amazingtomatoes

Any idea how the parking is on campus? Any permit parking lots? I'm going for a visit at the end of the month, but I'm looking at the off-campus housing options online. I'd love to get a studio in Miami Beach, but the prospect of driving without a place to park is unappealing. While we're on the subject, how are gas prices? Extortionate, I'd assume?

Slightly different situation here. SO and I are in the same field. He was a year ahead of me, got into an Alright School. I have now gotten offers from Alright School, but also Sweet University that is far, far away. Thing is, for my specific area, there is a Sweet Advisor at AS, and not so much at SU - it has more of a strong faculty profile all around, whereas Sweet Advisor is the only person at AS working in my chosen area in the field. Ugh.

Chain-smoking, reading up for my undergraduate thesis, trying to understand Hemingway's short-story form on the side. It's not really working. After all, I am here at almost 5 am. (In my defense, I just slept for 8 hours. It's still pathetic though.)

Saw Jeff Tweedy last night Been listening to a lot of Being There. Other than that, been listening to tons of Of Montreal, esp. Satanic Panic and Hissing Fauna. Haven't heard the new one yet...

Chill, dude. It's probably nothing right now. Breathe.

So, I only have one application that's giving me a status on my application beyond "Confirmed" or "Completed"... you know, the standard things. I don't remember what this other one said before, but now it's saying "Pending". Do they mean "pending" as in "admit or reject will be posted later", or as in "we approve but this is pending with the Graduate School"? I assume it's the former and I'm just being neurotic. But I'm clinging to every ounce of information I can get. This crap is driving me nuts.

I know, can't wait for February. Hopefully the short month will be the month of my dreams.

The infamous anonymous watering hole for philosophy grad applicants is back. http://community.livejournal.com/who_got_in/89823.html I just went to check it out, and there are already 50+ posts! In October! How exciting. For those who don't know, the who_got_in community on livejournal is the virtual centre for many applicants for grad school to trade thoughts, information, dirt, rumors, stats, frustrations... you get the idea. Each subject has a thread in the community, and I've linked you to Philosophy's. Last year's thread exceeded 5000 posts, and much of it is helpful, because there's usually at least one or two other people applying to some of the same schools as you - who might have answers.

WashU (Washington University in St. Louis) seems like your best, possibly funded bet for social and political philosophy. It is where they excel, as opposed to, say, NIU, which works more in M&E.

Thanks for that vague, unhelpful reply. I did not need to be told it was "bloodsport" or any of that vague, anthemic talk. As someone applying to grad school I'd better know that it's tough. I was only trying to begin a conversation.

Hey all. I know this board isn't too busy right now, but I thought maybe I could get something going (for all of our own morbid curiosity). GRE scores? How many times have you taken it? How did you prepare? Are you taking it again? And, since we all clamor for information, what have you heard at your undergrad institution and elsewhere about the role(s) GRE scores play in graduate admissions? My own experience: [redacted] I'm disappointed in the AW (really thought I hit that 5.5, at least) but pleased with the percentile I received on the verbal. I include percentiles because I've heard that in some admissions committees, it is not the scores but the percentages that are calculated into a function with GPA to rank applicants or to place applicants above or below a cutoff line. Any thoughts on whether I should retake the test? I'm stratifying my applications, applying to (in Leiteriffic terms) one top-10 school, one-two 10-20 schools, one higher-20s school, a few schools clustered in the lower-20/upper-30 area, etc. I know that for at least the higher-tier schools, the low AW places more pressure on the other areas of my app. Will it prevent them from giving it a serious look, do you think?