NOWAYNOHOW

It's definitely a good sign! Might I ask what school? Feel free to PM me the answer if you want to keep it on the DL...

This is my first PhD round, but if I have to apply next year, it will be my 4th round (MFA, MA, PHD, PHD2) and I can only imagine how much it will ruin my life. I'm ready to just apply for jobs in admissions. MY, HOW THE TABLES HAVE TURNED.

OOPS! Sorry to hear that. Obviously nerves are screwing with my reading comprehension.

Alterman, I see you have a Princeton rejection. Is that implied or did you receive a decision?

I'm in another discipline, but dropping in to say a few years ago a university I applied to lost my application. They literally misplaced an entire stack of applications and didn't find them until late March, well after all notifications (including rejections) went out. They tried to cover it up, but I know someone there and she told me the deal and why my decision was so late. I went AFTER them -- I didn't care about getting rejected, but I did care about my application fee. I wanted a refund. They pretty much swatted me like a fly. So let it go, re: Berkeley. Nothing good can come of this. I was mad for ages, and now I barely remember what it felt like. Sorry to hear about the rejection though!!

Fess up. Who got the Princeton acceptance?

Woo! Daykid! On a roll.

Taking a cue from the History forum, I see there's a faculty meeting today at Yale anthro. Thoughts on it broaching the subject of admissions? Maybe we'll get some interview notifications going! http://www.yale.edu/anthro/anthropology/Department_Calendar.html ETA just gonna hashtag this #creep ETA 2: after some more Googling, I realized the internet simply knows too much and that I wouldn't put all my findings here for fear of mass hysteria, but you can generally find this and more (ie. adcomm members) if you look hard enough. #internetdetective

I generally think it is positive, or creepy, or both! In my case, it could be one of my students, but if you aren't doing anything else that would merit being searched, then it very well could be a POI or adcomm member. That's probably good, unless you have something on Google you'd want to hide, but it is safe to say being googled is a sign of interest.

Depends. Nothing so far this year, but I know cultural interview invites went out around early February in the past.

Most of my schools are in the same area (and even more POIs live in the same city) so it is just one big blob of hits for me. I shouldn't complain! I'm 90% sure I know who looked for me today, since a POI asked one of my referees about me today. But if it was this POI...where is my email?! UGH

Academia.edu notifications driving anyone else nuts? I wish there was an alert that told you whether it was one your students or a POI googling you. Like, CODE RED: ADCOMM INVASION or CODE BLUE: SNOOPING UNDERGRADUATES.

For real. Let's talk about the best bourbon the ease the waiting pains. GEEZ

FYI, another snowstorm in NY today. I'd expect further delays on decisions as many local schools are closed and in the case of open universities (cough cough mine ughhhh) the weather will change schedules depending on where people are coming from. The weather has not been helpful this cycle.

This is a funny question. I used to professionally do X and my weird intellectual interest was Y. After several years it was clear that X should have stayed a passion, and I thought I'd go back to try my hand at Y. Now I do Y for a living (and am hoping for a PhD in it) and maintain a healthier interest in X. Anyway, cool story bro. Also fashion, whiskey, taxidermy, biomedical curiosities and oddities, science and speculative fiction, tattoos and some of the worst television has to offer. Nothing too exciting.

On top of being a prestigious school that offers students full funding: 1) It is the only school where there is faculty working on my exact area of interest (geographic location + topic) 2) I wouldn't have to move right now (decent commute) yet it's closer to my family, which is huge as my parents get older. 3) The department has been and continues to exhibit significant growth in my specialty.

I wouldn't worry too much about this. If departments only let in students of POIs on the adcomms, cohorts would be crazy lopsided! It is my understanding that in most programs, the committees conduct initial meetings, but the final list of admitted students comes after a meeting with the entire faculty.

I got into Gallatin with worse stats (GPA, publications) when I was applying to MA programs. Their funding was terrible, though, so I went elsewhere. Draper, also at NYU, has a bit more funding (and IMHO smarter students) and a great placement record. Maybe think about applying there too if you still can/want to do an interdisciplinary MA.

ugh, I think we can agree that January SUCKED. So much worrying for nothing! Do you think next week will be a big one?

Yay, Jump! So excited that the little news we are getting today is good news. What a great program. THIS. Because I applied to schools mostly in my current area, almost all the calls I get with unknown numbers share the zip codes of potential programs. Every time my phone rings I die a little, but it's almost always a wrong number or my insurance company! And don't even get me started on emails...I physically screw my face up into a scowl every time an email is not an acceptance (all emails should be acceptance emails), so I've been scowling a lot lately. On top of it all, NYU sends me what feels like a MILLION emails daily, and there's always a second where I think it's THE email I want and not just a random thing about library hours or TA training. #stress

Yeah, I wouldn't have reached out if not for having an update of some (I guess) importance. My adviser (who is also a POI) told me to tell all my programs, so I did. But I would be weary of asking otherwise since it is so early in the season. Waiting is HARD

Forsaken, you are right. I do think it can only help. I hear sometimes that certain programs don't "like" students coming in with the MA in hand, but I think it is more nuanced than that. It all comes down to the fact that programs want to train the best students possible. So on one hand, it is about potential: are you so set in your ways that you can't be trained? Or are you open to new ideas, methods and research topics? On the other hand, if you do have the MA, committees should expect more from you than students coming out of undergrad, because you've had more opportunities. I know plenty of MA students get shut out of the PhD process, but I have a suspicion that has more to do with their profiles than the degree. The MA alone isn't enough, especially because MA GPAs are usually quite high. It's not the degree, it's what you do with it. Did you use every available opportunity to improve your CV? Did you research collaboratively and independently? Did you spend your time wisely? etc etc

I think this is a very worthwhile conversation, though I also think many of us applying right now with the MA won't be able to sufficiently answer until after decisions are out. My second degree certainly gave me an opportunity to improve what would have been an otherwise lackluster application with research, teaching experience, relationships with renowned scholars and conference presentations, but it's hard to say whether the investment will pay off just yet. It is, without a doubt, expensive as an option. I came in with a departmental 1/3 tuition scholarship, but at the end of the day I've been fully funded (with some $$$ to spare) by acquiring RA and TA appointments on my own. There are generally very few of these opportunities available to MA students, but if you are doggedly pursuing them and are lucky enough to be appointed, the money makes a massive difference. All programs are different, but I came in with a cohort of 50+ and only a few people ended up distinguishing themselves from the larger group by connecting with faculty and securing scarce teaching and research opportunities. I guess what I'm saying is, if you are doing an MA and want to make it count, you have to hustle from the minute you start and never let up. As for benefits and drawbacks related to applying for the PhD, I suppose I'll give an update after all the dust clears. SOON, I hope.

Well, an update: I did get that scholarship (hurray!) and sent some kind messages and an updated CV to grad/department secretaries. I've gotten helpful responses from 3/7 so far. I also sent updates directly to 2 POIs (and one POI in person), because I'm trying very hard to shoot myself in the foot. Will let you all know if anything comes from this.

NYU sociocultural interviews are not standard protocol, so don't worry. People get in without them. I'm sure it is a good sign to have one, but it's not built into their process.