patientagony

I know. I'm not fooling anyone. I'm really happy about the places I've been accepted to so far, but Rutgers was kind of my number one choice. I'm going to let myself be sad until the end of the day and then I'm moving on. No time to mourn.

O.k. Rutgers, I see how it is. You don't want me. I'm alright*. *alright- (adj) to curl up in bed and sob uncontrollably

Honestly, I think that admissions committees probably care more about your verbal score than your analytic writing score. I got a 4.0 on my writing portion and I've managed to get into good schools so far. I think the only reason the analytic writing exists is that fields which aren't writing based need some sort of test of an applicant's writing. I mean, why does an English adcom care about your ability to write a thirty minute essay about some vague inconsequential topic? Does this even remotely replicate anything you will be required to do to get a Ph.D? No. The English field cares way more about your writing sample because it shows your ability to do research and think critically about literature, which the analytic writing section cannot test.

Judging from the results board, Rutgers has been pretty consistent at notifying applicants on Friday or Saturday, so if you don't hear from them by then it's probably a rejection, which is more than I can say for other schools which roll add admits little by little. That's even worse. I will continue to tell myself this to feel better as I wait in agony.

Thanks for the info, but UGH!! Monday? I wonder if they received more apps than usual this year...

Very well put Bluecheese. The idea that people are somehow doing something wrong or desperate by apply to 10 schools is strange. This process is very random and when trying to succeed in such chaos it only makes sense to apply to many places. Every professor I've ever spoken with about grad school has suggested no less. And while you make an excellent point about picking the best faculty and funding from your wide array of options, you've forgotten about one overlooked aspect of picking among your acceptances, which is negotiating. I don't think that anyone has mentioned this here, but I'll just post the advice my mentor e-mailed me below, with emphasis on the strategy: You have so many options-- my advice: try to visit as many as you can. Then you'll have the opportunity to talk to profs and grad students and get the lay of the land and figure out where you want to work, live, and be happy! You have the opportunity to get exactly what you want by playing all of these places off each other, so do it!!! You can have summer money, guaranteed no teaching, etc. I'm not an indecisive person by any means, but I certainly don't plan on declining any offers until I've had a chance to visit each campus, speak with professors and current grad students, negotiate funding and teaching, and get a feel for exactly what I'll be committing to for the next 6 to 7 years of my life. It sucks if that means some people on the waitlists are going to be kept waiting, but that isn't my business.

Seriously!! It's the only school left that I haven't heard from without it being an assumed rejection. I swear, it has to be this weekend though. They seem to notify most people on Saturdays and a few on Friday though, so we should know in the next two days whether or not we made the cut.

Congrats!!!!

I think we can definitely expect Rutgers to send out acceptances by this weekend. They usually send them out the 3rd weekend of February, but this year they must be doing it the fourth weekend since the third weekend was relatively early in the month.

Congrats Porridge!! Don't put yourself down either, try and enjoy it =)

I'll definitely visit one way or another =) So far my interactions with the campus have just been one informal visit in high school for prospective undergrads, and drinking with my best friend who did his undergrad at UCR, but I'd love to experience the real academic side of it. BTW, there is excellent KBBQ in Riverside if you know where to find it.

You've got to be kidding me. I'm supposed to go on to New York to visit friends I haven't seen in two years that week!! I haven't booked tickets yet, but it's literally my only vacation time. Maybe I won't go to the welcome weekend and go another time instead. Ahhh!!!! Decision overload!!

Thanks! i'm at work right now and I can't freak out formally, so I am taking to GC to express my feelings =) I don't know when visiting day is yet, but yes! I live mere minutes from Riverside so it couldn't be more convenient.

I got into UC Riverside guys!!! I was not expecting this!!!! I called them this morning when the check next to the box that says, "application is under review" mysteriously disappeared, and the grad secretary said, I'd know my status in a month or two, so I assumed that was an implicit rejection. I am in shock.

This needs to be its own thread! "Interacting with POIs at Admit Weekends". I feel like you should be familiar with their most well known work at least.

Umm, pretty damn crazy. Why did you apply to those programs if you couldn't see yourself at them? You got into amazing schools which I'm pretty sure have great funding right? Go to admit weekends, pick the program you think has the best fit, and if it feels like a bad fit once you are there, transfer. I just think it would be a waste of money and time to apply again.

Wow, so in other words, US News rankings are kind of bullshit? NRC rankings seem to be much more legitimate then.

I don't know your friend, but I'm jealous too. Logically, I know I'm not going to get into Columbia, but a sad little sliver of hope remains.

I was under the impression that it may work in the opposite order. I've been nominated for a university wide fellowship and was told that part of the reason they nominated me is that it offers more money than the department can offer, along with relief from TA duties. If I don't win it they are still offering full funding. I don't think they dole out departmental fellowships until after they about the results of external ones, that way they can fund as many people as possible with outside money before they use their own. I would say that it would therefore make the most sense to wait for the results before committing. There's no rush. If you don't get external funding and the department see that you have already committed, they may not feel the need to offer you their most competitive internal package because, hey, they've got you already. I know its tempting to start finalizing everything and get out of the hell of waiting to know where you are going to be, but you have until April 15th, so just try to see how things go before you make any final decisions.

Well, if you can't make it to the official welcome weekend I think they will still pay for you to come a different time. And if work is an obstacle for you, perhaps you can take a one day trip? Fly a redeye into Illinois, get to campus by 9 am, drop in on classes that interest you, explore the city a bit , have back to back meetings scheduled with profs you want to meet and catch a late evening flight back home. Obviously it's not the ideal situation and you will be exhausted by the end of the day, but it's better than not having the chance to visit at all. I totally get the fear of cornfields thing though! I've only ever lived in large costal states, so the whole middle of America thing would be a bit of an adjustment, although sort of exciting in a way. There are probably far fewer distractions too =)

Yes! In fact, I should register for that now before I forget. Are you visiting?

Happy to clarify for you imogene. It's an MA acceptance, which I was notified of pretty early because of a fellowship nomination. I've actually been wondering myself when the rest of the acceptances for MA and PhD will go out, but I don't have any insider info on that unfortunately. If I hear anything I'll let you know. Best of luck!

I can't stand the Rutgers wait for much longer. I'm going crazy.

Ok, that makes sense. I come from a similar background in terms of record keeping, poverty and mixes of ethnicities. My family is Creole from Louisiana, so whenever someone asks about my ethnicity I'm like, uhhhh, I don't know how to answer that question precisely, so I just list all of the things that I know are thrown in there, but I couldn't tell you how "much" of any one background I am.