digital_lime

Yes.

I still haven't heard back from either of the schools I'm waitlisted at, and it's past business hours at both institutions... anyone else having the same experience? I assume this means bad news, but it's really impossible to tell.

I don't have any data to back this up, but it seems likely to me that a Ph.D. from a Harvard or Yale would get you a lot further on the alt-ac market. HR directors with BAs might not know that the University of Michigan, for example, is a top-tier school that is a peer institution of the Ivies, but they'll certainly understand that Harvard is impressive.

Wow--my hot take on this was bombastically, unbelievably shitty! Oops! I'm going to thoroughly wash my feet with hot water and soap for at least 20 seconds before inserting them into my mouth. Stay safe, everyone, especially those who work in retail/other jobs that aren't able to be done remotely.

Finally rejected from Fordham! That's the end of phase one for this year's applications. Now I pray to the waitlist gods. How nerve-wracking.

I'm in purgatory too! I assume this thread might be a little barren, since by definition we don't have much news to report. I still haven't heard back from Fordham, but am thinking that because there are both acceptances and rejections on the board, and because waitlist notifications have tended to go out after acceptances and rejections, I may be waitlisted. Which would be cool!

Congratulations! I see that you're a medievalist, and can only hope that any Americanist acceptances simply haven't gone out yet!

I'm not a medievalist, but I go to a program with lots of them. They all seem to have a very high opinion of the medieval studies program at Fordham. I haven't heard anything about UW, though, so it's hard to compare. If it were me, I'd go to the school at which you believe you can produce the best scholarship. In terms of getting a job, prestigious publications will matter significantly more than the U.S. News ranking of the program.

Anyone want to claim the Fordham acceptance on the board? 😬

Edit: I accidentally posted on the wrong thread! Congrats y'all!

The news cycle is designed to induce, then monetize, feelings of anxiety. Your fears about the coronavirus are likely at least partially a result of your being emotionally manipulated for profit. If you're not traveling to China or Iran, the chances of your contracting the disease are extremely small. (The coronavirus has already reached my university, and nobody seems to care.) Even if you were to contract the coronavirus, there is an 81% chance that you would experience mild symptoms and then recover. The virus almost certainly won't kill you unless you're 80 years old or older, which I

Thanks for your kindness, internet stranger. You brightened my day!

I'm going to post a quick rant, which I'm writing for cathartic/therapeutic reasons. Don't take anything in it too seriously. In office hours the other day, I let my thesis chair know that I was not having much luck this season. She made a remark to the effect of: "I regret having wasted the time writing you a letter." She phrased it in a comical way--we joke darkly with one another--so it wasn't as if she was intending to be hurtful. But it stung, because before now, I had only thought of how disappointing it would be for me if I were shut out--not that it would be a disappointment to al

I got officially rejected by UVa! It's a bummer, but I expected it, since I made a mortifying typo in my personal statement. Just three more to go--and then, I'll be waiting to hear whether I get accepted off of any waitlists! So this process could drag on until April! I think I'm just learning to live with the uncertainty.

I've been going through some similar feelings. I'm on two waitlists, but that's no guarantee that I'll get in, and last week, I was in a bit of a "dark night of the soul" place w/r/t grad school and my applications. After thinking about it a bit, I feel much better. Here's what I've been thinking: I think that many of us who apply to graduate school have this idea that getting a Ph.D. is the only possible route to a fulfilling life. That's not the case, though. There are many ways to live a creative, intellectual, productive life that have nothing to do with the contemporary university--a