OnceAndFutureGrad

I'm sorry you're dealing with this situation. But it sounds as if you have the best opportunities available to you now, particularly as your supervisor is still willing to write you a LoR. Yes, some grad programs may be hesitant to accept you with this problem in hand, but I think that most (and the best) will understand that you are a human with human issues, not an academic machine without fault. Would you be able to write about your experience working around the problem for your SoP? You certainly don't want it to overshadow your research interests and other important information, but acknowledging what happened and how you persevere in spite of it is tremendously potent.

I remember some doozies from previous seasons, but the only weird app this time 'round is Temple University. It's a two-part process where you do the majority of the fill-in parts on one program and then upload your documents to an entirely different website, with a fee for both.

If I get accepted this year then I will begin my MA-to-PhD program at 25 years old. I got my double-major + year abroad undergraduate degree at 21 years old and I had every intention of shooting right to the top of some big-name PhD program. The years since have been...interesting. At certain points in the road I had to choose things like personal health, mental rest, psychological assurance, religious beliefs, and my relationship with my boyfriend (now fiance) over school. While scholastic disappointment hurts badly, I am 100% confident that not being exclusively focused on my education means that I am better able to handle rejection, and that I am a better human being overall. I do hope that anyone in their late teens/early 20s who feels like their entire life hangs on graduate school acceptance finds external validation and motivation elsewhere, even if they get the results that they want. Relying on smarts alone can be as fragile as relying on beauty.

Just got an e-mail from "Tyler School of Art - Graduate School Admissions". After my heart returned to my thoracic cavity, I saw that it was a reminder that the deadline is coming. Thanks.

Glad to oblige! I know who Gellert is too, if you're referring to the Welsh dog. I got one person in the chat who got my user name and no catches so far on the icon, but the season is young...

You...you DO realize what your icon is, right?! Or rather, if your icon is what I think it is, this sentence is hilarious. Otherwise, this interchange is just awkward.

That is weird. Are they all in the department? Do you know if it's the atmosphere of the school to separate students by their adviser, or if it's a more collaborative environment? At my MA program you could barely tell who was "whose", but a neighboring program practically branded students by which professor brought them in. That might be a question better asked of the DGS. I'd have to imagine it's a good sign, anyway; most of us are lucky to have one person hoping for our acceptance.

Peter was very surly, I didn't get much out of him!

If you start now, you won't stop until all your results are in. I promise. "If this traffic light turns yellow, I'll get into X." "If they're out of half and half, I won't get into Y." "If I can make this free throw I'll get into Z, but without funding." What if all these arbitrary signs of the universe are wrong? What if they're right?! On another note, Tarot cards and runes are awful for predicting results...

I'd feel better about someone who is determined even through difficulties and rejection, rather than just applying to see what happens.

It's so damn awkward to run into other early medieval art historians. First you're all excited, then you're all...there are only twelve jobs in the world available to us. Quick! To the Thunderdome!

Good day: Wait, she knows half a dozen dead languages and a bunch of modern ones too? She's presented at conferences, done all kinds of undergraduate and graduate research, and volunteered at multiple museums for years? She does archaeology and emergency medical services in her spare time, for free? And now she wants to get everyone else excited about medieval studies? Get her into the curatorial track PhD, STAT!!! Bad day: Oh God, we've got a play-Viking.

This is the third year of waiting for apps for me, so hopefully my memories this time 'round will include how needlessly terrified I was to find I submitted the wrong writing sample. "OH HO HO, turned out to be a freak out for nothing!" I'll say in two months as I'm deciding between two full-ride programs. Right?

Good luck with the waiting game. Hold fast now, don't dwell. I know it's a huge thing that will affect what country you will live in this fall, but the less you can keep it from mentally eating you the better you'll be prepared to get the news, whatever that is. Don't let this waiting period rob you of the genuine emotions you'll feel when you get your results.

Superman had it right! I certainly feel like I'm under enough pressure, har har.

One caveat for folks who are thinking about posting or not on Facebook - whatever you post on Facebook dissipates the excitement into a bunch of "likes" and "Congrats!". It's far better to make your friends jump up, shout, and hug you when you tell them in person! Even if you have friends with whom you only communicate online, it's much better to break the news in one-on-one video or chat programs.

I resurrected this post because something gods-awful just happened and as I was frantically fixing it, I said to myself, "I gotta post this on the Café!" My first application was due January 1st. I had asked one of my LoRs as early as July, and gave her a final list of schools in mid-October. She requested that I send her reminders frequently, so I set up a system where she'd get either an e-mail from me or a reminder from the applications every other week. I also sent her my writing sample, SoPs, and so on. Finally it was the end of December and I was contacting her multiple times a week (as requested). On January 1st - Sunday - after I had already submitted my applications, she said that my writing sample seemed to be missing some pages. I checked the .doc file and it was fine, so I was confused and thought that she was giving me unsolicited editorial advice at the very last minute. She insisted that I look at it, so I opened the PDF I had sent to her and my programs, and HOLY SH--- I had made a PDF of an earlier draft! Ahhh!! I sent her the correct .doc version, and attempted to contact my schools - you guessed it, no one there on Sunday OR Monday. One part of me knew that things could be rectified, but why not be terrified, right? On Tuesdays I have a full-day internship but it's casual and volunteer, so after five hours of worrying about it I told my boss that I couldn't stand it anymore and went home. The good news is that all of my programs have clear guidelines for fixing information on already submitted applications, so within two hours every sample was corrected. Huge sigh of relief. The best news is that I only had to deal with the graduate application offices, rather than the academic program itself, so hopefully it doesn't reflect poorly on my chances with potential advisers. I did have a mental shake-up, wondering if I had subconsciously sabotaged myself or if it was an ominous sign, but I'd like to think it was just a reminder that I'm only human.

I'm very sorry that you've lost time in preparing this application and that you'll lose more time recouping your fee. That is very very unprofessional on their part. True, true, true. I'll have to be careful with my words because who knows who is on here. But I can state definitively that a program I was accepted to, at a time when I really shouldn't have been in grad school in the first place, was a miserable experience that I am only realizing now whilst learning about other universities' policies. Just imagine the horror of fighting for stipend funding, mandatory weekend events for weeks on end, being unable to complete core reqs because the classes aren't offered, and the exam reading lists changing drastically (or not even existing!) very close to the exam date.

I think rabbabari wins at this contest, unless we have a poster from Alaska...or Svalbard! Then again, I would do anything for a sauna or hot tub right about now, and from what I understand Iceland is full of hot springs and facilities that take advantage of them. I live near the ocean and it seems like it can never get warm enough, even indoors near a heater while drinking tea. There's a Korean bathhouse about two hours away and I'm counting down the days until I can visit. My problem is that I don't like the sun much (very fair skin) but I don't like the cold either...where is there little sun but it never goes below freezing?

Round 1 included great mood swings, Round 2 featured incredible bouts of self-loathing, so I'm attempting to keep Round 3 as numb as possible.

I understand, Cunnin. Two of three recs submitted the same day I sent it to them (which was faster than I expected, of course) while the third literally told me that I'll have to remind her twice more and only then will she perhaps remember to submit three days before the deadline. ...Thanks?

Hello all! I submitted to Tyler School of Art yesterday and University of Delaware today. I will also apply to the Met Summer Internship program in medieval horticulture and have a plan B university with a late deadline just in case. Here's to another app season!