eriksmegs

I'm not sure. I don't think I'm going to accept my offer though, so at least one teaching assistant position should open up. Good luck!

I found my online offer on Monday, and then received an e-mail from the Director of Graduate Studies on Tuesday.

My app. materials are also marked as "Not Received," so I wouldn't worry much about that either.

I have been checking my status since someone first mentioned finding out they were accepted on the website, and always just saw "Status: Submitted." It wasn't until today that I realized that I needed to click on "Status" under "Action" to find out about my offer. I feel dumb for not figuring that out earlier, but I thought I would share my experience in case others who are waiting missed that too.

On the plane to visit Arizona State, I realized I had written a paragraph in my SOP about why I wanted to attend the University of Arizona (which is especially strange considering I didn't even apply to the University of Arizona). All of those times looking over my SOP and I somehow never caught that. In the end they still accepted me, so no harm done I suppose, but I certainly felt mortified. antecedant: I love the Kermit reference

I like the univeristy. I didn't go there for my BA, but I did take two classes there during undergrad, and I liked the professors and the courses. The campus is beautiful (a lot of trees, right at the base of the mountains), and it is large but not too big. Our public transport line (TRAX) takes you from the campus into the heart of downtown Salt Lake in about five minutes, which is nice. Salt Lake is not a big city, but you can definitely find things to do (movies, shopping, museums). Sugarhouse, which is the area around the U, has a lot of small shops and restaurants. There are bars and clubs, but overall there is not a huge night scene in the city. If you like hiking, biking, skiing, etc., Salt Lake is a great place to be--it's 30-45 mintues to the slopes from the U. The mountains are also a nice place to camp in the summer. The Salt Lake Valley is enclosed by mountains, which is a bit of a different experience from the Midwest (or at least from what I've seen of the Midwest). However, this makes for beautiful seasons--in the fall, the mountains glow with all the changing leaves, and in the winter, they are, of course, covered in snow. We do generally get a fair amount of snow in the winter, and summers can be warm, but we rarely break 100. As far as cost of living goes, it's hard to tell you too much without being able to compare it to the city you're living in. I recommend trying the cost of living calculator at http://www.bestplaces.net/col/. However, I'm pretty sure cost of living is about average for the country. So, as you might conclude, in my opinion Salt Lake is a good place to spend five or more years. Sorry this is such a long response....I could tell you more but I don't want to ramble. Let me know if you want more info about anything, and good luck!

Anything in particular you would like to know about life in Salt Lake?

I'm going to graduate school because I know in my gut it's what I'm meant to do.

Type Writer: I live in Salt Lake currently, so if you have any questions about life here feel free to ask

This is comforting to know, thanks!

hugs to all!!

Yes, I contacted them and received an extension as well.

I am in the same boat. Their website says that they are a "member of the Council of Graduate Schools. Students who are offered financial support (TA) have until April 15 to make their decision," but then they have asked to be notified of my decision by March 1st. I kind of want to e-mail them and ask for more time, but I have this (probably irrational) fear that this will somehow result in my offer being withdrawn. But the idea of accepting and then changing my mind should I receive an offer I like more also makes me feel guilty.

Was anyone who has been offered funding asked to respond by March 1st? That's so soon!

Mine did the same thing, and it was fixed by the next morning as well.

Yes. Especially if the school you're accepted to isn't necessarily your top school and you’re not sure yet if you will receive funding. You become this strange mix of ecstatic elation that you’ve been accepted and fear that this might be the only school you are accepted to and you might not even be able to go. And then you feel guilty for thinking negatively and for not simply being overjoyed like you know you should be. The end result is plenty of visits to grad café (where you know there are many others who know just how you feel) and the continuation of obsessive phone and e-mail checking, all topped with a giant spoonful of stress and a sprinkling of “Yay, I got in!”

I took a year and a half off between graduating and hopefully starting graduate school in the fall, and I looked around for employment a couple of times during that time. Most jobs I interviewed for involved editing or archiving, and having strong writing and research skills (and often even having a BA in English) were job requirements. Currently I'm working as an assistant editor, and I can see it being a career I enjoy, although I would still rather be a professor. I like editing because it involves playing around with words, and often involves writing and researching. It also doesn't have too much human interaction, since you mentioned that as a preference. But don't give up hope yet! There is plenty of time for plan A to happen

For those who like rum and cokes, have you ever tried one with coconut rum? It's delicious (if you like coconut, of course)

You are not the only one. Sometimes my top choice school fluctuates by the hour. But the University of Rochester is always near the very top of my list.

Amen, MichaelK. Amen.

ditto to most of what's been said about the test. I like analyzing passages, but I think it sucks that ETS sent a practice test that has a lot of identification and super POE questions and then doesn't give a test that matches that format. I would have approached the test differently had I known it was all passages, rather than skipping some beginning passages thinking I'd return to them after my first pass for quick questions, then getting halfway through the test and realizing there were no quick questions. And I'm bummed that I spent so much time cramming so many little bits of info in my head and not nearly as much of it was necessary for the test as it was for the practice tests. AND it was very frustrating because they changed our test center location and didn't tell anybody. I mean, it was in a nearby building, and because most people showed up half an hour early I think most people made it in time, but it was just a very stressful and annoying situation to go through right before taking a test you're already stressed about.

I also took the literature gre today, and I agree--the test was nothing like the practice tests provided by ETS. I started out with the Princeton Review strategy of skipping passages I didn't recognize so that I could answer the shorter identification questions first (which worked really well on the practice exams), but by the time I was half way through the test I realized there were not any identification questions--they were all passage-based! WAY too much reading for the time given. So I'm just hoping for the best.