polumetis23

I'm a Chicago alum twice over (and not from MAPPS), so let me just agree with the first poster. There's nothing special about getting "accepted" (ha ha) into MAPPS. It's a cash cow for the university and everyone knows it. Under no circumstances should anyone borrow that much money to get a master's degree, especially a generic one in "Social Sciences." If mommy and daddy are willing to pay for it, well, why not? But if you can't get a fully funded offer to pursue a Ph.D., you've got no business pursuing a Ph.D., and you'll most likely live to regret it (again, assuming you don't have a trust fund or other money you get from elsewhere but don't like to talk about because it embarrasses your sense of independence). Your chances of using the program as a stepping stone are bad, and I vote STAY AWAY.

Sorry to hear about your layoff, but your response to it and some of the answers you've received kind of demonstrate how clueless most people on this site are about the realities of the working world. If Texas is an at-will state (and it sounds like it is), the answer is NO: they don't have to give you notice, severance, or any reason for dismissal, nada. All the power pretty much lies with your employer to do as they please whenever they please and for whatever reason. Collect your unemployment and get on with it. Be thankful you're at least eligible for that because most graduating senior who've never held a job and who don't get into graduate school won't even have that to fall back on. There are exceptions to the WARN act, and it sounds like your employer can probably claim the economic crisis as unforseeable business circumstances (or even force majeure, metaphorically speaking). And of course never tell your employer what your plans are!

You're not going to go to Cornell or Yale because somebody was rude to you on the phone? Listen to what you're saying. Calling is always a bad idea, and I've never NOT gotten a reply to an e-mail query requesting the status of documents. Just keep it professional and follow up if you've given them at least a week to reply, but these people are very busy now and you want to minimize being seen as a "pest." Those online status updates are highly inaccurate as well, at least until all the mail has been processed.

They flew me in for a final interview (didn't mention it 'cause I hate when people start beating their chests about whether decisions have been made), but I had to stay in a cage the whole time and it was pretty cramped, which didn't bode well in my mind for department facilities in general. I thought having to conduct the entire interview in sign language was a bit contrived and tedious as well. Of course I know it, why keep making me demonstrate the obvious? Seems like a very green department overall, which, as anyone who knows bananas knows, ain't a good thing.

Unlikelygrad, I've enjoyed a lot of your posts and your blog, but you've gotta get this chip off your shoulder about having been out of school for 15 years. Your numbers look solid and you're obviously a competitive candidate, but you're also not the only person who's gone back to grad school in their late 30s. Mentioning it in every single post just makes it seem like a hang-up, and you have no reason to be on the defensive so much. Good luck!

I agree w/ the poster above, the advice for you and your wife to go to separate cities is pretty stupid, as is so much of the feedback on these "OMG should I withdraw my application!?!" threads. DON'T withdraw. Just let them reach a decision, and if you can't attend, turn down the offer. Simple as that. You'll know how you fared in the competition AND prevent yourself from seeming like a flake for having applied and then changed your mind. I know it's impossible for some of the younger applicants to comprehend, but nobody at these schools is thinking about all of the personal factors that might influence where you end up. Let them do their job, and just get on with it. Sure, they've got your application fee anyway, but why give them a reason to wonder why you've wasted everybody's time up till this point? Circumstances change, but you've paid for a decision, so at least get one.

Highfructose is a sociopath and sounds like a hip-hop poser to boot. He should "hustle" his ass out of academia posthaste. How can you call somebody a "smug fuck" and claim you didn't mean to be "unpleasant"? And after a couple of posters object, he takes it all back as if he didn't mean it. What a coward.

Yeah, it doesn't sound like you know enough about teaching in either field if you're generalizing so badly already. A lot of English departments are titled "English Language and Literature" (as was mine). Furthermore, if you do doctoral work in English, you'll most likely end up teaching Freshman Composition courses. Would you rather teach students who are botching a language they don't know and are trying to learn or one in which they're fluent but barely literate? Something to consider.

DON'T ASK, just send the updates to the graduate coordinators or whomever the contacts for your programs are. Your approach should be, "I'm writing to inform you of a new development that will be important to assessing my application," NOT "Gee, is it OK if I maybe add something to my CV and forward it to you? Huh, please? Maybe?" You need to be matter-of-fact but commanding, and you don't need anybody's permission to update your file with such a new credential. If you don't do it, somebody else will for themselves, and without a moment's hesitation.

In humanities, yes, published my undergraduate thesis in the leading journal for my topical interest.

Sorry. "She" (edited above to correct). But I stand by your advice on this and other threads. 8) What's that Shakespeare line, though, about "troubl[ing] deaf heaven with [your] bootless cries..."? Yeah, I'm reminded of that.

What IvyHope said is that just because you did what you think is "good work" for a class and made a good impression with your punctual behavior doesn't mean you have any aptitude for doctoral work. It sounds like you're talking about getting a good recommendation for good behavior, really, and she's trying to tell you that that's not what professors are being asked to evaluate. And now you're protesting and quibbling in the same manner you claimed (above) would endanger a good rec. I wish some of you would stop protesting so much and listen to people like IvyHope who know what the score is. She's trying to help you out (not that many people listened to her on the PoliSci top 25 thread a while back)....

I agree with _rising_. You guys are sweating very minor, largely irrelevant details. Name recognition of LORs won't help you if big picture items like GPA/GRE/SOP aren't great. And even if you get a recognized name to write you a letter, you still have no idea what its content might be.

Don't mean to sound harsh, but given the caliber of the schools you've named, I think those GRE scores are not going to cut it and might even be seen as a liability. Anyone admitted with funding at those places is probably going to have a combined scores of 1400 and upwards. Maybe Duke is a shot; they publish their admission statistics openly, so check those, but 1200 might be even too low for them.

No, he had an opportunity to open one that he didn't use but returned it to the recommender instead, unopened. Otherwise, he would've told us what it said, right?