magnegresswrites

same ?

I'm sorry to hear that ? but thank you! I appreciate it.

Probably like most others, I've been advised to prepare an elevator pitch about my research. I'm curious to hear how others have prepared their pitches for interviews. For instance, should I mention my primary research questions within the elevator pitch or should I wait for a follow-up question? Should I mention what primary scholarship I'll be working with and through now or (again) wait for a relevant question? Any thoughts/input would be helpful!

Ah okay. Congrats to that person. Hopefully that means more decisions will roll in this week.

Damn. How and when did they find out?

did you get an interview with UPenn? If so, I wouldn't count them out just yet! I haven't seen anyone post an acceptance yet I didn't get an interview so I'm banking on a rejection from UPenn

congrats! and I'm assuming the same thing ? I applied to Harvard and phone calls *should* have gone out today (based on previous years). oh well

lmao yea I'm so surprised that they haven't contacted any of the accepted students yet. clearly they know who was accepted since there is now a waitlist, they just want to torture everyone else (and me too! since I'm waiting hopefully for people to turn down their offers).

After reading through all 23 pages, I think I've managed to compile the most salient (at least for me) and still relevant pieces of advice as far as grad school supplies Laptop - While most people have a laptop, it was recommended by several people that folks in a new laptop (unless yours is less than two years old) and make sure you get an extended warranty (one that will hopefully last the entirety of your program). Note: look into funding opportunities for laptops within your department. Some will finance a new laptop for incoming grad students! Desk - L-shaped came highly recommended, given the extra space. While i love my little desk, I may invest in a larger one by year 2. Chair (Desk) - Investing in a good chair was stressed many times. You will likely be spending many hours hunched over a desk. get one that will be comfortable for your back, but won't put you to sleep. Chair (Reading) - a separate reading chair was recommended for those hours upon hours where you'll be reading. a comfortable chair or couch was recommended. Printer - there was some debate regarding the pros/cons of a printer. In an increasingly digital age, I don't think a printer is completely necessary. ESPECIALLY because so many universities have printers available and printing costs included within stipends. But this will depend on the person Scanner OR File Cabinet - One person had recommended getting a file cabinet and regularly organizing it so as not to fall behind (if you are someone who likes having physical copies of everything, then go for this option). HOWEVER, someone then chimed in to say screw a file cabinet. just get a scanner. and i thought that was an excellent idea! just scan everything you need and chuck the physical copies (unless its like your birth certificate or something) Coffee - Coffee maker, coffee carafe (to keep it warm for those days of marathon working), french press. you get the idea. ALTERNATIVE: electric kettle for tea drinkers Large Water Bottle - lets be sustainable folks! Snacks - for those long days Wall Calendar Dry Erase Board Noise Cancelling Headphones External Hard Drive Dongles - actually didn't see folks write about this, so I'm adding it! Dongles/adapters are constantly changing based on your device. Get the one that is specific to your computer to HDMI and VGA, and you should be set for most campus systems! Paper shredder - unless your campus has a shredding removal service like my current one has. I'd say take advantage of that Travel - Luggage, toiletry bag, international travel adapter/converter, etc. You will presumably be traveling a bunch! Get the right travel accessories if you can Desk accessories - post its, highlighters, pens Notebooks - it seems like everyone has been unanimously pro-moleskine notebooks on here. mmmm I'm not! What *EYE* recommend is going to your local art supply store, and buying sketchbooks from there. They are usually so much cheaper. And most art stores have artist and student memberships available, so you can get major discounts. I just showed a sale and got all my notebooks and pens for less than $30. Just my opinion Software - Just some of the software that came highly recommended and that I felt like was still relevant today: Evernote. Zotero. Scrivener. CamScanner. Nuance. iStudiez Most of this is hella obvious. But some of these I hadn't even considered! And its nice to think about these things early so you have enough time to save up or search the internet for deals. I curated an Amazon wishlist based on the information i listed above. Let me know if you'd like me to post it here and make public! And remember: 90% (if not all) of this is OPTIONAL. Let's not make academia seem more inaccessible than it already is. You will excel regardless of whether or not you have these things. There's always borrowing. lending programs through your university. free services through your libraries. There are options! Hope this is helpful to those reading this post 8 years later! It was certainly helpful for me. Aside from curating a great list of things i want, it also helped distract me from decisions this week ://////

Congrats on the acceptance and interview! That is helpful, thank you. I went looking through the results for UPenn and someone noted that they interview everyone who is admitted. So I guess that's an implied rejection. Oh well.

perhaps not ? people are using the results page to ask questions, it's getting confusing lol

It looks like Harvard decisions from more humanities departments are starting to roll in. Fingers crossed that means decisions this week for most disciplines

agreed. its been all over the place. a phone call feb 16 here, an email in mar 4 there. but I'm still eyeing this friday as like the big day for decisions. and if i on't hear by then, i'm going to assume rejections or waitlists.

nice! i'm waiting to hear back from a few of those as well. I saw there was a UPenn interview up. Do you think UPenn is interviewing everyone they are considering, or could they be reserving interviews for folks they're kind of unsure about? I'm basically trying to decide if I should give up hope or not haha

Thank you so much for this! I just thought that being waitlisted meant you sat on your ass and waited...apparently not! Question #1: is it unreasonable for me to ask if the waitlist is ranked? and if so, can i ask where i am within that list? I don't want to get my hopes up if I'm like 4th or 5th in line. Question #2: lets say there are rumors floating around that there will be a new hire within the school (that perfectly matches my research interests and is the ONLY one in that field within the department) I'm applying to. would it be just out of pocket for me to include the fact that they are hiring that person within my email reaffirming my interest??