MichelleObama

we love to see it!! congrats!

GREAT NEWS!!! Congratulations!

This was so wonderful-- Congratulations!

Follow the protocol you would normally follow for responding to any professional email! You know how to do this, it's just a little/lotta bit more intimidating. You're already in the program, someone in your department wanted to say hi and welcome you...very cool. Be coooool, baby.

Lil bit! Accidentally devoting way more of my energy into trying to predict what will happen in the fall ?

BEST THING IVE READ ALL DAY! Congratulations!!!

I'm hopeful that the incoming fall cohorts will be forced to delay moving and will be online for the first semester--worst case scenario (I HOPE). I've been laid off from both of my jobs and am waiting to see if my unemployment application goes through, but I am absolutely relying on the practice of scholarship & the receipt of stipend to get me through this mess ? Applied for unemployment for the first time in my life, and the last application I sent was for Yale ?

@wccarter I got you! Sending you a PM.

I’ll send you mine!

Late edit due to lack of context: a UW Law student did not die from the virus, but was put on 2 weeks of self-quarantine, and this combined with the severity of the outbreak in the city is directly related to the cancelation of UW's visit. Another edit: Seattle isn't "a little ghostlike," it is a full ghost of a city at present ?

This definitely contributed...The majority of US Coronavirus deaths have been in the Seattle area including 1 UW Law student...Seattle is a little ghostlike right now so you aren’t missing anything @tinymica!

@merry night wanderer I read your first post as "non-traditional students shouldn't bother with Ivies" and my response was intending to counteract what I thought was a publicly defeatist attitude regarding the fact that non-traditional applicants certainly produce competitive applications and receive great offers too, and should definitely keep applying to institutions where they are underrepresented. Like, FOR SURE. 10/10. But I see now that you were really just trying to address the uncomfortable paradox of participating within a system which has been historically and institutionally discriminatory in a myriad of ways that generally don't work in favor of the "other," and certainly these demons manifest themselves saliently in the admissions process.

Thank you for all of this! Going to have a glass of wine and start drafting ?

I disagree with a lot of this, and not only because this was not the case for me; I was even told by my advisors and letter writers that my non-traditional background (I'm 31, attended 4 schools including 2 community colleges before receiving my BA, and have some 1.3's and 1.7's etc. on my earliest transcript from 2006) would actually make me more appealing as an applicant because my record shows persistence and continual growth. I met with literally all of my English professors for advice on my future applications as early as 3 years before I even applied. I was told by one of my letter writers, however, that I was possibly aiming too high and should apply to more schools outside of the top 10, but I had been researching faculty and current students at certain schools for so long and didn't have time to edit my application choices. Luckily, this cycle worked out very well for me! But I was certainly told by multiple professors/advisors that I would likely get multiple offers because of my non-traditional background, not despite it. I graduated with English honors and a 3.8 GPA, a research internship w a NYT bestselling author, a double major that included 2 years of Latin, and one creative publication I ended up on a brief in-state book tour for, all while bartending full-time and working late nights...the obstacles my background and transcripts reveal put my accomplishments into perspective, and I certainly don't think that this hurt my application.

I am having the hardest time writing these emails! I accepted my offer from Yale this morning and have sent a single email to the Graduate Program Director at Michigan (have yet to email the DGS back because I am terrified--her email was so kind!), and must also email Cornell's DGS and GS Coordinator. I know that one of my LOR writers is good friends with the DGS and I'm also afraid that he will be disappointed that I did not consult with him before accepting the offer, as I said I would...I really just had to accept the offer! I'm just so certain ¯\_(ツ)_/¯