kateow

This is a GREAT idea! It hadn't occurred to me (in fact, I've kind of been avoiding imagining our life in a new place, until I know whether it's worth dreaming or not). But I'm starting to think these options might actually come through as choices! So, here goes: Chicago: $650-750 for 1 bedroom, $750-850 for 2 bedroom (looking in Bridgeport, probably, but also considering Hyde Park itself) Cornell: $700-800 for 1 bedroom (anyone know what neighborhood I should be looking at for convenience to campus and/or grocery stores?), up to $900 for 2 bedroom Pittsburgh: $650-750 for 1 bedroom in Squirrel Hill, as low as $800 for 2 bedroom? New York (eep!): $1200-1550 for 1 bedroom (in East Harlem), maybe $1600-1800(!) for 2 bedroom? If these rates sound wrong to anyone already living in these areas, PLEASE let me know! This first shot, I went for average prices, instead of trying to find the lowest possible. I know that, in Chicago at least, the lowest advertised prices are usually scams of some kind... or REALLY bad and really far from where you wanted to live.

Sorry about your wrist!

YES! Netflix had been my method of dealing with the anxiety until this week. But lately, I haven't been able to do anything but check the results and forums! I didn't have to be at work today until 1, but my boyfriend's alarm woke me up at 8. Did I go back to sleep? No! I immediately checked my email, then checked the results page and forum, and repeated that process until 11:30! AGGHHH!

Also, I think schools know to blame your letter writers for not getting their LORs in, not you.

A more highly ranked school is more likely to result in offers of full time employment within academia. I'd choose the school that was most likely to get me job offers, post-doc. I'm in anthropology (archaeology), but I've seen this work, first-hand, in history too.

It's my understanding that funding info comes in the official acceptance. Usually the unofficial acceptance is at the departmental level, but funding may depend on processes at the university level.

Anthropologygeek has it right on the "steps-up" quality of schools--move up, or laterally if you're already at the top, but don't be surprised if you don't get into a top tier school in your subfield (or the discipline as a whole), if you went to a generic institution for undergrad (as an example, I went to DePaul). Now, regarding the SOP, you were probably on the right track if you were questioning the balance of specificity. That was my biggest fail the first time around. I didn't really know that I needed to present a specific project--I thought gesturing at my interests would be enough. I have also learned (from every--EVERY professor who has given me advice) the cardinal rule: do not begin your SOP with "Ever since I was a child..." or anything similarly biographical. I hope this helps someone out in the future!

Thanks for the update! You haven't heard if they did interviews, have you?

Any additional info on the archaeologists? and does anyone else wish they would stick to similar schedules between subfields? It's so hard to know how to judge the fact that sociocult or bioanth people have heard!

The best advice I ever got about these sorts of conversations (because the stress doesn't stop once you're admitted and attending--you start getting nervous about making appointments for office hours, to ask professors to sit on your committee(s) and read your exams), was that established professors usually know what they're doing. They know what kind of conversation you're supposed to be having with them. Because they've seen dozens of students in exactly the same position progress through all of these stages before. So it's ok to let them guide the conversation, unless you have something important to say or ask. Definitely come prepared with a couple of questions, but ideally it will be an organic dialogue that you will later discover went in all sorts of directions you didn't know it needed to. Because they know.

I have also found that asking graduate students about their experience before interviewing with faculty can be incredibly productive. They'll give you the best idea of what is important at the program. Ask them about their experience broadly, but also ask them what they wish they had asked when they were approaching the program. Also ask how their experience has shifted over time (their first impression on arriving at the program may also highlight areas of concern that you might want to raise in the interview with your POI).

Good luck!

Exactly.

fair fight

Agreed. My SO and I met while he was in his 4th year of doctoral work and I was getting my MA. Then we moved together to the site of his fieldwork for his doctoral research, while I applied to PhD programs (and work in a non-related, pretty dead-end job). Next year (this fall!), I'll start my own doctoral work, and he'll move with me and write his diss. In other words, we had great timing, but figured out how to make both of our dreams come true, without sacrificing the relationship. It's not always that easy to do, but it is possible to place the priority on the relationship, while recognizing that each partner's happiness and fulfillment contributes to the health of the relationship.

I have emailed this to everyone I know.

pain killer

I think people are right, no news is good news. The rationale is that people getting rejection letters now are in the first cut. If you aren't hearing back, it probably means that the admission committees are still considering your application, which is a good thing! And it is possible that if you hear nothing after others are accepted, you may be on an informal (or formal) waitlist. Until you get the rejection letters, there's no point in giving up hope! And, my own personal anecdote? Last time I applied, I got only rejections, until I thought it was too late and had given up hope (even after a fairly painful bait-and-switch at Northwestern). UChicago was the only school I hadn't heard from, but I knew they had already had interviews. Then I got a big envelope, inviting me to the MA program. It wasn't a PhD program and it wasn't fully funded, but it was something. (And, in the end, has been worth quite a lot to me.)

Regarding this, does anyone know whether WashU accepts people they don't interview? (I'm curious about the Anthropology Department.)

MAPSS?

I've heard from one of my schools (not officially, yet!) and it has NOT made it better! If anything, I'm more anxious, knowing that the next few weeks will tell me whether I have a choice to make or not. And NO CONTROL! AAAAAAHHHHH. ;-) But seriously, I started crying randomly a couple of days ago. I feel bad for my bf who has had to live with the moodiness. Fluxuating between irritation, depression, elation. It's too much. Thanks to the OP for opening up this space. It feels good to know that other people are having this (all too rational) reaction.

I agree with what everyone has said, but would like to throw out one additional point. I recommend trying your best to move past the preconceptions before you get there. I went to a prestigious institution for my MA and found that the people who took things at face value (that the people around them were passionately--and often awkwardly--trying to explore a wide range of ideas) enjoyed their experience a lot more, but people that approached the experience with something of a chip on their shoulder, expecting people to look down on them, ended up having that impression.

BTW, Northwestern is notorious (at least among grad students in Chicago) for inviting people to prospective student week and giving a strong impression that they are practically accepted, only to find that the weekend is clearly designed to sort the wheat from the chaff, so to speak.

My understanding of it is that you ALWAYS use either Dr. ___ or Prof. ___ in your initial communication. As soon as they reply to you (by email) using only their first name, or introduce themselves to you with their first name, the barrier to calling them by their first name is lifted. You can choose to maintain formality by continuing to refer to them as Dr./Prof. ___, but most of the professors I know of go by their first name as a matter of course, within their department (including both other faculty and graduate students).

I'm heading to ISAW (NYU) for an interview next week. Pittsburgh is close to making decisions. I had a positive personal email from my POI, still waiting on confirmation via official acceptance letter.