qberta

i'm in a similar situation. my partner is applying in a small field & only applied to 2 of the 3 total programs in the U.S. I picked schools to apply to in the same general location, but it was a bit of a challenge to make them match up. i'd wait to let any departments know where you haven't been admitted. i mean, there's a reason you didn't put it in your personal statements--because it would seem kind of odd & unprofessional. it seems like a different story to let a dept. know where you've been admitted, that your decision will partially depend on where your boyfriend gets in as well. are there any places out of your current admits that would give you two a reasonable commute? in my case, we might end up with a two-hour commute between our schools, where i'd get an apt. share during the week in a different city & come down for the weekends (hopefully i can work it for at least 3-day weekends, but maybe that's more likely in the social sciences & humanities). not ideal, but also not impossible for a few years.

yeah, the chemistry is killer. she did an art history degree & has been taking chemistry classes after work for the past 2 years just to be able to apply. it's really made my own application process look like a joyride.

hi. my partner is applying for art conservation programs in the fall, and I can't seem to find anything on these boards or in the results section. is anybody else applying? been through the process? looking at NYU, buffalo, or delaware? or are conservators, like my partner for example, just way less interested in discussion boards?

for my job, the hiring process is notoriously slow & i know it'll screw my co-workers if they're without a replacement for a long time. i plan to give my supervisor, who's been a great ally in fighting for me at the job, an informal heads-up about 2-3 months before, like, "you know, i've been offered this paid graduate education and it seems likely i might take it.... i'll probably make a final decision & put in my notice in the summer... but maybe you want to start making plans for if that happens." but then I'll wait to put in my notice with HR until 1 month before. I want my department to get the okay to hire, but i don't want to mess up my financial plans. we have a budget crisis every year around that time, so it's likely my job would get chopped early. in fact, i saw it happen to someone this summer.

i've also had those twinges of regret for not applying straight out of undergrad. after all, who doesn't want to be a child prodigy? i think especially in the nervousness of waiting, it can be easy to second-guess every single life decision that impacts your profile as an applicant. but most of the time, i think, thank god i've had these years to muddle around & hellraise & sharpen my interests & use completely different skill sets. especially in the age of increasing specialization & the cult of expertise, i think it's useful to be a generalist and have a wide range of experiences/knowledge bases/other fields to draw from. i think my scholarship benefits from it as well.

congrats to all the people who got admissions today!

I'm the new CUNY. thanks ddlr! Yay! they said that they had an unusually large number of applicants, but no details besides that & info about the admitted students day.

i'll be 31, which seems just about right to me. i've never been one for straight lines.

i have only ever taken one introductory class in my proposed field of study. (and i hated it.)

I want to study social movements, and I have 10 years of experience in different kinds of feminist, anti-prison, & labor organizing, with a couple of really exciting victories. Someone on the adcomm will see this & value it. Then my high test scores & solid academic history & interesting writing sample will give them the tools they need to be able to convince everyone else.

1 program: 50% sure i'll get in 3 programs: 30% chance i'll get in 2 programs: 99% sure i won't get in it's so hard to tell. i'm hoping 2 of 6, right now.

i'd recommend against your friend reading the letters. not for ethical reasons as much as because it'll make them crazy. who knows--maybe a letter that sounds better to the applicant won't play as strong with the adcom. likely, both letters will be strong & they still won't know what to submit. and then they'll feel guilty, too. this process needs no additional bad feeling & doubt in it. if they're really unsure, and really not submitting more than 3 recs, they can split it up half and half. then analyze the results and determine which letter was better. me, i had 4 recommenders & sent in 4 letters to some programs that only required 3. let them open them all up & read them & figure out which they like best.

i think the irreverent tone of PR's book can make it a good choice for people who struggle with test anxiety. i think their approach takes ETS down a few notches, and can keep people from feeling like failures just because they don't know the relationship between salubrious and turbid. kaplan is the only other test aid i'm familiar with, & i was surprised at how respectful they are towards the GRE. don't they know that the GRE is an evil monster? oh yeah, to them it's a massive cow.

Hi all! I'm relatively new to the forum, applying to programs in the northeast to study social movements. it's such an isolating, terrifying process, it's nice to find a supportive space in all this! all my apps are in, except for one. my partner's also applying to grad programs in a different field. i applied a few seasons ago to 1 phd program, getting a phone interview & eventually a decline. hoping to improve my 100% rejection record. and i'm awful at waiting!! i'm already starting to feel it, even though I know that there is NO WAY that i could hear back this early. i'm totally obsessing about what might happen. and daydreaming about getting that one admission letter/call.... (would i cry? would i call my partner, or wait to see her in person to tell her? where would i go out for drinks to celebrate?)