Grunty DaGnome

Thanks all!! I was offered a place in Brown's PhD in Theatre and Performance Studies. Totally my top choice. I haven't quite been able to stop shaking yet!

A tub of Trader Joe's Sea Salt Brownie Petites. NO ONE can say no to those, especially not Satan...

Thanks, Bespeckled! I hope you hear back soon and I hope maybe we both get into Yale AS! 100% Confidence club... I should start that thread specifically for people in here.

BTW, all that stuff about leaving the country definitely went through my head when I was still waiting on an acceptance. Also, I thought a lot about applying for all kinds of jobs in order to avoid going back to waiting tables. It was pretty unsettling. In hindsight, I think joining the Peace Corps could've been really cool. But I will definitely take what I got.

Yup (5 majors, 2 schools). My transcripts are kind of indecipherable without an accompanying narrative

Also, "4 jobs over 3 years, can fudge through 3 languages without full proficiency in any, and to top it off, has dual citizenship? Talk about indecisive. Someone get this kid some Ritalin."

Committee member No. 1: Sooo.... he's an ***rchist...?

*intense laughter from everyone*


then....
*silence*

Commitee Member No. 2: Ms. [secretary], please have our people forward this application to the department of homeland security.



[ ]

Just to be clear, plenty of departments know about this site, but it doesn't change their timeline. Also, there are a bunch of reasons that acceptances/rejections don't all go out at once. At my MA university, they admitted outstanding candidates they wanted to nominate for university-wide fellowships first, then went through the regular admissions, and then evaluated students applying for the PhD from their own MA program. So, I actually heard that I was officially admitted to the PhD program almost two full months after acceptances started cropping up here. In fact, students admitted with funding were visiting before they'd even read my application. All of that is a way of saying that having to wait doesn't always mean bad news.

I have become SO obsessive that I looked at the calendar for 2011 to try and figure out which day of the week notifications went out last year for the schools where I've applied. That's what happens when good research skills are not being channel toward a constructive purpose.

These are the ones I can most relate to. Especially #5 -- I had a huge mental hurdle to clear when it came time to ask my undergrad profs for LORs. I was terrified that they would tell me not to apply, that I'd never get a job, etc -- but they were all really supportive. I saved their emails for days when I'm feeling crappy.

I also realized that

-support is really important. Part of why I love the Grad Cafe.

-there is always a typo. No matter how many times you proofread, there will be some kind of mistake, and it's not the end of the world. In that vein....

-you shouldn't look at SOPs once they've been submitted.

I like how jrnels categorizes himself as a "domestic male." I would think there'd be a huge market

Yep, he ended up in the perfect program!

If I DO get in somewhere, it means I'll be quitting my job and I won't be able to afford to get myself anything.

If I don't get in anywhere, I'm going to Europe.

I think you definitely win the prize for caring the most about grad school, if 36 weeks pregnant is having trouble competing.

If I DO get in somewhere, it means I'll be quitting my job and I won't be able to afford to get myself anything.

If I don't get in anywhere, I'm going to Europe.

I suggest Lily Allen's "Fuck You" for days when you are angry but still want to dance around.

It's also possible that Rhet Comp programs are a whole different ball game. It seems to me Rhet Comp is dedicated to one specific goal for it's graduate students, namely teaching, and actually knowing the applicant may mean more where the curriculum might be more standard. For Lit., if you're looking at someone with a focus in early modernism and another with a rise of the novel focus and you have one advisor left who's in early modern, then it doesn't really matter if you found the "novel" grad student personable. There's just not a space for them this year.

While those are all vitally important jobs, they offer no intellectual stimulation whatsoever. As much as the job market, public opinion, and (financial) opportunity cost suck for humanities PhDs, there are very few other jobs that provide the kind of intense intellectual pleasure that academia does.

It's also possible that Rhet Comp programs are a whole different ball game. It seems to me Rhet Comp is dedicated to one specific goal for it's graduate students, namely teaching, and actually knowing the applicant may mean more where the curriculum might be more standard. For Lit., if you're looking at someone with a focus in early modernism and another with a rise of the novel focus and you have one advisor left who's in early modern, then it doesn't really matter if you found the "novel" grad student personable. There's just not a space for them this year.

Wellspring,

Thanks for that feedback. I also feared it could hurt more than help to make a nuissance of yourself. Plus, how intelligent could you sound just sending out a cold email? I can't imagine what a Columbia Profs Fall semester would be like if all of the 680 applicants each wrote to one or two profs in the department, let alone, everyone thinking of applying who didn't in the end.

You still haven't heard anything? Gosh, when will you know?

Your subtitles are quite off.

I made no contact with anyone and got into NYU.

You can take my whiskey, but you better leave me my grad cafe.

I didn't contact anyone and I got into Northwestern. It's the only school I've heard back from so far, though.

You can take my whiskey, but you better leave me my grad cafe.

I think it's important to remember [for all of us] that we are not our applications. Just because Berkeley didn't pick you out of hundreds, doesn't mean YOU aren't good enough, it just means your application wasn't a fit.