fuzzylogician

Who is invited to give keynote speeches at major conferences in your field? Who is cited as the "foundational reading on X"? Who authored the go-to readings in your topic, if you look at undergraduate/graduate course syllabi? Who is invited to write handbook or survey articles on major topics in your field? Who is inducted in your field's Society as fellows? Who has festschrifts written in their honor for major birthdays/retirement/etc? These folks will often be older (white, male), full professors, often with a named professorship, and you'll see their names coming up again and again. There is a bit more to knowing the politics of who likes who, but this is a good start.

A previous discussion answering this question, which also contains more links to other relevant threads:

I'm sorry you got rejected, that sucks. Sometimes these things aren't really about you at all. Some programs interview a lot more people than they will extend offers to, and maybe others were a better fit with the faculty, or just connected with them more. Or, maybe there is something you can change to improve how you interview. So, as a first pass, you are allowed to feel upset, and if you can, you should take a day or two off and try to take your mind off of it. It sucks. Next, I think what you want to do is try to "debug" the interview. How did you feel during and after the interview? Did you feel like you made a good impression, or did you feel like you didn't really get to say some things you wanted to or that you might have misrepresented your ideas? Did you write down the questions that you were asked? If you felt like you had a good connection with your interviewers and you answered their questions well, then maybe there isn't much that you can do, except maybe re-think the questions and your answers to assure yourself that you're indeed saying everything you want to. If you felt like you didn't connect with the people or you didn't manage to either convey the right content or use the right tone, then you should try to practice more. As a first pass, just with yourself. Maybe it'll help you to start by writing down a bullet-point list of things you want to bring up and then work out a short text of a possible answer, then at a later stage you could recruit a friend for help and have them ask you the questions. The goals isn't to memorize an answer but to have an idea of what the answer should contain. If you get very nervous at these things, practicing saying it out loud will also help calm your nerves. If the problem with simply that you and your potential advisor didn't "hit it off", then again there is less that you can do, but I also don't think you should feel too bad about the rejection. You don't really want to work with an advisor you don't get along with, anyway. That's never a good idea.

Honestly, I wouldn't do this, it's very premature. This is something to do the year you are applying for jobs (=5-6 years from now). If you made a good impression, they'll most likely remember you. You will also want to make connections at conferences and maybe visit these schools and give a talk, but -- again -- not now. Probably not even in your 1-3 year (though conference connections are always good). Having said your want to maybe do a postdoc with them now won't make any difference in 5 years. It'll be about your research and compatibility and the bottom line question of whether the department/professor will have money to hire a postdoc. For that matter, you also don't need to say it was a hard decision and you hope to work with them again. All you need to say is that you appreciate the opportunity, but have chosen to accept another offer.

Professors are human beings, and as such they sometimes like to gossip or they are generally curious about other people. I would bet that is a large part of the reason for this question. Schools also ask this question to know who their competition is. I can imagine it making a difference in who to admit off the waitlist in two ways: (1) if a student has an offer from a better ranking school or a school that's a better fit for his/her interests, a school might choose not to give them an admissions offer because there would be a big chance that the student will reject the offer, but it'll take them a few weeks to do so, and by that time other students on the waitlist will have accepted other offers and the school will be left with a vacancy that isn't filled. (2) if a student has offers from similarly ranked schools but the school in question is also a good fit and the student is attractive, they might choose to pursue the student and have a reasonable expectation that the student will accept. It's not entirely clear to me that this kind of calculation ever actually really happens, but it's possible. Now, you don't have to answer the question, but you were kind of asking for it by saying that you had other offers. In your position, I would probably explain that you applied only to XYZ schools, which align with your interests and are in the ABC geographical region, which you restricted your search to for personal reasons, and you've heard back and received offers from 123. I don't think that should make you any less competitive in anyone's eyes. I think it's good that you said that this school is your top choice. I would repeat that, and would also periodically inquire about your status on the list and restate that it's your top choice, so they know you really mean it.

This is definitely not something you have to worry about. Schools fully expect some students to reject their offers. As long as you're polite, there is no problem. And you worked hard for your acceptances, so you should take your time to weigh all your options, though I think it's admirable and the right thing to do to notify the schools as soon as you have made a decision and you are confident you won't change your mind. The decision process is a very personal one, but you also didn't give enough details for us to really help in this case. For me, one major factor was compatibility with the school in general and with potential advisors in particular. Some schools were great on paper but when I visited I didn't feel like I belonged, and other places maybe I wasn't expecting much but I really felt at home. That to me was the most important consideration. Then, for my career goals, placement records were important. I also strongly considered location, because (again) given my career goals, I expected to have less of a choice in where I would live for the first job (or two or three) post-PhD. Since I was only supporting myself at the time, I considered funding only to the extent that I believed it would be enough to allow myself a reasonable lifestyle. I did consider other resources in/around campus (a richer school has more facilities and opportunities in general, being in a metropolitan area also means colleagues, talks, etc. at other nearby schools). In the end there was a school that I felt was the best fit and was at a good location, though it didn't give me the best funding of all my options and didn't have the best weather. Despite that, I am very happy with my decision.

As a first pass, I wonder if you applied to the linguistics programs at all the schools you mention. Because at least for the few that I am more closely familiar with (NYU, McGill, Brown, and to a lesser extent JHU and Berkeley; I don't know much about Georgetown -- and those are 6 schools, btw, not 5), those are not programs that would be fit to support research in cognitive linguistics. So I would wonder if the problem is your SOP and the fit with the programs you are applying to more generally, beyond any particular quirks of your GRE and other things, which we can also discuss.

There have been several discussion about sub-3.0 GPAs on this website. Here is one: You didn't specify your field, but if you go into the relevant subforum you might find others. I'm pretty sure that there is at least one other major discussion about low grades but I can't find it right now. You could try using the search function. As for finding out about each school's requirements, for the fields I know anything about, you have to go to the individual schools' webpages. There is no faster way to go about it.

Be understanding of what she is saying. You may not know where you'll be next year, but you have chosen a path for yourself, and if it doesn't work this way, it'll work out another way, and you'll keep trying. Think about what it means not to have that knowledge about yourself -- having a major part of your life end and being profoundly confused about what to do next. This is where your friend is at. I can understand when she says that yes, your situation is hard, but it might sound to her like you're rubbing it in when you say you have no plans when really you do have a plan in motion, you just don't know how it'll end yet. In the end, both of your fears are real and they are both valid. So I'd propose being understanding of her and accommodating her situation, because I'm sure that she needs someone to talk to. And you should talk to her and explain your own anxieties too, because this period of waiting and not knowing, and the prospect of failing the first time around and having to regroup, are all very hard to deal with alone and it's important to have someone to talk to. Maybe you can think about the words you choose -- say "I don't know where I'll be next year" or "I don't know what I'll do if I get rejected across the board," which are more accurate and more accommodating of where your friend is, too.

Courses might not be listed but your GPA is your GPA and your major is your major. I don't think you have anything to worry about, and if they have any questions, they'll know who to ask.

It depends on the source of funding and your visa. Also depends on how much money you will be making. Also on whether or not your country of citizenship has a tax treaty with the US or not. This is the kind of question that Google can be very helpful with. I googled your question as is and found several helpful answers on the first results page. Maybe you should do that and come back with more specific questions if you're still confused.

Check the Results Survey. If a school has been sending out acceptances and you haven't heard anything, then that's not a good sign. If they haven't, then the silence simply means that they haven't decided yet and your chances are as good as ever. Generally I don't think it should take longer for international applicants to hear back, though that's possible. Everything is done online so it's not like you're waiting for a letter in the mail. There could be funding issues that restrict how many international students a school can admit and as a result there might be an unofficial waitlist, but I have no idea how common that is (if I had to guess, I would say not very). Rejections in general usually take much longer to be sent out than acceptances, but that affects all applicants equally. I know it's hard, but it's still fairly early in the season, especially for the humanities. More is still to come.

Depends on the school and situation, but generally, that's not good news. I'd assume waitlist at most.

Short, professional, and to the point. You don't have to apologize and you don't have to explain yourself. Thank them for their time and for the opportunity and simply say that you have decided to accept another offer. If you know which one, you might tell them (or they might write back and ask, if you don't). I would send this as a reply to the official acceptance email, and I would let POIs know separately, if you emailed with them.

This thread is two years old, with posters who haven't been active on this site for at least a year. Same goes for the other thread you posted in. Seems unlikely that you'll get a response. But -- good luck!

Did you submit a CV as part of your application? If so, you can email and ask if they would update your CV ("I was recently awarded such and such honor. I wonder if you would be willing to replace the CV in my application with this newer, updated one, attached"). You don't need to explain what the program is or link to the website, or include any proof. You should only be sending this email if the change you want to make is substantial, otherwise you're just wasting everyone's time. If you didn't submit anything where something like this would be specified, it's harder to see how you would update the schools. If there was a place in the application itself to add this information, you could ask a similar type of question about updating the actual application. It seems less likely that it would succeed, though, in my opinion. If a school has on its website text to the effect that "for questions regarding grad school admissions, contact X", you contact X. If not, email the Director of Graduate Studies or the departmental secretary. If you were in touch with professors before submitting your application and they seemed friendly, you could email them instead.

Wait until Monday, and then I suggest you email the DGS and explain the situation. Don't just ask for your application status or when a decision will be made without explaining why you are asking -- mention that you are coming from overseas and already have a flight booked, and that you'd love to visit CUNY, if it becomes relevant. Personally, if it were me, I'd plan to have 1-2 days open in my schedule to be in NYC regardless, so if you hear back and it's a yes, you go visit on those dates, if it's a no, you're a tourist, and if you haven't heard back, you ask to visit anyway and explain that that's when you're in town. Most schools won't say no to that, since it's not going to cost them anything.

Yeah, it sucks, and this happens far more often than it should. I know it's hard not to get jaded and think of everyone as jerks, but the jerks are really the minority. They are loud and take up more than their fair share of your time, but they are still the minority. Most students are decent and are there to learn, and it helps to remember that. If it's any consolation, with time you won't look as young and you will learn to sound more authoritative. You'll also stop being the TA and start being the instructor of record, and eventually the jerks will back off because the power differential will be large enough that even they can see it. Will the lead instructor back you up? When I am lead instructor I make it clear to my TAs that they do not have to deal with any crap. If someone is giving them trouble, they should immediately direct them to me and I will take care of it. Will your professor do the same for you? If so, your best policy is to send complainers to the professor. Since you're doing a good job grading and you know you're not wrong, if he constantly gets unsubstantiated reports about you, at least someone will know about it, and hopefully he will protect you from the guys who are stirring up the shit. I don't even think you need to "warn" him ahead of time except perhaps before the first time you do it. I would bet that will take care of at least some of the complaints right there, because they might feel like they can bully you, but they won't want to take it any further than that. And those who think they can get you in trouble will hopefully be very wrong about that and will be put in their place. If you don't have your professor's support then it's much harder to deal with, and my own (unfortunate) experience is that it's then not worth the fight. Give them what they want and minimize the damage, and hope that you never have to work with that professor again. (And I say this as someone who didn't follow this advice (well, wasn't given this advice and didn't know any better) and did fight, and lost in a way that still upsets me now, nearly a decade later.)

If the question is how to edit your signature: go to Account Settings, click on the Signature tab, add whatever text you want, and save.

If you don't know the faculty very well, I'd treat it pretty much like any other interview. If you know them well, you could ask more open-ended advice-type questions: "what makes someone successful here? what's a successful first year? how do you recommend students get started finding a research topic? do you think it's better to continue with my masters topic or start a new one? when should I start worrying about conferences/publishing?" or you could ask about the faculty themselves: "what are you working on? what will you be teaching next year? are you going to any conferences/giving keynote speeches any time soon?" or alternatively you could ask about career advice: "I am hoping to do X after I graduate. What should I do now to make the most of the program and give myself the best chances to succeed?" I don't think it's all that different from any other interview, even if you know these people already. I don't suppose you talk about grad school applications with them too often, so this is just a meeting with a different topic than usual.

Again, it's hard to know without seeing the actual proposal and comments, but it seems clear that there is a failure in communication. If she is saying you've had numerous opportunities to correct some mistake or add something that was missing but you haven't done so, then I would take that to mean that she's given you relevant comments multiple times in the past that you've misinterpreted or misunderstood. Since that is the case, she might be getting frustrated that you are ignoring her suggestions or not doing what she asked for. It takes a lot of time and energy to comment on a student's work, and if that student seems to be repeatedly ignoring what they are told, that can be lead to exactly the kind of response that you are getting now. You need to meet with her and discuss these things in person, so you are both clear about what is missing from the proposal and what needs to change. It would be good to do this without assigning any blame or getting upset; simply ask to go over the comments so that you can understand where she's pointed out problems and potential solutions in the past, so that you can learn how to read and understand the feedback she's been giving you. It would help to make clear that you've not been ignoring her suggestions, but perhaps you have had a hard time understanding what they are asking for, so actually talking about them in person might help clarify where you are understanding something different than what she meant.

Two things. First, when a professor says "I don't understand X" that's often a nice way of saying "X doesn't make sense/is wrong". More generally, if a reader tells you s/he doesn't understand something you said, that would tend to imply that something you are doing is perhaps unclear, not well organized, or just wrong. If you think you're not wrong, then you might not be presenting your argument clearly; you should re-think how to make your points accessible to your readers. If you're not defining key terminology or if you're not careful with your methodology, you should slow down and make sure you cite the literature and give clear definitions. Second, when there are many issues with a student's work, pedagogically it's often better to start out by pointing out just a few major issues (structural, depth of the arguments, clarity of the main points, mistakes in methods, lack/misunderstanding of prior research, etc); only once those are clear -- which often might require a lot of reworking and rewriting of text on the part of the student -- does it make sense to give more specific and detailed comments. Giving them all at once can be overwhelming and can make it hard for the student to see which points are over-arching and really crucial, and which are perhaps lower-level or specific to a particular part or point you make. So, I think the way your advisor has been approaching your proposal makes a lot of sense.

I think you need to schedule a meeting with the professor to go over the comments in person, so you can understand what she is asking you to do. It sounds like there are problems that she has been repeatedly pointing out or changes that she's been asking you to make, but you haven't been able to address them. It also sounds like she has been trying to use different wordings in her comments on different drafts to get you to address the issues, but you are instead taking each set of comments to be new and distinct from the previous draft so you are not interpreting her the right way. It's not going to be possible for us to help you more here. What you really need to do is sit down with her in person and get a clearer idea of what is lacking and how you should go about fixing it. Make sure you go over her comments so you understand what she wants you to do and come up with a detailed plan for actual actions you'll take (add section X, reformulate question Y, add lit review of issue Z). Don't just make changes and send her another version -- it's clear that there is a failure in communication between you. Talk to her in person first to make sure you are both on the same page.

You are talking about accepting the offer from school #1 and school #2. They are both no doubt great. I am sure this decision will alter your future in many ways you can't even imagine, but that goes both ways. Turning down an offer, any offer, necessarily means walking away from an opportunity, and that's hard, but unavoidable. I am going to go out on a limb here and guess that students from the school ranked #2 do very well once they graduate, or the school wouldn't be ranked #2. I would really suggest ignoring the ivy/not-ivy question and also the rankings question, and focus on what really matters: which school do you think will better prepare you for what you want to do next? Having an advisor with a good personality and research fit is very important. The funding matters, too, and you should make sure that it at least suffices for a comfortable student-style life; beyond that, it's up to you how much you want to weigh extra funding against other considerations. Some people highly value the climate, or worry about employment options for a spouse or education for a child, or prefer a larger city to a smaller one -- all valid and important considerations. The school's brand name matters more if you want to get a job in industry, and less in academia, because academics will know where the good programs are. That said, Davis is very recognizable too. It also depends if you want to have a job on the East or West coast. The best thing you can do for yourself is fly out to visit both schools, to get a feel for what it is really like in the program and how you get along with your potential advisor in person.

Coming up with research ideas is what academics do for a living. I don't think anyone here is in the business of giving them away to strangers, even if we could magically guess what you are interested in and trained to study from the sparse information you've provided. Figuring this out is your main job as a student and scholar -- what questions spark your imagination? What topics do you enjoy reading about? taking classes on? Use your resources. Start by thinking about the broad types of questions that interest you, based on classes and past reading. Browse through topics that were discussed at recent major conferences in your subfield -- what topics draw your attention? Pick up the leading journal(s) and start skimming/reading papers -- what topics are you bored with, and which ones do you want to continue reading about? Once you have that much figured out, you can talk to your professor about what to do next. You don't need to have a fully formulated question yet, just some idea of what kinds of problems interest you. Get help from your professor in doing more reading and narrowing down a question/project based on these interests.