Facade19

I totally feel you. Same boat as you. Things are looking more bleak than they did before. Of course, I better turn to the taciturn side, as I do not want to dampen the mood here. Well, best of luck to you.

Rejected by UCSD. Second rejection.

What exactly is this informal waiting list?

greekfire55, hope you are well. I am sorry for the delayed reply but I was just trying to keep myself occupied. As for your question, if given the opportunity, I would like to study the general themes consistent between these thinkers, the objectives they had in mind in writing and the overall techniques employed by theme. I know these inchoate ideas are still very ambivalent, but after having read Prof. Melzer's "Philosophy Between the Lines" and being exposed to "Straussian" method of reading, I would find a very joyful career in pursuing this areas if given the chance to do so.

Congrats AuldReekie! I am very happy for you I still have not heard anything at all from any school. My applications all indicate under review. Oh well. But congrats to all.

Well, let me restate my Farsi qualifications. I can speak it, but cannot read nor write Farsi. I wanted to take a course in Farsi but was encouraged to take class not aligned to my native tongues. But even looking at the results page, is it even worth it? I highly doubt the University of Chicago will admit me. Edit: In all honesty, I just do not see myself qualifying for this award. And it would not be fair to even apply. I read over the requirements back in December. Read over them again today. Nothing has changed. I just do not qualify. I wish I would, but I do not. Oh well, what more can they want from people besides sweat and blood.

Any idea with who you would like to work with? If you do not wish to respond, please feel free to forget about my question.

Guys and gals, I had a quick question regarding FLAS. I received an e-mail by the U of Chicago making me aware of FLAS. My main concerns are twofold: 1) my primary interest resides in political theory and 2) I am a native speaker of Farsi (and German, though not applicable here). I never took any Farsi courses, and thus, do not have any academic instructor that could vouch for my skills. But, as I am a native speaker I was wondering whether I could still apply for FLAS, despite my area of interests. BFB, I do appreciate your remarks and I should definitely not feel shame. But the standards I have set up for myself prevent me from feeling anything but shame at not making it. I wish I could perceive this differently, but given the way I was brought up I feel strong humiliation at not succeeding. I try not to take it personally and I do understand the very difficult position the admission committees are presented with. I hold no resentment or anything to that like. My disappointment resides solely with me.

I think the March 10 notification is designed for those who did not make it, which I assume will include me.

The whole time I thought the C was for Chicago.

First of all, let me congratulate you on getting into the U of Chicago! An absolute outstanding achievement and certainly, given your interests/focus of studies, no better place exists. I am absolutely happy for you - and yes, I really mean it. I wish you nothing but the best and in case you are aiming for another institution, then I wish you much success with it (them) too. Concerning your question which thinkers I admire, I would have to say with an invigorating cheer that Plato, Machiavelli and Nietzsche are just the triumphant triumvirate of my existence. There is of course a pantheon of remarkable thinkers spanning from antiquity to contemporary intellectual circles that inspire me. But there is always something blithely, something of a halcyon quality in these three that I find nowhere else. I have heard of Simone Weil from a very young age and became very faintly acquainted with her ideas. However, I am certain that a conversation between us concerning her would end up by me remaining mostly silent and letting you educate me on her. Anyhow, congratulations again. This is indeed outstanding news. I marvel at your accomplishment! Edit: that is one clever cover!

Oh these are quite fascinating intellectual interests and I believe, of great import. I am also quite pleased that your interests appear to align to continental thought, which of course to me, is also of very salient pursuits. My main interests, now that I received my first rejection and feel more at ease of disclosing more of myself on these forums, lies with the idea of political esotericism. In particular, to the idea of whether the political philosophers wrote in a "coded like manner" for purposes of protecting the mores and myths of states to preserve the laws and orders of political entities, i.e - stable political regimes - from the continual "deconstruction" of free thought; and whether, the modes of writing were not intended to subconsciously reshape and modify cultural values and power in such a way to furtively enable philosophers to indirectly rule. I tried reading a work of more theoretical leaning, but given that my mind is a turbulent uprooting, a novel tends to mollify my nerves. And I also hope that you and I get good offers soon.

Oh boy. All those reds... Went out with my boys and that took my mind off. Came back, check results page and wow. Now, I am so much more worried than I was before. It is just - and I am sure those that await one admission - I want one good school, with funding so that I can pursue this. And I know that the admission committees do their best in what they believe is best for them too. Nonetheless, as was stated by fakeusername, we are still human and seeing how others here got at least one, or multiple acceptances, while others so far got none (including me), a certain level of agitation is inevitable. But I do want to sincerely thank you guys. It is good to be able to express these sentiments with people who are going through the process. I tried to explain it to my friends, and while they certainly feel the agony, it is something entirely different. I be blunt and state that I feel like despite the fact that I applied to 13 programs, my despair has already reached a devastating acme that it will not be my year. And quite honestly, I just do not see myself having the patience nor the will to do try again next year. The costs are a major issue. Also, the time involved. Preparing to take the GRE is really a pain in the buttocks. But more importantly, the humiliation is the just the worst. I just cannot face the people who took the time and put their belief in me succeeding this year. Is it giving up? Maybe. But it could also be a realization that no matter what you do, certain elements that you thought you could overcome are just insurmountable. So in effect, even if I improve my GRE score (and that is a big if), and if I somehow manage to get a paper published, there is no guarantee that next year may not end up like this year. Certainly, there are no assurances in anything you do. But I am also at a point in my life where I said to myself that if I do not happen to achieve admission this year, my "destiny" or course in life lies somewhere else. To me there is tremendous shame involved in not getting accepted. And I apologize for wearing my emotions on my sleeves, but I just am at a point in that I am not sure what to do. And while it may seem erroneous to assume that one rejection means total rejection, I cannot but feel frustrated where this overwhelming trepidation curtails any courage I may muster. I honestly invested so much into this process - like all of you - that I may have unreasonable expected something positive at the end of this tunnel. And today's rejection just showed to me that what I thought were important aspects of a strong application - accomplishments that are indeed considered worthwhile in other areas - are indeed insignificant and overall, worthless. Thus, I feel nugatory and facile. This should not be, but nonetheless, it is a reaction to the news of a rejection. Anyway, I better end it here. I already sounded too much like I am dramatic guest on a talk show. Lol. But once again, my respect and adulation to those of you who got accepted. And I sincerely hope that those of you who are still waiting on one admission get them. Because one admission alone can make all the rejections feel irrelevant.

Congrats to everyone who got accepted. I got officially rejected by Wisconsin. I will take a break from this place. I am really happy for everyone who got accepted, but to be transparent, also envious. Thus, knowing myself better, I will take my leave before spoiling things. Once again, congratulations to all and best wishes to each and everyone.

Well, I am one of what appears to be only a handful of applicants focusing on theory. As of now, I have to yet hear happy tidings from any of the programs to which I have applied. Based on your signature I venture to guess that you focus on Hannah Arendt? Personally, I am very interested in Machiavelli and his sources. Sounds vague, but before boring you or anyone else with pedantic musings, I will just say that I am currently reading Celine's "Journey to the End of the Night."

CONGRATS!! Sorry for the Caps, but I just feel very thrilled for you!! As for me, Wisconsin-Madison's status page still has my application as pending, despite the fact that they had it since the 22nd of last month. I feel it is safe to conclude that I have been rejected, given the many admission offers posted, as well as the tendency to inform an applicant of the rejection a few days later. Same story is holding true for MSU. Oh well, part of the process. You lose some, and hopefully, you win some.

Agreed. Edit: Meaning that I would like to get a good offer. Though Harvard is not my top choice.

I think the wait becomes more tolerable if one has already been admitted to another program. The feeling of certainty pacifies certain consternation concerning this entire process (or rather ordeal).

I applied there as well. No expectations whatsoever though. Edit: Political Theory for me.

Well, it appears that WM and MSU have certainly passed on me in light of all the wonderful information floating around here. It certainly stings. Congratulations to all who got accepted.

Thank you very much for your reply! I definitely needed to hear that. I really appreciate you taking the time to do so.

Indeed, hope still burnishes a fire and thus prevails! Thank you for that!

I mitigated it.

Do not fret about it (I know, easier said than done). The fact is all you really need/want is one good offer and that will make your day (and night). Like you said, still 11 to go. I have not heard yet from any of the programs I applied to (though none of them are the ones you mentioned). The wait is laborious and consuming. At this point I just think it best to remove myself from my laptop and find a project to occupy myself.