Ufffdaaa

Congrats! I really like Winnipeg. It's the Slurpee capital of the world! 

I'm looking at placements for recent PhD grads, and I couldn't help but laugh at "Dr. XXX is a Scanning Technician at Digital Office Solutions." 
Me: This is my future if I pursue a PhD. 

Congrats! I really like Winnipeg. It's the Slurpee capital of the world! 

Another day... It's only 2:30 here, but I know that it's already 5:30 on the east coast. 
After a lot of soul searching (and reading about the dismal job market), I've sort of decided that I don't want to pursue a PhD any more. Despite that, I keep obsessively checking. If I didn't care, I wouldn't check though, right? 
So, do I really not want a PhD or am I such a control freak that I want to make the decision (instead of letting the schools reject me)? 

Chronic lurker here, adding one to the Buffalo herd! After a heartbreaker of a rejection last evening from OSU (my first official response), I was over the moon to get Buffalo's acceptance today. I believe I've finally stopped shaking enough to type. I know the post-acceptance euphoria is momentary...eight applications to go...
Many congratulations to all receiving good news from on high in this trying time. To those still in academic limbo: keep heart! 

Longtime lurker, first time poster, but I just got my first notification, and it was an acceptance to my top choice---SUNY Buffalo! I'm elated! This is all after I felt like I wasn't going to get in anywhere because I haven't heard from Madison or Chicago. 

With a straight rejection from OSU and an implied rejection from Wisconsin, I'm more chill. The emails will ultimately end up in my inbox. 
Also, @jpbends: Did you apply to the Literature department's PhD at UCSD? 

ME!!! ^^^^^

"Hello darkness, my old friend 
I've come to talk with you again"
 
^my internal monologue today. 

Maybe a little bit of both? I go back and forth. I know this is what I want to do, but I also know that my life will probably be just as fulfilling if I direct my energy towards something else, and caring so much about this feels borderline oppressive.
Also, if it is the case that you really don't want a PhD, it's still makes sense that you'd want to know about getting in. We've all spent a looooot of time thinking about / prepping for / investing ourselves in this. How could you *not* care?

Right there with you @Wooshkuh

Me right now: silence = rejection 

I think that everything @khigh said was fair except for winter. There's a reason people are "Minnesota nice." Winter is rough. People who have always lived in those conditions are tough. Do you know why "-20 is easy to deal with" (or -40 or -50 or -60 with wind chill)? Because you can't go outside! You spend your winter months running from a building to your car. 
Also, I'm not sure which months most of the country considers "winter," but winter can stretch from October to May. Once, my classes were cancelled in Fargo, ND in May for a blizzard. 
Did you know that we plug our cars in? I took my car in for an oil change while I was roadtripping around the US and an employee at a car repair shop came up to me and quietly asked (about my then 2001 grand am), "Why do you have a plug in sticking out of your hood? Is it electric?" 
I don't want you to be shellacked by winter. It sucks. It hurts. You walk outside and your face hurts. Like, stinging pain. If you try to walk a few blocks in -20, your legs will become giant ice blocks that feel like they each weigh 100 pounds. If you go outside without gloves, you will get frostbite and lose your fingers. If you plan on driving a long distance when it's that cold, you need to pack emergency supplies in case your car breaks down. The cold literally kills people. 
The food in the Midwest is amazing though! You've probably had Southern comfort food, but Midwest comfort food is its own thing! 

23 was so long ago. Anyone else in the nearly 30 club? 

Oofda. Can I say go Bison athletics, but go Hawks (Sioux forever) academics?

Can we talk about the GRE please? ETS makes so much money off of us. They know that most of us are applying to more than four schools (sometimes 10, 14, 17...). $27 to send scores electronically is absolute garbage. 

Oracle/Peoplesoft error when I try to log into Ohio State's system: "This is not a valid time to access the system. Click here to see hours of availability." 
Don't they know that I need to obsessively check for updates at 11pm Pacific on a Saturday night? Just give me the official rejection OSU! I know all of the acceptances went out last week! 

From what I'm gathering, the winter is like an interaction with a very dangerous animal: you have to respect it. If that's true, I think there's hope.

Oracle/Peoplesoft error when I try to log into Ohio State's system: "This is not a valid time to access the system. Click here to see hours of availability." 
Don't they know that I need to obsessively check for updates at 11pm Pacific on a Saturday night? Just give me the official rejection OSU! I know all of the acceptances went out last week! 

23 was so long ago. Anyone else in the nearly 30 club? 

I haven't heard back from any program, so I'm emotionally preparing myself to be shut out. I'm ready for 'em! 

Can we talk about the GRE please? ETS makes so much money off of us. They know that most of us are applying to more than four schools (sometimes 10, 14, 17...). $27 to send scores electronically is absolute garbage. 

I haven't heard back from any program, so I'm emotionally preparing myself to be shut out. I'm ready for 'em! 

Hahaha, so true, Sigaba. Again, out of upvotes otherwise I would've put one on your post. 
 
And yes, you get a stable income for 5-6 years. But, you're assuming that you would really be unable to find a job that pays you a cumulative... $90K in 6 years. To be quite honest, you would make at least that, if not more (because eventually you'd be promoted into management), if you started working at Wendy's for minimum wage right now. When I think about the lost income of grad school, I think about what my peers were doing when I was 3-4 years in and how much they were making. Most of my friends, even after adjusting for cost-of-living, were making somewhere between 2 and 15 times what I was making back then. A friend of mine got a job working in a brewery (making beer) and made more money than me each year that I was in grad school easily (plus, he got free beer from work!). Did I get to do things in grad school that otherwise I wouldn't have gotten to do? Absolutely, yes. But, there were costs to that, financially and otherwise. 
 
It's great to have a stable income for 5-6 years. But, to return to my earlier Wendy's example, 5-6 years there and you'd potentially be moving into management. After 5-6 years of a PhD, you may then go look for that same job you could've gotten before you started. If you end up un(der)employed for a year or two, will the degree still be worth it? Will you be able to go back to living on $7.5K after having $15-20K for 5-6 years? Are you really okay with carving out a living making $1500-3000 a course? These are decisions that seem far off now but, will be in front of you before you know it. 
 
If you want a real reality check, read the Chronicle and VersatilePhD forums where people talk about the difficulties of securing a position. On the Chronicle forums, you'll get the academic market difficulties. On VersatilePhD, you'll read about the job market struggles of those trying to get out of academia, even those with the kinds of additional/alternative experience I suggested to lazaria already. Both of those reality checks are useful because, to be quite honest, I'm sick of people acting like it's so easy to take your PhD and find another decently-paying line of work. The market sucks. Having a PhD doesn't mean you can get a job doing anything. You're a strong writer? Great but so are hundreds of other people, some of whom will have more recent work experience or internships to make them marketable. Or, they won't have a PhD, so they're more likely to get hired for an entry-level gig under the presumption that they won't leave and that they're willing to start at a lower salary. Is that harsh? Yes, but it's also true. 
 
As Sigaba pointed out, you can go in with your eyes wide open and still be a bit shellshocked by the market when you go on it. You'll think that you did all the right things (publish, get grants, network at conferences, develop a sexy subfield that is trendy) and still get 100s of rejections. It's like being the last kid picked in kickball in school except that no one actually ever takes the last kid, you just stand around on the side trying to show them that you do have skills while they ignore you or laugh in your face.

I'm so glad this thread is well being well received. I was a little nervous to put it up with the implied negativity. But there's nothing wrong with feeling blue! Also, it's easier to lament+worry when it's not on the same thread with everyone who (deservedly) is receiving the most amazing news!
I'm dealing with the radio silence from OSU and Notre Dame. Rejections went out for Notre Dame today, but I didn't get one. Hence my desire for this thread and the use
of @FreakyFoucault 's fabulous naming skills. 
P.S. Don't worry about Emory. You'll get in somewhere better