bythesea

Have you found that the Harvard program (whether through particular faculty or just the name) has helped you in Ph.D. admissions? or not really? (... yes, still counting chickens...)

yeah... somehow it's not hard to believe that law schools might think of all applicants as uncompetitive morons... but do they really have to say it out loud?

Thanks, FutureEd, I appreciate that! It's actually much easier than being rejected for being an uncompetitive moron

Today would have been quite acceptable. Michigan - I wrote to the department and heard back that the two people I would fit are retiring this year. - so an unofficial rejection... but no official news even though the UMich Friends site says "A decision has been made. Your department will inform you of the decision."

Well, 6 p.m. Friday has passed, so our F5s can rest (at least for HGSE) until Monday...

yeah, it's kind of embarassing....

@big red - 'cause last year emails came out at 5:44....

Are we all sitting here counting down the minutes until 6 p.m. EST? (in spite of Revo's info above)

That's very nice of you to share, PhD2000s. Thank you

^mgerdes - what great words of wisdom! It's very helpful to hear your experience and be reminded of the big picture. Congratulations on reaching your goals for the year!

So true - and in some ways worse for master's applicants because the value of the master's program is not always as clear as that of the Ph.D, and master's in some fields are so poorly funded, even though the program duration is shorter. I think it's also difficult for non-traditional applicants who currently have financial security, because it seems that we're actively throwing that away when we choose to attend in the current economic climate. Going to a poorly-funded master's program contradicts all the good financial habits (saving, making financially risk-averse decisions) we have followed and believed in. No wonder that deciding to do it causes a lot of emotional turmoil.

nyah, nyah, nyah, we know and we're not gonna tell you... "A decision has been made. Your program of application will inform you of the decision."

I hope that liberal arts can be defended from many positions. The anti-knowledge is one; another is a conduit for the voice of Joe Schmoe, who does need to understand and hear that 'truth' is used to concentrate power in the hands of the few. We all do. University work is, by its nature, all-consuming and also de-localizing. I, as an academic, would like to be aware of this and be careful to act in academia and simultaneously act outside of the containment vessel that is the university, i.e. work in the local community, know my POI's articles, but also my university's investment practices; etc. This is Paulo Freire/Augusto Boal's pedagogy/theatre of the oppressed. Perhaps there is a rhet/lit/comp of the oppressed? Thanks, everyone, for the ideas, and Mr. Trip for the radicalteacher.org link - gonna carry it over to the education side!

<-- innocently blinking che vuoi?

ha, ha, "necroposting", thanks for that one, GradHooting

a fairy tale (which doesn't mean untrue): a small golden box somewhere with Enough Redemption inside....

I apologize for butting in here, as a non-lit/comp (but I always read the lit/comp thread because this is the one GC place I've seen where people consistently have ideas). Isn't the teach - publish - tenure track, regardless of the product, itself a fetishized and commodified product? Aren't we all subscribing to the mechanisms of oppression? At least we're not one rock thrown in a pond (the all) with one set of ripples (the limiting boundaries of language/knowledge), rather a handful of gravel with multiple overlapping sets of expanding and weakening ripples. - though I don't know if this would be enough for redemption Does this make any sense? I'm a Freire fan... but if I got in to Harvard, I would probably go, even though their endowment is stripping areas of Africa of subsistence farming land. Yeah, my loan and external grant dollars support... the unspeakable.

A related question: I've noticed that some people who post in the results survey put 'n/a' or 0 in one of the GRE slots (e.g. verbal or quantitative or writing). Does this mean that you can get a score without completing all three sections? So if I just need to bring up my quantitative score, can I just take the quant sections and skip the others? Or at least skip the writing and still get a score?

Count me in - unless there's a Grad 45+ Club! I think we need our own forum section with subsections for... Family Issues (schools for the kids, moving Everybody across the country)... Houses (selling, leasing, etc.)... Adaptive Technology ( the best large-print e-reader, organizers that remind you where you left your keys and your latest data set)... Translation Services (what are those 20-somethings talking about? )... Reality Check (what, live like a student?)

Good on you!! -and good luck in your apps, this year, and next - doing the reading in your field, being persistent, and making improvements are hallmarks of a successful researcher - so you are already moving forward on the path you have chosen, no matter this year's outcome

was just kidding about the adcom.... sure they have better things to do.. but humour, guys

Sorry to hear that, doubledotty. Hang in there - I know a little of what you feel - that unpleasant surprise when you find out, 'oh, THAT'S what I was supposed to do in my app.' But now you're a lot better informed, and if you choose to apply next year, you will have an awesome, compelling application!

hmm, maybe it's an ad com troll who's staring at a stack of 800 apps to go through...

emm, how did you find out how much programs consider the age factor? by asking the POIs? or the graduate admissions office? I wasn't sure about asking about age considerations when I applied because I was wondering if it's technically illegal to exclude by age - don't know if the 'federally protected categories' applies here or only to employment.

Kudos to you, midlyfechrysalis, for following a dream, no matter your age! I think I know what you mean about the 'overweight' - maybe it's not really about the weight, but more about how hard it is to be confident when it seems that everyone else is part of the young, beautiful, superstar crowd. And that's all you other GradCafe-ers, right? If it's any help, I'm probably about your age with teenage kids too, but applying to programs a whole lot less competitive than clinical psych. I don't think I'll be admitted this year, but I've focused on improvements for next year, especially with regards to gaining more research experience. Also, I know results from three of my schools, even though there hasn't been any official notice, just from emailing the graduate schools. They were all very prompt in responding and gave helpful comments, even though I wasn't accepted. If you've seen postings, it doesn't hurt to email the departments. Hang in there & good luck!