fredngeorge

@neverstop - I appreciate that you believe anything can be accomplished with enough time, effort, passion, etc. However, based on my track record so far, I have absolutely no reason to believe that I will ever even receive an unfunded offer, so considering that possibility would be purely hypothetical. I've never received more than a single waitlist and a smattering of advice. I've heard "no" so many times that I'll admit even a "yes" with no funding would be pretty damn tempting -- but I think, in the end, I'm with Sparky in thinking that a "yes minus funding" amounts to a "no." The one positive to draw from your personal experience, however, is that your unfunded offer is strong evidence that with better timing/app materials/luck (or whatever) you are certainly capable of getting a funded offer if you continue to try. In my case, though, I have very little experiential evidence to support any argument in favor of continuing to apply. Yes, getting my Ph.D. in English (and pursuing a career in teaching) is what I want to do more than anything else I can possibly think of. BUT working as a secretary while continuing to apply to Ph.D. programs for years and years indefinitely is pretty low on my list of dream-careers. Like I said, if there was some way of knowing that an additional, say, three-year investment in this process would give me a positive outcome, I would probably act like a starry-eyed idiot and say, "Bring it on!" I have no such guarantee. AND I've already invested approximately six years and $4000 in application costs (not to mention the money spent on my M.A. that will very likely not help me to get a job I will be happy with -- my current crappy job is evidence enough of that for me). In addition to the time and money I've lost, I've taken some serious hits to my self-esteem, my confidence, and my optimism. So you can say that "pride" is holding me back, and maybe it is, but I'd be more likely to put it down to my hard-earned sense of realism. The evidence tells me to move on, and I'm not going to close my eyes and continue to walk blindly into the same wall over and over again on the off-chance that somebody opens a door for me. So in a choice between making a career of applying to graduate school (forever) and finding some other career that, while less fabulous that my Ph.D. dream-career, can challenge me intellectually and allow me to contribute to in some way to something I care about, I choose the latter. Yes, it sucks to start over but, as far as I'm concerned, not as much as the alternative. I appreciate that you're trying to be encouraging Please don't interpret my explanation of my decision to give up as an attempt to convince you to do the same. I think you should do what makes you happy. @dokkeynot - If you read my earlier posts in this thread, most of your questions would be answered. I have applied to a very wide range of programs, never going by ranking but solely by fit -- I never applied to a single ivy league. The list of schools to which you applied puts my list to shame. And if my application has some fundamental flaw, the programs to which I've applied aren't telling. The feedback I've gotten (when I've gotten it) has mainly been minor, fixable stuff. And, at this point, most (all?) of it has been fixed. I know it would be comforting to those experiencing first (or second) round rejection to hear my application was doomed for some reason I'm not telling, but I can offer no such comfort. I will say that I intend to contact departments once the admissions season winds down to get feedback (even though I'm not applying again, I can see no reason not to even if simply for curiosity's sake), and if I find out anything indicative of that "fundamental flaw" I'll be sure to let you know. Edit.... P.S. I really don't mean to throw a pity party here. In some ways this application season, though ultimately just as unsuccessful as all the rest, has been my most productive. The stress of doing this for a fourth time prompted me to take up running in September, and now I've run two half marathons and have lost the 15 pounds I gained since getting married. I'll take what I can get!! And I'm very much looking at my decision to move on in the most positive way possible -- as a fresh start.

Thanks, Fiona! I'm really pulling for you on your waitlist!! I want nothing but the best for all my fellow GCers -- especially those who offer me virtual gin and cookies!

For anyone who is curious, I've now received rejections from all my schools for the fourth time. I think I'm done..... I seriously have no idea what the hell else I'm going to do with my life, but it's definitely time to start figuring it out. If someone could tell me that FOR SURE I would get in within the next three years if I kept applying, I would probably do it -- I want this THAT much -- but my level of self-doubt has reached the upper limit. FWIW, to those who suggested I reapply to the school at which I was previously waitlisted (on my 2nd application) with positive feedback, I did. Rejected. So far, no explanation. I had been in contact with some faculty as to how I could improve my application this year and was told to just submit a strong app again (no specific points for improvement). I tried to reach out since receiving my rejection and was told to e-mail again in six weeks. Good luck to everyone still waiting to hear and congrats to those who were accepted (I'm so happy that such a large number of you made it!)! For me, though, I give up.

It seems like, every time I turn on the freaking radio, they're playing Kelly Clarkson's "What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger." I, however, have been feeling like what doesn't kill you sometimes kills you anyway......

I need a hug too.... (rejection stinks)..... Best of luck to everyone here! You all deserve both hugs and acceptances!!

I'm not sure that they will remember names unless you keep in contact. That said, I was waitlisted last year on my 2nd application to a particular university (rejected the first time), had positive feedback and contact throughout the waitlist process, and after maintaining contact and receiving no genuinely helpful feedback on how to improve this time around, have been implicitly rejected from that university this year (my third application). For me, I'm pretty sure my one waitlist (in 6 years/4 app cycles) WAS the end. I don't want to be a hope-killer, but right now, I'm wishing somebody had given me a reality check before I went through this again..... ***Edited to apologize for being so negative on a thread meant for hope. I'll go back and live in the 0% Confidence of Acceptance thread now.....

Sorry in advance for angering any Tolkein fans, but I, for one, think the Lord of the Rings movies far surpass the mediocre (at best) books. As someone suggested about Game of Thrones, the books have much in the way of plot, not so much in the way of great writing.... Generally, though, I really enjoy even less-than-great adaptations because I like seeing the book in a new way. I'm definitely not someone who approaches movie adaptations with a prejudice against directors/writers who change "too much." I think this explains the joy I find in totally reworked/reimagined interpretations of books like Clueless (Emma), 10 Things I Hate About You (Taming of the Shrew), She's the Man (Twelfth Night), Apocalypse Now (Heart of Darkness), etc.

I had a student who wrote an entire paper on how he wanted to be a "raper" when he grew up (translation: "rapper"). Memorable moments: "I really enjoy raping."

Thanks for the virtual hug & virtual shot! They were much needed and appreciated As much as I hate this process (and my life right now....), the support of everyone on this site has helped me in ways I can't even explain

I am so jealous of happy for Timshel, TripWillis, Marlowe, cquin, Woolfie, and the many others who have been acepted so far. Congrats! And I'm seriously rooting for those who haven't heard back yet: this means you Lolopixie and Bespeckled! I am, however, still living (my guess is permanently) in this thread. I just can't shake the feeling that I'm doomed..... yet again I've already received one official rejection, and I've now seen acceptances and waitlists pop up for the one school where I seriously believed I had the best shot (this was my third application to said school, and I was waitlisted last year with positive feedback on my app -- this year, nothing....). That one waitlist (the closest I've come to success in six years of this nonsense and a grand total of four application seasons) was the only thing that had given me hope that I would eventually stand a chance somewhere. To me, that waitlist translated into hope that maybe all my past rejections could be put down to bad timing, bad luck, or a combination of both. And while I by no means saw it as an indicator that I was any kind of sure thing at that same school, I was secretly at least hoping for a slightly more personal rejection -- I've spoken relatively extensively with some of these people, and they know who I am -- Is a short e-mail explaining that the competition was especially stiff this year too much to ask? I guess so. Maybe my app and I aren't so memorable after all. I have spent the last week just kicking myself that I have let myself get my hopes up year after year. Seriously, I think I have some kind of chronic optimism condition that allows me to delude myself into repeating exercises in futility ad infinitum. I'm considering hiring someone to beat it out of me. The rejections get harder to take every time -- I've pretty much never felt lower. I've just wrapped so much of my life at this point around this process that I don't know what else to do. I've done my share of crying. I guess tonight I'll do my share of drinking.

I sort of missed the boat on the drink of choice discussion, but with rejections starting to pop up on the results board, I figured a revival of that discussion wouldn't be too ill-timed. My one-and-only drink of chocie is beer, but there are so many to choose from that I never want for variety. I mostly prefer American ales (I can't stand most lagers, and the wheat beer that makes me happy is a rare exception). Favorite major breweries: Stone, Rogue, Sierra Nevada, Firestone, and Lagunitas -- but I'm lucky to be fairly close to some fairly wonderful local breweries as well. I'll have something this weekend and drink to all of you -- here's to very few rejections for GCers!

I don't post very often, but I seriously compulsively check this site at work and at home every 15 minutes or so. (I've gotten very good at surreptitiously sneaking a peak at updates while my boss's back is turned -- we share an office -- and my husband pretty much thinks I have an unhealthy addiction to this site, which he does not at all understand -- "It's not like you're going to find anything out about your application. Why would you check GradCafe more than once a day/week/month??"). Anyway, my point is that, while you all may not know me very well (due to my lack of prolific posting), I feel very familiar with all of you, and I am seriously miserable that you are getting rejections already. You guys are my friends/support group/inspriation! I have such a hard time believing that some of you will not get in somewhere, however, so don't get too down just yet. My one waitlist (closest thing I ever had to an acceptance) in the way-too-long history of my applications to grad school came in late March -- which felt like a miserably long time to wait for a few weeks of antsy-half-happiness -- but hopefully that means that, in spite of whatever kind of control over our destinies we hope to gain by compulsively analyzing the results board, it's not over until you have an answer in hand from every single program! Don't let one get you too down (yet) We will all get through this (with our drinks of choice, varied Netflix addictions, and our fellow GCers)

Love it!

I thought of another must-read series for my fellow literature-addicts. If any of you haven't read Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series, I suggest running out and buying The Eyre Affair immediately to distract yourselves during breaks from the maddening application process. These novels are seriously good fun!

I'm addicted to Tana French -- which is frustrating because, thus far, she only has three novels (In the Woods, The Likeness, and Faithful Place). If you're at all interested in mystery fiction, I seriously believe she's the best there is (still publishing, that is). I read all three over the last year, and since she has no more, I'm thinking of re-reading them.... That said, the real magic of these novels is her writing style -- not always in plot. My best friend couldn't stand the narrator of In the Woods, and if you must have a neatly resolved novel, it's probably not for you. The Likeness has one of the most absurd premises of all time -- but I love it anyway. Right now I'm reading Hitch-22 (for my non-fiction fix) and Age of Innocence. Hitch-22 is great, and I would highly recommend it. I'm only five chapters into Age of Innocence, so we'll see.