grad_wannabe

A close friend just told me he was rejected by the art history program at columbia. I just checked the results board and looks like he wasn't the only one ... hang in there everybody!

I called my mom and told her. In a blase fashion she said "of course you got in, dear. I had a dream that you would." All rejections have just been texts to them though.

> I have wait listed their rejection. I hope this is some consolation for them.

With no editing or curating on my part, this is the latest cohort at the Columbia program from which I'm eagerly awating a response: ___ Rosalind Donald Rosalind is interested in the communication of climate change, especially the consequences of framing it as a national security problem--both for society and for scientific and political institutions. Before joining the PhD programme at Columbia, she was deputy editor of Carbon Brief, a fact-checking website focused on climate science and policy in the media. She also worked for several years as a reporter covering global antitrust. She holds an MA in International Studies and Diplomacy from the School of Oriental and African Studies and a BA in French and Spanish from Cardiff University. Shant Fabricatorian Shant’s research interests align at the nexus of communication, sociology and political economy, with a particular emphasis on the evolution of the media’s response to the global financial crisis. Key foci of his work include considering the extent to which narratives of neoliberalism and neoclassical economics are embedded within mainstream media frames, and investigating ways in which the media works to legitimize those narratives. He completed a Bachelor of Economic and Social Sciences at the University of Sydney, before attaining a Master of Arts in Journalism at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS). He subsequently worked as a print and radio journalist and news editor in Australia and east Africa, and later as a teacher in journalism and communication studies at UTS and TAFE NSW. Caitlin Shure Caitlin studies Communications and brains. That is, her research addresses both (1) if and how the brain's natural language can be translated through modern neurotechnology and (2) the ways in which various communities (neuroscientists, journalists, engineers, laypeople) talk about neural activity. More broadly, Caitlin is interested in the life cycle of scientific "facts" and their movement between popular and scientific contexts. Not particularly inclined to move herself, Caitlin holds a BA in Neuroscience & Behavior and an MA in Science Reporting, both from Columbia. She has written for a variety of scientific and medical publications, most recently contributing to Scientific American Mind. Caitlin currently works as a reporter and content curator for Columbia's forthcoming Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute. ___ Simply put, these people are amazing. No, there is no way on god's green earth I think I am anywhere close to being the "best" candidate. The only thing keeping me waiting for a response rather than assuming I simply won't get in is a possibility that they'd be interested in bringing in a fresh mind-set, my own belief that I can contribute in a meaningful way to their program, and a hope they that feel the same.

Maybe check out USC? Their Marshall b-school does a lot of collaborative work with the Annenberg communications school.

you guys, there's an amazing waiting-for-app-results themed GIF thread going on over on a humanities board:

I am deeply concerned about this as well. I have no answers. This is my first time applying to a grad program outside the US so I'm whistling in the dark, as it were.

>the money means nothing if you don't enjoy the work. I would add to that -- I'm finding that loving what you do is a kind of prerequisite for doing it really well. I was waffling, this past spring, over whether to apply for a research PhD or an MBA. so I got involved with tech start-up consulting, to dip a toe in and see what it was like. I was concurrently working as a research associate. while doing my research, I would spend hours poring over databases, articles, book chapters, all the while in love with the process. After which I would take my results back to my professors and they'd vocalize "wow, that's impressive you found these numbers! I didn't think the data was available." while doing the consulting work, though, I got immediately bored. Valuation estimates? Budgets and convertible notes? Venture capital allocation? I found myself procrastinating, getting frustrated, and producing less-than-stellar work. Finally I pulled out of the project. This experience led me to choose a PhD over an MBA. I have to do what I love, because I want to do it well. Does that shed any light onto what type of work you want to do?

Simply put: one does not.

I'm from a different forum (hi!) but someone gave me the idea of getting a tiny little piece of swag from my chosen program, like a pennant or toy mascot or something, along with a nice thank-you note.

Yes, DPhil here.

I for one am way, way over on the impostor syndrome end of the spectrum. All of the current cohort at the programs from which I'm still awaiting a response are freaking AMAZING, hyper-accomplished people.

Agreed with CM. You don't need to wait to hear from A before interviewing with B. Neither does B need to explicitly know where they are on your interest hierarchy. You're obviously interested in them, otherwise you wouldn't have applied. Be honest that you would love to attend. All of the schools know that applicants juggle multiple applications, they expect it. You don't need to obfuscate that fact.

I work at a desk. My email and gradcafe are constantly open. I check the email tab maybe once every three minutes. I also have a Page Monitor plug-in for Chrome, which scans the results search for my still-pending application keywords about once every ten minutes. I also usually check my remaining application portals once a day, on the off chance a decision has been posted without my having been alerted. In the evenings, though, I've taken to cooking to distract myself. Tonight I'm going to try to make a pork belly quesadilla.

Nope, no news here. I've been told that I should hear... 1) At the end of February if I get an interview, which would be held in ... 2) the first week of March. But funding decisions are not made until... 3) April.

I was frankly dismayed when I saw on the results search that people were getting interviews for that program when I'd heard nothing, but this process is honestly SO arbitrary. It could be that they had too many applicants who proposed to do fieldwork in America. I do know that one of the other POIs I'd named in the program had just left for another university. I also know that the POI with whom I'd spoken so many times was new in the department, and it could be that she just didn't have enough pull on the adcomm. It could be that other students came in with NSF funding, while I had none. This entire process is a total shot in the dark. There's nothing about this that reflects personally on ANY of us, we must remember that.

Congrats!! You have so many acceptances -- do you know yet which one you'll choose?

I second CM's advice. The best thing, I've found, is to go spend time with people. Spending an evening out with friends completely removes the constant hang-wringing from my mind, and it's truly such a relief. And for what it's worth, you cannot beat yourself up if this doesn't work out. I had strong relationships with POIs at two different schools. One of them actually told me "it just so happens I'm on the admissions committee, and yours is exactly the type of application we look for." I had a very friendly chat with this same professor at a public discussion in the department (on a paper situated VERY close to my research proposal) and she pointed at me and said "(grad_wannabe) and I were just talking about this topic, it's very unexplored in this field and researchers have barely begun to scratch the surface. In fact, she's written her application to this very department on this topic!" and the entire faculty and student cohort smiled and nodded and said "welcome to [program]!" I didn't even get an interview.

Most of my schools accept very, very few people each year. Berkeley takes three. Columbia and Stanford each take four or five. A pro of this: you get more facetime with each faculty member and each member of your cohort. You can make the most out of every single connection. Con: Match/program 'fit' becomes incredibly important, because there are fewer possible dialogues with your colleagues. I met with a current grad student at one program I was looking at, he heard my research proposal and grabbed onto my arm and cried, "PLEASE get in here! My research is unlike everyone else in my program -- I HAVE NO ONE TO TALK TO." I wasn't exactly too surprised or disappointed when I received a rejection.

If other people have already been rejected and you have not, that could be a good thing. They might be looking for funding for you. They might be on the fence between you and other applicants. Hold steady...

CONGRATS!!

Sometimes no news is actually bad news. I heard that at least three people got interviews at one of my picks. All received the email on the same day from the same coordinator (not piecemeal POI emails). I emailed my POI at that program and he very carefully wrote he didn't have a hand in the admissions process this year, and that I should call the admin coordinator for information. I did that, and she (also very carefully) said "we'll let you know at the end of February. Anything could happen!" I'm old enough to know, that's a "no." I'm glad that I can move on emotionally from that application, instead of waiting around thinking I might still have a chance.