antecedent

I contacted all of the programs to see if they would even accept the fourth letter, and they all said they would with no mention of how it would reflect on my application. Like I said...at the time it seemed like the best recourse but I hope it doesn't come back to haunt me later. Haha yup. Realistically either way you're in for some angst and stress, so pick one and hope for the best!

I did kind of the opposite of most people here. I definitely will have to take out loans if I don't get funding from the university or an external source, but I figured I'd be honest: I want the offer of admittance the most. I'd rather be accepted and have to reject the offer than get wait-listed because of funding, is I guess where my logic went on that one, though it's far from sound. I'm mostly applying to MAs though, which I've heard tend to be only partially funded anyway. Retrospectively, however, I know I will be going where the funding is (unless it's nowhere at which point I'll have a different decision I suppose) so perhaps my response of become retroactively dishonest. *shrugs* they're all in now so ultimately it doesn't matter!

I had a similar problem occur much earlier in the application season. I asked my profs right before I graduated in May if they would write for me in September and all three gave me an enthusiastic yes. Come September, I emailed them information packets about each program, and I got an auto response back saying one prof had since been diagnosed with a very serious illness and wasn't checking email regularly. I immediately replied telling her not to worry about it and take care of herself, and then asked another prof, but my recently diagnosed professor insisted she was well enough to write. In the end, I had to weigh whether it was worth telling a prof "no, nevermind, please DON'T write for me", whether allowing my ill prof to continue writing was rude or somehow unethical of me, or if I should accept the good luck that there were four professors at my university who were willing to write for me. I went with the latter, and it reduced a lot of stress in the end. I have no idea how it will look to adcoms, but I'm hoping it will reflect well and not poorly. So yeah, that's my two cents. In this game, it's always safer to cover your ass, and no one is going to disqualify you for having four letters in the event that everyone pulls through.

Yeah the application page has bee freaking out for weeks. Mine was completed when only half my documents were uploaded. I contacted the admissions office today though and found out their grace period for LORs extends until January 1st. I found the SOP description to be so fantastically vague that I have them 2 pages of purpose and no more. I hate plain text editors so I just wrote it in word and saved it as a PDF so I could submit it after I submitted the first part of the app. I also stuck to the December 1st deadline. After I got my first app in, it was like I was addicted and I just wanted to turn them all in as fast as possible! Hopefully that won't come back to bite me in the ass...

I prefer to think of it as an "open relationship" consisting of me, my boyfriend, and my grad apps.

This! Not to mention... ...this also! It would be easier, if on top of working full time (and overtime!) and having bills and family/friend obligations, I wasn't working really hard to improve/maintain my health! Being healthy amongst all this stress and chaos is freaking hard, but if I don't have that then all my plans for the future (grad school and otherwise) fall apart. I feel like the person that ultimately gets shafted by all this is my poor boyfriend. I've become unpredictable and busier than I ever was in my undergrad. I feel the Neko Case song title "This Tornado Loves You" effectively describes "grad apps me" and my behavior in our relationship as I try and pull all of this together.

This comment just kind of sums up my feelings on life right now.

I am in the process of my year off and it was absolutely necessary. I did it for psychological reasons, and while I didn't put that anywhere on my application, if it came up in an interview I suppose I would have to tell them. I don't have a documented illness per se, but I do know that if I hadn't taken this year off I wouldn't have been able to apply to American schools. This was basically my rationale. I wish I had my shit together enough to coordinate a research project but that didn't happen. I am training for a half-marathon, but much like having knit a sweater and being an accomplished baker, this appears to be an accomplishment that adcoms don't seem to be much impressed by. Such is life.

I have to keep reminding myself of this. It continues to boggle my mind how little the numbers game actually works when it comes to grad school. It's like...this wacky factors cocktail that I can't figure out the ingredients to. All I know is it tastes lousy and feels like a punch in the back of the head, and leaves you with a wicked hope hangover. But I'm glad to hear I'm not alone in this. I was freaking out to my dad about this the other day, and it got the point where I was wondering if I was actually becoming delusional. Glad to hear that if I am, it at least appears to be normal!

I've discovered a horrible new side-effect of completing my grad applications: the fear that I won't get in anywhere and the urge to temper that fear with MORE APPLICATIONS. Seriously, I've considered starting two more applications just because I'm terrified about having only applied to four schools. Is anyone else having this unexpected reaction?

Someone posted this one a while back in a different thread. Definitely my favorite: http://rhetcompryangosling.tumblr.com/

I'm applying to Edinburgh (I'm tempted by Oxford and Glasgow but I'm putting it off at the moment...) and I had many of the discussions you mention with my mentor prof last year. PhDs or DPhils from the ancient universities are just about the only ones that will be recognized as having the same value as American PhDs (from what I've heard). So Oxbridge, Edinburgh, maybe UCL will stand you in good stead, but the others may look a bit odd to potential American or Canadian hiring committees further down the line. I also totally agree about the one year masters. As far as I can tell, they're a lot like the MA portion of American MA/PhDs, and would be really useful to someone like me (and you) fresh out of undergrad and looking for a bit more coursework before being released onto the desolate plains of the dissertation. I had considered applying directly to the MPhil at one or two places, but in the end I decided against it mainly because I wanted to be done with my applications for this season. You're right about funding though - economically the UK is even worse off than the States, and since their funding is largely public it's been cut a lot in the last few years. It doesn't help that one year MAs, MScs, MLitts etc. are all basically money grabs (despite their usefulness) and are not meant to be funded because they want that 14,000 pounds.They also, as you stated, don't have many teaching opportunities, though you can extend your degree by taking an MPhil (which many schools will require) in addition to your PhD/DPhil. Even if you take a 1 year MPhil and a 3 (or even 4!) year PhD/DPhil you'd still be out before most of your American counterparts, so there is that. And there is considerably more funding available the further you get into the system, though it's not even close to what American institutions offer. I absolutely love the look of a lot of the UK programs though. I agree that the departmental webpages are more explicit in what they offer and what they want in their candidates. The programs for my field of interest too appear to be much more common and vibrant, which is certainly a draw...if I don't get in to any of the schools I applied to this year, I am definitely applying to way more UK programs next year. Edinburgh, Glasgow, Oxford, Cardiff, Manchester...goddamn I wish the funding was better!

Glow worm

Day light

Though to be fair, it's just as difficult to apply to grad school while working a full-time non-academic job, particularly one where few are sympathetic to the compulsion towards higher education. It's a different challenge, to be sure, but a grueling one nonetheless. I guess it's fair to say that if applying to grad school is easy and or fun, you may very well be doing it wrong.

I just had a thought: what if Grad Cafe is the closest I'll ever come to getting into Grad School? And I'd been having such a "grad school is gonna LOVE me" afternoon! At least there's this: Thanks TripWillis, for keepin' it absurd.

One of my writers is really sick, which she didn't tell me until after she'd agreed to write for me. I'm torn between badgering her to make sure the letter is in on time and telling her to take it easy and take care of herself. So in my reminders I end up writing both and totally contradict myself! Aaaah!

Hahaha I had a similar reaction upon first graduating from my undergrad and before I was 100% committed to grad school, and my Dad's response was "Don't waste your time. Just join the circus and get it over with." Thanks for the unwavering support, Dad!

Yeah I have a nebulous Plan B that would require more training but wouldn't necessarily require graduate level training. It would also allow me to explore other options, and maybe get out of Vancouver (5 1/2 years is too many) while I decide what to do next. I don't think professional training wouldn't be quite as fulfilling as academic training for me, but who knows. I am still going through the application confidence roller coaster...I feel like it would be easiest to not even think about it but I haven't learned that trick yet.

And to think, before I began spending time on these fora I'd never so much as spoken to another UT Austin applicant. To be honest, I prefer knowing I'm not running blind into a crowd of strangers (if we can call eachither non-strangers). I haven't seen any other English Language folk hanging around, but they may just be calling themselves English Lit. Can I also just say I'm totally in this thread today? In the back of my mind I've been mapping out my "Plan B" all morning. I'm trying to console myself with the thought that a Plan B doesn't require a long distance relationship but somehow grad school-rejected me doesn't seem to be all that consoled. Sigh. Pass the coffee.

Sounds like a critique of freshman bathing practices to me...

That pretty much sums up why I enjoy and fear critical theory all at once.

I second Heidegger. I think he writes beautifully, but hell if I know what he's talking about 90% of the time. Lacan made me feel like I was bleeding out my eyes from frustration. And, from what I understood, there was nothing beautiful in what I read to redeem him.

My final set of LORs from one prof were almost late before UT Austin extended their deadline. The prof promised me they'd submit the three letters Friday but it's Monday night and I'm seeing no sign of their LORs. ...and somehow UT Austin also managed to not receive the LOR from my most important referee. WTF? Where could it be if it was for sure already submitted but I called the GIAC and they haven't received it yet? And here I was hoping this kind of stress would end when I got all of MY documents in. Wishful thinking...