cokohlik

Hahaha!! You said it! (I want to put in a "Forever Alone" face but my phone doesn't recognize rich text. That's how it feels. )

I'm not in a PhD program (yet- hoping for an acceptance ) but I can sympathize with your concern. Were I to enter a PhD program (which I will hands down if I get in), I too would be leaving an extremely well paying job and perfect work environment. So would my husband. He has more to lose ... Seniority, freedom to work on what he wishes usually, working with his family. But for us, it's worth it because a PhD is something that I've wanted for years now and I see it as crucial to my personal and intellectual development, not to mention that my dream job is to be a professor in my field. As Hillary Emick said, "This is about doing what I want to be doing with my life and following my passions..." I'm not worried that I'll mist likely be earning half of what I'm making now. I didn't always have my current job, so the extra money is certainly nice but we are people who have much and want little. We'll be ok. You ultimately have to make the choice that is right for you. As others gave said, you have to be 100% committed to getting a PhD if you choose to enter a program. PhD studies aren't easy and command a large part of your focus. You'll need that dedication, that drive, to keep you going when things get tough. If you aren't totally committed and choose to enter a program, and I don't mean this to sound harsh, but there is someone else who probably could've gotten in who truly was gung ho had you not attended. So that may be something to take into consideration. I wish you a huge congratulations on your interviews! Good luck making this choice

Oooh! Best of luck to you

Lol!!! This should be turned into a PhD Comic.

You and me both! Good luck, grad cafers!! It's nice to have such a great network.

I totally agree! The waiting is practically physically painful and just maddening. Hopefully February and the first couple weeks of March will fly by, slowing only for us to savor the wonderfulness of any happy decisions that come our way!

Congratulations Once!! For anyone wondering/worrying about late decisions from U of Toronto like I've heard rumors about, the GS says that PhD decisions will be out by end of February, and MA at the beginning of March.

Doesn't Disneyland have a Jedi Academy?

Haha!! Why beat around the bush?

Haha! You and me both!

That sucks. If they came a month or two after, I'd be bugging the department until I got an answer because how could they expect anyone to make a decision without knowing about funding? Weird. Hoping for the "with" or "month after" (e.g. by April 15! ) Thanks!

I've always wondered - do all acceptance letters come with details about what type of fellowship/stipend is being offered to you, or does that information come separate? What do you do if you want to compare offers but just one has financial details, and one doesn't, so you can't really make an informed decision?

Do programs actually send out decisions in the body of the email? When I applied last year, my previews were all something like "log into your ApplyYourself account to see your decision" and on top of logging in there, you had to click on another one or two links to see the letter! Agony! Haha! I would appreciate exactly what you describe. No drawn out wait, no circles to run in, just a pure and simple answer. Also, my husband came in with the mail this morning and had a thick packet in his hand and was like "this isn't anything, don't get too excited," and it was just a magazine I get. Of course, if I was applying to undergrad, thick packets would thrill me to no end.

Brilliant!!

Has anyone applying to US art history PhD programs had any news? I saw on the survey board that UCSB and Emory requested interviews last week. Just curious if anyone else has heard anything from other programs.

Woah!! What an awesome email to get I'm sure you have good news coming your way!

Haha! Oh my goodness. That sounds like an ordeal. I'm so glad it worked out! Congratulations!!!!! I hope that your interview goes extremely well You'll let us know, right?

I'm in the humanities, but regardless of field, if I was in your situation I would choose the school that fits most closely with your research interests. I think you'd end up being more specialized and educated in the areas of research that really interest you. I also couldn't personally see myself working on something that wasn't what I was interested in pursuing. I'd be worried that I'd burn out. That's my 2 cents I hope you get some great feedback from the fine folk here!

Hahahaha!! These stories are brilliant. I had the honor of writing an honors paper (haw, pun) for my department chair. I was having all kinds of formatting issues and was so flustered by the time they were fixed that I forgot to re-type in the title of my paper, didn't notice, and turned it in. I got back an entire typed page of comments, and paraphrased, the first point was: "First, you should always title your papers. Titles are important elements of any paper that give the reader an idea of what the paper will be about." I was mortified.

oooooohhhh....... You should get that published so I can read it and drool. What an awesome topic!

I'm female One program got back to me and said that they were indeed in the wrong file and now they have my docs, but the other one still needs me to resend them.