mrvisser

It'd make a big difference. I do decently well with acclimating to new places alone, but it would definitely be a relief knowing someone in a new city. Part of why Gradcafe is great is that there's always a chance that several of us end up in the same programs.

I think it's great that you have a such a solid idea of why Notre Dame is the right school for you. I so often bounce between things I like about different schools. Hoping ND follows the path of some of the other schools and gets back to us early this year!

Welcome! I think you've got a solid plan going forward. And Ozeki's great! I loved A Tale for the Time Being and a short story of hers I read; I can't remember its name at the moment.

Yeah, I think this is one of those things where we should be addressing the root. The answer, in my opinion, shouldn't be to remove the bachelor's requirement (to me it doesn't make sense to get a master's when you don't have a bachelor's), but to increase opportunities for people to earn their bachelor's in the first place. Although I do think it's weird that degrees from other countries aren't accepted; that should probably be amended. I don't know too much about India's academic institutions, but my impression was that they are strong.

I think I'm okay with it not being an entirely democratic process. It should be competitive, and though it can be argued whether a subjective decision is right or wrong, I think the people on these committees have earned the right to make those decisions.

The only process I've learned about in detail is Iowa’s. They have two people each read half of applicants' writing samples (about 500 each), and I believe these readers are writers-in-residence. They mark up the writing samples with their thoughts, and then the director, Samantha Chang, reads every writing sample submitted, all 1,000-some of them. Then she selects about 60 of them to go forward, and those she has chosen are read by an admissions committee. The committee selects who gets in from there.

Oh if I get in you better believe I'll be that guy wearing tweed and corduroy jackets.

Looks like going back to 2018 people got acceptances between mid-February and mid-March, so this year is early!

But hopefully answers are still coming back several weeks early!

Don't know if it makes a difference, but the notification on Draft was New Mexico State, not UNM.

I hope you're right. I'm also afraid you're right.

Oh man, I haven't even gotten anything from ThinkND...hope that isn't a bad sign. In all seriousness, nothing yet on my end. Seems like Illinois and Ohio State are the only two big schools who have given out decisions so far.

I doubt it has much of an impact beyond slightly irritating readers. Like everything else, it just depends on how good the sample is. They aren't going to reject great writing for font choice, although they may dislike lesser writing more than usual if it strains the eyes.

One funny thing about Draft is wondering how many people posting are also in this group under some username that would give no hints. Although I've also picked some of you out in that group making comments haha. My username would make it pretty easy to figure out who I am in that group as well.

Damn, I'm sorry! Seems like Ohio State got a lot of applicants and was really competitive. It's all subjective, of course! Garth Greenwell said every school except Iowa rejected him, so sometimes things just work out in odd ways.