emiliajulia

happy February 1st, everyone! it looks like we may be nearing the final stages of the waiting game!

happy February 1st, everyone! it looks like we may be nearing the final stages of the waiting game!

happy February 1st, everyone! it looks like we may be nearing the final stages of the waiting game!

happy February 1st, everyone! it looks like we may be nearing the final stages of the waiting game!

Those of you contemplating contacting POIs/DGS after rejection, wait.  Wait until the entire season is over, meaning until April or that you have been rejected everywhere.  If you got waitlisted or accepted somewhere else, there is no point in having a conversation.  Everyone will be happy that you've been admitted somewhere, no matter the ranking or prestige of the program.  There are many, many opportunities down the road to work with these professors.
You do not want to be That Applicant who can't handle rejections and starts whining the minute they happen.  Professors deal with rejections all the time themselves and they have learned to accept most of them with grace.  Rejections hurt no matter what.
You also want to get off the emotional roller coaster as well so you can begin to look at the process and your application more objectively.
There can be a possibility that the POIs will not remember much about your application (particularly for large fields) and there were factors out of their control (internal politics).  Be prepared for a range of responses from "Sorry, I can't remember your application and I'd have to go through your file again" to "Your statement was relatively weak.  Here are some suggestions for strengthen it..."  Some might be upfront to say that they had a limited number of applicants they could admit and there was someone else who was a better match.  Some won't say much in that way but you'll find out in the fall when new graduate students are posted on the departmental page.  Some are going to be willing to be honest and direct while others won't want to say much out of fear of hurting your feelings (That actually happened-- one of my favorite POIs didn't tell me that he had picked someone else until I met his student at a graduate seminar a year later.  I realized that this kid was a better match for the POI than me.  My current adviser was a better match for me anyway.  Awkward but...sometimes you just have to laugh.)
As for interviews, just be prepared for anything.  Like any other academic interviews, professors feel at liberty to ask a range of questions intending to test your skills, knowledge, interests, and tastes to make sure you can fit in with the departmental culture and intellectual community.

One of my biggest worries is that I'll get a notification while I'm teaching (I'm not supposed to look at my phone/email during class, but you can only watch the same TED Talk so many times before it's not interesting anymore), and either be like "GUYS I GOT ACCEPTED YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW GREAT THIS IS!" or cry in front of a room full of high schoolers. And I have no desire to relive my junior year of high school.

Waiting's a zillion times harder on weekends (for me), because I have more free time/wifi to check my email. I know I'm probably not going to hear anything. Does that stop me? OF COURSE NOT.

Wow that is even more cruel. The cynical part of me that loves dark comedy imagines like 10 professors crowding around a laptop, passing around a bottle of Jack, laughing their butt off, saying "yeah, hit send again!!!" And then laughing uproariously once more.
The only possible explanation.

Vanderbilt (Peabody) Education Leadership Policy And Organizations, PhD (F12) Rejected via Postal Service on 9 Feb 2012 A 10 Feb 2012 report spam I'm going to frame my letter and show it to them when they hire me at some eventual date in the future. Vanderbilt University Peabody College
Learning, Teaching, And Diversity, PhD (?) Rejected via E-mail on 20 Jan 2009 I 31 Jan 2009 report spam it was a dream; now it is over Harvard Graduate School Of Education Education, Masters (F10) Rejected via E-mail on 9 Mar 2010 A 9 Mar 2010 report spam Email to check site. The fucking letter on the site wasn't even finished. Like they couldn't wait to send me the rejection. Who sends out a letter of rejection and leaves it hanging in mid-sentence. Fucking assholes. Harvard Graduate School Of Education Math Education, PhD (?) Rejected via E-mail on 27 Feb 2009 A 27 Feb 2009 report spam cant even get into the ed school i guess harvard is not going to accept me for anything maybe summer school? Harvard Graduate School Of Education Ed.D, Other (?) Rejected via E-mail on 27 Feb 2009 A 27 Feb 2009 I fart in your general direction!  
This one is not a rejection or funny, but it made me smile:
Harvard Graduate School Of Education Private School Leadership, Masters (S14) Accepted via E-mail on 7 Mar 2014 ♦ A 8 Mar 2014 report spam 3 Applications and 3 Acceptances-Rice, Columbia and then Harvard. I finished my undergrad at 27 years old from an open-admission university (which means from a tragic university in the middle of nowhere that doesn't even have an application and accepts everyone). Therefore, take heart and follow your dream. The only thing limiting you is how much you believe in yourself!

I'm celebrating my acceptance into UChicago with a Chicago-brewed beer: Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout. Absolutely delicious.

Instead, I responded to his e-mail with the following:
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$$$$$$__$$____$$____$$____$$____$$
$$____$$$$________________$$____$$
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___$$$__$$______________________$$
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When you used to enjoy your subject area forum but now...

 

Proud co-victim of the Berkeley massacre, 2016.  and--many congrats to the NYU admit!! I'm finishing my MA there at the moment, so get in touch if you have any questions about New York/the school! 

Yes absolutely! Good luck!
I'd like to hear from Yale and Columbia soon! I am expecting to get rejected, despite having one of my recommenders being from Yale.  Quickly already!

Ah the annual Berkeley massacre.

oy, I just got the email from Berkeley and based on the results page I think I know what it says, but....I have a date tonight and my first day of teaching tomorrow and I refuse to face the music until I can sit down and brood like a proper applicant. ?

aaah, thanks for the info! looking forward to a rousing week of nail biting, stress eating, and strong wine......

oy, I just got the email from Berkeley and based on the results page I think I know what it says, but....I have a date tonight and my first day of teaching tomorrow and I refuse to face the music until I can sit down and brood like a proper applicant. ?

oy, I just got the email from Berkeley and based on the results page I think I know what it says, but....I have a date tonight and my first day of teaching tomorrow and I refuse to face the music until I can sit down and brood like a proper applicant. ?

I've had two rejections (honestly a little relieved about berkeley because it was definitely not a good fit), but I'm still waiting on eight schools...starting to be afraid that i'm about to have 10 solid rejections this season. 
Hopefully some good news will come soon! 

Your POI should be contacting you very soon, so, patience. 
A general FYI: I was told Brown's selection will be finalized and sent to the graduate school today; final turn-around is about a week.

Got my first acceptance, to Boston College's Ph.D. program! I was not expecting to hear back so soon and BC is one of my top choices so I am really happy and excited. Is it appropriate to contact my POI again now that I have been accepted, or should I wait until I make my decision after hearing back from my other schools? Also, I just found out that I passed a standardized language test for my relevant language. Some schools asked for this info specifically so I listed the highest level I had passed and that this higher level was pending. Should I update them now that I have passed it or is it not that important?

So that was a very short waiting game haha (less than 48 hours?)... but congratulations! It sounds to me like you're the first on this board to get an interview invite.
What did it say in the email? How long is the interview supposed to last?

As far as interview tips I'd say 2 things I would add--which are exclusively based off what I read in this thread--are:
1) Someone here said something to the effect of, if you have an interview, they already have in mind if you are a principal or alternate and the interview is just to make sure you don't bomb. So, if you are a principal, a bad interview could knock you down to alternate or even nonselect. However, if you an alternate a good interview will not bump you up (comparatively it's less likely). Provided this is valid information, to me, I would take this as a bode of confidence, that your fate is already determined to an extent so don't over stress about making a big, positive splash on the interview; just be confident enough to not totally fall apart because it is mostly out of you hands at that point. This information (if true) should ease some of the pressure of the interview.
2) Again I'm getting this info through this thread, people have cited in the past how important having strong affiliations with the host location. So apart from having everything in your application totally down pat, I'd pay special attention strengthening you reasoning of, in your case, "why Poland?" and really be well prepared to knock that particular question out of the park.
Again, just my thoughts, hope my two cents adds up to more than nonsense!

I just got an email requesting a Skype interview with the committee in Poland; naturally they scheduled my interview for the one hour of the week when I'm teaching a class and really truly am not available. Here's hoping they'll be flexible!  Has anyone got any interview tips?