2019 Applicants

[fortschritt22]

52 minutes ago, kitties said:

 

 The logical part of my brain told myself that too haha. Thanks guys for calming my anxious mind!!

I'm in an identical situation- I'm international and do not have an active phone line to receive calls on. I only put my american cell on applications because they were required fields. They will most definitely email you though, so do not fret. 

[fortschritt22]

2 hours ago, jr246 said:

I haven't heard/seen anything from Minnesota…but I saw the rejections on the results page…any ideas?? It's one of my top choices. 

They just sent me an email!

[Bopie5]

2 hours ago, jadeisokay said:

holy cow, I feel the same way. feel proud that you did ALL OF THAT and still apply to 59693 schools with (just my opinion, fwiw) a great sop and plan of study. my mental and physical health on top of work and full courseload were not optimum last semester but I feel like applying next cycle when I'll be working full time won't be fun but might be easier just being in new surroundings and older. fingers crossed for you either way!

@jadeisokay That's true. When I got rejected from Stanford, one of my best pals said "I wanna throw you a party for even applying with the crazy semester you had. Someone at Stanford read an essay you wrote!" and that was encouraging. Same to you--you toughed it out through a really not ideal amount of stress and obligations last semester. Fingers crossed for you as well. We may be down but we're not out yet ☺️ Your research is compelling, specific, and significant, and I'm sure you'll end up somewhere great!

 

1 hour ago, dilby said:

As everyone here is saying, this is very impressive. I also worked and did theatre in undergrad and can't imagine going through this process on top of all of that. We're all keeping our fingers crossed, but I'm happy to confirm that doing all of this stuff while working a full-time job that has nothing to do with academia actually makes it really fun—a nice return to what you love. And if you start early enough, it's never so much work in a day that you feel burned out.

And I would say the biggest plus is that completing a thesis will become one of the most important parts of your application. My thesis is the center of gravity of my entire SoP, a demonstration of both my previous research aptitude and the launch pad that I will use to expand my focus. And it gave me a writing sample that I feel really, really confident in. In many ways, applying as an undergrad puts you at a disadvantage.

I hope none of this is discouraging to hear. Everyone who's applying has a different path and none of us will be surprised if you land in a great program this cycle.

This post sparks joy! Thank you ☺️I think I need to reframe how I'm thinking about this. Just surviving the last six months was an accomplishment. None of this is discouraging--in fact, it's very encouraging, both about this cycle and about what the next might be like. I was thinking that even without having submitted my papers to journals yet, if I were to apply again, my CV next year will have the added elements of 3 poetry publications, 2 conferences, 1 guest lecture, and a TA position; my SoP will be clearer and more specific, with a more meaningful sense of the topography of my plan of study. Hoping for good things for you this cycle--I'd be shocked if you didn't get into a great program.

[reluctanthuman]

1 hour ago, jadeisokay said:

yep, mine vanished. I've had a medication problem the last few days so I've been extra emotional and this isn't helping.

Sorry to hear that. From what I've heard UChicago has always been a mess when it comes to the way they handle all these applications, but this information probably does not help the situation  

[dilby]

Got my Chicago rejection! Time to start pinning my hopes on Stanford >:)

[amphilanthus]

officially got the long-expected uchicago rejection! (and maph referral...yeah, thanks SO much, guys!) kind of a relief to finally be able to cross it off after the endless limbo.

[fortschritt22]

Boo bye Chicago

[Bopie5]

Also rejected from Chicago, also referred to the MAPH, which like...nah. The email was nicely flattering though I guess.

[dilby]

On 1/25/2019 at 3:46 PM, dilby said:

Memes are my only solace from this nightmare

 

Really feeling this bullshit today lol

[placeinspace]

I weirdly have not received a Chicago rejection yet, which I hope is because they read my application enough to know I already have an MA and don't want MAPH.

[amphilanthus]

kind of appreciate that the MAPH email is the only grad-school related email I've received in this process that got filtered into my spam folder, feels right! we are all that poor disappointed lab today.

[mandelbulb]

2 minutes ago, placeinspace said:

I weirdly have not received a Chicago rejection yet, which I hope is because they read my application enough to know I already have an MA and don't want MAPH.

last year i didn't get referred and i felt like scum, so it'd be nice if i'm going to be rejected again that they then at least refer me. that way i can feel like i've leveled up in their eyes ?

[placeinspace]

2 minutes ago, mandelbulb said:

last year i didn't get referred and i felt like scum, so it'd be nice if i'm going to be rejected again that they then at least refer me. that way i can feel like i've leveled up in their eyes ?

I hope you do then!!

[placeinspace]

It came through! I'm free from this hell!

[reluctanthuman]

2 minutes ago, placeinspace said:

It came through! I'm free from this hell!

counting seconds for mine...

[placeinspace]

1 minute ago, reluctanthuman said:

counting seconds for mine...

I had to refresh the portal. No email for me!

[reluctanthuman]

@placeinspace oh thanks! Just checked the portal and there it was, sweet sweet rejection. (By the way, they don't even sound kind like the way other rejection letters do, it's just a "yeah we don't want you" letter...)

[jr246]

2 hours ago, fortschritt22 said:

They just sent me an email!

big congrats!!!! I still got nothing…ugh haha

[placeinspace]

4 minutes ago, reluctanthuman said:

@placeinspace oh thanks! Just checked the portal and there it was, sweet sweet rejection. (By the way, they don't even sound kind like the way other rejection letters do, it's just a "yeah we don't want you" letter...)

I was prepared so it wasn't too bad for me. I'm honestly just waiting for my Davis rejection letter, which are notorious for being brutal (aka "you just weren't competitive enough"). Like, thank you, I know that, you don't need to tell me!!

[amphilanthus]

uchicago rejection officially means i'll be moving away from chicago in the fall - and away from my fiancee and our home and pets, because it's not the right time for her to leave her job and we've got a mortgage to pay in chicago (we bought a home just a few months before we decided i should apply to grad school, so that's been...interesting). she's amazingly supportive given the circumstances but man, the whole situation is starting to feel a lot worse now that my local schools are both rejections. anybody else grappling with any tough situations around grad school and partners/families? uchicago wasn't a good fit for me at all so it was a lot easier to immediately wave off than northwestern when the email came through, but it's hitting a little harder as it sinks in. this whole process is, generously, exhausting. ugh.

[Matthew3957]

8 minutes ago, amphilanthus said:

uchicago rejection officially means i'll be moving away from chicago in the fall - and away from my fiancee and our home and pets, because it's not the right time for her to leave her job and we've got a mortgage to pay in chicago (we bought a home just a few months before we decided i should apply to grad school, so that's been...interesting). she's amazingly supportive given the circumstances but man, the whole situation is starting to feel a lot worse now that my local schools are both rejections. anybody else grappling with any tough situations around grad school and partners/families? uchicago wasn't a good fit for me at all so it was a lot easier to immediately wave off than northwestern when the email came through, but it's hitting a little harder as it sinks in. this whole process is, generously, exhausting. ugh.

That's really rough. I mean you will get through it of course and all that. But it's tough to have that conflicted excitement about starting your PhD and the coupled disappointment of leaving that space behind. You will be refreshed soon. We all just need official news and then a vacation from waiting/deciding.

I am going through a similar situation potentially.

[dilby]

14 minutes ago, amphilanthus said:

uchicago rejection officially means i'll be moving away from chicago in the fall - and away from my fiancee and our home and pets, because it's not the right time for her to leave her job and we've got a mortgage to pay in chicago (we bought a home just a few months before we decided i should apply to grad school, so that's been...interesting). she's amazingly supportive given the circumstances but man, the whole situation is starting to feel a lot worse now that my local schools are both rejections. anybody else grappling with any tough situations around grad school and partners/families? uchicago wasn't a good fit for me at all so it was a lot easier to immediately wave off than northwestern when the email came through, but it's hitting a little harder as it sinks in. this whole process is, generously, exhausting. ugh.

 

3 minutes ago, Matthew3957 said:

That's really rough. I mean you will get through it of course and all that. But it's tough to have that conflicted excitement about starting your PhD and the coupled disappointment of leaving that space behind. You will be refreshed soon. We all just need official news and then a vacation from waiting/deciding.

I am going through a similar situation potentially.

Same here. My SO is a medical student in Houston, so getting off of Rice's waitlist and being able to live in the same city for 3 years would be really wonderful — but I'm also facing the reality that all of the other schools on my list have far better placement rates, and a few of them are better fits for me. Part of me hopes that every other place will reject me so that I don't have to be responsible for the decision to move away. But of course I also really, really want to do my research at Stanford (et al)

[WildeThing]

Anyone wanna claim Rutgers?

[amphilanthus]

thanks for the kind words and the sense of solidarity, @Matthew3957 and @dilby - the most bearable part of this process is that we're all in it together, in one way or another, and it's helpful to hear from others looking at a similar situation. it's just that complicated blend of excitement and then the rest: the guilt of likely moving away and the sadness of it too... but i think you're right, @Matthew3957, that we just need to get through this part of it! i assume everything will be easier once all decisions are in and we can take a break, recharge, and then actually start thinking about what will really happen rather than worrying about everything that might happen. i hope everything works out the very best for both of you too!

[pdh12]

@amphilanthus love those sentiments. This purgatory feels SO precarious--everytime I try to get zen and let the chaos take a backseat, some email or phone call explodes the calm. Making these decisions seems impossible; mainly, the part where you have to inevitably say 'no' to something. and the part where you have to totally upheave life-as-you-know-it to take the next step--whatever that ends up being. Jeeeeshhhhhh

also.....i can't help but fall in love with the people at every program......or...i can't help comparing the ''friendliness'' of their respective emails to each other, then feeling biased toward those that are "friendlier"......objectivity must rule the day in this, but i'm such a "feelings" kinda folk...