hazelbite

I was in the office today (I work at Chapel Hill, but didn't apply there) and saw a fat stack of 20 or so app-sized folders. I don't know whether or not they were the Chosen Few, but it definitely made my stomach turn!

Has anyone figured out how to check if materials were received at Stanford short of calling the dept.? After reading somewhere about a guy calling to check on his LOR's and finding out he'd been rejected, I'm trying to avoiding calling in anywhere... too fragile for that shizz.

I must say: 1) Your story is terrifying 2) Your tenacity is admirable 3) I hope you get it this year! I know I certainly could not handle more than two cycles of this expensive, emotional, time-consuming process. After that it would be time for me to commit to a career in something else...

Don't trust me, because I'm a first-time applicant as well, but if you've got a couple hundred bucks to spend, I'd say apply anyway. I am having similar feelings even though I've been working really hard on applications. Who knows-- somebody might read your app and see something that really resonates, and that could earn you a spot this year, or at least some constructive feedback if you have to do it all over again. I seriously doubt that if your application is truly awful it will garner enough attention or focus to be remembered a year later. I expect the really bad applications just get glossed over really quickly. Only in our nightmares do ad comms sit around laughing at an application Good luck! Who knows, right?

Ohhh, having one of those (increasingly frequent) nights of absolute pessimism! Just trying to keep my strengths in mind and fingers crossed that I'll be in the 5% somewhere. I haven't applied anywhere that's not a long shot, but I haven't applied anywhere I wouldn't be ecstatic to attend. Who else? Second-timers, how did you adjust your list this round?