limeinthecoconut

Yup, U Hawaii is starting to look more and more attractive. Why didn't I apply again? :cry:

It won't make a difference in the decision I make. But it is something to take into consideration when I finally move.

Hey just curious, and feel free to ignore, but what are the objections to Seattle? The other poster is right, it's an amazing department, and the city rocks. Great night life, lots of really lovely restaurants, and plenty to do year around, skiing, hiking swimming ect. I'll let you into a really big secret- it doesn't really rain that much in Seattle. NY, San Fran and Miami all get more that they do. Good luck!

For all it's worth, I did get into the school in question!

Hello All!

Field: late 19th century/early 20th century U.S. social/cultural history with a focus on immigration and race.

Schools:
Boston College
Georgetown
George Washington
Johns Hopkins
University of Pennsylvania
University of Michigan
Yale

I went to a top ten LAC and got good enough grades, but I don't really feel the need to share. I got a five on writing on the GRE despite focusing my essay on Lady Gaga and a 750 in math without looking at a single math section (let's not dwell on verbal, which could have gone better).

In other relevant news, I passed my college PE requirement during the first semester of my senior year with a turbo kick-boxing class. I think that's the experience grad schools are looking for.

Well, I hate to be a downer, but looks like there's no miracles for me this year... Just got the email that Chicago has filled its cohort and I'm not in it.

Although I can't complain too much, because - hey - I actually made it onto the U Chicago wait list. I practically consider that a win in itself!

If the file was completed correctly on the applicant end, it was reviewed by Columbia. This means transcripts were sent in and all letters were received. That is the applicant's responsibility.

The conspiracy theories on this board this year are mind boggling. It just seems like yesterday that you were openly referring to one of my advisor's students as living in a 'fantasy land' because s/he got accepted to all the schools s/he applied to. I've tried to be helpful by sticking around this year and providing some context based on my experience wearing as a former employee of a graduate program, a former applicant, and now a graduate student. Since it seems that my insight is not wanted, I'll cease visiting.

-PS

Do you believe in miracles...YES!!

Just got the email from Brandeis! I've been accepted off the waitlist!

Stroke, I would have no problem with the whole thing - except for the preferential treatment issue. The fact that he's planning to pursue a second degree at a second institution, while still making films somewhat belies the "serious student" aspect of the entire thing. I really have nothing against someone pursuing a PhD - I'm mainly pissed that he gets to do things differently because he's famous.

Even Prince Charles left all royal duties while at school and was just a regular student. If someone wishes to pursue a Yale PhD - well then. Take it seriously and pursue a Yale PhD. If us plebs must dedicate ourselves full time to the endeavor, shouldn't everyone?

Finally decided! Yale it is.

If anyone is waiting on Harvard, there will probably be a spot opening shortly.

Congratulations and good luck to everyone!

OK, there are some random things on my mind and since I like you a lot, I thought a little place for randomness might be appreciated? But then again, this is only because you are avoiding homework you know you should be doing, or you need to wait five more minutes before you can re-check the online status of a given application. Feel free to share, care, or not.

Things I can't help but think about:
1. It's been a bummer to be waitlisted to the best schools. I would like to think this will change, but I got a feelin' that it may be April before those waitlists lift. Or go away. Either way - they are a bit of a progress impedor. (I don't think that's a word.)
2. It's a little frustrating to wait so long for some of my rejections? Note my WTF section on signature. It is now down to Columbia and Denver University.
3. I hate hate hate hate to say this (ya'll) but Colorado leaves a lot to be desired. In many ways. For one, I am waitlisted at CU Boulder. I sent an email to the advisor thanking her for my consideration and indicating a continued interest. For my other waitlists, I have recieved phone calls and numerous emails. And invitations to clarify questions. From Boulder, I guess they just got more important things on their minds (note also our rants on the rude admin at CU Boulder. I live here. The funding sucks buttttttttttt. But I own a house here (which I can't sell because the economy sucks butttttt and CU has some prestige... hmmmm.)
4. Funniest post. Someone got accepted to a divinity program at Harvard or some other ivy. His or her past was "OMFG I can't believe it!" I just find that funny. Theologists, I think, get to use OMFG with immunity? hehe
5. I though the McDonalds/Burger King post was funny, but there are like 8 of them. That's a little weird. Can you imagine that person? Sitting in a dorm room perhaps, or maybe the World of Warcraft server is down??
6. May. Does May exist? Cause I am about to crack from school.
7. Last, I noted posts from a few years ago about applying to many schools. As we all know, English is brutal. I did 15 or so apps. When I add up the costs, I realize I was lucky to be able to afford it. Thankfully the sites took a credit card and I was able to pay them off over the course of a couple of months.

My list. Yours?

they knew. it's a carry-over from last year. last year, # of apps went up (i'm afraid of finding a real job!), number of spots went down (we gambled our endowment on the stock market!). this year, you've got the usual cohort that would be applying in any year plus the usual cohort that was rejected last year due to the decreased number of spots plus even more people applying just to avoid finding a regular job. i don't think the endowments dropped significantly this year, but departments are still lowering their overall number of admits to compensate for the market crash in the fall of 2009.

i said it a lot earlier in this thread and got jumped on for it, but i'll reiterate: the rejections aren't a reflection of your potential as an academic. it mostly comes down to money and luck. it really is a lottery, so enjoy any winnings you may get and don't get sweat the rejections. theoretically, we all only applied to programs we'd be happy to attend, so any admission is a win. you only need one.

FUNNY STORY (for those who have a dark sense of humor, and I suspect most of us do right now)

Way back when I was waiting for Yale admission emails to go out (seems like years ago, doesn't it), I received a high-importance email from an unfamiliar source.

I got all excited, then found out that I was a bone marrow match for a young girl with leukemia (I had registered years ago).

So it was all so very cosmic, me being focused on myself, being asked to do something so important for someone else. It could not have come at a worse time, but you can't say no to something like that. I also thought it could not help to have a little good karma on my side!

Well, cut to today. To my "delight," I only received two rejections instead of three. However, I was greatly relieved to find out that they will NOT need my bone marrow right now because there was a closer match.

I got all excited....I'm like, well, at least that's good news....won't have to subject myself to unnecessary and painful surgery during such a hard time in my life.

Then it just dawned on me. The words. THOSE words "We will not be requiring your services as a donor because we have found a better match."

It was another rejection letter! Even my DNA has been tossed out of the applicant pool!

ever wonder if this is worth it? how long it will take the hard work for graduate school to pay off?

the answer is 8 months. this summer, i'll be presenting at conferences in nicaragua, montreal, and barbados. open bar at the barbados conference. don't worry, people, you'll be sipping alcoholic slushies on a hammock on the beach in no time.

No. Although this is an awesome strategy - apply to crappy state uni (not implying anything here!) + Harvard, be accepted at crappy state uni, be informally told by Harvard you're rejected, then withdraw your application and brag to all your friends that you "are so elated to go to crappy state uni cos it perfect fit + you love the brutalism architecture that obviously you withdrew your Harvard application - only morons go there anyway".

sD., regretting he didn't apply to Harvard.

Yeah, a couple went to Harvard.

According to my knowledge of the admissions process (from talking to other accepted students during school visits, professors etc.), the top schools are mostly competing for the same group of students, so for someone to have multiple offers from good schools is really not that uncommon. If you get into Harvard or Columbia etc., it is pretty likely that you will be offered admissions to other top schools; the correlation is strong. What PH is talking about is quite true...

Someone mentioned SP's "low" GPA - note that GPA is not just a simple number, it is interpreted in the context of the classes taken, rigor of the school etc. I have a 3.77 (with a lot of math and econ classes) and I did fine in this year's admissions cycle.

Let's just congratulate SP, and everyone else who is lucky enough to have admission offer(s) this year. This year has been exceptionally competitive.

Wow, you guys really are haters aren't you. I can confirm he was admitted to every school he applied to. How about instead of spending time gossiping about someone on the internet, you figure out which schools you want to go to based on your acceptance list.

SP is already doing that based on his.

I really don't think that it is a good idea to call someone a troll just because he/ she is successful with his/ her applications. I do know real people who got into every single top 10 programs that they applied to. Personally I will not defame another individual without solid evidence.

yep, i'm there/here now. my acceptance email from them included my funding package, but i know that they worked pretty hard throughout the spring to cobble together packages for other students so that none of the incoming class had to teach in their first year. no guarantee that it will be the same this year, but i can promise you that they keep working to put together your financing well into the summer. a colleague of mine was offered a TAship in his first year and mid-summer another fellowship became available so they offered it to him.

edit: if you have questions about the program, feel free to pm me. i will brag that in last week's seminar, the professor made us all brownies. and they're supposed to renovate the grad lounge over the summer, so we've got our fingers crossed that the department will approve our proposal for a wet bar.

Did you get in MEALAC too? Well I guess you work on East Asia, so MEALAC is not quite up your alley. Congrats. Do you know anybody who is dropping from MEALAC in order to go to Harvard or Princeton? That is how desperately I am waiting for people to get into wonderful places to drop from MEALAC. LOL

I'm finally not on the list. I think I'm doing well controlling my addiction.

i'd definitely reapply if i were you. my god, can you imagine not going to an ivy league school? those other programs never place their PhDs in tenure track jobs. it's amazing anyone even applies there.

Most useful: Statistics.

Which should be blatantly, bloodily, disastrously obvious to everyone who has been through the results search a zillion times to calculate exactly what day the odds are greatest you will hear from a particular program, depending on date or day of the week (adjusting for year) and based on whether the program sends out acceptances and rejections on the same day, or if it accepts in waves, or--

Oh, wait. You said, most useful to society...

I took a year off, so I'll be 23 when I start and turning 24 towards the end of the first semester. I've been told that very few people in my field finish in fewer than 6 years (one program told me they'd never had anyone finish in fewer than 6), so I'll be at least 30 when I graduate *gulp*.

In response to everyone's questions about parenthood, I've been feeling very confused about that myself. East Asian history PhDs are notoriously long (one of my professors needed 12 years to complete his, though I highly doubt my case will be that extreme . . . I hope), and I'm worried that if I have a child during grad school it's not going to help that I have a baby in tow when I'm scrambling for a job with massive amounts of debt from undergrad all coming back the second I graduate. But then again, is having a kid while I'm vying for tenure the best idea either? Neither is having a kid after tenure, when I'm in my late 30s early 40s when I have health issues to consider.

Perhaps no time's the best time to have a kid when you're an impoverished academic. Unless, of course, you marry for money. I feel like a PhD in Chinese history might make me stand out in the competition to be Mr. Bazillionaire's doting trophy wife . . .