anxiousanthro

Is anyone else in Palo Verde STILL waiting on a specific room assignment? I still have no news

Is anyone else stoked to find out who is in their cohort after all the decisions roll in tomorrow!?

I know finances are very personal and everyone has different values systems etc. but I have to agree with selecttext that that is an insane amount of debt to accumulate unless you are guaranteed a very high paying job afterwards.

I interviewed with them several weeks ago, but I sort of made it clear I would be accepting elsewhere in the interview. I am pretty sure their offers have already gone out. Best wishes!

your midterm is getting less done (75-->70) as time passes

so, does anyone know if we could potentially find out the results faster by obsessively checking fastlane once it goes down, or will the email basically come at the same time? so reassuring other people are freaking over this as much as me!

haha you are right. my fear was much more paranoid and unlikely: that depts themselves would see the posts and be able to identify you O.o not likely at all that they care at all about gcafe, but how awful would it be if that happened!?

hmmm i feel like saying which wait lists people got off of might really clearly identify them, but i recently got off two waitlists, so it is possible! i will be declining both, so two people are going to get off waitlists very soon

hey rapang! i just wanted to say i really admire your attitude! i went through the same process last year (so this year was my "redo") and I think what you said about the bias towards masters students is correct... another thing my undergrad advisor told me was that that bias also has to do with funding. a lot of programs worry about student who go straight through burning out and taking longer to finish, which costs them more than someone who is ready to get in there and execute quickly... thanks for posting the article!

I have to say I completely agree with kphd's comment that "an excellent sop would be a waste if it does not meet the right people." i think tailoring my application to express how i would "fit" (a fuzzy thing, i know) at certain places was the key difference between utter failure last round and acceptances this round. i was able to find out about this fit by contacting professors and grad students themselves, which not only gets your name in front of them but also (more importantly i think) gives you a sense of the priorities/emphasis/atmosphere etc. of the department.

has anyone who was in limbo heard any more news from columbia? i still haven't heard anything back from them and my status hasnt changed! > i want some closure!

this was sort of a ridiculous way to do it, but I looked at the faculty members for every school on this list (http://chronicle.com/article/NRC-Rankings-Overview-/124703/) and then narrowed a list down from there based on who i would want to work with, places i absolutely would not live etc. I think the best way to see if you might have a good fit with the dept is to contact current graduate students. it feels really intimidating (or at least it did to me) but they are so friendly/helpful/open about their experiences. they will give you tips about who is super busy, who might be retiring soon, who is a great supervisor, the overall atmosphere in the dept. etc. you can use this to see if you would be a good fit and then contact faculty members too. i was told to aim for working with associate professors and above because their place at the uni was more secure/certain. for me, i felt topical/theoretical overlap was more important, but ive made sure to check and see that there are at least some people competent to advise me on working in a certain geographical area (not necessarily faculty in the anthro dept too). i actually found it reassuring that i was accepted to work with people who don't necessarily have "expertise" in a certain country, because to me it signaled that they weren't just interested in producing intellectual carbon-copies of themselves. good luck!

If you haven't already contacted them, then I personally don't think there's any problem with sending a polite email asking if they can give you any insight into their timeline for the admissions process. If you aren't accepted, then they might just go ahead and tell you (which happened to me). Good luck!

I've arrived at my final decision. I've looked at it from a million different angles. I've consulted all of the faculty members who know me the best and I trust. All signs point to one school. And yet... I have no sense of peace about it. I don't intend to linger for more than a day or two because of course I want to respect the much greater stress people on the waitlist are under. But, is it normal to have lingering feelings of uncertainty after you think you've arrived at your final decision? how did you deal with these feelings? did they ever go away? am I insane? any and all views would be very much appreciated

Although I understand what you are saying about moving on to a new city, everyone I've spoken with in academia has unequivocally said DONT GO INTO DEBT FOR GRADUATE SCHOOL! Perhaps going into a bit of debt for an MPA program is slightly different than doing the same for something in the humanities or social sciences, but if you can save money by living at home why not? Unless you would go crazy living with your parents (if thats what you mean by "staying home"), then I vote for the hometown MPA. Btw, congrats!

I wonder if "released" means released to the public, as in awardees may know before then!? ::constantly grasping for more info:: haha Thanks so much for calling and posting this info!

Hey archphdeurasia! I should preface this by saying I'm not sure what the case is for archaeology, but for sociocultural anthropology this has certainly not been my experience. First, that stat on costs is insanely exaggerated (again, maybe there are special expenses to factor in for arch). I would say it is well more than double all of my total expenses. I feel my Mphil has really helped me in the application process this year, and I actually developed connections to faculty members at my top choice institution (where I was accepted) through faculty members in the UK. I'm not sure if this all boils down to sub-discipline and I mean no disrespect, but my experience has actually been exactly opposite of everything you stated. If anyone is interested in/considering a degree in the UK, please feel free to PM me!

is anyone else still in limbo on Columbia? I didn't receive an email with a rejection and my status online still says "submitted", but I also know there were already acceptances posted...

Hey there! You may have seen something I posted... I wrote them a little over a week ago and they told me that they were finalizing things by the end of the "1st week in march", which presumably is by this friday. im sure there are different styles, but i just phrased it by saying that i remain very interest in their program but i have other offers i am considering and asked if they could give any insight into their timeline. i think as long as you haven't sent them 1000 emails asking about the status of your app that they don't mind you asking! good luck!

One thing to consider: I got into my top choice, but a second school that has more financial resources also accepted me. My top choice contacted me and literally told me to keep them informed of other offers so that they could leverage my funding offer. But, if you are happy with the funding and it was your top choice then I think everyone is right! 1. Congrats! 2. Go for it!

<ned@berkeley.edu> heard back within 2 hours.

maybe people who posted rejections inquired about their status? i received a LOT of rejections last year, and it was my experience that once programs decide to accept people, they aggressively pursue them and that is where their attention lies. at that point, rejected applications are just bureaucracy that has to be dealt with, so they aren't a priority. so all of my rejections were received several weeks after admitted applicants had already heard back (based on grad cafe posts). or you could be recommended for MAPPS or something? perhaps more senior members could give you actual insight on this though...

hey all- I'm on the wait list and its my understanding that offers/waitlists have been made, but this of course does not mean anything in terms of MAPSS necessarily. hope this is somewhat helpful.

On Berkeley: No. My status still shows as "submitted' on the gradadmit website despite the fact that Ned told me my admissions decision. I'm with you on Stanford... I'd like my rejection please. haha

First of all, this is YOUR choice about YOUR life. You shouldn't feel pressured by emails to push you to decide quickly. Obviously you don't want to wait once you know your choice because you could be depriving someone else of a spot, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with feeling free to take your time in making such a massive decision! Since they are pestering you with emails, maybe you should ask school A where THEY see you fitting in in their program. They accepted you for a reason, why not ask? Do you actually like school B, or is it just more familiar? I'm starting to feel strongly that, for me, I need to accept an offer at a place where I feel confident I can be successful and that I will be happy. I know that sounds really fluffy, but if you aren't passionate about the work you are doing, I feel like it is likely you will be less successful in terms of courses and your own personal research. 5-7 years is a long time to be miserable, feel inadequate, etc. This obviously just my own opinion though! best of luck!