angesradieux

It's even more frustrating because a few days ago she was texting me about how she's been bragging about my admissions offers to her friends, and so and so used to work at school A and said if my choices are A and B, I should go to A because X, Y, Z. And when I visit I should mention so and so's name because he used to work there. And I'm sitting here thinking that if she really cared about my decision, would asking for a ride to the airport really be such a monumental hardship for her? But whatever. Guess my accomplishments are relevant when she wants to play "my horse is bigger than your horse" and impress her friends, but taking an actual interest and helping me make an informed decision is too much to ask. Looks like best case scenario I'll have to find money to stay an extra night, because all the flights to the airport my parents can get me to land at an airport that's a three hour bus ride from campus and depart too early on Tuesday to accommodate the visitation day schedule. The flight from the other airport would also have been less expensive, but since I don't see any good way for that to work, I guess I'll just have to shell out the extra cash. Because I have so much extra money laying around right now. *sarcasm*

I'm really frustrated trying to make travel plans to visit schools. Once school is kind of difficult to get to, in that there are no direct flights to the closest airport, and even getting there with a flight involving a layover is expensive and flights aren't all that frequent. There are no workable flights I've found out of the airport I would typically fly out of. The next best airport that actually has a flight that works is about an hour and a half away and in another state. I already wasn't sure if the flight was feasible due to the expense, but now it also looks like getting to and from the airport may only be possible if I'm willing to spend a small fortune on car service. I was hoping family might be able to help me out, but looks like that isn't happening. My dad can't drive me. First, he's already had to take a lot of time off work for medical reasons. They've been great about it, but he doesn't want to rock the boat by asking for more time off. Plus, he had major surgery on his leg a few months ago, so I don't think he could handle what would essentially be 3 hours round trip in a car. However, I have an aunt who lives about half an hour away from said airport. Her house would be a much easier drive for my parents. I was kind of hoping that maybe she could help me get to and from the airport. Keep in mind this isn't an aunt I never see. She and my younger cousins stay with us all the time. For a while, one of my cousins went to summer camp not far from our house, and they stayed with us basically the whole summer. My sister and I help her kids with school projects and babysit and stuff. And she's also my godmother. So we're close, it's not like this is a distant relative I only see once every couple years or something, so I guess i was hopeful that she'd be willing to help me out with a ride. Well, when I texted her and I got a few excuses that basically boiled down to it might be inconvenient, so she doesn't want to. Which, fine. I guess that's her prerogative. But all the same, I'm a bit disappointed. Especially since she's planning on bringing my little cousin's friend over to our house for a play date, which comes with the implicit expectation that my sister and I will help entertain the kids. A while ago, she was also on my case to teach the younger of my two cousins piano at our house over the summer, so she wouldn't have to pay for lessons, and whenever either of them needs something musical she isn't shy about asking me to buy it for her so she can take advantage of my employee discount at the store I teach at. I don't mind it, but now I guess it's getting under my skin that she has no problem asking me and my family for favors but now that I need a ride somewhere, she's like "Nope! You're on your own!" It's not the first time. My mom wanted company while my dad was in for surgery a while ago, and my aunt said she would go, only to come up with an excuse to bail on her at the last minute and leave her waiting alone. Around Thanksgiving my dad was diagnosed with cancer and we were waiting for the biopsy to find out how bad it was. In previous years, they came over the day before Thanksgiving and stayed through the weekend, so this year especially we were hoping they'd be around to keep us company and help keep our minds off things. Nope. This year, my uncle didn't want to come at all and they ended up coming for dinner and leaving promptly. I guess this is just another in a growing list of disappointments, and I'm a little resentful because it feels like she expects us to make our house, time, etc. available when she comes calling, but Heaven forbid anyone asks her to reciprocate. I guess it's just that if my aunt or my cousins needed something and I could help, she knows I'd do it in a heartbeat. Same with my parents. Generally, if her family needs something, we're there, and she certainly doesn't have any qualms about asking. But when the shoe's on the other foot, everything's just too much to ask. Or maybe I'm being irrational and reading too much into the situation because I'm already stressed out over travel plans and admissions decisions that are still pending. Nevertheless, the lack of support frustrates me and now I'm approaching the point of "Whatever. Maybe I'll just have to write back and inform these people that I actually won't be able to attend their visitation days."

I see an acceptance on the board from Vanderbilt. Wonder if that means I'm not getting in? Or maybe my POI is just less proactive? I don't know. Given rumors of an unusually small incoming class, I'll probably assume the silence means a rejection. I'm a little surprised, just because I thought Vanderbilt would have been a better fit than another school I've been admitted to, but I guess admissions tend to be pretty unpredictable. But I just want to know! A rejection won't totally break my heart, though. It would have been a good fit, but I think I would have had a really difficult time convincing myself to move there.

That sucks. They can be a pain when it snows. There were a few times I had the opposite problem--the university closed, but didn't make the call until I'd already driven to campus. I got the e-mail after I'd already been at a bus stop for half an hour trying to get to class and had seen a couple buses get stuck not too far from the stop. Since I was already there, I hoped to be able to hang in the student center for a while to wait out the storm, but nope. They closed everything and I had to turn around and drive home. Could've been worse, though. I know there were a some people who ended up more or less stranded on a campus they didn't live on because they were able to get a bus to class, but by the time they were trying to get back the buses couldn't operate. At least I hadn't been able to get a bus yet, so I was on the same campus as my car. There were also a couple times I missed a class because the university had a delayed opening, but by the time I would've had to leave the roads were still dangerous. Fortunately my professors were generally pretty understanding about it as long as I let them know. Right now I'm kind of leaning towards attending a grad program further south. If that works out, I won't be missing the various botched snow day scenarios!

Thank! I'll look into it.

I used Google flights. I found one flight that might work, but it's way more expensive than what I was bargaining for and it's in and out of a different state, so getting a ride to the airport and back home might be tricky. Doable, but expensive and difficult to arrange. I'm kind of annoyed the visitation days are so soon. I wish I had more notice, maybe then planning wouldn't be such a pain.

Anyone have any tips for planning visits? Helpful travel sites, best times to look for flights, etc.? I'm trying to plan my trip to Illinois, and I found a hotel I can afford, but I'm having a hell of a time trying to figure out a flight. So far I've only found one that doesn't involve a 12+ hour layover.

Good to know! It makes sense that they'd use more spice than we're accustomed to, but I probably wouldn't have thought of that if you hadn't pointed it out. When I get around to exploring, I'll make sure to start out with smaller amounts and adjust as needed. Should be a fun adventure!

Just found this site. http://blogs.getty.edu/iris/imagining-the-culinary-past-in-france-recipes-for-a-medieval-feast/. And the BnF Gallica database has all kinds of scans of old documents that can be downloaded as PDFs. I bet I could find some recipes there. And then it isn't really procrastinating, because that's the database I do most of my research in, anyway, and the recipes will be in French so I'll be keeping my language skills sharp. So many ways to justify procrastination...

Darn it, I was hoping they'd go out this week. Vanderbilt's the last school I'm waiting on. I'm kind of assuming it's a rejection since I've heard other people also saying they're taking an unusually small number of students this time around, but I just want to know for sure. Once I have all the decisions in hand I can stop obsessing over it and find something else to stress myself out over.

That sounds like fun. I haven't tried historical recipes before. Recently, I made beef wellington to cope with a rejection from my top choice school. Now I'm waiting just waiting on one more school and it's driving me crazy. For a while, there was a rumor that their decisions would be out Friday, but now I'm hearing late next week. So I'll probably be in the kitchen quite a bit. I think today I'm going to try a recipe for chicken pot pie. I've taken to burying the anxiety with comfort food. I'm also figuring pot pie will be nice when I do go off to grad school. The recipe I found is freezer friendly, so I can make extra to keep frozen for when I'm too tired or busy to cook something fresh but want something healthier than supermarket frozen dinners. But I'll have to look into some historical recipes. I'm having visions of organizing occasional historical recipe pot luck type things. Except first I'll need to find some friends. But I'm going into a history program. Shouldn't be too hard to get a handful of people on board with combining history and food, right?

That's perfect. Exactly how I feel right about now. xD

Congrats! I would have loved to go there, but I ended up not applying because my POI said he was thinking of retiring soon and there wasn't anyone else who would have been as good a fit.

From the email I got from her, she seems really nice. I'm just easily flustered. So maybe history is the perfect place for me, because it attracts people who are similarly awkward? I don't know. I'm excited because she seems like a really interesting person and it'll be nice to talk to someone else who switched from the performing arts to history, but I'm afraid I'll just start babbling.

I'm a super awkward person, though. And a professor there was a professional ballet dancer before teaching French history. My own career goal before changing gears was to be an opera singer. So being a performer and then a historian, she basically lived both of my dreams, and I really, really admire that. I'm afraid I'm going to get all starstruck and not know what to say. Socially awkward+admiration=probably saying something really stupid.

Anyone else starting to get really nervous about campus visits? I'm pretty sure I'm going to make an idiot out if myself in front of at least one professor at UIUC.

This is very true. Frankly, qualifications are only a part of the picture, anyway. It's possible that you're POI wanted you to be accepted, but couldn't sway the department for any number of reasons--lack of funding, university politics, trying to recruit more students in a different field, etc. The list goes on. As much as it's important to have a great writing sample, strong recommendations, etc. there's also an element of luck. Sometimes, it comes down to applying to the right school at the right time. Maybe next application cycle, circumstances within the department are different and you get an admissions offer. You never know. I know I spent a day being miserable and treating myself to comfort food and wine after I received my rejection from Hopkins. No matter how much you tell yourself it could be due to any number of circumstances beyond your control, the rejections still sting. I don't think there's anything wrong with acknowledging that rejection sucks and giving yourself time to be upset about it and cope. The important thing is that you pick yourself back up once you've taken the time to process the disappointment and frustration. But who knows? Maybe you'll get offers from other schools and find out somewhere else is actually a better fit.

I'm planning on giving my letter writers a small gift, probably chocolate. I was originally thinking about some homemade things, but now I don't know. They're being a little evasive when I ask when might be a good time to stop by, say hello, and give them a thank you card, so I'm not sure if I'll have enough notice to make something. After I defended my undergraduate thesis, I made gougeres for my second reader, which she seemed to enjoy. I planned to do the same for my advisor, but somehow it worked out that we weren't ever really on campus on the same days/times, so I got a gift card to a coffee shop on campus I knew she frequented, put it in her card, and left it in her mailbox. In terms of letting them know, I've been e-mailing them as I get acceptances. However, that's mostly because I've had pretty frequent e-mail communications with one professor, so I mentioned it to him in passing during one of our conversations. Once I'd told one person, I felt kind of obligated to tell my other letter writers shortly after, because even though it was unlikely I didn't want to run the risk of the person who knew saying something thinking I'd already told them.

Nice. I've received an offer from Illinois as well. Are you planning on visiting? I think Vanderbilt might be a slightly better fit than Illinois, but it's all a crap shoot, especially if they really want such a small cohort. I'm a little tempted to reach out to my POI just so I don't have to wait anymore, but if the projected date for sending out decisions is the 10th it may not be worth it.

Then I guess I won't get my hopes up for good news. Thanks for the info! Hopefully you get some better news from other schools.

Thanks! So hopefully the wait won't be too much longer. That's the last school I'm waiting on, so once I have their decision, I will be free from the waiting game purgatory!

Has anyone heard from Vanderbilt yet? Or have any idea when they usually make their decisions?

November 1? 0.o I'm impressed. I had deadlines December 6, 12, and 15, and I was panicking and scrambling over all of them. I wish I'd had the discipline to get them done that early!

I'm planning on going to their recruiting days on March 6-7. The fact that it falls on a Monday/Tuesday is really convenient for me, because I have to take off a a stretch from Thursday-Saturday later in the month to visit another school. My work schedule rotates based on the day of the week, so it would've been kind of tough to take off the Thursday-Saturday stretch twice in such a short period of time. I was kind of cringing a little bit at the thought of trying to make it work until I looked at the calendar and realized it's not an issue.

The DGS from UIUC contacted me to let me know that I've been admitted with five years of guaranteed funding, the first of which is a fellowship. Second admissions offer!