1Q84

You should inquire as to whether there is an agreement between departments where if one feels that you're not the right fit for them, they can pass it on to the other department. Cuts down on apps for you and would avoid any confusion. I know Stanford and Columbia do this (but for literature).

I'm so glad you said this. I've been having weird anxieties now that I've submitted four apps about how inadequate my WS is (how it could be better/more complete if I had more time, etc.) and knowing the adcomm's could pick it to pieces has been getting to me. I do have some faith in it showing my potential, though, which is the best I can hope for at this point. Now what I'm going to tell myself is that I can only put my best foot forward, not my perfect foot.

I too was surprised at Leviathan's accessibility! Milton could've learned a thing or two, I think... My pleasure reading right now is Rey Chow's Sentimental Fabulations. What a great book. I can't recommend it enough. It's like talking to a nerdy theory friend about my favorite Chinese movies.

Congrats! What an accomplishment... 17 apps. Go chug a beer or something!

Oh jeez. One program told me that page count does not include notes and bibliography so I assumed that this was standard across all programs. These recent posts are now making me second guess myself.

Ooohh I've been reading Spy in the House of Love on and off for a while now (it's very short but it's one that I just pick up whenever I have spare time--that is to say, not often). It's taking a while for me to get used to her style, but it's great in its frankness.

Just tell your friend to keep the "blowing smoke" portion of the interview metaphorical and she'll be fine In all seriousness, if the patch proves inadequate for her, e-cigarettes with vaporized nicotine have done wonders for some friends of mine as well. I just tried it out for a bit recently and it doesn't leave any smell. Would look silly on campus with it, though.

I think this will be my drug of choice--I've always been able to throw myself in to work to get my mind off anything, so thesis it is. I'm going to focus a lot on bringing seminar papers up to snuff for publication too! <whispers> seriously praying for at least one early acceptance too... boy would that take a load off.

^ Same.

That moment when you get an email and just see "IMPORTANT ... USC..." and nearly choke. That additional moment when you remember you submitted your app 4 days ago and it's just the initial "here's your ID" email It's going to be a long couple of months.

Same. I cut UC San Diego (perhaps before they could cut me?) at the 11th hour when I realized that it was yet another $110 to throw my hat in the ring and I just didn't feel too strongly about my fit in the department. Already had my transcripts and GRE scores sent. Sigh.

I don't have anything to say about art history specifically, so take this with a grain of salt, but I do know that many programs value that exact type of "real world experience" as it shows that you can be that all-around strong student, holistically. You would have those not-strictly-academic skills like interpersonal skills, time management, responsibility, stick-to-itiveness, etc. that is required from real-world work situations that, often times, strictly academic students lack. If you're anxious about the profile you're presenting, I wouldn't hesitate to highlight that you feel these real world experiences bring many unique strengths to your approach to academia and would serve you well in a high-pressure, high-responsibility environment like grad school.

I'm curious about early acceptances. Do those happen often? Under what circumstances? When is "early?" Early January? Anyone have experience with this and/or received one? I know hreaðemus already got into Cambridge (but is the UK system just generally earlier?)

So interesting to see the diversity of daily clocks in this thread! I've honestly found having my own office (that comes with the teaching position at my school) has been a godsend. I've finally found a place where I can get work done! Even when there's lots of other grad students milling around the area, I'm really good at blocking people out. But just knowing I have a dedicated space on campus that only I have access to (even on holidays) really gets me in the mood to work. Having a Keurig, fridge and printer in there really helps me get into super-focus mode too I can't work in libraries. I just can't. Too many strangers, especially loud undergrads, talking on phones, eating, etc. I really should get in the habit, though. Working near the stacks would probably make my research 100x faster.

I proofread my WS for the bajillionth time today and still found errors. It made me want to cry and tear my eyes out at the same time. At this point, I really think I look like this when I'm doing app stuff:

My adviser said, "It's all right to use a quote as long as it isn't saccharine or irrelevant" but I know people have violently differing opinions on this. FWIW, I started my SOP with a quotation and I felt nervous about it but it's not a Dr. Seuss line, nor does it reference my childhood love of books, so that helps.

How do people feel about overlapping information in SOP and WS? My WS will be something that is under consideration at Milton Studies, so obviously I describe this achievement in my SOP. But as I describe the paper in my SOP, I realized that much of it will be obviously as they read the paper itself as my WS. Is this making sense? I feel like I should just cut out all description of the paper in my SOP, just mention it is under consideration and leave it at that. Edit: I'm asking this because I'm not sure if the people reading my SOP will necessarily read my WS and vice versa. Isn't that how it works?

Wow! What an honor. And I said that sincerely as someone who is also applying to Columbia with similar stats. Bring on the eye rolls!

I get the feeling that they roll their eyes at all applicants. It's the ones that get the fewest rolls that get offers.

Submitted my first application just now! Eep!

It's absolutely no big deal! The rest of your profile, from the looks of it, is super strong. The Subject Test score is going to the last thing on their mind (if you didn't bomb it, which you didn't). You did pretty well on your General, didn't you?

Same except I watch old episodes of Simpsons. On a combined Simpsons-Frasier note, this one always makes me guffaw: To add to this: I think it's important to recognize that we all need some time to switch our minds to "off" and watch some dumb TV or engage in something mindless without feeling guilty. Strangely enough, despite being very critical of shows I watch and thinking more than I should about them (even things like Project Runway) I feel refreshed after and ready to get back to work.

Calibri for me is the absolute worst. It makes me so rage-y that it's the new default font setting in Office 2010 and up, which means I often have to grade long papers set all in that font.