Tiglath-Pileser III

My greatest fear is being admitted into a PhD program and not having the financial resources to relocate to the school. 2010 was a very hard year for me.

When I told my parents that I was leaving a 6-figure career that I hated to go back to school to study theology, they practically disowned me. It was only 6 years later when my mother came down with cancer that they decided to talk to me again. The odd thing is that they considered my values all messed up for pursuing something I love over making lots of money. However, when I was making that kind of money, I found it much more difficult to keep it, because of the extended hours they expected you to work, the eating out, and the level of appearances you were expected to maintain. I was unhappy, stressed, and despised working for managers that were no better than high school dropouts. I'm much happier now doing what I like.

new shoes

I'm feeling really burned out this year, thanks to a combination of school, financial woes, and health concerns. I'm really having a hard time feeling anxious about my applications. I haven't even checked up on them to see if all my letters of reference arrived. I'm really leaving this up to God this year to make things happen. In my field, there are too few schools and no "safety" schools as it were. So if it doesn't happen, there isn't a whole lot I can do about it. If I don't get in somewhere this year, I've pretty much resolved to call it quits.

Most MA programs in the Americas are two year programs. In some circumstances, a one year MA acts as a qualifying year for a PhD program. Think of a one year MA as a "try it before they buy" program. If you do well, it can lead to an admission into the PhD program. Or, if you don't do well, it's kind of a "thank you for playing" prize. Many schools when looking at your Master's qualifications will not so much look at the final degree, as the coursework you did leading up to that degree. So, here is the rub. If you are using an MA as a stepping stone to get into a PhD program, adcomms are going to look for two years or more of graduate coursework, i.e., does your coursework add up to what they would recognize as a MA. If you are using the MA as a means to become an expert at a particular subject without the entanglement of a dissertation, a two year MA may be appropriate. If you are doing it to impressed an employer in the private sector, you may want to do a one year since corporations look at final degree completion instead of course work. If you have been already doing Master's studies for five years and need an extra MA for credibility with adcomms, then you may want to consider the one year MA. Which direction you choose will depend upon what are your educational goals.

4 out of 5 rejections. I'm feeling lower than a limbo stick in Jamaica at carnival time.

I agree that $45K total debt isn't that much. In that case, I would take the dream school. But if it was much more than that, I would take the funded school.

Gee, that would be nice... I wish I could say that myself. Good luck on that one, dude. I was never able to achieve that with ten years in the corporate world. I would tell my manager that the computers were going to blow up. And when they did and I would ask my manager why he didn't listen to me, he would tell me that he "liked what the other guy had to say better."

I haven't got one either. I'm 4 out of 5 rejections. I only have one hope left, otherwise I'm in masters purgatory for another year.

It depends. If you know there aren't many seats, and you receive reliable information that someone got accepted. By reliable, I mean that someone actually fesses up to have been accepted there (and not just posted to the results page). Then you can presume that you've been rejected from that school. That happened to me. One particular program I applied to had only one or two seats available. Why did I apply? Because I thought I would be a very good fit with a potential advisor. Well, I heard reliable info today that someone was accepted into the program. March sucks!!!

Ah, one opinion by no means covers the entire field. Selective citation is never acceptable as a blanket statement covering the opinion of an entire field. So, the truth value of your statement is weak at best and probably false. There are plenty of philosophers who do believe in God, such as, John Feinberg, William Lane Craig, and Alvin Plantinga. I did my undergraduate degree in philosophy focusing on the philosophy of religion at a secular university, and I will say that roughly half the philosophers there believed in God. Ironically, at my undergrad institution, more philosophers believed in God by a large margin than those whose academic focus was religious studies.

over thrown

I know one poor girl who applied to U of Wisc-Madison and received a personalized rejection that read, "You are unqualified to be considered for this school and you will never be qualified to be considered for a PhD." Fortunately, another school disagreed with that assessment. But I could not believe the lack of class displayed in that rejection letter.

This statement is suspect given the fact it is a generalization (at best) and a faith statement (at worst). It is a de jure attack posing as a de facto statement and probably not appropriate for a forum where despairing people are desperately seeking hope. Don't you ever tire from making enemies?

heart breaker

shady deal

A lot of people write their results as a visceral first reaction to a rejection. When they fail to attain the lofty goal of PhD acceptance, they will respond with frustration. Later, after some reflection, a considered and circumspect view might emerge. Don't take the comments too seriously.

chewing tobacco

gum arabic

Anytime a prof tells me this, a red flag goes up. Too often, I find, this is double-speak for "I'm don't really care about your future (because you will do well whether I help you or not, because I'm too busy, because you are annoying and I'm trying to prevent you from advancing, because someone else in the department will help you, etc.)." Although it is kind of hindsight now, your husband should have been more aloof. You shouldn't have moved until he had something tangible in hand, because some unknown idealized student on an application always looks better than a real person in the flesh. New students are kind of like shiny new toys for profs; they always play better in the commercials than out of the package. Unfortunately, it is often true that the student that is known has to fight harder for a seat than some guy far away. Now, at some schools the opposite can be true too, where home grown students are much more attractive than the outsider. But even in this case, your husband would have work hard to claw and tooth for a seat, since these seats are rewards for the superstars. So even in that case, the "no reason to worry" advice should be ignored.

I don't know. I was a philosophy student and I thought it was very helpful. Furthermore, you seem to infer that being an atheist is at an advantage in this situation. I would dispute that one's religious persuasion necessarily provides advantage or disadvantage. The theist might also have an advantage in that he can claim that God may be preventing an even worse situation from occurring. People are not always better off when they get what they want, just look at the long-term prognosis for most lottery winners. Statistically, after five years, the overwhelming majority of people who win the lottery end up in greater debt and with less friends than before he/she took their winnings, yet people always pine "if I only could win the lottery." Just because one doesn't get an acceptance does not necessarily mean that God hates you or is screwing you over, although it may feel that way in the moment. Immediately, after my undergraduate degree, I was prevented from going onto a graduate degree for a variety of reasons. I had to be in the work world ten years before I had another shot at a graduate degree. In my case, I could have taken this as a "no" and I did at the time. But in reality it was a "not yet."

dog tired

feeling sick

I would say that it is a very good sign. But, don't get your hopes up until you see something in writing. Although I would say, it is very promising.

Sigh... but I'm not ready for a break. I already had my stint of depression and burnout, fortunately it was just after finishing my applications and thesis. I'm not as freaked out now as I was. At least I have an acceptable plan now if the other two applications come back rejected. However, I don't want to slow down my progress right now. Getting my MA's began after a long stint in the work force, and I'm not quite ready to return to that. I really want to continue with my research. This semester has been a bit of a slack semester, so I have recovered for the most part. So, I am quite refreshed and am starting to generate new research and developing some new ideas. If I don't get get accepted anywhere this year, I will accept the one year MA at Toronto since it does not seem that difficult of a program, then reapply again for a PhD next year. Next time I will have 3 masters degrees under my belt.