socnerd

I would think that if it were an acceptance they would have informed you instead of just changing it to "decision made."

This is why I would never try to get into academia right now. Tenure track positions are one in a million and most people end up with miserable pay as adjuncts. What a nightmare!

You're in as long as you meet the school's minimum standards for admission. They often have their own set of guidelines and scores that applicants must meet in order to attend, so as long as you meet their requirements they should accept you, but it doesn't mean you are officially in yet.

I'll be 22 when I start, I may be going into a Master's or PhD program depending on where I get in. I just want to get in somewhere because I can't imagine having to put my life on hold and delay everything for a year. I honestly don't know what I would do with myself, I don't want to be in my mid 20s and 30s just getting my act together, I want to be settled with a family by then. I've applied to 13 schools with 3 on backup to try to avoid this.

I don't know anything about Penn State but I can tell you that I visited Lehigh when I was looking for undergraduate. My family and I spent the day there and we hated it so much we decided I should not apply. I think it's a good school academically but it was the location, physical landscape of the school and the attitude of the students/administration that turned us off. The campus is situated on a pretty steep hill with eroding steps everything, my dad fell and almost broke his ankle. At the bottom of the hill is essentially a ghetto with row housing and homeless people wandering around. You have to go through this neighborhood to get to the school and we were stopped at a stoplight and this scary looking guy came up to us and starting banging on the window asking for money. When we were there it was a somewhat nice tour but the student running it was very arrogant and talked more about how he and his friends like to go down to the local bars at night and run up the tab. They had a big discussion panel as they often do with open houses where parents could ask questions and the administration answered. We found them very callus especially when parents asked about financial aid and the safety of surrounding area. It is $40,000+ school and we got the impression that if you weren't full pay you didn't have much chance of admission (and you wouldn't fit in anyway). The rest of the students seemed mechanical and unhappy. We ate at a little coffee place and overheard student conversations about how they were angry and depressed about this or that. Pretty much by the end of the day we ran out of there as soon as we could and my parents told me under no circumstances would they allow me to apply to this place. That is just one experience but I wanted to give you some idea of what we saw.

I second this, I would do anything at this point to get just one acceptance. I don't even care if its not a good school, I did apply to some pretty crappy ones. If I'm not in school this fall I'll probably end up on the street

I'm still waiting from all 13 of mine, although I know one has already sent out all of its acceptances. I'm really not expecting much because I realized too late that I'm not really qualified to attend most of the ones I applied to (which, mind you, are not all decent schools). I kind of have this feeling that some of them may never get back to me at all, like I'll end up getting a "silent rejection" because they can't bother with me, but I guess we'll see. The deadline for some of mine hasn't even passed yet so I can't get too upset. Good luck to everyone!

I would think if it was an acceptance they would've been better about contacting you and letting you know, but of course there is still hope, you don't know until you get confirmation.

We talked a lot about this in my sociology of family class. Women are at a distinct disadvantage because of their capacity to be mothers (moreso if they already are) because they are seen as less-than-ideal workers because they have to deal with children. Leaving work if they are sick, not being able to stay long hours etc. makes them less appealing to employers. That is just something we face as women and mothers, but it makes sense that academia would be better about this, seeing as the point is to teach children (adults). I would never get into academia for several reasons, so I accept that my status as a mother one day may lead to negative consequences in my job.

Hahaha I think at this point I would take it, I could always refuse once I get there but at least I'd be in! I just pictured Elle Woods yelling at her professor for hitting on her, maybe I could be like her!

Lol I guess my hope is that they'll see my facebook and think "Wow she's really pretty! We should let her in!" Of course I know this doesn't happen, but its nice to dream

Here's to being so happy I'm still in undergrad! Hopefully I won't have to deal with a job I hate but the way things are looking I could be in the same boat as most people this time next year

Wow really? So does this mean that if you don't go straight into a PhD program you're screwed? That is a really scary thought, I had no idea it was like that.

Oh I got it, thanks! "Pending decision" as well, although I know its too much of a reach for me anyway, just another site to keep checking

Darn... is it a really bad sign if this doesn't work? It keeps telling me its an invalid login

After reading this forum I feel like this should be adjusted to read "Replying to sub 3.5 GPAs" and all the bullet points still apply. Honestly is having a 3.2 or 3.3 really that different? They make you feel like unless you have at least a 3.5 you won't be looked at. We all know that just because you meet the minimum standards doesn't mean you have a snowballs chance in hell

Professorships are so few and far between I feel it is a completely unrealistic goal for me. Most people who want to be professors never make it and end up making themselves miserable running around as adjuncts for years. I am more practical and want to get a job doing research for the government or the private sector, wherever I can find something.

I guess I sort of feel the opposite of most people, I wouldn't mind them seeing my facebook at all, it might even help. If you think there is a possibility of them checking out your public social networking sites then use that to your advantage. Make your presentation look professional, mature, welcoming etc. There is nothing on my facebook that I wouldn't want adcomms to see and I think you should keep it that way anyway. If they search to see if you have one and its either on total privacy or doesn't show up at all, maybe they'd be more concerned that you have something to hide? I don't know, but in this day and age where everyone has one, just consider it another outlet (like an interview) to show them what a great applicant you are.

Haha don't worry I'm doing it correctly, its just that my idea of feeling food deprived is not being able to eat a whole pizza every day! My eating habits up until this point have been atrocious I just ate everything in sight all the time, its a miracle I'm not as big as a house! I think it helps with just being aware of what you're eating and trying to eat healthier things which I am in desperate need of. I totally feel the difficulty of getting my hands on healthy food though. Especially with the recent storms I haven't been able to get to the grocery store and I find myself wandering around the apartment looking for an old piece of cheese to nibble on

I want to start having kids as soon as possible, after I'm married and settled of course. Certainly before I turn 30 and hopefully by 26/27. My mom had breast cancer and I know the earlier I have kids, the lower my chances will be of getting it also. That's another reason why I'm so worried that if I don't get in anywhere this year and start the process of getting educated for my future job, putting it off another year will mean putting off my entire life another year which I am not willing to do as I will be turning 22 in a few weeks.

What if no place offers you funding but they still accept you? I was planning on paying for it all myself anyway but I know I'm not competitive for funding. I don't think funding should make or break a decision, unless you really can't afford it without any. I guess funding is sort of like a feather in your cap and something to brag about but you shouldn't turn down a program you're really fond of just because they didn't give you as much (or any) funding as another.

What happens to you get rejected from everywhere and then can't get a job? Thats what I'm worried is going to happen to me. I feel like I'm really not worth anything to employers with just a B.A. and I can't afford to work a minimum wage job and continue living off my parents for another year or possibly more if I can't get in. That is my real fear.

I think it does, I've only been on it for about a week and a half and I've lost about 4 pounds so far. I'm only trying to lose about 20 (trying to get down to 125) but I don't know if thats going to be possible with my body frame. I did it because my friends were doing it and it does help you become conscious of what you're eating and make healthier choices. You get a certain number of "points" every day and each food you each is worth different points. I have to say, I've been pretty miserable doing it. I've always eaten terribly my whole life, it wasn't uncommon for me to eat an entire pizza several times a week and I never thought about health when I was stuffing my face at all hours of the day (and night). At times I've been so frustrated and angry on this Weight Watchers thing because all I want to do is eat pizza but I can't because its too many points. I mean I could eat it but then I wouldn't be able to eat anything for the rest of the day. So in short, yes it does work and it does help you develop better habits but it is horrible being hungry and food-deprived all the time. The real motivation for me is that I paid for it already so I'm forcing myself to do it, but I realize that its really unrealistic for me to keep doing this my whole life and once my 3 month membership is up I'll probably gain back the weight.. oh well.

I've found that joining Weight Watchers helps, its absolutely terrible because you can't eat anything but it does work. However, I'm debating the benefit of being thin over the awful depression that comes with not being able to eat when you're hungry and eat what you want. I'm doing it because I paid for it but honestly I can't wait to get off of it, I was never really heavy anyway. I've also heard of people losing a lot of weight because of stress and not eating, I wish it were that easy.

Have you ever actually been to New Haven, CT? Its a very bad area, lots of crime and scary things going on. No doubt its a great school, but if by some chance you don't get in, you can comfort yourself by knowing that its not a very safe place to live!