Shellacked again...

[Ufffdaaa]

6 minutes ago, clinamen said:

I reapplied this year and it was never a question of whether or not I would try again. 

What was your approach this year? Did you apply to mostly the same schools? Did you broaden the net? Did you lower your expectations? 

[la_mod]

15 minutes ago, punctilious said:

Come to the swamp, it’s such fun here! Never a dull moment. 

A question: how does one enter the swamp? Seriously interested in a chaotic political fallback, but never sure where to look, ha.

[punctilious]

12 minutes ago, la_mod said:

A question: how does one enter the swamp? Seriously interested in a chaotic political fallback, but never sure where to look, ha.

Well technically my husband and I don’t work directly in politics/government, but I work for a non-profit that’s heavily involved in public policy (specifically immigration/women’s rights) and my husband works for a government contractor here in the DC area. Honestly I feel like jobs are plentiful here compared to a lot of their places in the US. Getting a government job is tough and takes forever, but there are so many political/NGO/gov contractor/think tank jobs that aren’t so tough to get. I actually really like it here. I love feeling like I’m making a difference in the big political happenings (even if it’s small since I’m just in communications).

Edited January 22, 2018 by punctilious

[la_mod]

4 minutes ago, punctilious said:

Well technically my husband and I don’t work directly in politics/government, but I work for a non-profit that’s heavily involved in public policy (specifically immigration/women’s rights) and my husband works for a government contractor here in the DC area. Honestly I feel like jobs are plentiful here compared to a lot of their places in the US. Getting a government job is tough and takes forever, but there are so many political/NGO/gov contractor jobs that aren’t so tough to get. I actually really like it here. I love feeling like I’m making a difference in the big political happenings (even if it’s small since I’m just in communications).

Ah, that's great! I just applied to a nonprofit and need to look for more. I'm sadly not in DC, so it's tough. 

[WildeThing]

As I refresh my email fir the 1000th time waiting o  Chicago I get an email from Ch...atham. Spam. Thank you.

[clinamen]

4 minutes ago, Wooshkuh said:

What was your approach this year? Did you apply to mostly the same schools? Did you broaden the net? Did you lower your expectations? 

I want to say that I aimed "lower" this year, but it's only half true. I still applied to some top-ranked programs but mostly because I felt like I couldn't not apply to them--the fit was great and there were many professors in these programs whose work aligned very closely with my own. I did make my list a bit longer and added some schools that were ranked a bit lower, I wanted to aim for a bunch of programs ranked in the 50-60 realm, but quickly threw that idea out as any school without a great fit is a waste of an application. So, as a rule, I only applied to schools with an excellent fit this year. 

I switched up my focus. Having finished my MA I have a much clearer idea of what I want to study and how to articulate those interests. Desperate to get in somewhere, I tried to tailor last year's application materials to what was "hot" in the humanities at the time, or what I thought programs would be looking for. This year I just went with what I am actually genuinely interested in and I'm hoping that will play out well for me. 

I also reached out to professors (POIs) this year around and was met with really positive responses from almost everyone I contacted. I don't know if that will end up working in my favor or making any difference, but it made me feel more confident about the programs. It was also a way to filter out programs without a great fit e.g. if I couldn't find someone on the faculty to reach out to because of similar interests then I shouldn't be applying. 

My expectations are certainly lowered, but I won't be any less devastated if I am shut out a second time. 

[FreakyFoucault]

20 minutes ago, clinamen said:

but quickly threw that idea out as any school without a great fit is a waste of an application ... This year I just went with what I am actually genuinely interested in and I'm hoping that will play out well for me.

Damn straight. Never settle! 

Edited January 22, 2018 by FreakyFoucault

[ashley623]

I just got an email saying 'Congratulations! You have been chosen...'

It was for a credit card company.
-headdesk-

[FreakyFoucault]

4 minutes ago, katie64 said:

I just got an email saying 'Congratulations! You have been chosen...'

It was for a credit card company.

Consumer finance shellacked! 

[WildeThing]

Today is great. Get an email from my top school, it's the grad conference I applied to! I'm rejected! Yay! 

[FreakyFoucault]

I'm sorry, @WildeThing  

Maybe Chicago will send you some good news tomorrow! I believe @Warelin mentioned somewhere that Chicago has, in the past, sent interview e-mails over several days (please correct me if I'm wrong). There's still hope! 

[punctilious]

28 minutes ago, FreakyFoucault said:

Maybe Chicago will send you some good news tomorrow! I believe @Warelin mentioned somewhere that Chicago has, in the past, sent interview e-mails over several days (please correct me if I'm wrong). There's still hope! 

I'm personally loving my new signature line color scheme now that we have 'implied rejection' added for Chicago! Lol.

[FreakyFoucault]

4 minutes ago, punctilious said:

I'm personally loving my new signature line color scheme now that we have 'implied rejection' added for Chicago! Lol.

Omg that's hilarious. Bonus points for coordinating the colors by rainbow!

Edited January 23, 2018 by FreakyFoucault

[punctilious]

2 minutes ago, FreakyFoucault said:

Omg that's hilarious. Bonus points for by coordinating the colors by rainbow!

So proud. Can you tell that I am a graphic designer?

[FreakyFoucault]

2 minutes ago, punctilious said:

So proud. Can you tell that I am a graphic designer?

haha that's exactly what I thought  

[mk-8]

40 minutes ago, WildeThing said:

Today is great. Get an email from my top school, it's the grad conference I applied to! I'm rejected! Yay! 

I got rejected from a grad conference at a school nearby and then the same proposal was accepted at the CWPA (council of writing program administrators) conference the next week. So, chin up!

[WildeThing]

I’m presenting on the topic at NeMLA but this is the 2nd time I send a proposal to this school’s conference and 2nd time it’s been rejected. While not the same thing, you wonder how the program will select you if your two big ideas aren’t good enough for its graduate conference.

[Warelin]

57 minutes ago, WildeThing said:

I’m presenting on the topic at NeMLA but this is the 2nd time I send a proposal to this school’s conference and 2nd time it’s been rejected. While not the same thing, you wonder how the program will select you if your two big ideas aren’t good enough for its graduate conference.

FWIW: Grad conferences are often led by graduate students in the program. And some conferences have a bias of accepting their own classmates before accepting external applicants.

Edited January 23, 2018 by Warelin

[unicornsarereal]

I asked this at another point but still feel unsure about it: if I got accepted into a conference after i submitted some apps, should i notify schools? i've only just fully gotten over a lot of my anxiety about presenting at this conference so im definitely not dropping out at this point

[unicornsarereal]

Also, i wouldnt take offense at being rejected from a conference at a school youve applied to: a lot of other factors — and people! — going into that decision

[mk-8]

20 minutes ago, Warelin said:

FWIW: Grad conferences are often led by graduate students in the program. And some conferences have a bias of accepting their own classmates before accepting external applicants.

Also this- I’m planning a grad conference now, too. Definitely don’t take it personally. 

18 minutes ago, unicornsarereal said:

I asked this at another point but still feel unsure about it: if I got accepted into a conference after i submitted some apps, should i notify schools? i've only just fully gotten over a lot of my anxiety about presenting at this conference so im definitely not dropping out at this point

I’m curious to what others think, but I personally didn’t. I got accepted to a couple conferences and had a review published but I didn’t notify schools I had already applied to. I wasn’t sure if it was really appropriate to be like “hey, also this!” But maybe it is, I don’t know.

[a_sort_of_fractious_angel]

38 minutes ago, unicornsarereal said:

I asked this at another point but still feel unsure about it: if I got accepted into a conference after i submitted some apps, should i notify schools? i've only just fully gotten over a lot of my anxiety about presenting at this conference so im definitely not dropping out at this point

Congrats! That is awesome! If I may, what are you talking about? I love hearing about people's conference papers.

Also, I'm in @mk-8's line of thought - I'd probably think you're OK to leave it off. In asking my peers in PhDs/profs, the conferences are a neutral/good - they won't make or break anything - and reaching out post-deadline seems (unless it is a defcon1 situation) to be more effort than it's worth.

Which has no reflection on how great it is that you're accepted and attending! More that the depts are all really busy right now and probably have the packets put together and all that (if that makes sense). Granted, I'm not an adcom or a PhD student, so all my knowledge is anecdotal. 

[unicornsarereal]

1 hour ago, a_sort_of_fractious_angel said:

Congrats! That is awesome! If I may, what are you talking about? I love hearing about people's conference papers.

Also, I'm in @mk-8's line of thought - I'd probably think you're OK to leave it off. In asking my peers in PhDs/profs, the conferences are a neutral/good - they won't make or break anything - and reaching out post-deadline seems (unless it is a defcon1 situation) to be more effort than it's worth.

Which has no reflection on how great it is that you're accepted and attending! More that the depts are all really busy right now and probably have the packets put together and all that (if that makes sense). Granted, I'm not an adcom or a PhD student, so all my knowledge is anecdotal. 

Yeah I likely won't based on yours and @mk-8's thoughts.

I talking about disguise in 18th century lit—probably my favorite topic!!

[bumbleblu]

9 hours ago, unicornsarereal said:

Yeah this is something I've been wanting to ask people about: for those who've reapplied, how do you steel yourself against the hardship of it? For first timers, if you get shut out will you apply again?

It's been two years since I was rejected from all 9 of the programs I applied to. I keep telling myself it wasn't a mistake to try again because I'm much more prepared than I was -- then, I was still completing my M.A. and hadn't quite solidified my research interests. Also, I didn't have any idea what I was doing while applying, so my SOP was capital-B Bad. I definitely have much lower expectations than I did two years ago, which helps...? 

Still, I am a huge ball of nerves, simultaneously checking my email constantly and dreading new emails because what if it's another rejection???????? It's so terrible.

[FreakyFoucault]

I checked the Duke portal this morning and started to get excited because it took a little longer than usual to load (More data, i.e. a decision, more time to load? my technologically deficient mind thought...)

And .......

Nothin'. 

Slow-WiFi shellacked!