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roarie

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  1. The website has a searchable map. http://campus-map.stanford.edu/ When I visited, my host was in EV and she walked to class. I'd guess that walk was some brisk 20 minutes. ----- So, I haven't ridden a bike in a very long time, but plan to get one. Is there a bike that you'd recommend for a beginner, given the campus environment? ----- I also just wanted to say, FREE LAUNDRY.
  2. Hey, I feel you. I spent the last four years wanting to go to a school. During the last two years of my undergrad and the two years since, I worked myself silly to get into this school. And as much as I told people that I would have been happy to attend anywhere that accepted me, I secretly felt that if I didn't get into the school I would have failed. Acceptances came in, but not from that school. I was holding an acceptance letter from the highest ranked program in my field, but not that school's. I felt stupid for some time. Stupid for not getting in, but also stupid for wanting to exchange all my acceptances for this one acceptance. I had one too many conversations with professors, peers, and friends who all said, "Look, I know you wanted to go to that school, but you got into a dream school. I think you're cutting yourself and that school short." I felt both guilty and painful envy as I exchanged messages with people on Grad Forum who had gotten into my dream school, but wanted to be in my position. I spent a lot of time thinking. Some of it was spent hating and berating myself. But at some point, I realized that because I wanted to go to a school for four years, I wasn't being rational, but was instead being rather myopic. Don't get me wrong, the school that I wanted to attend for so long is a fantastic program and undoubtedly top tier. But, because I wanted to go so badly, I wasn't seriously weighing some rather heavy considerations, like funding, average time of graduation, geographic location, job placement, and attrition rate (the school admittedly has a notorious reputation for being an unhappy place). That is to say, I wanted a school so much that I stopped considering what other options were out there. There are moments when I do wonder what would have happened if I had been accepted. But it doesn't really matter anymore, because I'm genuinely happy where I stand. I accepted an offer and had a celebration dinner with lots of champagne. We'll be okay. Why? [deep loud blooming voice] Because we're awesome and nothing can change that. Hang in there.
  3. The grapevine says that Brown only finished their interviews last week, so it's still very likely that they're still deliberating.
  4. Question! Am I also supposed to write something to the graduate student responsible for my visit if I'm declining their offer before I visit?
  5. Heard through the grapevine that Vanderbilt is out.
  6. Everyone I've spoken to has recommended Raines or Escondido Village.
  7. Berkeley AMHA Rejections went out in the beginning of the month. Maybe you're still up for funding offers!
  8. roarie

    Other Schools

    If you mean Washington University in St. Louis and not University of Washington in Seattle, they were out last weekend.
  9. I got accepted into Boulder's MA program, and declined the offer. Hope one of you guys can take my place! Also, Berkeley Classics is out it seems, as well as Penn Archaeology (don't remember the acronym).
  10. roarie

    UNC-CH

    I got an unofficial offer from them very recently. They also told me that funding decision comes out in six weeks. It sounds like they're still working out funding, so there's still six weeks of hope!
  11. I didn't have a title in my writing sample. I got into my top choices, and no one has ever mentioned the fact as of yet.
  12. Is that Berkeley funding guaranteed for the full time that you will be a student? I'm not an engineer by any means, but I know with all the financial troubles, Berkeley seems to be having difficulties with funding across the board. Also, what will your teaching responsibilities be like? Can you ask them? It might be a humanities thing, but I know many people at Berkeley seem a bit resentful that they have to TA so many classes and extend their PhD duration so that they can get financed. Cost of living in East Bay is definitely not as bad as SF. You can find cheap housing in Berkeley, it just might not be ... not dilapidated. Or you know, rent out your living room.
  13. I told him where I've been accepted to so far when he asked me. Actually, I should add that it never felt like an interview at all. He told me when I should expect to hear about funding, and he moved straight on to talk about what direction I should take my scholarship and what schools were best for me, including his, of course. From the tone of the conversation, I think he knew that I could afford to go elsewhere, and I think that's why he volunteered to write to School C (an excellent fit, but there had been a glitch in my application). All in all, it sounded like he was excited about my scholarship and wanted me to go a school that would best prepare me for a career. And! When I told him where I got rejected from, he said, "Don't worry. X rejected me too."
  14. That is a toughie. This pretty much describes my professor at my undergraduate institution. He was -- how do I put this-- a monster in his field and arguably the most esteemed professor of his sub-sub-field in America as of now. His name had such value that even though he wasn't quite in my sub-sub-field, I still asked him for a letter of recommendation, because I knew that even a letter that would say "She is a competent historian," with his initials would go a long way. You would not believe how many professors I've talked to since graduating from my undergraduate talk about him with me and am amazed that he volunteered to write me a letter, as he is, as another esteemed professor described, "a mean old grouch." I love him and I'm grateful for what's he's done for me, but I would not go and work with him, even if I were in his sub-sub-field. I've seen him maul graduate students in class, and, more than one professor outside of my undergraduate school has mentioned to me how many careers he's destroyed. Since graduating from my undergrad, I've come to really value support systems that schools provide, and I can't imagine going back to someone like him. Remember that even if you do everything you need to do, there's several things you can't control. What if the book you're about to publish suddenly has its publishers back out on you? It's at those moments you need advisers who can pull strings and work for you [this is a true story from a tenured professor at an Ivy League school who told us his experience to stress the importance of advising].
  15. Just as a follow up, and for future references: I did do the interview, and I'm very glad that I did. Not only was the professor from school E incredibly nice, but he gave me superb advice on the trajectory of my scholarship and academic career. He also gave very sober opinions on schools A,B,C, and D, and where he felt I could best profit in terms of academic training. Also, there had been an iffy situation with one of my top choices, and he even volunteered to write on my behalf to that school. So anyone else in a similar situation, don't be short-sighted, don't be lazy. Do the interview, because maintaining good relations with people in your field is very important.
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