Tiglath-Pileser III

I'm on my second round. There's no stress, simply hopelessness.

Last year I sent emails out to potential POIs. Oddly enough, the school I go the most negative email response from was also the only school that I got anything from. From the schools that expressed exuberant interest by email, I got nothing but a form letter rejection. This year I sent out no emails and am just going to let the chips fall where they may.

This really depends upon the program and the school. While this is normal for most schools/programs in the US, in Canada a masters is normally required before advancing to the PhD. While I cannot speak for other programs in this regard, with Ancient Near East programs generally, a masters is the norm since there is so much to know and so many languages to learn in order to achieve academic competency. Interestingly enough, while one is more likely to be accepted into a program going straight from a bachelors to a PhD, those who go from a masters to a PhD overall have higher probability of graduating.

defying gravity

bee line

union brothers

blood brothers

chemical warfare

Look, a lot of crimes are based upon a violation of a system of trust, where you are only punished if you are caught violating that system of trust. Insider trading is one such crime. Someone stealing from your house if you accidentally left the door unlocked is another. To be very blunt, it is remarkably easy to create a forgery of a transcript. All one needs is a color laser printer, a scanner, photoshop, and a sample of an original transcript. As for checking up on him, he was only doing a bachelor's degree and as such his references went to an committee in the admissions office to people who were probably not experts in the field. Most admissions staff only do admissions part-time, let alone are not experts at spotting either genuine or false credentials. There is no universal systems of credentials that are accepted among academic institutions. American colleges cannot even agree on a common grade scale let alone a standardized format for secure transmission of credentials. Heck, there are still schools that send transcripts on 20lb bold paper that you can buy right from Office Depot. Right now, there is a "push" system of transcript distribution, i.e., students "push" their transcripts to the colleges. These systems are fraught with security problems, e.g., forgeries, and there is not a whole lot the admissions offices can do about it. However, just because he could get away with the crime because of Harvard's lack of diligence should not in any way serve as a mitigating factor in the exercise of leniency. That's like a purse snatcher asking for clemency because a senile elderly woman didn't have the wits to put one hand on her purse as she sat down on the park bench. The truth is almost no admissions office at any institution has the time to double-check transcripts or verify references. It is an impossible standard that virtually no school can meet. This is why very little onus can rest upon Harvard in this matter, and this is also why the penalties for these kinds of crimes need to be very stiff as the penalty is really the only deterrent for these sorts of crimes.

whale hunt

My consolation prize was a MA at a very prestigious university. Not quite what I wanted since I was applying for the PhD, but it wasn't a complete rejection either. Basically, I would consider a consolation prize any offer that's less than the brass ring. A "qualifying year" before admittance into the PhD where you'd have to reapply the following year might also be a consolation prize--you didn't get in, but you weren't left out in the cold either. Another example might be being admitted to a program other than what you applied for. My sister applied for a graduate fine arts program in the field of ceramics but was admitted into a "textiles and integrative decorative arts" program instead. Consolation prizes are a in-between state between accepted and rejected where some strange things can happen.

Not necessarily. It depends upon how acute the readers are to that rivalry. Mistakes like this certainly don't help. But they also won't usually sink an otherwise stellar application. So, relax. What is ordained will be.

perfect blue

opportunity awaits

Interestingly enough, one of the crimes he is accused of doing is identity theft. He wrote his own letters of recommendation on behalf of his profs. So, yes, as odd as it seems, he did have to resort to stealing someone else's reputation for his own advancement, which makes the crimes quite comparable. Like it or not, he's not some misdirected teenager or wag who pulled a few pranks. He is an accomplished criminal. He baldfaced lied to the admissions interviewer who visited him at Bowdoin college. He fraudulently represented his SAT scores. He fraudulently claimed to have a degree from Phillips Academy. He stole the seat of someone who would have gone to Harvard. He stole $45,000 in scholarships and financial aid. He plagiarized the work of researchers and materially benefited from claiming the work as his own. In the Harvard fiasco, he was charged with 20 counts of larceny, identity fraud, falsifying an endorsement, and pretending to hold a degree. The four larceny charges are felonies. But keep in mind that is was not the first time he was dishonest. He had been suspended from Bowdoin for academic dishonesty in the form of plagiarism, when he made the successful jump to Harvard. His crimes did not start at Harvard; they ended there. Quite frankly, letting him off with probation and restitution was a hand slap. He should have done a little hard time just to make an example of him. Perhaps not throw away the key but do misplace it for a while.

shoot them

quaffed potions

beast master

I hope they lock him up and throw away the key.

Cheating is absolutely rife at colleges today. It's not so much that there is shame involved. Higher education today is seen as a means to an end for getting a better paying job. It is credentialism, so parents and students alike want to seen Johnny get in and out as quickly and as effortlessly as possible. It is an attitude of entitlement combined with thinking that it is a victim-less crime. Cheating is a form of theft. It is stealing a level of achievement from others that earned it legitimately. Every time someone cheats it devalues someone else's scores, because scores are valued relative to what other people achieved. Just like bad currency drives out good, bad scores debase good. Cheaters make it more difficult for people who worked hard to get into the PhD programs we are all seeking. Remember Adam Wheeler? While we may mock Harvard for being bilked by that shyster for thousands of dollars in scholarship funds, we need to remember that in cheating he damaged other students by stealing a seat from someone who earned it and by stealing scholarship money that will never be recovered. Harvard is not the victim here; other students are the victims of his crimes. I despise cheaters and have no tolerance for it in any class that I teach.

wicked Cain

These forums are all about snatching victory from the jaws of defeat, so I hate to say anything negative about your chances. I'm no fan of the GRE nor a great believer in the test's ability to predict future success at graduate school. But, a combined 810 is a very poor score. Being that it is a religious studies department, your verbal is going to have more of an influence than your quantitative score. The average verbal GRE score for those admitted to the schools that you've applied for are as follows: Boston University: 540. Harvard: 578. Yale: 582. Emory does not publish an average of GRE scores for admitted students but does post a range of scores of students that were admitted (500-800V), so you can take from this that your scores will probably exclude you from Emory. Unfortunately, the GRE 50th percentile mark on the verbal was 456, which means you scored in the bottom half of those who took the test. And even though you are applying for a religious studies program, it is only fair to warn you that even if your verbal score was sound, don't make the mistake of thinking that you can neglect your quantitative score. Your quantitative score alone is low enough to exclude you from every program that you applied for. I had a friend who learned this the hard way who tried to enter Ancient Near Eastern studies with a Q<400 and found out that it excluded him from 5 out of the 6 programs that he applied for. The truth is few departments want a PhD candidate that can't read a graph. For most PhD programs, you really need a combined score in at least the 1200s. But for high demand programs like what you've applied for, you will probably need at least 1350. It's too late for you to do anything about it now. So, just relax until the results come in. If you don't get in anywhere, take the GRE again. But give yourself plenty of time to not only to study and take the test once but twice. A score that is an improvement of over 200 points can trigger ETS' anti-cheating mechanisms, forcing you to have to write it a third time. Best of luck...

I knew someone who managed to get into the U. Penn history department with a 3.4 GPA, which by all account is a very competitive department to get into. He had excellent recommendations and had presented papers at several conferences. It is possible to get in with a lower than normal GPA. GPA is only one aspect that admissions committees consider.

I'm also very private about my applications. I really only discuss it on GradCafe. I got quickly tired of the "professional student" cracks. My family really doesn't understand higher education and are not supportive of me--heck, they've marked all my mail "return to sender, no such person at address" since I left home fifteen years ago. I just found it easier to mail off my applications without fanfare. And if I get accepted, I quietly announce that I'm moving without giving a reason for it. The last time I "moved" it took two months before my sister even asked why I was moving. My parents know that I go to school, and they don't give a rip whether or not I'm successful. I don't have any compelling reason to tell them that I'm applying for doctoral programs until it is a fait accompli.