Golden Monkey

Your schools have already contacted people, but what about the programs specifically? Those seem to be all over the place within the same school. I'd check last year's results of the programs you applied to in order to find out what date they did it in the past.

Snail mail for both acceptances and rejections. No phone calls at all. I hate phones.

Years ago (20,) I graduated from a very, very difficult engineering program with a 2.9 GPA. I got accepted into two Biomedical Engineering programs and rejected from two. With my GPA, (and dismal GRE scores,) I was surprised I got accepted anywhere. But to some degree, I think they take the difficulty of your program into account, so if you apply to a program that isn't as highly regarded as the one you graduated from, that probably helps a lot. I think the only reason I got accepted at the two schools was because they'd be considered a step down from the one I had graduated from. Then I didn't end up going anyway.

I wonder if there are statistics out about age of grad students vs. percentage who complete their degrees? I guess I could do a web search, but I'm too lazy. Since I just finished my master's at the age of 43 (started at 40,) and would complete a PhD close to 50 (if accepted and funded, which I have not been,) after not being able to go at the ages of 22 and 26, I was thinking of a few things that I think might work in favor of the 44-year-old me, as opposed to the younger version of me: Since time passes so quickly at this age (it seemed like it crawled when I was younger,) 4-5 years in a program does not seem like a long time at all.I think that at a younger age, I would have grown impatient and wondered if I was missing out on something by not working in industry. After 20 years of industry work, I now know that I'm not.My entire reference point for stress and workload has been completely reset by all the industry work. I finished my master's while working full-time at a university job. People often asked me if this was difficult, since almost none of the students worked (even part-time) in the program. I had to reply that if you've been stuck on the other side of the world working 70 hours a week with a client screaming at you, while your employer is going bankrupt so that you don't know whether or not they'll be able to pay for your plane ticket home (just so you can get laid off,) difficulty and stress are relative things.If I got into a funded program (my master's was not,) I would think of it as a job. It might be a low-paying job, but it's still a job. As one who has been through numerous downsizings, restructurings, company bankruptcies, layoffs, and one miserable experiment at business ownership, I know that jobs you don't hate that and pay enough for you to survive on are truly precious. I know for certain I didn't think this way when I was 22. If I had been smart enough to get into a funded program at that age (I wasn't even close,) I'm sure I would have done so with some sense of entitlement. Obviously I have way too much time to think these days, as I wait around for March.

That's interesting. I think I can't entirely 100% mourn either because, to be honest, I'm not entirely sure finishing a PhD would really point me in the career direction I'd want to go in. I'm assuming it would, but as my friend put it, "if you finish a PhD near the age of 50, what are you supposed to do then?" I said that I hoped that the answer just sort of worked itself out during the program, but in reality, I don't really know. I thought the same thing when I decided to start my master's program, "it will just work itself out," and now I've finished it, but that isn't really the case. I guess if I didn't get in or funded (which is the same thing,) then I'd just take it as a sign that it wasn't meant to be, and that I need to actively pursue a new job instead. As far as being overqualified, I'm almost finding out that I am already.

I'm just going to answer that part with "yes."

Wonder about the funding, because acceptance without funding is the same thing as being rejected for me.

I will step up the job search to 11.

Yeah, likewise. Sometimes when attempting to train through the winter, I think running actually creates more stress for me than it relieves. But this year, I fell down the stairs, injuring my back, then dislocated my shoulder five days later, then managed to re-dislocate it 2 days later. So no running for me. Unfortunately, I already paid entry fees for two Spring marathons. Oh well.

Well, I figured this is as good a time as any to update my short-form resume, I figured, so I spent the last couple of days doing that. Might as well check some job boards now.

Oh, and I kept thinking "poi," that Hawaiian side dish:

I like this one, because it makes a mountain of food for cheap and freezes well. I got it from a local TV show where the chef was from Newark's Portuguese Ironbound district. I replace the mussels with shrimp, or sometimes just skip the seafood. I've also found that by doubling the oven time, I can use brown rice. Chicken with Mussels, Peas and Chorizo INGREDIENTS: 8 chicken thighs 1/4 cup olive oil 1/2 onion, peeled & minced 4 garlic cloves, minced 2 tablespoons paprika 1 bay leaf 6 cups chicken stock or water 4 sprigs thyme 2 sprigs parsley 24 mussels, washed & de-bearded 1/2 cup green peas, cooked 1/2 cup chorizo, sliced METHOD: Pre-heat oven to 350°F. Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper on both sides. In an oven proof casserole, sear chicken thighs in the olive oil on both sides until golden brown. Remove from pan. Set aside. Add the onion and garlic clove and cook over low heat for 2 minutes along with the bay leaf, thyme and parsley. Add the paprika and cook 1 minute further. Place chicken thighs back in and add the stock or water. Let simmer for 8 to 10 minutes. Let cook for 12 minutes, and then add the mussels and chorizo. Cook for an additional 5 minutes or until mussels have completely opened. Remove from the oven and serve.

Curious to find out, did everyone want to go to grad school earlier in life? If so, what kept you from doing it? I actually wanted to go to grad school before I even finished undergrad. The problem was that I had absolutely no idea how to pay for it. I spent all of my 20s being flat broke and in debt, and all of my 30s getting to where I wasn't anymore. It wasn't until my late 30s that I had enough money put away that I felt comfortable taking the plunge. I actually applied to grad school twice before at the age of 22 and 27, but didn't go because I didn't want to take out a huge loan.

I'm just wondering how he paid for all those degrees.

Likewise (sorta,) my sister quit her master's in journalism because the policies of the department pissed her off. She had 2 credits to go before finishing the degree, and now she's also working as a secretary. There is nothing wrong with working as a secretary, but it IS a bit unnatural for someone with two bachelor's degrees and 98% of a master's to be working as one. At this point, so much time has elapsed that it would be really difficult for her to finish the degree she invested so much time, effort, and money into. I guess you could either admire her for sticking to her guns, or think that maybe she should have bitten the bullet and gotten through it.

At my age, I think that the PhD is definitely a one-shot deal, and if it doesn't work out this time, that's it. On the other hand, I'm almost kind of looking forward to moving on with my career (or attempting to) if it doesn't work out.

I thought Stephen King's latest novel "Under the Dome" was a good read (well if you're a fan of his, anyway,) and it was also his longest novel ever.

Congrats!

Funny, I grew up just hating winter, despite the fact that it was mild in Tennessee. I went to undergrad in Missouri, and found that I did hate winter. Then I moved to LA and then Florida, and everyone said, "you'll miss the change of seasons!" They were completely wrong. I ended up moving to New York 4 years ago (partially to pursue my master's,) and I'm finding that I hate winter all over again. However, I guess I feel like it was worth it. Slipping and falling down the stairs last week doesn't change my opinion of winter very much, though. I have applied to 4 PhD programs. My first two choices are in locations with winters even worse than here. The other two are in much warmer climates. If I get into either of the first two, I'll just deal with the wretched winters. I'll complain every second of every day during the winter, and I'll probably have even more slip and fall accidents on the ice, but I'll just remind myself of my priorities.

You're in a truly enviable position in this job market! I have decided to bookmark companies I'd like to approach, but not contact them yet. I'm going to wait until spring to start my contacting them. In the meantime, I'm doing stuff like updating my resume (the short version, not the long version,) and checking job postings.

Yeah, this is a really awkward time. Can't send out resumes yet, but definitely can't plan on grad school either. I was searching the results of my 1st and 2nd choices and found out that in 2010, the 2nd choice had about 1600 applicants for very, very few open PhD slots. This makes me wonder how many applicants there are for the 1st choice. After reading that, I decided to revise my resume and check some more job boards.

Wow, really? That's really cool. Well, my mom got accepted (master's not PhD) at the age of 50 with absolutely no work experience.

Ack, as one with TMJ, that made me cringe. If I tried to do anything like that (which no one would ever pay for anyway,) my jaw would dislocate, and I'd get another trip to the ER to have it put back in. I wonder how much she gets paid to do that?