radiomars

It's been a long, arduous process but I really hope everyone takes a second to acknowledge just how much work and energy they've had to put into this dream and how proud they should be of themselves. This is it, the final stretch! And as soon as decisions are in, this whole exhausting process will be some far-off memory we never think about. Stay strong stay optimistic, and do something a little nice for yourself as a reward for all your hard work!

I recently went to a campus visit at my top choice. I had been corresponding with the POI for months and when we met in person, he said he felt like he already knew me. Various happenings: tons of positive feedback on my recent publication, being introduced to the faculty as a "distinguished visitor", POI saying he is "extremely optimistic about the future", faculty member on admissions committee telling me I'm a good fit for the direction they are expanding the department in, a lot of wine and dining paid for by the school, one of the grad students saying she hopes the department's penchant for alcohol doesn't drive away an "extremely smart" applicant like myself, and an actual hug goodbye from POI and POI's wife.

I felt the need to itemize the details. I feel guardedly optimistic but I have told several friends about my impending acceptance and now I feel like I may have jinxed it.. So stressful. Just tell me if I'm in or not! Honestly, it seems cruel&unusual to put me through a 14-hour campus visit like that and not let me in....

Just got my first acceptance! My fourth-choice school, but it's not a bad start!

Just got my first acceptance! My fourth-choice school, but it's not a bad start!

Just got my first acceptance! My fourth-choice school, but it's not a bad start!

Yayyyyyyy!!!!!!! I've been meaning to make the drive over to Yale, but I keep putting it off. I applied to Yale, but not in Anthro. I was sorta nervous about going because I was afraid that I would fall in love with it. Tell us everything! I've heard really great things about the environment: students and faculty are overwhelmingly nice, beautiful campus, great restaurants and plenty to do! Sounds amazing... Let me know if it lives up to this.

Have a blast, radiomars! I visited Yale in early September, and found everyone to be so insanely nice... The grad students were fantastic. (And while you're there, see if you can get us the inside scoop about decisions, k?  )

Results Search... oh, and I'm sorry.
 
 
I basically just ruined the next few HOURS for you.... lol

You know...I keep telling myself that this cannot be healthy.  Obsessively reading about other people obsessing over grad school and contributing my own dose of crazy here and there.
 
Yet then I think about it a little more.  I can only talk to my friends so much because most of them are not applying to grad schools.  And yet, it's constantly on my mind and there's a desire to talk about it. All. The. Time.  Here, we find other people that are obsessing, we find people willing to listen to our crazy thoughts on Holiday Greeting emails from out top schools, hoping it's a subtle sign of good things to come.  We can mention that during the meteor shower will driving home, we saw thirteen "shooting stars"...and that's the exact number of grad schools and internships we're applying to!  That has to be a sign.  And this is very cathartic.
 
We find people not only willing to listen to our crazy, but embracing it and sharing their own crazy.  I think this website, though unhealthy on so many levels, is preventing several of us from jumping off a bridge...or at the very least, saving our friendships with people who don't want to hear about grad school 24/7.

I think you can ask them outright whether or not it's a recruitment interview or not. Sometimes when a visit/recruitment weekend is set up, the profs in charge of whatever labs/groups you're interested in will tend to connect you and their students via email.
 
If you really want to know but don't want to talk to the department directly, look up the students in the labs from the website and email them to say how you have applied and are visiting etc.
 
From what you've said, since it's paid for and there doesn't seem to be time for "interviews", I wouldn't think that it would be very competitive, unless you know your field is generally very competitive. They have not yet given official acceptance though, so I wouldn't assume you're in yet, either. There could be very good reasons why they are willing to spend money to woo you but have not given official word yet. For example, perhaps your funding packages are not ready/finalized yet. Or, like someone else said, they might be ready to accept most of you but just want to make sure you're sane.
 
Either way, it won't hurt to be prepared, but keep in mind that while you might be competing with the other visiting students, having a "competitive" mindset might affect your interactions with the other visiting students, who might be your colleagues in the future!
 
Finally, it might be "competitive" in the sense that most of you will be accepted into the school but you are competing for specific lab spots. It sounds like you are applying to a Canadian school, and some departments will only accept grad students if a prof is willing to take them into the group for sure. For example, my Canadian MSc acceptance letters said something like "you are admitted to work with Prof X or Y" etc. 

If your field is anything like mine they WILL look at your writing sample, in some cases very carefully. To give you an idea of what I mean, I had a professor ask me a question about one particular word from a 100+ page grammatical sketch I submitted when we were e-mailing about something related. Several other professors remembered the details of my writing sample quite clearly and gave me advice on languages I might find interesting based on its contents.

Each piece of the application is important--if they weren't going to look at it, they wouldn't ask for it. Just because you're doing science doesn't mean there's no writing involved--science thrives on published literature, and you have to be able to convey ideas clearly to be able to publish and thereby contribute to the field.

I truly don't have a back-up plan and am kind of refusing to make one at this point, so here's hoping Plan A works out. I feel you on the whole wanting to plan but not being able to plan thing. I could be in any of four cities next year and it's driving me crazy not being able to prepare for it.
 
And I actually had to end a relatively great relationship recently as I've been traveling for 5 months and am moving out of our city, but I also don't want to start dating new people now because of the same reason. It's weird being in limbo like this.

I just got a very exciting email from the POI at one of the schools I'm applying to. He said it was clear that I was among the top applicants to their lab and they want to fly me out to the school for the grad student recruitment weekend! And he said "you and I can talk more concretely about your potential future research". Sounds good, right? 

Congrats, radiomars!!!! That's really exciting news. 
I've still got one more application to do. Is anyone else in a situation where some of their applications are for different departments/projects/subjects? My last one is for an environmental science program instead of bio ant, and I feel a bit like a fish out of water coming up with a whole new SoP, different writing sample, etc. 

Congrats, radiomars!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!! Way to go. I'm so excited that people are starting to hear back. What a great way to start the New Year. Hope that puts a little pep in your step.

I just got a very exciting email from the POI at one of the schools I'm applying to. He said it was clear that I was among the top applicants to their lab and they want to fly me out to the school for the grad student recruitment weekend! And he said "you and I can talk more concretely about your potential future research". Sounds good, right? 

I know everyone is starting to wrap up their last applications, so I just wanted to wish every one good luck! Let the interview offers begin!

"What a waste of your talents". Thanks, Grandpa.
"You need to apply to medical school". Thanks, Dad.
"You're only applying to four schools? Do you have any safeties?", not really understanding that there are no safeties.
"What can you do with a PhD in anthropology?". I'm not sure what reply they want to hear here.
"You're a shoo-in!", without knowing anything about the app process, my CV, or the schools I'm applying to.
Anytime they hear anthropology, most people go off about ethnographies and rituals. There's more to anthro than sociocultural, people!
Anytime they hear psychology, they assume I want to become a practicing psychiatrist.

I did the same thing as you: in department names it is capitalized, otherwise it is not.