hiccup

Oh no, I didn't take it as an insult. But I guess, upon re-reading my response, it (my response, I mean) did come across rather cattily. I just meant that while what you proposed can be a factor, this whole grad application process is so unpredictable that you really never know where you're going to end up. The schools that seem to match up well with your interests sometimes reject you, and those that seem like terrible fits can often offer you the best package. If this grad school application process has taught me anything, it would be -- expect nothing. Don't expect to get into the University of X, and don't expect to get rejected from Y. In the end, all that worrying gets you nowhere.

Now *THAT* I definitely overlooked. Well, perhaps not 'overlooked' . . . I think that I was just in denial. I erroneously assumed that, when it came down to it , you didn't necessarily have to be a "thoroughbread" to place.

Actually, I think you're a little off with that assumption as well -- and I certainly don't think any of us forgot about faculty matches, otherwise we wouldn't have applied to the schools and programs we did if there weren't professors whose research interests coincided with our own. But honestly, I don't know after going though this process how much that even matters. At the schools where my research interests fit perfectly with two or more faculty members, I was rejected. In fact, I was rejected from every school that I thought would have been a great fit on precisely what you say we are forgetting. Instead, I got into every school that I thought would be a "long shot" simply because my interests were too far removed from my potential supervisors. At one of the schools to which I have been accepted, I will possibly be studying with a military historian who has never written anything even remotely related to my proposed dissertation topic. I think that's why we were all talking "hard stats" because most of us did our homework on the faculty, department, program, and institution.

Tell me about it. I just heard from them today. :cry:

Do you happen to know how this guy or girl was notified? E-mail? Call from professor? Letter mail? Like you, I think my credentials are pretty good for both places. (And since my first choice by a long shot is most likely to reject me, these were in my next cluster of "would-like-to-go-there" schools.)

Has anyone heard anything from either of the above universities? I know they're website says that acceptances will be handed out in March, but I noticed that some other programs within the social sciences/humanities have been hearing back from them. Grrr. The suspense is killing me!