placeinspace

It's nice to meet another older applicant who also has a solid non-academic career! I'd like to think it's keeping me slightly saner as I know I'll be just fine if I don't get in (very upset, but also just fine).

I would stick to it. I had to cut mine down from 1400 to 500 for U of T, which was hard to do, but I'd rather follow directions than risk it.

@natalielouise I feel guilt really easily so I personally would email the DGS. However, I was advised by someone recently to not bring attention to anything late due to the craziness around the deadlines- they might not even notice.

Yeah, I am a passionate dog owner and feel adopting a dog was the best choice I've ever made, but I acknowledge the commitment is pretty steep (it's once of my biggest concerns about going back to school!).

As I struggle with anxiety over waiting to hear back, I'm trying to throw myself into other stuff. I'm a runner so I got a new coach and am beginning a new training plan to try and distract from the waiting. I'm also hoping to continue running races and training if I get into a program- it will really help me manage the stress. Any hobbies you guys have that you're using in waiting and hope to continue in grad school?

The waiting seems even worse this week. January is so close yet so far...

Me! I was explaining to my father the average acceptance rates for PhD programs and suddenly realized how slim my chances are. But the app money was worth it for me to at least try- though I say that now, but ask me in a couple months ?

@Warelin That does make sense, thank you! I know it must be a ton of work to keep track of all the applications. I guess the more time they have to get it all straight, the better!

This is probably a silly question, but do any of you know the wisdom behind December deadlines if the adcom isn't going to start reviewing until after winter break? It's just so interesting to me that some acknowledge that by placing Jan. deadlines, but others want us to wait a whole extra month.

Worries: I didn't mention my language experience on my apps because even though I took 8 years of German, I haven't used it in about 6 years, so I don't think I can be considered as knowledgeable with it anymore. But I feel now like this is going to majorly hurt me. Excitement: I remain super excited about my prospective research project for grad school. I also know that if I don't get in anywhere, I have an awesome backup plan that I could also be very excited for. Trying to be realistic and optimistic at the same time!

I struggled with this for so long and ultimately just went with an upfront intro of my research topic and how I got into it. I didn't use a "hook" or a story, though I had that in my initial drafts. It really is a personal choice. I would also ask a few people you trust (including professors or advisors) to read it over and see how they feel about the intro. That's how I made my ultimate decision.

Bringing this thread back for the Fall 2019 app cycle. Any other Americans applying to Canadian PhD programs? I'm in English lit and applying to U of Toronto.

Someone from last year had suggested sending a pen from the school they decided to attend, which is what I'm going to do. A small gift but probably very useful to an academic, and thoughtful!

Exactly my situation! It is driving me crazy. Living in a perpetual state of anxiety.

I'm 20th century American through an urban/spatial and gender lens. I already have an MA so I applied to just PhD programs.

I am FREAKING OUT about remaining LORs. Trying to politely remind them while not being annoying. Why can't they submit them all at once like one of my letter writers did? I am losing my mind trying to make sure they get them all in on time.

Absolutely. I started going through old threads on here to figure out when I can expect to hear. Definitely did not expect this level of anxiety after submission!

I'm trying to balance saving money with doing as much as I can before committing to living off a stipend vs a salary. It's going to be a very big lifestyle adjustment.

This is very interesting, I had no idea. I wish they disclosed this on the website. Thank you for your help!!

This might be a bit off topic, but I was reading through some old threads from last cycle and saw people got interview requests for UChicago English PhDs. That seems to be a bit of an anomaly, right? I didn't think the humanities did a lot of interviews (unlike STEM or MBAs, which are super interview heavy). Can anyone validate/give more info? I didn't realize I'd have to budget time off work for an interview anywhere (not saying I will definitely get one, but I'm very Type A and try to plan for any contingencies).

I'm not in your field, but I strongly suggest you go with your gut and choose Dr. X, who you already know is supportive of you and your work, and is familiar with your background. My mentor was in a completely different specialty than what I ended up doing, but she was incredibly helpful and supportive and willing to go above and beyond to help me out because of our rapport. I truly think this is the best you can hope for out of an advisor.

Omg yes,100%. I’ve had trouble reading for pleasure for a while now because my brain is like “you should only be reading books related to your research topic to improve your SOP!” I am so relieved to just have this whole process over with soon.

Submitted 3/6 applications today. Of course now I’m afraid I made a mistake or something, but I guess at least they’re done? ?

Same, even though I know I had good reasons for narrowing down to the 6 I'm applying to, it seems like so few compared to a lot of other people.

I'm not sure how your program is structured, but my MA program had PhD and MA students in the same graduate courses, which elevated the level of discussion a lot. That was the main difference for me between undergrad and MA. As for the courses not feeling connected, I think it really helps if you try to find a way to connect the topics to your own research interests as best you can. I'm not sure what field you're in, but for me, if I was in a course based on a different time period than my own specialty, I would incorporate the theory I was using in my thesis and apply it to the course texts. For final papers, this really helped me deepen my understanding of the theory, while expanding my knowledge to more diverse texts. However, if you have done similar things WRT connecting material to your specialty and still don't feel a lot of passion for the program, then I agree with @ElizabethIsGolden that you might be in the wrong field.