limeinthecoconut

I'll go with this one. Though in this case, I welcome more than one.

Since I am waiting it out, I thought sharing our Murphey's Law stories this application might be interesting. Shall start the ball rolling with mine: Of all the schools that I applied, school X is the lowest-ranked school and one of my best faculty fits (and hence, represents one of my best chances of gaining admission). As I went about my business, preparing all the materials for the 1 Dec deadline around the first week of November, suddenly, I saw this obscure line hidden somewhere in the application that went something like this: "International students must submit materials to the Graduate Admissions Division by 1st November" For some reason or other, they had two different deadlines for two different divisions within the university. Needless to say, I am an international student. Eeeekk!!!!

Well, I used to refresh grad cafe at an insane frequency, until I found it was self-destructive. Hence, I found myself a place that had no internet connection to write the T*****, limiting my obsessing to "off work" hours. (but really, what's "off work" hours when I don't have "work hours"?) Anyway, public holidays and weekends are bad for me. Need to get off this addiction!

Hmm.. My grad class usually has less than 10 people, and we do about one book a week.

They just updated the status of my application documents with dates, etc.

Congrats! That's really good news.

This whole early-reply-could-mean-they-really-want-you-or-they-think-you-totally-suck makes me so nervous that I don't dare to check my e-mail. Anyway, I work on modern Southeast Asia/East Asian history, and intend to work on socio-cultural history of modern Vietnam.

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I finally dug out the spare letter that one of my LOR writers gave me, and intended to return it to him today. With my usual forgetfulness, I didn't bring it along with me today to campus. I bumped in the LOR writer, and mentioned to him that his letter is still sitting at home. He didn't seem particularly bothered, and told me that I could return it to him, thrash it, or open it and read it. I still don't think I will read it, though. But at least I have the ease of mind that if he is comfortable with me reading it, it should be a decent letter.

I don't have the answers to your question, but I am guessing that a rise in the number of applicants wouldn't greatly affect disciplines like history, or other disciplines that require extensive preparation. Stuff like language training, research experience aren't things that one can obtain overnight.

Oh gosh, don't even remind me of it. These are one of those essays that I will keep in my hard drive, but will never ever re-read. I cringe just at the very thought of it.

That's the story of my life.

Hmm... They're still your friends??? Okay, end of sidetrack. I suppose I am glad for the listening ear of a good friend who's applying in this same cycle, and also various profs for being encouraging in their own little ways.

I suppose I do have a real safety. I could simply upgrade my candidature at my current graduate school. But nah.

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Wow, that sucks. I hope your friend is okay. My indiscretion had no professional repercussions. Nevertheless, it has become a nuisance ever since.

Ah, you are lucky. I've had dozens of people extract the information out of me, even though I was unwilling to share it with some people. And in addition to that, even more people went around broadcasting the fact that I am applying (thanks .... not!).

Haha.. I might seem like I'm lying, though. Harvard is not my top choice. But no, I won't lie. However, if I get rejected everywhere, as mentioned, I will go into hiding for a bit. I don't see a point in having to deal with nosy people who don't actually care when I am down, I suppose.

I can understand what you are facing. Somehow, people around me seem to think that it's easy-peasy to get into graduate school. In my case, I think I'll be happy to just get into one school, any school. If I don't, I think I'll hide.

Wow! That's really nice of her!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRMUSTALSOWRITEMYTHESISATTHESAMETIMEGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH Ah, a little better.

I think I am harassing these various schools (even though all are reaches) just to dispel the "what ifs". I just didn't want an e-mail a couple of weeks later, telling me that I have been rejected, due to an incomplete application. Then I will spend the whole of this year wondering if I actually had a chance. :?

Ah, right, I forgot to add. I also applied to another UC school-- one without the online status thingy. In place of the online status system, they contacted applicants via e-mail. They were pretty fast, and contacted all applicants about the status of their application ~10 days after the deadline. So, here's the horrid part: As they sent out e-mails notifying applicants, I got an e-mail informing me that they had nothing but my GREs (oh great, at least ETS didn't jump onto the bandwagon to screw me over as well). Additionally, they informed all applicants that if they didn't receive writing samples by then, they won't take any late writing samples, though they made exceptions for LoRs and transcripts. In effect, what that meant was, if your mail was lost somewhere along the way, you're as good as out. Totally freaked out, and convinced that my supplementary materials were buried somewhere in the history office, I e-mailed back against the sender's advice (every single e-mail they sent out was accompanied by a "Don't e-mail back"), pointing out that my mail tracking system indicated that one of their staff have signed for the package. In any case, it turns out that they did have my supplementary materials buried somewhere. So, don't fret! Drop them an e-mail if it eases your mind.

It could be entirely possible. I applied to another UC school, and was too cheap to pay for tracking. (really should have shelled out) After weeks and weeks of checking the website for updates, and seeing none, I finally e-mailed the graduate advisor asking about my documents. The graduate advisor just replied that my application is complete. Good luck man.