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spcgsw96

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  1. Upvote
    spcgsw96 got a reaction from arctic_ice in 2017-2018 Application Cycle   
    Not exactly but quite close (170 verbal, 168 quant, 6.0)
  2. Like
    spcgsw96 reacted to Dirichlet in 2017-2018 Application Cycle   
    While there's still plenty to go with 20 apps (and I am sure there will be at least one success!), leaving last year's cycle empty-handed (at least in terms of US programmes) has taught me a valuable lesson. You can always apply next year, and you will be a stronger candidate. These decisions are almost stochastic in nature, and any given number of rejections is a poor predictor of one's academic potential in a crowded field like this. Don't let the decisions distract you from your ambitions. I had exactly the same thoughts last year, having put so much effort into it - and yet, after that disappointment, I persevered and it worked out this year instead!
  3. Upvote
    spcgsw96 got a reaction from audre.bored in 2017-2018 Application Cycle   
    Exactly haha, cannot imagine how I will feel if I end up with 0/20...
    Also requesting "Regret" and "Many Qualified Applicants" 
  4. Like
    spcgsw96 reacted to Chuck Mangione in 2017-2018 Application Cycle   
    They do not, at least from my experience. 
    If it makes you feel better, I also feel incredibly horrible right now which is only compounded by the fact that I have work on Monday. On the bright side, I have video games to let some steam loose.
  5. Like
    spcgsw96 reacted to buckinghamubadger in 2017-2018 Application Cycle   
    There is a lot of stress and everything going around right now, so to make you guys feel a little better I want to tell you my story. 
    I was an AP scholar with distinction in high school and entered to one of the best public universities in the country with sophomore standing, but couldn't even get into my state's flagship (Cal is tough to get into). Once I got to college I struggled academically and put more focus on extra curriculars. At one point I had a 2.6 GPA. But I began to turn it around about the time I started interning in the state legislature. I thought my academic career would end with undergrad until I wanted to write a senior thesis and the Political Science department convinced me to take a grad seminar instead. I loved it, but I didn't do particularly well. I got an AB, which is like the B+/A- range at my undergrad institution. I realized that I wanted to go back to grad school, but thought that this was another 5 to 10 years or so away.
    Then I graduated. My first job out of college was working on my last political campaign, and I hate campaign work, so I was miserable. I decided to move back home. I was unemployed for six months until I got a job in a law firm that I also hated. I decided to go back to grad school a lot sooner than I expected, but I knew what I wanted to do- teach undergrads.
    So I enrolled in the closest MA program to my house. When I got there, I put in the work and I excelled. I earned a 3.9 GPA, presented work at seven different conferences and became the first student in the program's history to get an article under peer review (though I have yet to publish anything). 
    Now, I'm 24. I'm have a master's. I have been admitted to three PhD programs already and I am starting a semester long job as an adjunct professor at a local Community College. If you had told me at basically any point in my undergrad career that I could achieve these things so quickly, I would not have believed you. Is my first job out of grad school going to be at NYU? Probably not. But I'm still proud of how far I have come and I know I have it in me to go farther.
    So I know rejection stings. I hope no one strikes out on the cycle, but some of us may. But above all else, pick yourself up, lick your wounds and keep going! Maybe some of us will decide that we don't want to be academics after all. That's okay as long as you do what you love and go as far as you can with it. Your life isn't over because you didn't get into Princeton or even if you don't get in anywhere. If the latter is the case, work hard and either try again next cycle or go do something else you like. This is a particularly tough profession, but it's tough to do anything well. We have to be resilient. I want to remind people who are being rejected from top schools that there are plenty of good programs and those who see the rejections piling up without an acceptance that all it takes is one! So please, please, please, don't lose hope.
  6. Like
    spcgsw96 reacted to CandyCanes in 2017-2018 Application Cycle   
    I got an offer of admission from Berkeley just now! Came from the Chair of the admissions committee. First acceptance! Was having a terrible day up until now since I didn't get an email from Princeton, but it just turned around pretty rapidly....
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