ridgey

Yip. And agree with the reading between the lines thing - that's probably the professor's way of saying they don't want to write for you.

It probably depends how far into reviewing the applications they are whether or not it's possible. As someone else observed, lots of the online apps have the option of deleting a recommender. That really sucks, hope it all works out for you!

Clear your mind, the answer will come...

Why, thank you. I was most certainlythe most beautiful girl in the room at Dave's party. Were you surprised that your mate Dave got a girl like me to a party like that?

I've just been reminded that my junk food consumption will be limited once I start grad school. It seems the typical north-american cookie aisle lacks tim-tams and good chocolate cookies in general. I might have to *gasp* eat more healthily!

I voted vegetarian, though I'm not one. But "vegetarian" describes more food that I like to eat than any of the other categories. Plus, I anticipate being too poor to afford meat.

Well, I sure am glad I spent my time thoughtfully answering your questions on this and other threads.

I have no idea. It could take longer if they notify by snail mail, just because it'll take longer for the paper to get to you. Might take longer to get the official admit from the grad school after unofficial acceptance by dept, if they want to evaluate/verify the degree.

And clearly the title should be "poll" not "pool". Whoops!

I fully expect this poll to provide us all with the data necessary to accurately assess our chances.

If I had more money, and was less concerned with being bothersome for my recommenders (and, if I'm honest, was better organised), I would have applied for 2-5 more than the 6 I managed.

Can you list them in a way that doesn't rank them? Type them all into the first box or something?

They'll probably admit you, but not fund you. Cheeck out http://chronicle.com/forums/index.php/t ... 080.0.html - it starts to talk about masters degrees (on another thread you said you had applied to MA programmes) about halfway through.

Some questions for you - more for you to think about than answer, although of course you can answer them here if you want. Why did you apply for the MA? Why communications? Is it the subject you're studying now that makes you sick of studying, that makes you respond with "to hell with it"? Or is it studying iself, or the amount of it? Why do you expect the communications MA to be a relief from what you're experiencing now? If your goal is a PhD in communications, you need to look into those and see what the requirements are - you mentioned the GRE and journalism experience; what else do the programmes you're interested in look for in applicants? Do they usually have a masters? No-one here can tell you whether you're likely to get into either the MA or the PhD. I, myself, am an advocate of doing other things (working, travelling, etc) between undergrad and grad school, though not everyone would agree with me. The advantage is you can do things to make yourself more competitive as an applicant, you can see more of what the world has to offer (important if you've spent almost all your life in an educational insitution and are planning to spend a large part of the remainder there also), and you can figure out exactly what you want. You've already applied, yes? So there really isn't anything else to do. You'll find out, eventually, whether you got in. On these boards, there are a lot of us whose mental health has declined somewhat by the combination of applying and waiting. I don't know you, of course, and this is based on your one post in this thread, but you seem to be beyond that in terms of anxiety and stress. Maybe I'm misreading, or maybe you're using hyperbole, but if not, I would suggest looking for ways to manage your stress. Once you hear back,that's when you need to decide what to do - whether or where to attend, if you're accepted. What to do instead if not. Something to keep in mind, difficult at this point in the application season I know, is that your whole life and future happiness is NOT dependent on the outcomes of these applications.

Probably the reverse. International applications get considered in the same way as others (except at UC schools - see other thread). The department recommends admission/rejection to the Grad School, who have the final say. It is their responsibility, rather than the department's, to check everything is in order, including a BA/BSc/Bwhatever equivalent to a US bachelor degree. This is probably done in consultation with the uni's international office. It's less work overall if international applications are reviewed within programmes, and only those that are recommended for admission get the other checks. Bear in mind, though, that even though the adcom isn't evaluating whether an international student has an equivalent degree in terms of meeting minimum admission requirements, they are evaluating it in terms of whether the applicant is good enough. They're less likely to be familiar with the insitution, unless you went to Oxford, and may not have heard of your letter writers. Or such is my understanding from reading many, many, many programme websites and international office websites.

I don't know specifically if UNC does. But looking on the results boards from previous years, it seems that the same programmes and the same years interview some and directly admit others (I'm thinking of JHU in particular, but also some of the UC schools I think). Maybe it depends on your potential advisor - whether your application gives enough of an impression or they need more info? Or what other schools your applying - to whether they think you'll accept a place if offered? Who knows? Actually, that is probably the most unhelpful reply I've ever written. Sorry. Blame the waiting.

I went and had a look around the studentdoctor forums. Looks like the average GPA (based on whatever skews that sample, of course) is lower than I would have expected - plenty below 3.5, even. Of course, I couldn't always distinguish the MPH and PhD applicants. Still, gives me hope when everyone here (the GradCafe as a whole) seems to be 3.9 or thereabouts. I just want one solitary acceptance. And for the waiting to be over...

Stuffed and Starved by Raj Patel - talks about the patterns of food distribution (trade and production, etc) and how these are directly responisble for epidemics of both starvation and obesity in the world. It is kinda related to my studies though not an academic work, but it is also something I would (and am) reading for fun. Which is less sad - to read such a book for fun, or to be reading a quasi-acadmic book in preparation for school (ie in the holidays)?

Long off the air, but The West Wing is by far the best television series ever. Less classy, I find trashy soaps to be ideal for this period of waiting - having already justified "working" from home rather than going in, skipping the gym, not changing out of my pjs, it isn't such a big step to allow myself to watch The Bold and The Beautiful, or the like. The Catherine Tate Show is hilarious, but I don't know if that screens in America.

No equivalent for PhD? Apart from here, of course...

Oooooh, the first result for a public health PhD of the year is on the board. I've noticed that all the public health results reported so far - that one plus the couple of MPHs - have been acceptances. I choose to extrapolate that into a prediction of 100% admission for users of the grad cafe applying to public health.

In the past they've been mid feb, at least my programme. Probably varies by department. I can't decide whether I hope you're wrong or right. I've concluded that JHU is probably my top choice because of a particular faculty member. I go back and forth hourly between certainty I'll be admitted and certainty I'll be rejected. There's some famous physicist or philosopher or something who used a dead cat in a box as a thought experiment. Though the cat probably died hours/days ago, it's not until the box is opened and the dead cat is revealed that the cat is truly dead. Or something like that, I'm butchering it horribly. My point is that it's quite likely our fate has already been decided. On an unrelated note, does anyone know anything about UMass Amherst? I know it's not ranked by US News, but I'm not fussy about rankings. Applications are due this weekend, and their website has minimal information about the programme - it's like they don't want applicants.

I'm not sure, I'd just searched the NYU website for "application status" or some such trying to get info about Steinhardt, and one of the first results was a blurb fromthe GSAS. Sorry not to be more helpful.

Well, I'll be jealous, for sure, but can't imagine hating them. The adcoms, on the other hand, who weren't able to discern my brilliance ... :wink: Fortunately, I have yet to receive a single result, and so I can continue to assume the world is a happy place and academia is full of wonderful future colleagues .

Maybe "celebrity" would be a better word choice than "fame" for differentiating Idols and academics...