nutmeg

I've been waitlisted at Brown and rejected everywhere else. Not really expecting to hear back anytime soon, though I did hear that the list at Brown is six people long. One thing about the WL: If you were to get in last-minute, would you really have the necessary information to make a quick decision? Not going to the admit day really puts waitlisters at a disadvantage come April. You might think you want to go, but it's hard to know without some time at the new school and in the new town. What do the rest of you WListers think? Will you visit on your own dime? Will you definitely go if you get in?

Congrats to everyone who was admitted to Brown! Since I'm on the relatively short waitlist, I'm anxious to hear your thoughts about Brown compared to other offers you might have already received. Also, were you given any information about a potential visit day?

Just when I thought I was done thinking about grad school admissions ... I get waitlisted at Brown. Here's hoping I hear one way or the other sooner rather than later.

Where are all the answers? And the celebrations? Astronautka's "sociological corner of joy" somehow has turned into a mid-February John Cage composition. What gives? If I'm going to check out this site as often as I do, the least the adcomms could do is admit some GradCafe folks every now and again. For real. Oh, and I'm still irrationally hopeful about Berkeley, mainly because I'm 0-for-2 (Penn and Princeton) and almost positive my Harvard rej is en route. If we can't have answers and celebrations, maybe we could just have desperate dreams. Which schools are you delusional about?

Congrats to those folks who heard from Berkeley today! Anyone want to claim those acceptances?

I give up trying to figure out this whole process. Seriously.

For what it's worth, the readerships and GSI (TA) gigs at Berkeley cover health insurance, as well as registration fees. That may sweeten the pot a little, but I think other folks are right: You need to figure out how much of the out-of-state tuition you'd be on the hook for during your first year. It won't matter for your second year, because you'll qualify for CA residency by the end of year 1.

After getting my Princeton rej yesterday, I figured I'd email the Berkeley folks to see when they'd be contacting applicants. As it turns out, the admissions committee has yet to make its final decisions, and they will be getting in touch with applicants "within the next week or two." That's significantly later than in past years (at least according to the results page), but it might give those of us still waiting a little more hope as February drags on. Good luck everyone!

In my experience, a 25% TA gig means you'll be teaching one discussion section per week. Usually, having a TAship grants you some sort of fee waver and even health insurance. It's 25% because they figure you'll be working about 10 hours/week; a 50% TA job usually involves teaching two sections (and thus having that many more exams/papers to grade come midterms and finals). Hope that helps!

Any thoughts on when we might hear from Berkeley? I know some first-round people heard last week -- do any of you folks know when the adcomm will be making its final decisions? Just by looking at last year's results, this weekend could be it. And yeah, the waiting is absolutely killing me. Enough is enough!