long after the deadline! I hope that a technical glitch doesn't bugger my chances!

My final LOR submitted her letter online about two weeks ago via the applyyourself system (she says that she received a confirmation), and yet my status is still 'incomplete', and she is listed as 'notified' not 'submitted'. I sent an email to the Admissions office, but have not heard back. I'm not terribly worried as it is probably a glitch, but I was just wondering if anyone else had the same problem? Or should I be worried...

Me too! It doesn't help that the *first* English result has been posted on the Results page. Genuine or not, it makes me tingle with anticipation...

Hey, if Yale wants to accept me, they can do it by carrier pigeon if they want. Or morse code. Or semaphore. Or...well, you get the picture. I was also wondering about the number of people who were notified by phone. I live in Dubai, so I doubt that I'll be getting any phone calls (or if they do call, they'll probably call at stupid o'clock and not get me at my best!). I stopped worrying about it for the very reason listed above- if they're accepting me, I'll take it any way they wish to notify me!

I think if I don't get in anywhere, I'll complete my Peace Corps application. I think it would be a great life experience, plus it will be another two years before I have to think about the real world again...

I suppose it depends on what course you're applying to- I'm applying for English Lit, and they definitely wanted subject test scores. And it looks like English decisions come in early/mid February too...scary! If the pattern on the results page is to be believed, they accept everyone they want on one day and then reject everyone else on the next. Lovely.

@peanuttheanthro- I checked with the university initially and they were the ones that demanded to conversion; they even recommended the company! So I will give them a call, but I get the impression that they don't have a conversion guide...

Wow, thanks for all the quick responses! I'm glad I'm not the only one thinking this is fishy, and the fact that others have had similar experiences is somewhat troubling- it's such an expensive process, and they are professionals, so you'd think it would go smoothly. To be fair, everyone I've spoken to on the phone has been nothing but friendly and helpful. @alexis- none of my other schools needed conversions, so it is unusual. Also, my undergrad transcript comes with a guide to converting the marks, and they put me at almost a 3.7! So hopefully my school will look at that as well as this official report. I was thinking of getting another company to do it too, but it takes ages unless you put in a rush order (which I did the first time), and that gets very expensive very quickly. Also, it's so late in the game I doubt it would help. @rory- that was a good idea on your part to send a note along with it- in my case, one of the universities has already told me they have no clue about translation, and I think to send them a note at this late point would make me sound like a bit of a whiner . @ziz- I wish you were doing the conversions! I would love a 3.7 ! I hope the adcoms take all of our situations into account- I think they will, seeing as they get so many international applications. Fingers crossed!

This rant/question is addressed to applicants from British/Irish universities and international students who had to get their transcripts 'converted' by a credential company. One of my schools asked me to use a credential company to convert my transcripts from a UK (undergraduate) and an Irish (graduate) university into the US GPA system. It was a long expensive process which I won't get into here, but it was completed and the conversion sent to the school requesting it. Today I got my copy of their analysis through the post (I live abroad, so it took a while to get here), and had a major freak-out. Their conclusions are significantly lower than what I expected! I don't think I'm being big-headed here; I was near the top of my graduating class, and the results they've given me place me more in the middle (in the low 3.0 range). I've sent them an email asking them to explain their process, but I really don't think much will change, seeing as they're the experts and I'm somewhat biased. So I'm really bummed. I'm wondering if anyone else had this problem with transcript conversion, and did they manage to find a solution? And to those aware of the UK system- I had a high 2.1, and they've translated it as a 3.0. Am I wrong in thinking this is a little low? There. Rant over. Sorry, it got a little long...at the moment I'm just thanking God that I only sent this thing off to one school. For a while I was considering sending it to all of them!

Is it bad that I got the T&A reference right away? I must have a filthy mind, I think it goes with studying English Lit- we find sex in everything! My personal application shame is that I misspelled 'vis-a-vis' (ie didn't put an accent on it). Doesn't sound like much, but seeing as the next paragraph hints at how amazing I am at French? Not cool! Although I don't think they'll notice; no one who proof-read the thing for me noticed it, at least!

As fuzzylogician says, it's more about what you prefer than what is common. I never used my laptop in class, and was always too lazy to lug it to the library. But I do love working all over the house, on my couch, outside, even in bed! So I highly recommend getting one. Plus it will be a nice reward after all the application madness.

All this serious reading is making me feel a little sheepish- I have a massive heap of crit in my 'to be read pile', but lightweight stuff keeps jumping the queue! I just finished Terry Pratchett's new one, 'Unseen Academicals' (which I thought was very good; not his best, but still very readable), and next I'm reading Nick Hornby's new one, 'Juliet Naked'. After that I'll return to Old French romance and romance criticism...y'all are so studious you're making me look bad ! Oh and St. Jude- I love the Sookie Stackhouse novels! I started reading them all a couple of years back, but I haven't read the new one yet. I must admit that Eric is my favourite character...

Lol, I'm the same- I only picked it up because we were studying it in my Historial Fiction course. Another good one from that course that I would never have picked up otherwise? 'An Instance of the Fingerpost' by Iain Pears. A mystery told from four points of view that gradually reveals gaps and biases in each story. The funniest part was that it was quite long, and there was a kind of twist near the end, so when we talked about it in our seminar and the prof asked what we all thought of the twist some students started to look really panicky...

But the FAFSA says that it considers me a dependent? So don't I have to submit all his stuff anyway? And does it need to be sent to the schools? Sorry, yet more questions!

I've heard nothing as well! It's a little disconcerting, but I haven't heard of THAT many people having profs contact them, at least thus far. Applications only went in a week and a bit ago (for most anyway) so I'm hoping that more contact will start as more time elapses...fingers crossed!

OK, I'm an American student but have never lived or studied there, so please bear with me! This whole FAFSA thing has me really confused. Do I have to fill it out? I've applied for programs that automatically give funding to all their accepted students, so am not sure if they require the FAFSA. Plus my Dad makes quite a bit (I remember he was over the limit for getting me financial aid when I was applying for undergrads), so would it affect my chances of fellowships if that was listed? I'm not getting greedy about money, he won't be supporting me! Is the FAFSA a must for the application process? I'm trying to work this all out now, as it seems as if it should be done soon. Thanks for any help you can offer!