Small potato

I'm having a hard time deciding, too! I definitely feel like I'd be happy at either program and I'm also just grateful to have gotten in. The two programs I'm considering are both fully funded, but one is offering significantly more of a stipend. The one with the better financial package is ranked a little lower than the other one (although obviously these 'official' rankings are usually out of date and not the end all be all). I'm really excited about the faculty at both schools, but in terms of my main subfields, they have different strengths and weaknesses. I feel like I've exhausted the list of questions to ask current students and faculty, I've made pro/con lists, talked to one of my former professors, and I'm still torn. What else are you all doing to help you make decisions? Does anyone have any less obvious questions that they asked students or faculty that they found particularly illuminating?

Hi everyone! I'm reapplying this year, and I've been trying to work on my app materials. I'm also considering language learning, since I'm pretty solid with my first language but my second one is very rusty/basic at this point. Also just catching up on standard readings that I feel like I missed out on. I'm also super stressed about the impact of COVID-19, especially because I haven't seen a lot of grad websites updated for 2021 and even this Grad Cafe thread is pretty silent 0.0 What's everyone else doing?

I also have LORs from a “prestigious institution” and even though I’m starting to be mentally prepared for next year, the thought of telling my recommenders about this year fills me with dread. I know they put a great deal of effort into my letter and I hate to disappoint them. They had such high expectations and well here I am lol

I’m really starting to get some false hope about Columbia. I wish it would just come already. Reading theory during my lunch break is providing only slight relief ?

I also haven’t heard! I’m just functioning under the assumption that I’m rejected and my rejection won’t come for a while... kind of like what happened with Brown for some people

Completely agree! I took it for granted that I knew I wanted to do academia for basically all of college, if not longer. I didn’t do enough thinking about what it means to transition out of undergraduate research into graduate school research because I got so used to knowing how to navigate my own university, and I think this is giving me the opportunity to really reflect.

Really really hoping the Harvard and Columbia rejections come out today. I’m starting to feel like I just wasn’t ready this cycle and I’m much more prepared for next year. But also, I’m going to be so sad when I start getting things together for the upcoming year and the 2021 thread isn’t up yet!

Me too! I keep preparing myself to move on, but there’s a small part of me that’s still holding out hope for the schools that are probably rejections, plus Penn. I also only applied to reach programs and I’m feeling disappointed because my profs gave me so much positive feedback and confidence in my work. I think one of my downfalls was not being able to articulate my ideas to people who have no context about me, whereas my profs can connect the dots when my ideas aren’t yet fully formed since they’ve known me for so long. I also feel like this project clarified my research; I was so tired of my thesis work and thought I was done with it during the application process, but now I realize that there’s so much more I can do with those ideas instead of trying to do something else entirely. (Also I love your handle, ATP is one of my favorite texts!)

I’ve been lurking on here a while and was not going to create an account but here I am lol. Solidarity to everyone else who got shut out; I have so far only been on one waitlist My undergrad uni was really competitive and it’s hard to see all of their successes both in academia and on other career paths; as happy as I am for them I can’t help but feel like a failure in comparison. Especially since the only thing I see myself doing is academia and this round has been so rough for me. It’s like getting ghosted by someone you thought you were in love with. Taking a deep breath and getting ready for (probably) the next cycle!