balderdash

Another Stanford acceptance?

Didn't want to preclude any stories of unrequited love or other misadventures.

All right, seriously. I've gotten 3 "someone just searched for you on google"s in the last hour. Not cool, universe. Not cool. By the way, anyone have an interesting Valentine's Day?

Also, if you were waitlisted anywhere, they may be more willing to give you advice. Princeton's DGS was helpful when I was in your situation last year.

! Congratulations, that's awesome. How awesome? This awesome.

I don't know... but I'm hoping it means they're (still?) sending decisions out? I don't know. I'm completely flummoxed. I commend my soul to the benevolent gods of the admissions cycle.

RWBG, I've been a fan ever since Who said quants and quals couldn't be friends?

Thanks adapt, great advice as always. This is the direction I'm leaning. Alas, shockingly, it's just not the ideal situation about which we all dream. Who knows, maybe I'll get an RAship, pull in 17.5, and live the life of a fat cat.

Hoping Princeton is this week... and praying for an offer. If Yale and Stanford are done and Princeton gives me a "no," I'll be staring at a very difficult choice with respect to Madison. Take an offer and hope to live on ~$14k a year, or wait yet another year and hope for better funding? I'm sure I'm not the only person in the same position... thoughts?

I think they'd be dismayed had they admitted someone so manifestly petty. And re: Yale, there must be more. Same with Stanford. Last year there were what, 10 acceptances each? It makes no sense for that to drop to 3 each this year.

Yeah, it's certainly something to consider. On the other hand, I believe we got a lot more results in the last few years, and they were usually POIs, no? Perhaps the staff calls are for faculty on sabbatical or whatever? In any case, we'll know soon. Either way, my cycle should be done in a week, as Princeton/Yale are generally around the 15th. Crazy.

I am guessing by the end of today, given the same reasoning. But who knows. They're two weeks later this year, so everything appears off-cycle anyway.

Right, sorry I disappeared for the last ten pages there... was moving internationally. Some topics I missed: Madison is known for poor funding, but the quality of the program (especially in Africanist work) and the low living cost make up for it somewhat. $15k there is roughly equal in terms of buying power as is $22.5k in, say, Palo Alto - according to cost of living calculators on teh interwebz. But still. Yeah. Stanford: I think it'll happen today or tomorrow. Congrats to anxiousmike. Which brings me to the third topic: generally, the expected time to deny other offers would be once you've attended the open house of your top choice and found it agreeable. If you're 90% sure you're going to Stanford, I think it's entirely reasonable to wait until the visit and make sure you don't get terrible vibes. If everything goes well, send in your acceptance and notify the other schools. Even though this is late March, I think that's the most anyone could expect you to do - and this is coming from someone who spent 2 months languishing on the waitlist last year. And congratulations on all the acceptances!

Congrats! I also applied to work with him, so I would guess that unless I get an email tonight, I'm toast. S'alright though, I think my research is a better fit for Madison anyway. On that note, do you work with West Africa?

Congrats to the acceptances! Haha, and from such an impartial source as NJ.com. I love that all 10 are really just emotions: 1. Bill Belichick is too smart! 2. They got caught doing something every team in the league does! 3. They might favor a baseball team we don't like! 4. Tom Brady is too good! (And his wife too pretty!) 5. They score too much! (By the way, not true - ask the Broncos, the only team to face second stringers for a full quarter of a playoff game.) 6. They have a geographic base with fewer people but more square miles than us! 7. They're too good! 8. Their influence is too broad! 9. They're managed too well! But I'll give you the tenth. Yuck.

Have been since birth. Bruins, Celtics, Red Sox, and yes, the Revolution as well. I'm North of Boston, so there's no way that one could not be. And before anyone starts thinking "bandwagon," I remember Drew Bledsoe's injury as the happiest day of my youth, I remember Chuck Knoblauch's phantom tag, I remember Ray Borque leaving the B's... so, yeah. I've been lucky over the past decade. But it didn't come until after years of Boston sports-induced heartache. See, this is what I mean. Why hate the Pats? Are you a Jets or a Giants fan? Then what's there to hate? And how was the game not exciting? 3 lead changes, including in the last 2 minutes of regulation, a key turnover, at least 4 or 5 key plays, few penalties, good drives... sure, there were no 60 yard runs or 80 yard bombs, but neither team plays that way. I like football, as might be obvious. I liked the show. Cee Lo Green in a sparkly suit. Your argument is invalid. And by the way, Jets fan talking?

Sorry, but I find it surprising that the biggest pop culture/sporting event of the year has passed unrecognized in these pages. If you don't like talking about football, feel free to skip this post. As a Patriots fan, I have to say: I loved the game. Like the NFC Championship, it wasn't so much that the Giants won as the opposing team lost. But I'm sick, sick, sick of some of the storylines people are running with. Allow me to go on a short, stress-induced rant: First, the narrative of everyone favoring the Pats was bunk; most analysts were picking the Giants and I have no idea why media outlets were choosing to build New York up as the underdog. This is especially so given that New England didn't beat anyone with a winning record until the AFC Championship. Second, it was a lose-lose. Pats win, and it was like "congratulations, but hey, 18-1." Pats lose, and well, yeah. Third, that's why Patriots fans were relatively silent for two weeks while the Giants fans were talking smack left, right, and center. (As was the team itself, whose website announced on Saturday that they had won the game and provided a link for official championship apparel.) Fourth, the biggest offensive weapon the Pats had was clearly playing at 50%, irrespective of what he'll tell you. This also contributed to New England's absolute horror over the last two weeks. Here's a representative take on how we were feeling. Fifth, I don't know why the entire country was against the Patriots, but I think it's a mixture of the Giants diaspora, the bigger market in NY, and the fanbase being upset with New England's consistent success over the last year. Sixth, Eli played well, but he still remains crucially, crucially lucky. Manningham caught his key throw, Wes Welker dropped Brady's. The Giants fumbled three times, one was called off due to a penalty and the other two bounced toward NY players. That's not to say they didn't deserve to win, or that NE recoveries would've been less lucky - just that the few crucial bad bounces all went for New York. Seventh, even if we forget the luck factor, it wasn't the Giants offense that won the game (with only 21 points), it was the defense, which was able to hold NE to just 17. Eighth, the Patriots also played in the most hostile crowd a Super Bowl team has ever had to face. Not only were there more Giants fans than Patriots fans in the crowd, but you can't come into Indianapolis and play the hometown hero's little brother and expect a neutral reception. That might not sound like a big deal, but with a crowd calculated to be 80%+ for the Giants, it was a huge factor. Ninth, there shouldn't be any talk of "dynasty" or whatever. Two championships in 5 years is commendable, but it's in no way equal to the 3 in 4 years that the Pats won a decade ago, nor does it come close to the last decade of New England football (5 appearances and 3 wins in 11 years), or, for that matter, the previous runs by Dallas, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, etc. Finally, going forward the Patriots may look the better team. They have 2 first-round picks and 2 second-round picks in the upcoming draft, and their key players are young; keep in mind that Gronkowski and Hernandez are both rookies, as is Nate Solder, the talented right tackle. The offense will be just as good next year, special teams are solid, and the defense can only go up. We'll see how it turns out. Oh, and the half-time show seemed pretty good. /rant

You know, I thought the Stanford acceptance was real... but now I'm not sure. I guess Chandelle's absence has really set them back this year.

Heads up to UCLA acceptees: I just got a call from my POI (who told me I was near the top of the list for funding), so you might get phoned soon too. Also, he confirmed that waitlisted for fellowship means waitlisted for funding.

In at UCLA too! Email from Geddes. Waitlisted for fellowship, so I'll probably go to Madison instead (as an Africanist). And congrats, Tergellian and others!

Hey, congrats! Also good to hear that they're still going out.

No. Chill. There's only been one acceptance, and apparently under extraordinary (possibly fake) circumstances. A phone call from a POI is not the way Stanford does acceptances. The admits go out all at once, and you'll see 7 or so of them posted the day it happens. This might be today at 5:00 Pacific time, since it would be the same as last year (3.5 weeks after their term began, on a Thursday). If you're not among that lot, only then can you assume you've been rejected.

Woah, Mich just crushed some hopes and dreams. Sorry to all those who were victims. Did anyone get good news from them?

The way I'm playing it is: no email by end of business (LA time) on Friday, no offer. Also, anyone claiming the Stanford?

For which schools?