Tonights

So how is everyone this fine morning? (Well, it's morning where I am, anyway). I'm having one of those very rare confident days where I'm feeling like I am a shoe-in for admission.

Fieldwork, I've applied to Amherst. Maybe we will be colleagues.

I checked my schools. Syracuse definitely requires it for any aid at all.

Yes. Yes, someone who forges important academic credentials absolutely deserves to have their academic career be aborted immediately. This person is competing for spots with the rest of us - the rest of us who came by our recommendations honestly and often with difficulty. How is that fair? How can we be assured that she will honestly come by her research and not forge it or plagiarize it from someone else? We can't be assured, because she's a dishonest poltroon who isn't invested in the spirit of academia and doesn't belong there.

I hope that means more good things for you! One of my potential schools has been sending me scholarship applications, so I've been having wild fantasies as well, although it probably means jack squat.

When was the deadline? If it was 1/15, well... it's only 1/23. There's a very good possibility your file hasn't even been looked at yet.

Nothing yet for me, out of eight programs. I'm a little surprised that you have heard - I'm truly not even planning on checking the mailbox with any real anxiety until March 1 or so. Mind if you hint at what school it was?

I'm definitely doing a FAFSA. I don't believe one is required for school-based funding, but chances are excellent that I'm going to need loans to see this thing through, so yeah. FAFSA.

Oh my gosh. I'm so sorry to hear that you're having trouble. I'm at least glad that you weren't told that your application would be scrapped entirely. I can't even tell if all my stuff is in, because the online systems aren't updating and nobody's returning my emails. THAT'S IT, I'M BECOMING A HERMIT.

Thank heavens you're not really expected to have published before grad school in my field.

I am hoping for good news for all of us. This is a terribly stressful process!

Yeah, I was a mite confused about the itty-bitty word requirement, especially since this is a competitive school. (New program, but very competitive school). I had a dreadful time shaving my 1200 word SOP down to 500 words and keeping it relevant and meaningful, let alone 200! I think I'm just going to send the whole thing exactly as it is. Thanks a lot, guys, I would have worried that this was a faux pas if I didn't get a bit of reassurance.

No, CAPoliSci, it's not easy at all. But at the same time, making up Plan B scenarios is a helluva lot easier than facing a black void if we get rejected, I suppose.

See, if someone did that to me, I would seriously consider taking the "flaming-bag-of-dog-poo approach" to resolving the issue.

Much of what I hear is that if you want to back out, you just need a letter from the department releasing you from your obligation in order to accept another offer. It's not too big of a deal.

I would feel comfortable telling this board if I got rejected everywhere. I think I would feel less embarrassed to tell the people here than I would feel telling people who aren't personally invested in the process. I'm seventy points below the math mean for my field.... but I'm a hundred and thirty points ABOVE the verbal. I already emailed department chairs to ask about this and was told that it was by no means a dealbreaker, but I can't help but think about it at night.

That's part of it. I'm steeling myself because I know eight rejections (or nine, if I get this last one in) are going to be a really big blow to my self-worth.

Oh, I definitely feel like I'm going to be rejected across the board. My discouragement has been a bit worse since I took a look at the GRE polls. Now, I'm in a field where theoretically not a lot of emphasis is placed on the GRE, but really. If they have an applicant as qualified as I am AND who isn't disabled at math, they're obviously not going to pick me. I already told my SO that we should think of alternate plans for next year... culinary school, maybe? :cry:

I'm very lucky in that my SO has a flexible job AND his tastes in destinations are very similar to my own, so he's happy and willing to pack up.

So, I'm applying to a MA program. All of my other applications were doctoral, but this one is just perfectly suited to me, so I have to apply. The statement of purpose is to be, as in the title, "not less than 200 words." Do you think it's appropriate to use the 1000+ word statement I used for my other applications, or should I shave it down?

I've wanted to be an archaeologist since I was 5. I formally knew I wanted to go to graduate school on the first day of "Introduction to Cultural Anthropology" and haven't wavered since.

Ha. You can tell by this that we don't have a representative sample here - so many folks above the 90th percentile!

Oh my lord. I have no hope.

I will put on the soundtrack to Return of the King, extremely loudly, and cry in my kitchen in glee. Ever since I started this process my best friend has referred to it as a quest, and it really is! And Tinyboss... if I get either of my three top choices, you can just send that yummy winterwear over my way. :wink:

I think you may be overanalyzing a bit. The fact that she said "you're not in yet" pretty much tells you what you need to know.