snes

That guy's "test" was pretty interesting. I passed on some of them and failed on others. For instance, I don't have at least one burning question about my field that's always on my mind, mostly because I'm overwhelmed by so many questions that I force them to the back of my mind so I can get on with my life! (As I'm not in school yet and haven't been for almost 2 years) I have been so excited about certain topics that I scream aloud when reading interesting articles. Sometimes articles are so interesting I actually can't read the whole thing in one shot (which makes me feel a bit insane). Sometimes I am so giddy about my topic I get a frisson of happiness. I'm wondering what other people's litmus tests are/were about going to grad school! Especially on the music board. For me, it was waiting to see how my senior thesis would go - a completely independent research and writing project on a scale I had never attempted before (in the 150-page range). I'm not the best or most productive writer, but it really whet my appetite.

Wow, that's tough! Maybe a long-distance relationship for awhile would be good for you both - if you can survive it, you know you're both committed and serious enough to start a family. And it looks like he has a enough money for you to visit each other more than a few times per year. I know you said you don't want to rush home and be ABD, but do any of your programs allow you to not be in residence once your coursework is done to do your dissertation? If they don't give you the $$ for that but still let you stay in the program, it sounds like he would be able to support you both anyway.

I see NYU GSAS rejections are coming out...

I think a short, concise email will be fine. I also think a slightly longer, more personalized email will be fine, too, especially if you've been having conversations with these professors over the course of the app season. Just don't go overboard, obviously. Anyway, when I have to send out my own "rejection" emails, I'll probably opt for the more personalized approach, because I have been seriously hounding these poor POIs with questions and they've donated a lot of their time and very helpful/honest opinions to me and my crazy indecisiveness. This year, after writing a personalized withdraw email to a master's program, the prof responded with congratulations and tips on which PhD program I should choose for my interests!

Haha, sounds like me last year, except my master's was faaaaaaaaaar from free so I didn't do it. HENCE my 12 apps this year!

I live on dissonance. I'm a music theorist! But personally, I don't feel better or seem to even make subconscious efforts to feel more confident after making a decision. I still consider "what if?" all the time! That being said, I haven't made a grad-school decision yet.

STEM people must resolve cognitive dissonance way better than us bemused humanities kids!!

-all of the above, -get into a really good and/or really addicting book series, and, -pursue a concrete goal for a hobby. The goal part is important, because it gives you something to plan and think about that's not grad school!

Free master's? Sweet!!

G'bye Yale! Thanks for the memories: "WTF HAS ANYBODY HEARD ANYTHING??" "No! "

I have a 13" Macbook Pro like others on this board. I've had it for a year, and so far it's much more reliable than my 2006 15" MBP was at the same age. The screen is somewhat too small for me when I use it as a desktop at home.

Ooh, waitlist possibly?? Mine seemed pretty automated.

Nothing from Yale, UCLA, or NYU. But I'm not even checking anymore because they almost have to be rejections, at this point. I'm lucky enough to have 4 (maybe 5) great programs to choose from, so I've spent most of my energies getting info and perspective for this decision, which is proving reaaaaaaaaaally tough. Karajan, you can't leave, because I want to know where you decide to go!

Yes. You can even get an offer without an interview to a program that conducts interviews. It's happened!

Duke sent me an email that began with "We were pleased..." and ended with "LOL JK click here for your rejection letter!" Something like that.

I do the spiral notebook thing (cheapest ones I can find at Staples), but I make sure the spiral notebooks are 3-holed so I can eventually take notes out and put them in a more organized binder. Or just stick the whole notebook in there. School-supply shopping is my favorite kind of shopping. The best I've ever done in a class (undergrad, mind you) was when I was taking notes by hand in a notebook during lecture, and THEN typing up those notes (not scanning) in a document along with my typed reading notes. The process of writing by hand also helps be feel more engaged in-class, and then in the process of typing, I'd synthesize everything, often summarizing concepts in simple language for ease of studying later. Obviously, it was time consuming, so I couldn't always do it.

NO. (edited to clarify: I haven't heard anything either) In fact, at a trivia game last night, I was tasked with thinking of the 10 college basketball teams that have been in the final four the most times, or something. I FORGOT DUKE.

Beware the Ides of March!! Opening my email to a full-out rejection from a school that made me believe they liked me. Et tu, Columbia? Where was my soothsayer?

Any stats for music theory? Or is that covered under musicology?

thanks comp12!

This is tough! All previous posters make good points. Other things to consider: - Is your field one in which having a master's might actually make it more difficult to get into a PhD program? Or, possibly, much easier? Take a look at your top choice doctoral programs now and figure out if they tend to take bachelors-onlies. - Is your field one in which having more variety in your education would make you a better job candidate? - Keep in mind that selective programs accept only people they think would be a great fit and would be happy there. You might need to do a lot more reevaluation of that doctoral program! - I was recently unofficially accepted to a really great (funded!) master's program. I communicated openly with them about this very issue, and they told me to absolutely take a funded doctoral acceptance over a master's. I'm in a different field than you, though.

I'm currently trying to figure this out too. I play it pretty safe, and address them as Prof. X or Dr. Y especially if I haven't met them in person yet. The only professors I call by their first names are my undergrad advisors I've known for years! But I'll call someone by their first name in person before I will in written correspondence. Yeah, it's kind of awkward, but they probably zoom to the content of your email anyway!