MVSCZAR

Ugh. They seriously need to change that. 
 
Both my parents are Colombian. My mom is darker than my dad, because my dad's family is white as hell. My dads dad's family is descended from conquistadors. My mom's dad was Afro Colombian. My mom's mom is Spanish and indigenous. Both my parents came here illegally in the 80s and eventually got citizenship. Spanish is my native language, and I didn't learn English until I was 5, but I was born in the US. I'm light skinned naturally but even a hint of sun makes me turn brown. But I'm not white, or African, or indigenous. It seems remarkably unfair to have to choose since we don't really categorize that way in South America. And on top of that, I don't even know how to answer the native language question. BS, I tell you! They need to find better questions to ask if they want to legitimately increase diversity. 

Some of them gave me legit anxiety. Like, you could tell that they tried to give all of the choices, but I'm like the most ethnically/racially confused person, you know? My dad is Mexican, but he got the weirdly pale genes, and he speaks five languages. So, he sounds European but people frequently ask if he's Chinese. Despite that, he's like 1/4 black, which mostly shows up in that I basically have an afro. My abuelita looks Philippina (is that the spelling of that?), and like half of my family still speaks Mayan. So I'm like ... Native American...? But like all the for those options were the ones like Cherokee. (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻ 

I should probably take this as an opportunity to talk about all my struggles and stuff... And about how BS it is to expect me to select a race when I'm Hispanic. It isn't easy. At all. 

I should probably take this as an opportunity to talk about all my struggles and stuff... And about how BS it is to expect me to select a race when I'm Hispanic. It isn't easy. At all. 

Good to know! The graduate director was very warm and kind--he made a strong impression on me. They are flying me out in March to visit the department! 

Woah congratulations! I definitely just immediately ended my phone conversation so I can keep my line open in case they call me. (Sorry, mom!)
If you do decide to go there, you'll love it. I'm taking a PhD level course in the Philosophy department right now, and everyone is super cooperative and supportive. It's a great environment to work in.

The graduate director of Emory just called and made me an offer! 

Could Duke please post already so I can stop obsessively refreshing my email? Very inconsiderate, Blue Devils. 

So did I! I'm from Reno, Nevada so New York is going to be an experience. I'm holding out hope for a few other schools but I would be delighted to attend Stony Brook. See you there (possibly)! 

Just got accepted to the PhD program at Stony Brook via email. 

Just got accepted to the PhD program at Stony Brook via email. 

Just got accepted to the PhD program at Stony Brook via email. 

Just got accepted to the PhD program at Stony Brook via email. 

Just got accepted to the PhD program at Stony Brook via email. 

Just got accepted to the PhD program at Stony Brook via email. 

Just got accepted to the PhD program at Stony Brook via email. 

Just got accepted to the PhD program at Stony Brook via email. 

Honestly, the only reason I applied was because it's free for CUNY students. But a lot of my professors teach at the Grad Center and advise against going there. It's difficult to work with some of the professors on the list and, very often, some of those professors haven't taught at the Grad Center in a while. That being said, I know a lot of grad students there and none have complained about funding to me, but I wouldn't be surprised. I heard bad things about their resources as well. But the NY consortium thing is pretty rad.