coffeeplease

I am SO on board with this. But would it be the kind of reality show where the cameras follow the same people around for the whole season, or would it be a kind of University's Next Top Grad Student, with someone being eliminated every week?

@QG -- I heard last week. Waitlisted.

You are absolutely right -- it's not over 'til it's over. The whole process is just an emotional rollercoaster, and I'm looking forward to it being over. Also, it seems like even people accepted right off the bat aren't notified at the same time (only adding to the fun!).

climbing wall

Guess my application season is over, then. Congrats everyone!

*bump* I'm now waitlisted at 3 schools, so this thread has been encouraging.

Has anyone heard anything from Columbia?

This was my problem too. I am no longer on campus so I couldn't go talk to my professors about it in person. Emailed it around asking for feedback -- only one responded with any comments, although they had all been enthusiastic about my application. Really wish I'd spent more time on it... only now, a few months later, do I feel like I have an idea of what I should have written and how it should have been organized. -sigh-

high tea

park rangers

The Alchemist. Had to read it in high school. Awful, awful book.

That's just cruel.

This has been my desktop background for weeks now:

I have to say, having spent the last 6 weeks or so biting my nails and spending too much time on TGC, I have nothing but respect for Princeton for letting everyone know on the same day, regardless of whether it's good news or bad.

wicker basket

Congratulations! Funding seems to be very department and school specific. My understanding is that it depends on the resources that they have available and the number of students they admit. Some schools offer fellowships of their own which seem to be based on GPA, test scores, or whatever other credentials, and the department recommends admitted students for those fellowships. I was accepted to a program that didn't guarantee funding; a few weeks after I got in, I got a very nice email from the DGS telling me that they were in the process of working on funding an that I could expect 5-6 years of support (which they offer to all grad students). No word yet if that's TAships or fellowships or a combination. It was a very pleasant surprise, though, since I was unsure if I should be happy about the acceptance or not. (No idea why they wouldn't advertise that!) It also seems like the financial side of things needs to be cleared with the Graduate School separately from admissions, which is why it will take longer to get the offer, even though I already have my official letter of admittance (I would guess that this is the case for UT, too). In terms of UT, your best bet is to either ask a POI or the graduate director informally ("when can I expect to hear?" kind of thing), or to contact other grad students and ask about other experiences, should you know any. And congratulations again! (If you visit Georgetown, check out Kramer Books in Dupont Circle -- adorable bookshop/cafe...DC is really nice )

1. Write and publish a book (at least one) 2. Become fluent in French and at least one other language (Russian? Turkish?) 3. Get a job in academia! (Perhaps this should be higher up on my list?) 4. Organize a conference (bonus points for creating a publication out of this, because apparently there are now points involved) 5. Be published in a less academic/more mainstream periodical (here I'm thinking New Yorker, TLS, etc.... as coonskee said, a girl can dream, right? ) 6. Speak flawless German, with no accent whatsoever (ninja edit )

green thumb

constant refreshing (getting a little too close to home, this thread)

weather balloon

warm greetings

chaos theory

crisis mode

Thanks, fuzzy. I didn't even think about contacting schools to ask when decisions would be out -- too worried about seeming like a pest, I guess.

Hey everyone, I need some advice on arranging visits. I live abroad and was hoping to consolidate my visits into one large trip in March. However, I have only heard back from two schools; one invited me to their visitation weekend in March. The program director advised me to buy a plane ticket early, as they can only reimburse so much. So my question is do I: 1) wait it out a bit longer so I can plan better (the school where I am accepted is on the west coast; the rest are in New England), and risk having to pay through the nose for a ticket, or 2) buy a ticket now, and try to arrange visits on my own, should I get in elsewhere? Thanks!