Smaudge

So it looks like I'm going to get my MA degree before getting my PhD (I gave a shot at going straight to PhD.. not looking so good). My question is: should I... 1. Go to the most highly-ranked program I can get into, even if the program specializes in something related to my sub-field of choice, but that I don't care much about (I'd do this if it gets me into a PhD program I love) 2. Go to whichever program specializes the most in what I want to do for PhD 3. Go to the cheapest program I can find, as long as there's someone there who does what I want to study In all three senarios, I am theoretically getting an awesome GPA. I really just want to know which choice would most boost my application for a PhD and be the best choice given that these programs will probably be unfunded.

Not only can't I keep myself from bringing up my grad school woes into every conversation, but I constantly play out different senarios in my head. I day dream of getting an acceptance email, doing a couple of fist pumps, and then calling everyone in my family to tell them the great news. Also, if I happen to get the email during the day, I fantacize about keeping it a secret from my husband until we both get home. He opens the door to our apartment, I run up to hug him and say "Guess who just got accepted to Harvard!?" and he picks me up and spins me around.... ...and then I remember that Harvard has already sent out their interview invites and I have slim to none chance of getting into any program. Then I refresh the results page on gradcafe. Why, brain? Why?

Now I have the song "Bye bye love" in my head. Only the "bye bye happiness" part is replaced with PhD.

Who dat say they gonna beat dem Saints!?!!

In a slightly different situation, my older sister met her (now husband) during grad school and the majority of their relationship was long distance. She was in medical school, he was at West Point. Right before he was deployed to Iraq he asked her to marry him. He came back a year later and they got married. Then, in a horrible turn of events he was redeployed for the first 15 months of their marriage. I'm happy to say that he's finally home, and they're now starting their life together. My sister says that if they could survive all that, then they can certainly survive marriage! I think it takes a certain type of person to do well long distance. You need to be able to have long phone conversations and let the other person know that they are always on your mind even if you're miles apart. Also, it's good if you can have supportive people around you. I lived with my older sister during her final year of med school (aka her first year of marriage), and we had to celebrate her first anniversary together. I know that I was a horrible substitute for her husband, but I also know she was glad that she wasn't alone. I know that the whole thing was extremely hard for my sister, but she's now happily married and couldn't be more proud of her husband, who is now a captain in the army. Obviously this was a very unique situation, but they're living proof that long distance can work.

How are the ladies in your life handling your new companions? I know when my husband grows a beard three things happen: 1. It makes me feel like I'm married to a mountaineer 2. The beard becomes part of this grizzlyman alter-ego that includes a very deep voice 3. He threatens to register it on the national beard registry

Ugh definitely. I actually had a brief return to confidence earlier this week until I saw on the results page that one of my programs put out their first round interviews. And.. I've heard absolutely nothing from anyone. I'm going to wait another week before completely descending into a crumpled ball of ice cream and anxiety, but I'm also mentally preparing myself for across the board rejection. Waiting sucks.

12 offers? That's a bigger than usual program right? I was thinking that each accepts around 5-6 each year? I think I'm slightly encouraged

I hate the maybe pile. That's like limbo.

But the ice cream is so tempting...

I noticed on the results page that some Linguistics PhDs have started to hear back about Harvard interviews. I applied and haven't heard anything, so I'm wondering if that's a 99% rejection, or if I shouldn't give up hope yet?

If last year's timeline is correct, then I could be hearing back as early as tomorrow morning... I don't know how I'm going to sleep tonight.

I hope you sang "Killer Tofu" while you were cooking.

Yes I'm feeling it right now. I have one last MA program to apply to (deadline Feb 15), and I was putting it off to see if I heard anything back this week. I don't even really want to go to this last program, but I added it as one final safety... and it's a possibility that I'll need it. The app is supposed to be done in one sitting, so I'm not too worried about it, but I don't even want to think about doing it right now. We have a serious case of Applicationitis.