The Interdisciplinarian

I do! I'm trying to get into an American Culture Studies program where one can emphasize in a few areas that have crossover with pop culture. Like, I would literally teach a class about Parks & Rec or something, haha. (No, probably not that narrow, but maybe loftier sounding, like Depictions of Women in American Situation Comedies, 1970-2015 or something.)

Parks and Rec is so good. S1 is kind of terrible, though. You have to kind of grind through it as fast as you can, knowing that by the end of the final season, it's basically a different show.

Ugh ugh ugh, New Girl without Zooey is painful. I didn't mind it before they brought in Megan Fox, who is honestly very talented but I feel like her character is set up to be every guy's weird dream woman, a sort of woman who does not exist in real life AT ALL. Jess is kind of the opposite and equally unreal, the Manic Pixie Dream Girl trope, whereas I like Cece and felt like they would have been just fine letting her fill the Jess void while Zooey finished maternity leave. Megan's character is humorless and dour and ticks off too many boxes of ick for me.

@raaawr, Mindy can have her stuffy grumpy Danny, so long as Jeremy remains available. Hee hee. @Neist, which program do you fear is rejecting you? Did they email you in a way that was worrying? Ugh, emaillllll, why do you stay still and silent?? I found out a friend of mine who I don't think uses GradCafe got rejected from her first choice PhD site. Over the freaking weekend. Ugh. THOSE EMAILS COULD COME ANYTIME, PEOPLE. WEEKENDS ARE NO LONGER SAFE.

Oh, my gosh, @FoxAndChicken, that sounds pretty amazing! I kind of like the original idea for your ending, but I think a funny/happy is better for the audience. Fiction writing can be great therapy for getting out frustrations and working through things.

Haha, I'm finding the little random Mindy Project thread hilarious. I'm still on season 2, but I'm spoiled and know where everything is headed. Jeremy is only JUST now starting to turn into a mess, which is so sad. I'd still go for flabby, neurotic Jeremy in a heartbeat (hello, he's still British, which trumps everything, really). No news. Februgatory marches on. In the novel I'm writing, my protagonist has now gotten really drunk A LOT of times, and her best friend is making questionable life choices as well. If I wind up getting a rejection this week, I may kill off the primary male love interest just for funsies.

CONGRATULATIONS, @Neist! That's awesome! No news at PhD level yet, but sounds like this may indeed be the week!

Oh, gosh, that's such a bummer. I'm sorry.

I'm currently a college lecturer, so I told my direct supervisor and the program director who assigns me my courses, because I felt like they had to get a heads up that planning for next year could change. If either of them spilled the beans, I guess I don't really care who else knows. I wouldn't be THRILLED if my department chair or dean found out quite yet, not because I think they'd be mad if I leave but more out of embarrassment if I don't wind up getting accepted.

Argh, really? I'm scared to do that! I worried I was a PITA to the admin assistant when I was applying (one of my LORs was really late and I started to freak out). While she was super nice (and additionally wonderful on my campus visit before that), I don't want to bug her. Eons ago, I was a department secretary, and I know that while I would have been sweet to any students inquiring, not everybody would be. :/

Good luck everyone! Today might be a big notification day for acceptances--Valentine's Day present, getting things off the plate before Presidents Day weekend for schools who get it off, etc. So one thing I'm doing while waiting (other than drinking and complaining) is working on a novel. As Februgatory pain intensifies, I've noticed my protagonist is getting increasingly more neurotic, going to dive bars, exhibiting nervous behavior, having nightmares and the like. I'm not sure this project is providing the artistic distraction I need.

Same here. It seems like BG last year had a big flurry of notifications on or around Valentine's Day, so it's possible that wait might end very soon. If only. But seriously, I would almost rather just know so I can start planning the rest of my year in terms of income, vacations, courses for fall. If I don't get into this program, there's a few one-year grad certs I could still do, and I'd want to jump on that.

white light

Oh, I'm so sorry.

A watched pot never boils. I finally resorted to letting Outlook display new email in my system tray and a little floating notification on my screen. Usually I leave those options turned off during my workday, since knowing I have new work email is gross, but that's also the address I'll get my inevitable PhD rejection in, so. Better to know faster. I'm almost at the point where I'm going to set my phone to autocheck email with great regularity.

Woo! Congrats!!!!

Februatory, day 11. Stardate 11/2/2016, 10:03 EST. These are the days that try our souls, as the emails come and the emails go. Inbox full of no import. I will not sell my textbooks, nor will I survive this waiting game. My life is full of naught but pain.

bright star

well qualified

Ugh, @gingin6789, I'm sorry this is happening. I'm not experiencing this from outside of my family, unfortunately, but inside it, and several close family members are WTF-ing about what I'm doing. It all comes down to practicality and money. Right now, I have a good paying job that's unstable and killing my soul, and I've been in it for a decade now. I need to pursue the PhD in order to move forward with my career, and if that means taking a big pay-cut for a while and drastically changing my personal budget and priorities, I'm all for it. Everyone else very close to me would be delighted if I don't get in, because then it means I'll stick with the job for at least another year. This is seriously how they are reacting. Conversely, my colleagues in academia (the few who know what I'm doing) are all like, "Go for it! Yes, you are right, there is no way to further your career without that final student-y step." So I feel acutely that if I DO get accepted, I need to film one of them confirming this and show it to all the naysayers in my life.

Sounds like if they went out of their way to spin the email positively, you must be pretty high on the waitlist, @heddatron! Good luck!

Oh, man, these are hilarious. This is absolutely cheering me up as I wait. And wait. And wait.

I know, that's kind of what I'm gleaning from last year's results. I'm not so much bored as feeling like I can't really plan certain things past summertime, including starting on fall syllabi, since I have no idea where I'll be. Grumble grumble.

Ugh, the results search isn't that helpful when you log things super casual like four days later! COME ON, PEOPLE. Who are these folks who are like, "Oh, right, I got accepted there. That was last week. I should probably update that." (Sorry. I'm sure it was literally no one reading this thread. It's not even for my program, just a different PhD at the same school.)

Kitties are lovely stress relievers. Mine has been a bit of a help during this tough waiting game.