veniente

'Yes, I am giving him up.' - J.M. Coetzee, Disgrace

I feel like a massive imposter. Cornell being the last of the schools to which I applied, it now looks like I went 1/12. Perhaps in some ways it's better this way though; I'm awful with choices

Yay! Just handed my 45k word MA thesis to the bindery. Methinks itsa time for a whiskey.

Who's going to the campus visiting day? And, do you know if there are any travel funds which may be accessed? (Feel free to PM me)

The more the merrier! Best of luck!

Wow, 4 years. It's harrowing, isn't it! I've been dating mine for 6 years, and they have just got a great job that they really like. What a ridiculous career choice (premature call, I know) I appear to have made.

This. Finish it already. Geez.

Massive congratulations to those that got accepted! eaw53, your research sounds really interesting! I'd love to work with de la.

Three acceptances on the results board. Are we calling this one, fellow yet-to-be-contacteds?

Ugh. 8815 miles. Ugh. 8815 miles. Not to mention I'm airplanophobic.

Loving this on the results board, from a Princeton computer engineering rejectee: "Got a second rejection letter from the Dean today. Thinking of rejecting the Dean's rejection letter and attending Princeton in the Fall."

Arhh. I want to work with E.S. so bad.

To say the whole thing is a crapshoot is be way too dismissive; obviously there are a ridiculous number of factors that are considered, but they can still be thought through. A lot depends on the schools to which you're applying; if you're looking at the *supposed* top 20, yes, most - not all - successful applicants probably have GPAs of 3.7+. But, as you note, there is a certain cumulative aspect to the application - they are looking at the 'package' you are providing and the 'fit'; the longer you manage to keep your package in that dwindling pile, the better. If you feel as though your GPA might not be ideal, there are a number of ways to counterweight this, for a 'top 20' they could include: (I say somewhat authoritatively, but definitely shouldn't be read as such!!! How advisable any of this is is highly debatable, I am 1/12 after all.): - you have an MA Pemberley! That's your most recent academic work, it should matter most, right? Emphasise it! Heck, even acknowledge that your GPA didn't meet the high expectations you have of yourself - or reflect the work you know, and have subsequently proven, that you can produce - but that you're on an upward trajectory and the MA has allowed you to focalise your interests and has been very beneficial & PhD-readying in terms of sustained and high level research/writing. etc etc. [subtext: You will peak in their program!] - GREs - my weakness; in hindsight, I would definitely recommend studying hard for these and putting time into them. Scoring over the 95th percentile in verbal, the 75th in quant., say, (yeah, it doesn't matter, but prove you're a renaissance man [sic]), over 5.0 in writing, and over 700 in subject should definitely make you competitive. (An awesome subject score may alleviate some of their concerns about your competency in English if you have some poor grades from literature courses.) - writing sample: make it amazing, get your profs to check it scrupulously to ensure that it would get a 100% A+; also, make sure it's related to the focus you're describing in your SOP, and, if possible, related implicitly to the interests of certain POIs in the department. - LORs: make sure they know your work and will speak highly of your capabilities. Maybe they don't have to be 'names' or 'rockstars', mine were assistant professors (or lower), totally unknown in their fields. - research experience / teaching experience / publications / conference presentations / scholarships / interesting & ideally relevant, or at least personality-shaping, extracurricular activity and/or community stuff - all look good, I imagine. - (in an ideal world) know another language, one related to your academic interests. Who knows? It's about distinguishing yourself, right - they have you and then they have some other girl whose app. package looks exactly like yours, but you speak French & German... - POIs - I can't say, didn't contact them. However, I'd suggest researching the department, finding professors you like and getting in touch (see other threads for what to say, etiquette etc); although it might not make a difference, by all accounts it can't hurt. - SOP - I really don't know. I just thought, 'Fuck it, this is who I am, do you want me?' and sent the same one everywhere (replacing POIs namedropped and university name, obviously). I couldn't be screwed with tailoring fit - and find the idea kind of strange to begin with - so just looked at each faculty for people I'd conceivably like to work with and who had interests as related to mine as possible and dropped their names in. If you can set yourself up as a box-able person - the 18th century-ist, the modernist, the theory girl - it might be helpful. I found out way later that there's the 3 F's (fit, focus, future, I think) which are allegedly important, although if everyone's doing the 3 F's I'm sure it makes for dull reading pretty quickly. Whatever you do, get other people to read it, especially professors and fellow grad school applicants. My 2 cents. All the best!!

Just typed this "princeton english applications" into google. What's with the Propecia shit?

Cool! Thanks heaps, I will. I only know one person in America .

Thanks for the info jma310! It's much appreciated.

Geez, a country where the police carry guns. Ima have to get used to that craziness.

Staten Island it is, then.

Thanks for this Trip! I think. Sucks if you're a black man aged 25-34 in the Bronx at night-time in July.

Big congrats to all those accepted! My cellphone just rang and I thought that I might be shaping up to join you, then I heard my mum's voice.

Geez. Where isn't cut-throat? Duke, Chicago, Columbia. I might consider trading my C if anyone has a Y or an H they don't want?

Oh my gosh. This made me laugh aloud, alot.

Hah. That's awesome. One of my recommenders is young and cool so I might forget the champagne and just suggest we hang out at a bar and I buy him a bunch of drinks.

I guess it probably depends on the relationship you have with them, right? For example, I gave my Honours thesis supervisor a six-pack of beer and didn't feel too funny about it. For the three LORs (MA supervisor, research project supervisor, and another employing me as a GTA on her course) I'm thinking a nice bottle of wine/champagne and a written card. I had planned to do this regardless of whether or not I got in anywhere. Also, Duke and Chicago are amazing. We all know this.

Another in what will probably be a string of naïve questions (sorry!): I am a 'Fellow', apparently, and wonder whether my stipend will be taxed? (And if so at what rate?). I ask because where I'm currently studying for my MA my stipend is not taxed (as it is part of a government-conferred scholarship, I guess, being a public university and all).