Sonic

Part of the problem I have sifting through all of the postings on "fit" is that "fit" is subjective and "ranking" is generally not. On some of the other boards, "fit" runs the gamut from matching faculty interests to the location's weather to cohort cohesion to whether or not the surrounding population is attractive enough to date. And the fit for student-me might be different from the fit for outside-class-me. Nonetheless, my vote is in for fit. Last year, in my MA application round, ranking won. Option 1 was a highly ranked program in an area far from friends, family, and SO, in a totally different climate and regional culture, with an intense program. Option 2 was a lower-ranked school looking to strengthen its program, in my first-choice location, with several very attentive and kind professors trying to lure me in. I knew that I would be a very happy and successful student at Option 2, but I also felt that Option 1 was a better investment (and with MA programs, it is often an investment). So off to Option 1 I went. I don't regret it at all, but I also wasn't dealing with the prospect of 5-7 years at the school followed by the job market. Things will probably weigh differently this year. My real fear (and also my real dream, I suppose!) is that there won't be a serious discrepancy between the schools in either ranking or fit. Most of the programs I applied to are in the same general area ranking-wise, and I really like all of them. I'm not sure how people choose between similarly ranked, great-fit schools. These are the problems we should all have!

Crapbucket. I'm going to need more Ding Dongs for this.

Whoever posted that pro-Tuesday notification breakdown is partially responsible for my insanity. Tuesdays are hell. The day begins with my boss saying, "Heya kiddo, how's it going?" (oh yes, true story), and me replying, "GOOD ITS TUESDAY!!!". I start work. My leg twitches for several hours until lunch. I check my phone. Nothing. I fidget a few more hours until mid-afternoon break. I check my email. Nothing. When I arrive home I check my mail on the way in. Nothing. All 10 schools remain silent. How many more Tuesdays are left in this cycle??

We are one and the same. I didn't start panicking until 50% of my schools were notifying. Now I'm surrounded by people waving their big fat admissions packets around and while I'm very happy for them, I definitely want my own giant envelope soon!

I'm not sure how relevant this is to you, but I know most of the schools I applied to specifically stated that even if a request to defer was approved, funding could not be guaranteed the next year. Given the economy and rapidly diminishing stipends and fellowships, I would look into the school's policy before making any decisions.

Some of my schools have begun notifying accepted students, but so far, no news for me. At this point I really am just hoping for one acceptance, and am very glad I only applied to schools I'd love to attend!

Nikki, my Duke application website hasn't changed at all since December. Are they even notifying through the website? Or is it just email?

I only wish I'd applied to more schools when the massive wave of panic hits. Other than those fleeting moments, I'm comfortable with the 10 schools I chose.

I can only speak for myself, but I can love the person I'm with without loving the realities of his situation. I knew when we started seeing each other several years ago that his job was extremely inflexible, but he felt called to that profession and wouldn't be really happy doing anything else. I couldn't possibly ask him to give that up. Similarly, I love doing historical research and writing, and he understands what that requires of me. The fulfillment we get from our jobs and the fulfillment we get from our relationship is different, but both are valuable. We never saw a point in choosing between the two, because we've been able to support each other and craft a life together, albeit an unconventional one. For a lot of people that life wouldn't be enjoyable, but it works for us. We're both highly independent people who always had our own groups of friends and different interests. A steady string of emails, phone calls, letters, and video calls keep us in touch daily. We aren't bored with each other and we never have petty fights about who has to take out the recycling. We miss each other, but the flip side is total elation when we visit each other. Also, we've successfully avoided the dreaded two-body problem. I think the situation really gets sticky when graduate school runs up against those "milestones" that people want to hit with their significant other, be it moving in together, marriage, children, buying a house, etc. Some graduate students are already in one or more of those situations. Admittedly my boyfriend and I are not concerned about these issues, but I recognize that we might be in the minority here. It is really a case-by-case basis. Still, no matter how crazy people tell me we are, we are happy with our decision.

Agreed. Congratulations to everyone who has positive news, and good luck to the rest of us. Keep posting to keep us updated!

Wear the boots. In cold, snowy places boots are a way of life. It will be much worse if you have to squish around in wet flats or if (God forbid) you slip or fall! Not sure if you're planning on wearing slacks or a skirt, but boots would definitely not be a problem with a pair of nice pants, unless by "boots" you mean those giant furry Uggs.

Someone posted a rejection from Duke, and no one has posted any admits. I don't think it means I'm completely out of the running, but I sure am confused.

Twice -- in my case, one round for entrance to a Masters program, and one round for a PhD program. Bottom line, this is the last time! If I am not admitted I will have to abandon my field, and I'd like to know if I have to do that sooner rather than later so I can search for a job I might actually like instead of one that will pay me just enough to cover application fees and leave me just enough time to retake GREs, tweak SOP, compulsively check GradCafe, etc. Last year I applied to 6 programs, this year to 10. That trajectory just isn't sustainable for me.

8 spots sounds even fewer than normal for Duke. Good luck with UNC. Well, it seems to have begun. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for all of us!

I applied to 10 schools, no clear favorite. Any offer with funding would be grand, and short of something catastrophic happening at the Admitted Students weekend, I think I would be happy at any of these schools. As for funding, it will be a no-go without tuition remission and a stipend. Maybe it's just my field or the humanities more generally, but I've been told repeatedly by my professors, "Don't pay for grad school!", and I have to agree with them. As bad as I want this, that much debt for a history PhD is too scary for me!

There is a fairly large thread along similar lines in Officially Grads (entitled Moving Concerns). I actually found it pretty helpful to read through last year, when I was moving from the Northeast to Virginia. People had pretty much done the legwork in terms of figuring out costs of renting a car versus a moving service, among other options. I'm sure I'll be reading it again this year. I've since accumulated a double bed, a desk, a cat, and two semesters worth of books that will need to come with me, along with everything I transported last August. It seriously feels just like yesterday...

Tomorrow is Groundhog Day. Maybe we'll all get acceptance letters over and over and over!

I went with "non-live in long-term partner". His job is fixed in one city which doesn't have any kind of academic community in my field. Luckily neither of us minds traveling to see the other. It is like getting to go on vacation once a month.

Considering that a lot of people on last year's forum (in many fields) heard nothing from some schools until mid-April or later, I would imagine waitlists are common. Beyond that, different schools and programs have different systems. I've heard of some schools having short, ranked waitlists, and some schools really seem to keep a ton of applicants on the line until they are absolutely sure they've filled their slots. I've never been explicitly told that I was on a waitlist, but the graduate coordinator's vague replies to my post-April 15th emails gave it away, as did the rejection letter dated in late May.

I'm excited! My colleagues are already taking bets on which will come first, some decision letters or my masters thesis defense (early March). I'm ready for some mail that isn't a bill or some email that isn't about having to move my car for the "Snow Emergency".

Good luck to us all then, and here's hoping that "soon" really means soon!

I think a lot of the heated debate on this forum comes from the fact that, to some extent, we are sharing this burden along with the OP! The OP is the one who had to decide to act or not, but somewhere out there that girl's application is being held up to some of ours. I think if the OP had decided to sit on the information or just let it go, people on this forum would have been upset, and rightfully so. We should be afraid of these sorts of actions: as many have articulated, dishonesty can threaten the reputation of schools (either the institution she came from, the institution that accepts her, or the institution that hires her), subvert the admissions process, and damage fields, if she were to publish and her career (and with it, her associated students!) later crumbled. We can't actually hang alone in the world of academia. The success of institutions, projects, and disciplines relies on more than individual actors. We just have to trust that people that have information of major wrongdoing will take appropriate action to keep those issues from doing real damage.

Hi LadyL, I don't want to expose your "Top Choice", but I received an email with identical wording, and I am a history applicant. I interpreted it as a notification that the Graduate School office had forwarded all the applications to the appropriate department though I, too, was desperate to deduce positive news from it. I think you should continue to have contact with the faculty member. You've said that you already have a good relationship with some people affiliated with the University, and one more can't hurt. Good luck!

Guesses could include: 1) Too tired to read or type another word. 2) Too busy constantly refreshing admission status websites. 3) Occupied by Googling "what to do with my history BA". For the record, I study pre-American Revolution labor and economy in the Lower South and Caribbean, and I am guilty of all three mentioned offenses.

Whoa! Everyone needs to calm down! Leahlearns, I've received them both ways. "Unofficial" emails tended to have a positive subject line (best one: GOOD NEWS!) but no attachment, just a message. I also received some official emails that had a message confirming acceptance and a copy of the snail-mail letter as an attachment. Rejection emails, however, also sometimes have attachments. It seems like schools use it as a way to get information to people faster, no matter what the news is. Good luck!