minnares
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Posts posted by minnares
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Thanks minnares!--
I read the new posts franticly every day (so I always seem to miss something!)
Me too
. I use the search in thread feature at the bottom and also the results search to find information from past years or about specific schools. That way you can cut through the clutter. Hey, congrats on the waitlist for CH. I tried for them as well. Bloomington is my top choice/hope, though. It's not looking good based on the other rejects I've received though
. ~ m
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There is one admit to IU posted thus far.
Do you have any info on how many they have accepted this season/when they will be notifying the rest of the incoming class?
Hey-oh. In another thread, diehtcOke said that he'd been contacted only because he was nominated for a university wide fellowship. Based on last year's admissions/rejections dates, they will probably make decisions this week and send out rejections next week.
~ m
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Hi Slee,
I'd like to echo the comments of several posters above who have pointed out what a fantastic outlook you have and also how well you demonstrate your writing ability here. My oldest son, who is 17, was diagnosed with ADHD, PDD-NOS (which is on the autism spectrum), and a language processing disorder at the age of 8. So I've been following this thread and reading the many of the comments with a combination of
and 
. I've watched my son struggle to achieve average grades all his life. What will happen is he turns in all of his homework and papers and receives full marks, which is fantastic, but then the tests are weighted more heavily and he'll get Cs, Ds, and Fs. So his overall GPA is dragged down. In many US states, as you might know, alternately abled students can have an IEP (individual education plan), which is covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). One of the accomodations allowed under the IEP is additional time for tests. Many here might recall the little addendum read by instructors at the end of a syllabus in every class we took in college about students who need additional assistance. This coverage carries over into university, as well. Needing extra time on tests is not a crutch, nor is it an excuse. Having a brain that is, as you've aptly put it, wired differently isn't something that one can just think themselves out of. That's a very antiquated attitude and just as dangerous as presuming to diagnose a stranger without the medical experience to back it up. My son has been able to accomplish amazing things outside of the classroom (he's an Eagle Scout, to name one thing), but in the classroom he's always behind. Just tonight, however, he was asking for help on Hamlet (or thought he needed help). Most of the time he just has to run his thinking by someone. Hamlet's complex and he totally understood what he'd read, though it takes him hours to work through a passage. After reading each of your thoughtful (and very kind) posts, I have nothing but respect for you. Having witnessed how hard the "normal" (and I use the term with ) world can treat someone unlike themselves, how brutally unkind and insensitive "regular folks" can be toward someone who is just trying to learn and get by, you deserve only to be praised for your assiduous attitude and your willingness to continue trying. I applaud you for yourself and in part because I'd like to see my son have role models to look up to who have "done it" despite the added challenges. Good on you! 
~m
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I can stop making posts here at gradcafe and find some friends my own age.
Hey, oldlady, you're not the only oldlady here
.~ m
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@MM - if they are SO numbers oriented, then... it's their effing loss. Seriously. You are one of the people I admire most in this community (and I'm not easily impressed
), and your dedication is exactly what grad schools SHOULD look for. Your positive attitude inspires me daily!Amen to all of this. I just got feisty and emailed the DGS too. I'd like to know what their excuse is for mine if it's just about numbers
. I was very polite, but I'll be sure to let you know how she responds. Branwen, I'd definitely take them off the list. What this tells me is that they have no tolerance or understanding of life as a process. I'll stop myself here before I go on more of a rant. You're so deserving. There is a program (many programs I imagine) that you'd fit beautifully.~ m
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I'm out, extremely kind personal email from the DEGA. Told me specifically that my GRE scores weren't a problem, but my undergraduate transcript (2.66 in 1997) was too spotty for them. Even though I have a 4.0 MA from last year, further master level coursework at 2 other universities on top of that, and multiple publications and presentations in my field, including two at the international medieval congress, that doesn't make up for the work I did in the 1990's as a full-time waitress, commuting forty minutes to and from school to live at home, taking overloads every term.
SIGH. C'est la vie. Nobody promised fair.
It's horribly depressing, of course - but, I will say, she was extremely kind in her email, and it sounded like she was genuinely sorry to reject me, for what it's worth.Good luck to everyone else!
Oooooh, MM, that is so rotten. As though people aren't supposed to every make mistakes in life or struggle to find their way
. Bad form, Chapel Hill. And their loss. I know how disappointing this is for you, hon.~ m
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What was the postmark on the rejection letters? That would most certainly clear it up. If the post mark was after the change in status in any case - why then, clearly my theory is most likely correct....either way, I choose to keep my dream until I have physical and tangible proof it has been taken from me.
Mine was postmarked Tuesday and arrived Thursday, so postmarked almost a week after the status update.
~ m
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You know, NO, I'm not going to give up hope yet. At every other school with an online application status update, the updated status has simply meant it went from the department of graduate studies to the subject department for review.
I choose to believe this is also the case with UNC, and that my application is now at the English department. I choose also to believe that tortola23's application is at the department, and the response you got indicates that the review either was being conducted Thursday or yesterday, or that it is being conducted on Monday, and decisions are still being made.
Call me an eternal optimist, delusional, or just plain foolish, but I haven't gotten a rejection yet, and I'm only an hour from UNC - all of my North Carolina mail shows up overnight, two days max - if they denied me on Wednesday or Thursday, it would have shown up by today. There was no letter today. I choose to hope.
BRAVO, woman
! That would seem to explain the 8 days between my status update and my rejection. It took them four or five to go through the thing and pass it around, then three or four days to mail to me. And yes, always hope. Always.~ m
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Oh yeah, and M, keep up the good fight. I wish you the best of luck in your perfect storm year. My roommate is almost fifty and she's getting her PhD this year. You're not alone!
Thanks for that! I'm so emotionally strung out right now I get teared up ridiculously easy
. I've come this far and through what seemed like insurmountable odds back then. Maybe a decade from now I'll be able to say the exact same thing about this situation. ~ m
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I'm currently reading The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. I've never read Atwood before, and it's always a treat when the book lives up to the hype.
ladycoffee, The Handmaid's Tale is one of my Top 10 books of all time. I read it almost every year. It's really Atwood's best work, IMHO.
~ m
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That video features a character from a show called Black Books. It's generally a wonderful show for bitter/disappointed smart people. The main character owns a book store.
It's on Hulu for free. Not that I've been drowning my sorrows in the entire first season or anything.
Good to know! Thanks for sharing
.~ m
P.S. As long as we're talking about drowning sorrows, this might well be the first time I've actually "cared" enough about the Olympics to watch curling.
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I sympathize with Hermes' sentiment. I've been studying classics for fourteen years now and it was my dream to become a professor in the field.
But it's not going to happen, so I'm shooting to study in Jordan this summer and use the rest of the year to improve my Arabic. For what ultimate purpose, I have no idea, but it's pretty much the only useful skill I have.
Trust me when I say I totally get the feeling of having a dream dying. I've been rejected from 3 of my 6 and am anticipating two of those last 3 will be solid rejects as well, which leaves 1 school. If I don't go this year, I have to wait at least 5 years to reapply because of my family situation. This is quite literally my Perfect Storm year, now or possibly never type of deal. However... life is long. That's not just a throw away, pat concept. I've heard of people getting their doctorate late in life. Heck, I'm 37 already. While I don't know your personal situation at all, I hope you'll reapply next year or whenever you're able. The only way a dream can die is if you choose to give up on it. There's almost always another way or opportunity to get where you want to be. I still believe this. (Let the Pollyanna comments commence!).
~ m
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I emailed them.
"Your letter will probably go out in Monday's mail. It will go to the mailing address you put in your application: xxxx blah blah blah my address."
Hmm. Wish they'd just tell me.
Based on their MO in the results thread for all disciplines this year, it's been emails if you're accepted, letters if you're rejected. So far, those of us who have had our status update change all subsequently received a rejection letter within the next week or so. I was hoping too, right up until the last minute. I thought a full week after the date change meant I was safe
. The very next day *BAM*, "no thank you, ma'am." ~ m
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I think I'll head for some nonfiction next....any suggestions?
No Ordinary Time. It's a book about FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt. Fantastic book. So interesting, readable, and loaded with information. I just read it last month.
~ m
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My youngest son won't have to wait to get braces. The remodel on my kitchen will get finished. I might get my trip to Italy finally (sympathy gift from the DH). Oh yeah, and I can afford to keep my pantry well strocked to feed my three sons! And then there's all the books I'll read of my own choosing and with all the time in the world
.~ m
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Hilarious! Thanks for sharing, anything that can make me laugh during the next few weeks as rejections roll in is greatly appreciated!
"Here, have this basket of stuff and come stay for the weekend!" ROFL.
Pissmidget will now be a new word in my repertoire
.~m
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OK, those were both extremely funny. I "borrowed" for my Facebook wall. Thanks for a much needed laugh.
~ m
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It took 8 days for my rejection letter to come from Chapel Hill after my status date changed. I just received it last night.
~ m
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I just finished reading Night Train to Lisbon by Pascal Mercier, which was wonderful. It reminded me of Steppenwolf or Zafon's The Shadow of the Wind. German linguistics (Classics, no less) has a random meeting with a woman in a red coat on a bridge. She's Portugese, and only briefly enters his day and then leaves again. They have no substantial interaction, yet he is compelled all of a sudden to travel by train to Lisbon. Once there, he becomes involved, by way of a mysterious book in a bookstore, in a decades old story of revolution, passion, insanity, and brilliance. There was so much in this book to love.
And today, I just started W. Somerset Maugham's Of Human Bondage. Seemed an appropriate title for my life at the moment
. I love Maugham's books, esp. The Painted Veil. So far OHB promises more of the same wonderous writing. Mmmm Maugham.As for my other "to reads," I'm on GoodReads and have a list of more than 200 to read, so... If you want to join my GoodReads, you can PM me. LOL.
~ m
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Are any of the Cornell admits willing to share details (funding, your scores, your subfocus, etc.)? I counted 8 admits on the results thread. The Cornell English page says they typically take 12. It's probably fair to say that all 12 are not on these boards. I'm assuming this is a rejection on my end. Just curious what kind of contact you might have had with the department and anything else you might be willing to share. Thanks.
~ m
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Oh, my God. My number changed this afternoon. I think I'm going to have a heart attack.
Guess I'll know for sure by Saturday...Not necessarily. Mine changed last Wednesday and I haven't gotten a thing, email or mail. I am on the west coast, but it's been plenty of time for a letter to arrive. So... You might get nothing, which I'm guessing means the app got passed up to the next level for review. I've spoken with Jodie, one of the assistants in the English graduate studies, several times during the application process. She's VERY nice. I'm seriously tempted to call her now and ask what this means.
~ m
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Thanks callmelilyb! I'm actually completely floored and don't know quite how to respond to all the really enthusiastic and wonderful faculty members who are reaching out to me from each school. I am not going to be able to visit all of them, and am slightly worried about how they will feel if I end up rejecting the offer without meeting them in person. My academic history is rather odd and twisted, as are my interdisciplinary research interests. I think the protean character of my interests worked in my favor somewhat, since different departments picked up different aspects of my statement of purpose. I suspect that this allowed me to evade the problem of "departmental math" somewhat.
I would be happy to share my writing with you ... PM me and we can talk more
popstitute, I'd be very interested to read your SoP, as well. I suspect this is one of the weak areas of my app package.
~ m
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and last night my application status at Columbia changed....
I just checked mine and it's changed too, Medievalmaniac. It appears we are under review with the department
. I am not giving up hope until I have six official answers in my hot little hand.~ m
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is it just me or can anyone else just canNOT physically function properly during this waiting period?! I've been waiting since the beginning of February and every week I tell myself, "right, it's THIS week, THIS IS IT, i'll find out by the end of this week" and every time my blackberry vibrates with an email I literally pounce on it only to find out that someone's invited me to buy their hens or whatever on Facebook Farmville.
Seriously... two days ago, I woke up telling myself, 'it IS this week. It HAS TO BE.'
IT BETTER BLOODY BE if i want to start functioning properly again and get on with my life!!!!
ROFLMAO! I hear you on the Facebook thing. "No, I do not want to join your Mafia. No, I don't want to buy any pigs for my Farmville. No, but thank you for sending me the heart, hugs, drinks, cappuccino, chocolate, or whateverthef*ck else you think you need to send me when I'm waiting for THE most important phone call of my life. Yes, of course I still want you to be my friend." AAAAGH. Even better is that my husband and sons discovered they can make me crazy by waving junk mail envelopes at me when I walk in the front door. They only made that mistake once
.~ m
Indiana U-Bloomington
in Literature, and Rhetoric and Composition
Posted
Also, I'm not sure if you know this, but you can get a OneStart account for IUBloomington. It's their internal computer system. I noticed a link under the apply link that says graduate hopefuls can check their status that way. So I signed up. There's a link (kind of through a convoluted path to find it) that'll show you the status. All mine says at the moment is that my application will be review shortly. I don't know if this will be a quicker way to get information or not. I assume if they want me, they'll call. So call it another way to pick the scab (and yes I know that's gross).
Here's a link:
https://onestart.iu.edu/my2-prd/portal/0
~ m