waytooold

Congrats on an acceptance. Still waiting for just a crumb of contact here. Most of my programs are March 15 notifications, it appears. Hopefully, that means POI's will start reaching out in the next week or so. Or not.

Too bad you're allergic to cold climates and in a different field. I think you'd be great to have in my cohort...if I get one. And I'll even concede on the ridiculous of MN winters.

I have to smile just a little at the irony of the discussion of weather. When you live in Minneapolis, it is pretty hard to find anyplace colder or snowier. When I visited Ithaca, everyone wanted to engage me about the winters until I reminded them where I live. I have checked a few times. When we were -20 here, they were +19 there. Tropical anyone? I think fit is partially intuitive -- you will just, in many cases, know....but I think culture is something you have to look for; are advisors active and involved, or are people left to sink or swim? How responsible will you be for shaping your program, and how much help or mentoring will you get? What kind of access and unstructured contact will you have? How big is your cohort? How do you fit with your cohort? Finally, on the days you are tired of being a student, sick with a cold and wondering why you did this -- can you find a place to live that will help you feel grounded and renew, or are you so stretched that you are living with 5 people you barely know?

The term is provocative and suggestive of some sort of shared "agenda" amongst a population that is as diverse as the people on this board. It is a term intended to suggest that homosexuality is a political or "lifestyle" choice instead of a core identity against which bigotry and bias is still permitted to flourish. It is a term invented by those who reduce one's sexual identity to a political choice. That is why.

Big Red. I spent 800 dollars to go and visit and meet and talk with people, fell in love.....now, I just wait....

Yes. Looking at departmental websites trying to divine something from the application FAQ's I didn't get the first three thousand times around. Sneaking back to the results list just in case and looking at the one school that has a website for results, alternating with refreshing my g-mail....how I billed any work this week is something of a mystery.

Different department, but I heard nothing also, and called and e-mailed. Ten days later I got a response that my file was complete and decisions would be made by mid March.

And then I think about .... The VP who decided to make lifesaving technology free to people who could not afford it. The copywriter who just last week wrote a solicitation so persuasive (and so pro bono) that it raised nearly half a million dollars for Drs Without Borders. The law professor who does four death penalty cases per year to try to bring justice to our barbaric society. The TV producer who took "Roots" and turned it into a national dialogue. The HR VP who insisted on a just and fair response to the economy, and persuaded the CEO to seek concessions from everyone and as a result, the company laid off no one. I am a little tired of the idea that only those who work with their hands are noble or useful. Noble people come in all packages, as do people who just take up space. I know lazy farmers who let fields lie fallow and collect government subsidies and brilliant, hard working farmers that are stewards of the land. I know brilliant thinkers who influence policy, and those who stay home and play video games. Because I grew up in a large city, I know nothing of agronomy, but I do know about survival in the face of adversity, embracing diversity and making the most of what one has. These, I think, are equally useful. Useful is not what one learns, but what one does with what one learns. Ideas, as well as actions, are useful.

I think there should be an SOP haiku competition. Season of learning I am at peak I am your best hope

I haven't received anything.

sure.

I took it once, and I'm a statistical anomaly -- I got a 1390, but that was an 800 verbal (did not study for it) and 590 quant (which I did study for, and given no class ever in geometry and 30 years since algebra, I'll live with), but given that so many science people take the GRE, the 590Q puts me below the 50th percentile. I'm torn if I get rejected this year about what to do, since if I retake it I will no doubt improve my quant, but can I again stumble on to an 800 on the other side? Oh, and I have 3 undergraduate and two graduate stats courses, all B or better, so I'm not a quant moron. I am hoping, given my age and professional accomplishments that someone will look past the quant score.

I would suggest mentioning it only to the extent it provides you with a competitive edge. Bringing up needs for accomodation in an interview sounds a lot like a high-maintenance grad student. You are not compelled to disclose this information and they are not permitted to ask.

I am getting very frustrated with the magical black box of admissions. If a school posts on their website that all applicants will receive notice on their file status by a particular date, and that date passed three weeks ago with no notice, and the applicant sends an e-mail and waits five days for a response, then leaves a voicemail and still does not get a response, that is not "mysterious." That is just rude. Of five apps, I have received one e-mail telling me my file is complete and going to the committee. That is all.

I've heard nothing. No one else has either, from these programs, so I'm trying not to go a little nuts. I find it frustrating when programs put up a notice that "everyone will receive notification by X date as to whether their file is complete," the date breezes by and...nothing. I've e-mailed to confirm my file is complete with no response. This was a January 1 deadline school, so I certainly hope they are reviewing by now. I applied to OB programs at 3 B-schools and only heard from one that the committee was meeting. Nothing from the others. The silence is killing me.

A little late to the party, but I am having an experience to day quite on track with the OP's questions and some of the responses. I speak throughout the country and today am speaking at a Lutheran LAC. I am neither Lutheran nor Christian, and AM the grandchild of holocaust survivors who taught me to be sensitive to the assumption that "Christian is normal and everything else is abnormal." Now, this is a great school with a fine tradition of great scholarship, beautiful music and a mission focused on justice, but as I walked through the halls, there was a lot of Christian symbolism, including references to "Christ" (in quotes, cause I just think of him as Jesus of Nazereth and not the son of G-d or the savior.) I saw a lot of happy, corn fed UG's having lots of fun, but at base, I knew that I never could have thrived in this environment because A) The Christian culture was too intense in the ambient spaces, making Christianity the "norm," and My personal comfort with heavy Christian dogma is near zero. So, those seem to me to be the two things you must measure- - what is the level of "ambient" and "active" Christianity the school presents and what is your personal zone of comfort. Visit. Go to a class. Talk to some students. You will soon know. BTW, I don't get that same feeling at jesuit schools. I love the Jesuits, however was kicked out of a Jesuit school for writing a thesis on the parallel between medically necessary abortions and just wars. I was quite a rabble rouser, obviously.

One of my apps is at an Embark school with the "status update" disabled. This school states on its website that all applicants will be notified about their file status by January 18th. Heard nothing, e-mailed and got no reply. Three of my schools are Apply Yourself, but I can't see where one would look to find any status update One of my apps is at a school that updates it's website and I check that one. Probably not helpful, but I'm a little frustrated with the communication vacuum. I start to wonder if this is a bellweather of how people are treated by these institutions.

I think this does tell readers something. If you look at the results, people are cursing their rejections, throwing their stats out as though admissions is a formula. This is an instructive piece of advice for those who think admissions is simply a numbers game and clarifies that personality, expressiveness and clear direction do count.

I will be twice the age of some of you, and significantly older than anyone has previously posted. I have had an incredible career and believe I can make unique contributions to my field, continuing my research and writing and hopefully teaching. My children are grown, I have everything to give and nothing to distract me. The reality is, however, that most programs will pass on me because they seek acolytes or those looking exclusively for entry-level tenure track positions. It really is one of the last bastions of age discrimination, and in my visits with faculty was sometimes so overt I nearly fell out of my chair, particularly since my field involves deep familiarity with civil rights laws! Nevertheless, I am hoping someone will find me sufficiently different from other applicants they will give me a go. Also, a comment on the whole "life experience" thing. I believe there are advantages one brings to the table with a lot of life experience-- probably more patience, a certain degree of scope and context and self-awareness, however I believe that youth has it's advantages as well -- passion, energy and reality testing are probably real virtues that a younger person would have in greater volume than someone further along in their development. Cheers.

I have to say that this part of the process-- whereby everything goes into a black box with zero transparency -- is bugging me. Perhaps it is because I have been running a business for many (many, many) years, but I cannot understand what our fees are paying for if not a courtesy e-mail telling us the status of our files, or the posting on a website of same. I have applied to one program (app submitted in November) with a January 1 deadline. The website states they will not take calls about file status, but everyone will receive notice of file status the week of January 18th. Hello. It is well past that week and I have heard nothing. Since the website states we should not call, I have to hope against hope that all is in order. Most of my due dates were January 1 or January 7. I have received one e-mail acknowledging my application from any of the six schools I have applied to. As a consumer, this is utterly ridiculous and I'd like to tell them that. As an applicant, I'm left to assume all is well. Sorry about your experience. It just should not have to be like this.

It is so interesting to see the range of applicants here, and how the perspective on picking up and changing our lives varies from circumstance to circumstance. For those of us who've been in the professional world, the idea of being a full time student involves entirely different changes from those coming in from undergrad, or near to it. What I love to think about is the mix of it all -- different lives, perspectives and approaches, and it makes me hope that wherever I do go (assuming I do go) I have an awesome cohort to bond with and learn with. In the meantime, it would be lovely to get a letter or email telling me something, ie hello, we have your application.

excellent perspective. In fact, my running partners and many of my friends are much younger than I am, so I am probably stereotyping unnecessarily.

Thank you for that. I have a feeling I'm a bit older than you *hint-- I have two daughters who are college graduates* but you encourage me.

Wow. It is very helpful to hear from someone else with a similar experience. Will your spouse's job be portable? My partner is a solo practice attorney, so the idea of moving someplace with me for four or five years, and then relocating again is untenable. That means a bit of a lonely road, but also the opportunity to meet pretty intelligent and thoughtful people. The weird thing is that at my age, I'll have to socialize with faculty!

I am a definite outlier here, a midcareer applicant who has run a successful business for many years looking to make a huge leap into academia. Because of this, an acceptance by *nameless dream school* would be a life changing event and really allow me to contribute to my field, whereas acceptances by *nameless four other but decent schools* also present good opportunities. Being accepted would involve leaving behind a very reputable and successful consulting practice, the best relationship I have ever had, at least for a time, my beautiful condo, a fairly comfortable lifestyle (I pull in pretty decent money) and a community of friends, but give me the opportunity to pursue my scholarly dreams and reshape my life. My application and stats are so nontraditional and age discrimination is so rampant that I continuously tell myself to brace for zero acceptances, but as an accomplished consultant with an 800 V and a 6.0 writing (quant, not-so-much) as well as a 4.0 MA from some years ago, I figure someone will think I offer something. My point? I am as much afraid of being accepted and taking the leap as being discouraged and probably giving up the dream of academia via five rejections. Does anyone find themselves vacillating in this way? Is anyone else looking at similar sacrifices? If not, thanks for reading. If so, let's share experiences.