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DBear

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Everything posted by DBear

  1. DBear
    Well, judging from @av2010's perfect record, you aren't the only one who love's sex - I think we are adult enough to interpret that in a mature way.. at least I hope we are hehehe... There really is A LOT of overlap and really looking forward to bouncing ideas off y'all!!
  2. DBear
    Maybe we should start a FB group - I'll add @ejpril88 to our chat
  3. DBear
    Okay - in light of the recent outages here at the gradcafe - I realized that outside this forum, there's no way to commiserate - Should any of you wish to keep in touch with me, please PM me and I'll gladly spill personal data!
  4. DBear
    HOLY MOLY!!! 3/3 Everyone, I think @av2010 wins this cycle! So now the hardest part - where to??!! Congratulations congratulations!! (and maybe if grad school doesn't work out, I can be a palm reader or something lol)
  5. DBear
    I don't think you suck for this - like for me, you're probably only left with your very top choices so it's harder to just out right decline an offer. @av2010 no word from Milwaukee yet? I'm hoping to see you get 3/3, that'd be legendary! @phdthoughts That's so interesting - reminds me a bit of a class discussion from a seminar I took on Drama and Humanism (or something like that..) and there was a play by Edward Albee called the "The Goat" - also this type of interaction is becoming a pretty growing field within Literature under "eco-criticism" - fun stuff!
  6. DBear
    @Sleam It really is the worst, the not knowing, right? I think after a certain point in being a "grown-up," you get really used to knowing what's next, what's expected of you, what you're supposed to do, etc. But I realized that a lot of the anxiety of this process came from not being sure if I was even doing it right. At work, or even social situations, things had started to get predictable to the point of monotony. If for any reason this season isn't successful, I think we can all help reassess the situation and try again. For me, I quit my job just so I can focus on my phd applications, so my application process started nearly 3 years ago when I began my second MA, so I've been at it a while.. Hopefully the schools will get back to you soon and you can move on to the next phase of planning! But I sincerely do admire your courage - 25 years since BA means there are a lot of things you probably had to take into account in even considering grad school. Remember to be proud of that courage. The thing I hear most often from people is "I couldn't do what you're doing" Hang in there!!!
  7. DBear
    So throughout this process, I had so many doubts. I was afraid schools would view my 10+ years of working/ studying completely unrelated things as a lack of dedication or focus. Not just the fact that I was older, but the fact that I was switching fields really made me unsure of myself. Then filling out the applications and inputting my undergrad GPA from over a decade ago had me completely depressed at one point because all those Cs.... Why didn't I study more? So after months and months of nitpicking myself and my life, when I actually started getting accepted, I came down with this strong imposter sydrome and a sort of survivor's guilt because I saw so many great research interests and so many well-prepared and deserving applicants who were getting rejections. I felt so guilty that I wrote this really sappy apology type thing to my field's forum. Then @phdthoughts so wisely said that it's good that this cycle is working out for me because it is evidence that being a non-traditional student doesn't mean mean you won't get in. Come to think of it, had I known other older students who'd been out of school, doing unrelated things but successfully made it back, I think I would have been a lot less worried. So here it is: I finished undergrad over a decade ago, got 2 MAs in fields unrelated to my PhD application (one was a professional, terminal degree) had a mediocre undergrad GPA, no publications... Yeah.. really not a resume to write home about. BUT I applied to 7 PhD programs and was accepted to 4 programs (mostly full funded, awaiting funding info for one and declined one before I knew the result of my fellowship nomination), am on 1 waitlist. I was rejected to 1 program and am awaiting one last program. Best part is that I made it into the program I was most excited about. So for those who may be worried about not being fresh out of undergrad or an MA, those who think that maybe all that unrelated work experience will work against you, there's hope. It took a lot of courage for everyone here to even decide to submit applications so let's just be proud of ourselves for a while! Have hope!!
  8. DBear
    @inpariswithyou With this in mind, I want to just say that you should keep an open mind about which program. I was soooo dead set on English Lit for so long that I ignored all the signs that it may not be the best program for me to pursue my interests. I thought Eng Lit was the thing for me because I liked it most in undergrad and I excelled in it then. So I went back for a MA in Eng lit 10 years after graduating from undergrad. It took a professor telling me point blank that I didn't really stand out among the budding Eng Lit scholars and perhaps I should look into rhetoric. So I started there and ended up looking at rhetoric programs within various English departments and then moving to rhetoric programs in Communication. When I looked at English dept websites and faculty interests, I ended up thinking "huh, would I be able to make it here?" "seems interesting, but not really my cup of tea" and I had a really hard time finding an English program that really excited me. On the other hand, with communication, I was SUPER excited. And a lot of Communication programs are humanities leaning (the POI at the program I'm considering now has a phd in English) and do look at literary texts as well as various phenomenology so... there's that. With your stated interests, I'd suggest looking at U of Iowa Communication Studies, Ohio University, University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Mass Amherst.... there are A LOT. I've been where you're at - really focused on English Lit and wanting to pursue that, but after realizing that I could do what I wanted and feel more welcome somewhere else, things just got a lot easier. I've also found that Comm Studies programs are much more open to take in people with diverse backgrounds. I have a MA in Enviro policy and a MA in English Lit and still got into several programs (with funding). So keep your eyes open. If you have come across any interesting scholarly articles about your area of interest, look at where the author is teaching or was trained - this may provide some direction. If you want to do a phd - go for it - you can do it! Just don't pigeonhole yourself based on interests that may have shifted after undergrad.
  9. DBear
    @ejpril88 lol, I've heard that faculty and current students do come here, but hopefully they won't be trying to figure out who we all really are - I'm hoping they have better things to do. That being said, I got paranoid and that's why I removed the school names from my signature. Also, I was talking to a friend today and she actually nagged me about having declined a couple of admissions already. I don't think I was being hasty, but it seems like most students wait to make their decisions at the very last minute. I just thought it'd be better to decline schools that I was sure I wasn't going to go to (relatively not as good fit etc) as soon as possible because there are so many other qualified applicants waiting. I also wanted to be done with this too. Fortunately, students waiting to make their decisions in March means there's still a LOT of room for change in waitlists and such. Unfortunately, this also means that it will take a while for this to be truly over...
  10. DBear
    Ugh, I don't think the forum is completely fixed. It keeps logging me out GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR @GreenEyedTrombonist Thank you! hehehehe - I'm glad we're all here till the "bitter sweet end" @hnm1231 ooh - I had an interview like that when I was applying for Fulbright. I think there were like 7 people in the room. What tripped me up the most was that everyone had such a different level of interest - one guy just kept looking at his computer and seemed bored. There was one person that seemed VERY unhappy that I was even being interviewed. Then there were the professors who seemed like they were cheering me on. So I think I paid way too much attention to trying to please that HUGELY diverse crowd and some of the stuff I said ended up being incoherent. So when there are that many people, just remember to stick to the question and don't worry about the "audience", just say what you genuinely mean - I think you'll be fine! @phdthoughts Maybe the rest of your people are all out interacting socially? hehehe.. However, for U Mass Amherst, I did apply to Social Interaction and Culture - so, hey! I'm here! @heyDW I see what you did there! Thanks for the parenthesis!
  11. DBear
    Let's hope the end is sweet...................
  12. DBear
    @The Shade King Dude, hope that doesn't mean you're going to ditch the Comm forum!!!
  13. DBear
    that's the truth, I reserve b/s for SOPs, Cover Letters and interviews
  14. DBear
    1) LOVE "fellow communicators" 2)... Another thing I dunno - gonna go google ECA - but most likely will be back home in Korea then so the answer is probably no.
  15. DBear
    @heyDW that's so scary sounding!! If someone cut out the bs in my statement, they'd be left with the title of the document lol oh, and maybe a few lines with facts about my past..
  16. DBear
    English Lit really isn't the most welcoming discipline when it comes to non-traditional students. I don't think it's impossible, but it won't be easy. I left academia and came back - but when I approached my old undergrad lit professor about getting a phd in Lit, he suggested I complete a MA first to get my feet wet. Not all schools are like this, but many don't really give you a lot of credit for creative, not-critical-work so I thought I'd use the MA to get a writing sample ready (from either a seminar paper or my thesis). Long story short, I ended up realizing that the barrier to entry was really high and that I actually wanted to pursue something else so I ended up applying for PhD programs in rhetoric (in Communication studies). I don't want to be discouraging, but it seems you already know what is working against you. You'd need to do quite a bit to compensate - like me getting a second MA at 34 - that was my way of compensating for having no one from English Lit to write me a letter + having no academic writing sample + just not knowing what English PhD programs want. PM me if you'd like more thoughts but I feel like I'm being a bit of wet blanket here so I'll wrap up.
  17. DBear
    @hnm1231 So you're going to go there for a physical interview? 6 people in 2 hours really isn't all that bad depending on how they do it. Most likely it'll probably be like 2, hour-long interviews with like 3 faculty members sitting together. They could potentially do 6 1:1 interviews in 2 hours, but that doesn't seem likely to be enough time for the faculty to get to know you. Just remember they liked you enough to have 6 people invest time in talking to you! Good luck!
  18. DBear
    Only one left to go! Rejected - U Penn Annenberg via email 2/15
  19. DBear
    >> MY COMM PEOPLE I MISSED YOU!!!! <<< 1) The following is what I wanted to post yesterday: Sorry for having gotten so sappy, but as always @heyDW with such reassuring support!! Thank you so much! My brain knows that what I thought were setbacks could also be advantages but after months and months of always doubting myself, it's hard to stop now even with the admits So will slowly work on thinking of the future and also looking forward to being "recreated" like @ejpril88 is. I'm not sure if everyone felt this way, but during the application process, it felt like I had a microscope to my entire life starting undergrad and I was closely analyzing everything I did like why there are so many Cs on my transcript... It was disconcerting to say the least! 2) Now for today's rant: @phdthoughts I never looked at it like that - thank you! Now that I think of it, I would want to see more people who did take a bit of a detour but still made it in academia - it would make me feel better. Also, I don't think they do interviews, but I didn't know if l should be a bit alarmed that my POI didn't reply back to me directly and had the dgs reply instead. So! I got my rejection from U Penn today and so am down to waiting for U Mass Amherst - almost done with this cycle..
  20. DBear

    :mellow: is gradcafe being broken the universe's way of telling me I spend too much time on this thing? 

  21. DBear
    Sorry all, I feel like I'm rambling but am in a pretty strange (not in a bad way) situation in my life and find I have way too much mental energy left over. So, I've been doing very well this cycle and I honestly am stunned. 1) I'm not from Comm, 2) I spent the majority of my life after undergrad doing something completely unrelated and pretty irrelevant to Comm which I thought would make ad comms doubt my dedication to academia, 3) I didn't use any smart sounding Comm jargon in my application materials due to reason 1), 4) I'm older than most so felt like schools may be reluctant about someone this age that needed to start from scratch. Being here and reading what people wrote didn't really help my confidence though I found much comfort in the sense of community. Everyone is so articulate about their research interests and so passionate and so many from Comm backgrounds who are already teaching and know so much more about everything I know nothing about (I had to look up what forensics means in a non-CSI context). So been feeling guilty thinking I really don't deserve it and I just got super lucky. Everyone that talked about their interests here on this forum is seriously impressive and there is still ample time for everyone to get the good news they deserve. But I thought of this analogy that I thought I'd share because I haven't used enough brain cells today. Imagine there's a hospital that really needs a heart surgeon and a pediatrician. You may be the best brain surgeon in the country, but that hospital probably can't hire you. I feel like I just happened to be a pediatrician. This has made me feel less guilty... Sorry for rambling.. I guess I'm feeling imposter sydrome at the moment... I'll spend the rest of my excess energy wishing everyone well!!
  22. DBear
    So it's Valentine's day tomorrow (depending on your time zone, it may already be Valentine's day) I hope everyone gets much love from their schools! And.. it's also the halfway mark for Feb, we got this far so hopefully we won't need to wait much longer!!
  23. DBear
    I actually like the idea of @phdthoughts and @ejpril88 at Purdue together- but obviously it really doesn't matter what I want, but just putting my preference out there! @phdthoughts, did you have any contact with U Mass (I assume this is U Mass Amherst) prior to applying? I emailed a POI and she forwarded my mail to the DGS who then replied... when I emailed the DGS asking whether they do interviews or not, I didn't get a reply so.. not sure if they have a radio silence policy during evaluation processes.. @ejpril88 well,I think I just got really lucky, I'm sure that my rejections are coming soon!
  24. DBear
    @phdthoughts and @GreenEyedTrombonist thanks! All my good juju is going over to you guys! I seriously don't know what's going on here...
  25. DBear
    @GreenEyedTrombonist wOOt! thank you! we're already collaborating so well! Also, I see you applied to NYU - is this for Anthro or Comm?
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