[Accepting or waiting]

Hi, I need a little bit of advice here.

I have a really good offer on the table from a good program. Tuition waiver, 15k/year, summer fellowship and possibility of teaching summer courses in my home country. I went on a campus visit and liked it very much. The professors are very nice, the atmosphere in the department seems very good and there are a couple of professors that seem a really good fit for me. They also have a program in Second Language Studies which is one of my intended areas of specialization.

However, I'm still waiting to hear from three other schools. I know I won't go to two of them, even if they accept me. But I have doubts about the other one I'm waiting for.

The department itself is not as good a fit for me as the other one, and I would have to take two courses in Literature, which (no offense here for the people in Literature) I don't really want to do, unless necessary. However, I would be able to take courses in the department of Linguistics, which is one of the strongest ones in the country.

One little problem with this other school is that I sent them an e-mail last week asking about my status and they told me that early in February they had sent me an e-mail (which I never saw) telling me that they hadn't received my sample paper (really?) and that, therefore, my application was not complete. I sent it to them, but now I don't know whether I'm still in the game for that school.

What do you think? Should I accept the offer I already have on the table or should I wait to hear from his other school just in case? Thank you!!!

[Plans for April 15]

Take the money and RUN!

LOL! I'm definitely doing it. I received an e-mail from my dream school saying there will be no funding for me.

I'm really happy with the other school anyway (and not only because of the funding), so it's not a big Greek tragedy.

[Plans for April 15]

If it weren't a Thursday and had to work, I would spend the day sleeping. I haven't had a good night sleep for such a long time (since January), first obsessing about admissions, and now obsessing about the decision. I've been accepted to my dream school (no word on funding yet) and another school that has turned out to be a very strong competitor and where I've received guaranteed funding for 7 years (2 of MA and 5 of PhD) plus a summer fellowship. However, I have the impression this won't stop, even after accepting an offer. Then, I will start obsessing about whether I made the right choice and how I'm going to organize my moving there. I'm doomed.

[Die Schweiz oder Amerika???]

Don't worry about your parents. I'm sure they will understand. My case is the same as yours, but in the other direction. I'm from Spain, I came to the US for one year to teach, I'm in my third year and have just been accepted to Grad School. I was worried about how my parents would react when I told them that I was applying to Grad School. What was supposed to be one year, has turned into 10+ years (three working, two of MA, minimum 5 of PhD, etc.).

They told me they were really sad, but that they knew this is what I want to do, so if it made me happy, I should pursue my dreams. They have been really supportive, and they are already making plans for their 3rd trip to the US.

[I would like to thank...because...]

Mmmm..., people I would like to thank:

VIPs:

The three professors who wrote my LORs;

the three professors who read my SOP (one also wrote one of the LORs);

the woman at the career center who helped me with my SOP and my resume (coming from Europe, I wasn't sure about the American format);

my friend who graduated from IUB (same university that has accepted me) for helping me with the process (she was also international, so she had gone through the same process: TOEFL, GRE, Financial Statements, ...);

my family, for supporting me even when that would mean having me thousands of miles away from home for the next X years;

my friends/colleagues, for bearing with me during these weeks of anguish without yelling at me or kicking me in the ... (I guess I'll have to invite them for dinner to compensate for my constant moaning)

I'm pretty sure I'm leaving people out, I just hope they don't take it personally

[They really do keep track of how many times you check your application!!]

I can imagine the email i am going to receive...

Dear perspective student,

We were going to give you funding but decided not to after realizing you checked your application status over 1000 times.

In fact, we decided you are so crazy we are withdrawing the offer of admission.

Well, if they did that, I'm pretty sure they would be left with no students. We're all obsessed over checking our application status!!!

[If you get in next year, how old will you be when you start your PhD?]

I'll start my MA this fall a few days before turning 30, and hopefully, the PhD shortly before turning 32. I graduated from college 8 years ago, but I've been working in four different countries during this time, gaining experience in my area of interest. I'm almost 30 but, while most of my friends have stable relationships and secured jobs, I have no stability in my life and I depend on financial aids to pay for Grad School. However, I've travelled to many countries, met people from even more countries and have had experiences that I wouldn't change for anything. When I graduated from college one of my professors suggested me to get my PhD. At that time I thought of it as something totally unreachable (I couldn't see myself doing research at all), but now, I know I'm ready for it. It's finally the time. These years wondering around have been what I needed to get ready and discover what I really wanted to do with my life. It took me a while, but I'm finally here!

[Admitted student visit]

One of mine has a visiting day, the other doesnt mention one. I've both schools I have been accepted to on a pre-application basis, but for the school that doesnt have one, I'd feel a lot more comfortable if I visited anyway--they shouldnt have any issue with that right?

After I got admitted in IUB I contacted the department asking them whether I could visit the campus (they didn't invite me to any visiting day). The professor I talked to was really happy to hear of my intention of going and told me it was very normal for students to visit the campus. I'm leaving on Wednesday for Indiana and I should receive my final visit schedule by mail today or tomorrow. I will meet with the Graduate Studies director and two professors I asked to meet with. I will also attend one lesson, have lunch with current graduate students and have a campus tour.

So, no, I would say they shouldn't have any issue with that. I would even assume that it would actually make them happy, since it shows that you're still considering them as an option.

[Post-admission stress disorder (PASD)]

Good to know I'm not the only one feeling like that. I have my mother constantly telling me: Honey, you can do it!! But it's my mum, so she doesn't really count. I have to remind myself that if I've been accepted, it's for a reason. There are plenty of people out there that went through the same as us, and they made it through. So, why can't we?

Good luck!

[How will US universities evaluate your foreign degree?]

I had the same problem. I hold a BA degree from a program already extinct in my own country (they changed it completely due to the Bologna thingy). So it was even harder for me to calculate my GPA (I found no information whatsoever as to how to do it). I also had the problem of the overall GPA and the major GPA. In Europe all your GPA is you major GPA!!! There is no way you can take courses in several disciplines for two years before you actually concentrate in something, and nobody would concentrate in Quantic Physics and Theater at the same time. You have to decide your "major" before going to college and attend the appropriate school (at least in my country, universities have different "schools" for the different "majors": nursing school, philology school, med school, engineering school, economics school, geography school, and so on).

My grades were also an issue. I'm currently working at a US college and I've had the opportunity to take some undergrad courses. Now I can proudly say I'm a straight-A student! Never in my live had I received an A in college. It was almost unthinkable in my university. Passing was already an achievement and it was normal failing some courses and taking them again in September. Or having them for a second year/third year (depending on the professor and the course).

Having said all this, I'm pretty sure US universities are aware of this fact. They receive a lot of international students every year so they should know of these differences. Plus, education across Europe tends to be similar, specially now with the new changes, so it doesn't really matter whether your school is internationally known for grade purposes, since the system is.

I didn't have any problem with my grades in the end. The translator translated the grades into As, Bs, Cs, and so on and the schools I applied to accepted them (in fact I've already received an offer). The fact that I'm applying for a program in a Spanish department and I'm from Spain might have helped, but the school has the last word and nobody complained.

I hope you don't have trouble either. Good luck with your applications!!

[driving license]

I've recently rented a car in NY state with my International Driving License (I've been here since August) and had no trouble with it. I thought of getting a NY's license, but I was discouraged by the fact that I had to give in my national driving license (even when they can give it back to you when you return to your country if you ask them to). I know it doesn't work like that in other states. Some people told me that you can just hide the fact that you already own a driving license and pretend that it's the first one for you. But I'm not sure how legal that is.

My best advice is that you call the DMV and explain your personal situation. Nobody better than them to inform you of this.

[SPANISH 2010]

Solicité el programa de literatura. Recibí noticias de su parte ya en enero. Suerte con tus solicitudes!

--North Star

Gracias!

[SPANISH 2010]

¡Que emoción! Acabo de leer los comentarios de todos ustedes. Hay un montón. Ya es el 10 de Marzo y me faltan tres respuestas. Me ubico en dos listas de espera. Simplemente quiero saber las últimas respuestas para poder aceptar una oferta.

Les deseo mucha suerte a todos!

-North Star

En Georgetown, ¿has solicitado para Literatura o Lingüística? Estoy pendiente de su decisión y no sé cuándo voy a recibir noticias.

[Indiana University (Bloomington)]

I've been accepted at IUB (for Hispanic Linguistics) with a good offer from the school, but haven't made a decision yet (I'm still waiting to hear from 4 other schools). However, and unless I receive a really attractive offer from somewhere else, I'll probably end up there. I'm going on a campus visit in a couple of weeks and I have a friend who graduated from there. She really liked it.

[Location]

Location is definitely an important thing to take into consideration. I have been living in a rural area for the last three years without a car, and my social life at this point is totally inexistent. Apart from undergrads (too young for me), there are only deer and squirrels where I live. And without car, well, my life is basically work, and getting bored at home the weekends. So, definitely, location is going to be a key factor when choosing my destination.

[SPANISH 2010]

No sé si hay alguien que haya mandado solicitud para el programa de Lingüística Hispánica de Penn State, pero por si acaso que quede constancia. Acabo de recibir un e-mail diciendo que aún están revisando las solicitudes y que habrá noticias a finales de mes. Así que nada... toca esperar.

[The positives thread]

Ok, here I go:

- Two scholarships by the Spanish government to be a foreign language assistant (one year in England, one in France)

- 1 tiny publication

- 3 years as Teaching Fellow at a US Liberal Arts College (the first one as a Fulbright FLTA)

- Took courses while a TF at the College (GPA 4.0)

- Native speaker of Spanish

- Fluent in English and French

- 3 years of Latin

- 2 years of Classical Greek and Mandarin Chinese

- 1 year of Japanese, Italian, German and Arabic

- Many years of Basque (nobody needs to know that I already forgot almost everything I learned )

- Super GRE of 1250 (not native speaker of English, not US-educated)

[SPANISH 2010]

Hola a todos.

Yo estoy desesperada. Mandé solicitud a 6 universidades y aún no he recibido notificación de ninguna. Lo único que recibí fue un e-mail de IUB hace tiempo diciendo que antes de que terminara febrero sabría algo. Si eso es cierto, hoy o mañana sabré algo. Pero lo dudo mucho.

¿Alguien sabe algo de cómo andan los programas de lingüística del español en el tema decisiones? La espera me está matando.

[Make the (irrelevant) emails stop!]

Don't you just hate stupid phone calls? I was in the shower this morning when I heard my phone ringing. I got out of the shower half-covered in my towel, ran to the phone and... A lady asking for some Mrs. Whoever (wrong number). Result: both my desk and my floor all covered in water. Thankfully there are not neighbors on the other side of the road to see me running half-naked through the window.

[MARCH IS IT!!!!]

Hi, I'm a newbie here. This wait is killing me!! I submitted my apps Nov. 5th so soon it'll be 4 months of anguish. Aaaarghh!!! IUB sent me an e-mail telling me to expect an answer no later than Feb. Since I haven't heard anything from them, I guess... MARCH IS IT!!!!