jmb04

OK I'm making plans to visit a school in the first week of February. I have two appointments lined up with potential advisors. Super excited. Any advice on what to say/what not to say? I'm also going to try to meet with a grad student there, at the recommendation of one of the profs. Another query: I don't have an MA, but I've been out of undergrad doing something unrelated for 5 years. Do schools actually expect someone like me to have published? If so, how do I go about doing this? Submit my old seminar papers to art history journals? PS - I haven't checked any of the schools for decisions today. (YET!!) Quite an accomplishment, I'd say!

Similar situation. I'm giving up a well paying job, property I "own," (i.e. have a mortgage on), and a comfortable lifestyle where I don't care about money at all. My company offered me the position of President in 3 years when the boss retires, and I turned it down because I had to tell them I was applying to school. I was hoping I wouldn't have to say anything until I (hopefully) got in somewhere, but they were starting to subsidize training for me, and my conscience took over. My family thinks I'm crazy for doing this. They haven't really pleaded their case about it or emphatically told me their opinions, but I can tell by the looks on their faces when I talk about it. Why pursue a career path that requires 7 years of school to make less than what I make now? Especially during a recession! People are losing their jobs and here I am giving mine up voluntarily to chase a pipe dream. The answer to that, obviously, is happiness. I may be very good at what I do now, but my heart is not in it. This all sounds foolishly idealistic and I worry that I will regret this decision later, but I can't live my life thinking about possible future regret. This is what I want and I am chasing it. If it doesn't work out, I will try again next year.

Ditto on the shame of shames. My entire extended family knows (aunts, uncles, cousins, and we're a huge family). My entire company knows that I'm giving up a huge corporate well-paying job for a chance at an academic career where I'll be "making peanuts." All my friends know. Even the non-close friends, since I'm dumb enough to put Facebook status updates about how the GRE went, and how I've officially submitted apps. Applying became such a big part of my life for a few months; how could I *NOT* talk about it?! If I get rejected from everywhere, I'll be walking around with my tail between my legs hiding from everyone I know, and even those I barely know. I might have to change my identity and make new friends and family after all the shame I will feel. Ditto on the Impostor Syndrome too. I feel like I've lived an entire life of academic and professional success mainly due to sheer luck. One day, the whole world will wake up and realize that I'm a fraud. The minute I start thinking about my accomplishments, I have mixed feelings: overly cocky tinged with a fear of jinxing my chances and preparing myself for heartbreak, and simultaneously inadequte because I begin to think that everyone else applying has similar or even better accomplishments. I actually got rejected from my top choice for undergrad. I got so pissed that I sent in an appeal letter, which got me in for the spring semester. I'm so happy I did that. I wonder if something like that can be done for grad schools? Probably not, because they can only take in so many students per year. My point is, I'm not very good at accepting rejection. I was able to overcome the undergrad one, but I'm afraid that there's no recourse to a grad school rejection except to apply again the following year. I feel like I'm in limbo just waiting for a decision NOW... how will I survive the purgatory of an additional year between cycles?!!!!! Ah where's a paper bag when you need one? Hyperventilating! (kidding, but I *AM* experiencing a type of mental hyperventilation)

Hey, thanks for your response. That's what I pretty much figured out. I applied anyway and included another prof in my SOP. Hopefully that works, though the 2nd prof seems like an afterthought to the first one, who I gushed on and on about. Ah great. I feel like I just wasted $75 applying. Oh well. In another vein of thought, are any of you making plans to visit the schools in person BEFORE decisions are made? I am making plans to visit one of them in two weeks. What's the general consensus about doing this? It could help, but it could also hurt your chances, right? And what about post-deadline correspondence with the profs you e-mailed prior to applying? What to say? "Dear Prof A, Just wanted to let you know that I did apply, so please flag my app and accept me. Thanks." haha! I know that results won't be coming in for another month or so, but I still check my online apps for decision links several times a week. I feel so neurotic. And I'm also beginning to think about Plan A, B and C if this whole grad school thing doesn't work out. What are you guys gonna do if you get rejected from everywhere? Try again next year or figure out a different career path? I've been on a totally different career path for the last 5 years and I hate it, which has prompted me to finally apply this year (after 5 years of thinking "I'll apply next year.") Man, waiting it out is the absolute pits. :\

I want students to quiver with fear at the thought of my presence, and exclaim, "Read the (insert my last name here), or you'll never pass this class!" *snicker snicker* But on a more personal level, I want to teach and in some way have a lasting, relevant, life-altering effect on my students the way professors, classes and books had on me when I was an impressionable young undergrad. I want to read and write into the wee hours of the night, sleep for 3 or 4 hours, frantically put together a lecture, run to class and deliver it effortlessly, then spend the rest of the day intimidating students during office hours or lounging around in a cafe with fellow academics.

Here goes: 1) 3.7 GPA from UG "Public Ivy" that was ranked #3 in the field when I was going there; 4.0 GPA in non-degree coursework (i.e., for fun) at another "Public Ivy" after I graduated 2) I graduated with Honors in 3.5 years 3) 98th percentile on GRE Verbal 4) One excellent LOR from a superstar in the field, two other solid LORs, and 1 additional stellar LOR for one program that the prof specifically volunteered to write 5) Non-related work experience: I was Employee of the Year (out of 400+ employees), and was recently offered the position of President of a $30-million enterprise (which I turned down in favor of grad school). Not related, but it shows I have drive and maturity! 6) Secured highly competitive internship at well-known museum/art historical research institute in California (5 departments vied to have me) 7) Lectured and taught classes to high school kids at another museum in California 8) A prof said I was the best student in her class and highly commended one of my writing samples, and I feel pretty good about my other one too 9) My SOP was tailored specifically to fit the research interests of the faculty in each of the universities I applied to (and I also got good feedback about content and writing style after peer edits) 10) I have e-mailed or talked on the phone to the various faculty members of these schools 11) I spent HOURS researching all these programs and faculty members, organizing them onto a spreadsheet, and narrowing them down based on personal fit 12) I am proficient in 3 foreign languages, with study abroad experience And all the programs have confirmed receipt of my application materials! Wow this felt good, especially since I was hyperventilating earlier about the idea of getting rejected from all four schools. Even if I don't get in, at least I tried! And gosh darn it, I'm not too shabby!

I'm DONE!!! Applied to four schools. So when can we expect to hear answers? Next month? I'll be having anxiety attacks until then. PS - if my faculty of choice is on leave this year, does that mean he/she will probably not take in any students in this cycle, and therefore I will probably not have a chance of getting in?

Hi All, Just joined. Anyone else stressing out right now? Apps are due starting in a week and a half! To how many programs do people normally apply? I'm going for five: Yale, Columbia, Northwestern, UMich-Ann Arbor, UT-Austin. Can anyone tell me anything about these programs that I haven't read on their websites? (i.e., what are the faculty like on a personal level?) SOP: I heard two things: 1) be VERY SPECIFIC about your interests, and 2) don't be TOO SPECIFIC because you will look like a one-trick pony. So which is it? Random question: Is Walter Benjamin overdone? At this point, is it anathema to even mention him anywhere in my application? (Should I have been born maybe 15 years earlier? haha)