Hopin'-n-Prayin'

Ok...guess I'm not too concerned about that...the department website seems to say that most students do get full funding one way or the other...

No...! What did the e-mail say?

Wow, anyone encountered this when trying to re-load this thread An Error Occurred Sorry, an error occurred. If you are unsure on how to use a feature, or don't know why you got this error message, try looking through the help files for more information. [#2001] Sorry, the server is too busy to handle your request, please try again in a moment Just got it twice in a row! Ha! Reminds me of not being able to find parking at the mall a month or so ago...except this time its not nearly as aggravating

LMS, do you know about the mywisc.edu status page- this gives a purportedly up to date status for your app. Mine says "pending" (like it has, every time I've checked 3x a day for the past 2 weeks...)- still in the game...

26 users on the thread right now!!!!!

"Anyone have any new hobbies/stress relief tactics to suggest?" By far, my favorate way to avoid this is to play "Hugs from daddy!" with my one year old daughter This definitely helps me not stress about the imminence of decisions, or the stress the fact that I am apparently the only one on this forum who has not received any invites to the "Here is an extremely encouraging e-mail from So-an-so U." party

my vote (but I also initially had the same thought as Vs1)

For real. I'm starting to wonder if any of these schools are fastidious enough for me anyway... I have sooo much work to do today...please mind, divert yourself away from here...

lol..."A" and "H" are no where near each other on the keyboard...

Just "re-discovered" the results board. Ironically, that results survery is the first page I saw on this forum 6 or 7 months ago, but I had totally forgotten about it till I read the recent posts referring to people posting results on it. Finally I determined to find it when I read the above post about UM- which is by the way very disturbing if that is the actual History Dept. I was a good fit there and had good pre-app. POI contact there (because that is doing me sooo much good with my other apps!) So basically, I am officially sick to my stomach- not only does this results board take the obsessing to new, even more dizzying heights, but now I have to come face to face with the fact that some one received an unofficial acceptance to UNC-CH with funding two weeks ago...!

Nope! Must remain singularly focused on looming admission decisions...now to back to my regularly scheduled obsessing...

This is exactly how I feel... just so there is no misunderstanding, my only point to posting how many people were on the board last night was to emphasize how we all seem to be going through the exact same thing right now- an unabashed obessession as we inch ever closer to "D" day, vacillating between immersion in deep-rooted self doubt and the glorious freedom of rational optimism- but the obessession is a constant... It reminds of the late Victorian-era obsession with salvation as a result of a surge in millenarianism: "I can't think! I can't sleep! Lo, I can't even write! I can only contemplate my own damnation!" I descend deeper into the abyss...

I suppose it may have been in poor taste for me to 'out' the actual users, I was just struck by how many names I saw at the bottom... ...how quickly the quiet turns into the storm...

alleykat, ADMITedlyLucky, Loimographia, crazedandinfused, Prospect, telemaque, goldielocks, doodle26, iamincontrolhere-haig These are the users presently reading this forum at 8 pm on a Saturday night (myself included)... ...not that we're caught up in this or anything...

So, now we know that Princeton over-committed last year which figures to result in fewer offers this year. Michigan so over-committed last year that they canceled their 2012 cohort altogether. Is this evidence of a larger trend (either due to coincidence or some other circumstance common to mutliple schools) that will lead to less acceptances across the board this season? Just in case we weren't doomy and gloomy enough already...

I wanted to congratulate all those that have had early success in the process...good look to everybody else!

Ooh! I think we have the makings of some fun postings here! I predict I get accepted into Cornell, UNC-CH and U of I; rejected by Yale, Princeton, Rutgers and Penn; waitlisted by UW-M My criteria for my predictions are the exactness of my matches with the faculty, the size of the usual admitted cohort (Rutgers: only 12-15!!!) and the amount of influence I believe my relatively well known and esteemed top-dog recommender pulls at the various schools... All that said, I will be THRILLED to get a fully-funded spot to any one of the places I applied... (Whew...that was actually therapeutic...I suggest others give it a try...) (how does some have the handle "dukelover" who did not apply to duke....?)

For my fellow would-be Yale rejects , I understand from other posts that someone was formally rejected by Yale (not Goldie's self-declared rejection). I have not seen where this was posted, and I am sorry if what I post comes across as insensitive to that applicant... But, can't we assume that if Yale has sent any rejects, it could have and would have easily sent rejects right way to all non-interviewees- if they wanted to. Doesn't this keep the dream alive for many of us? PS: sorry for not chiming in along the rest of you the last week or so...every time I sit down to type a post about how I'm feeling, I throw up all over my keyboard (but dont tell StrangeLight )

I'm never going to apologize for my feelings and I certainly do not need them validated by a total stranger. I am very nervous about getting into a program, because I have a lot riding on it- including the future of providing for my wife and 1 yr old child. This forum provides a great release for that anxiety for me and others in a very similar position. Already being in grad school hardly qualifies one to sit in judgment of how would-be grad students choose to cope with what is a stressful two months for all of us. I also disagree with any assessment that ranting on a message board reflects negatively on one's coping skills or one's ability to handle the so-called "real" rigors of grad life beyond admission. Finally, I am not some 23 year old that needs to be lectured on the proper use of an internet forum or on how to manage stress (no offense to 23 yr olds). I have accomplished plenty in life, including attaining success in another field that required a graduate degree...I find it a little hubristic to purport to chastise others for what amounts to a rather proportionate expression of angst and fear at a truly pivotal moment in thier lives. Having said all of that, it is not my intention to start some extended forum-fued with one of the more consistent contributors to a forum that has provided very sound advice and comfort to me over the past six months, but I do feel compelled to respond in kind. Regards...

I think like this all the time...its creating an internal Poe-like dialouge which reverberates diabolically throughout my psyche: "No way these schools will accept me..." "But, my application is sound..." "But, its me! there is no way..." "But I worked hard and did what "they" said I had to..." "Hello! you applied to Yale!? Have you ever met you?! Your a joke compared to a real student!..." "Good GPA, good GRE, good letters, nice thesis, a couple of papers presented- this is what gets people in! relax, I'm fine..." "LMAO!!!! You tool...and don't go groveling for sympathy when you get NO offers- even your 'safety net' school is a top 25 program!" "So far no one has said no! Plus, I can always teach high school with my MA if I don't get in anywhere..." "Middle school..." Fortunately, this only happens every 60 minutes or so... Congrats CPete...must feel wonderful knowing right off the bat that you have a top-notch quality awaiting you no matter what happens from here....

Oseirus- in as much you were responding to my comment, it seems that you missed my point...or perhaps I muddled my point in a wash of verbiage, as I often do. Of course, the MA does not guarantee one a seat at the table, but I beleive that the MA experience DOES invariably make that MA applicant stronger. In other words, yes the PhD candidate is necessarily stronger because they have an MA. That is not ot say they are always stronger than other candidates, but they have definetly made themself a better applicant. IMO...

Having just finished an MA program and now sweating out the waiting period, I can tell you that what's been said here so far reflects my MA experience 100%. One month in to my program, I attended a seminar (designed for undergraduate upperclassmen) on how to get into Grad school- it provided a laundry list of things to do from the obvious ends (publish and present) to the less obvious means (use list-serves for opportunities to publish and present; how to get started with and progress through a master's thesis). I spent the next year and a half doing everything the seminar speaker suggested (much to my wife's chagrin). Because of my MA experience, I have many arrows in my quiver to help get me into a PhD program. Unfortunately, my arrows are dull and my aim is poor But this is not the fault of the MA program. And from what I have heard, many terminal MA programs (especially larger state schools with tens of thousands of undergrads required to take World and American history surveys) will fund TAs (maybe not 100% funding, but maybe 80%) and provide a modest stipend. However, in some cases only a small number of MA students are given TAships. Also, if a large undergrad survey does not have a graduate program to provide TAs (such as Philosophy in my school: 350 person survey class and no grad students), you may be able to apply for a TAship out of your department to help fund and support you My experience also supports Sig's comments about the caliber of the typical MA student. Of the 30 or so full time students in my program, I would say that about 10 are smart enough for a PhD program and only 5 of them have the work ethic to get into one. That is 25 dead weights that can bring down the smarter more motivated students...yes that sounds (and maybe is) snobby and arrogant of me, but it seems to be true... My comments reflect my experience and research and may or may not be illustrative of the larger MA picture...but I hope it helps anyway

referring to the chances they are impressed enough with my app that they would care to interview me...the % is probably more like 0-1%...I made the mistake of looking at the bios of current students... Hey Natsteel, anyone in your cohort have good credientials from a run-of-the-mill, state U masters program? Actually...don't answer that question. Since they haven't said no yet, lets keep the dream alive

I got the e-mail...I threw up and then read it...it was a little anti-climactic...

oy...I hope to have to deal with this issue...do I go for an in-face interview or schedule a skyp or just try to impress with voice command and a strong presentation over the phone... what's that, there's only a 1-5% chance they'll call me for an interview??? bummer...