Fall 2012 Applicant Chit Chat

[wikichic]

Kelkel- I agree with everyone here- a funded offer is totally awesome! I also agree with RealNiceGuy, Gene, and Goldie- I too am doing an MA and love it! I feel so much better prepared than I did two years ago, and my app was strengthened for it. You could do your degree at Miami, take advantage of every opportunity your given to do extra work, research, etc., and position yourself well for the next time you apply. And this is all worst case scenario- you could still hear back from another program. You should be very proud

Edited February 4, 2012 by wikichic

[jrah822]

Decision posted on the Northwestern website...unfortunately for me it was a rejection, but good luck to everyone else with apps still out! =)

[Safferz]

Rejected from Northwestern as well

[crazedandinfused]

That sucks guys. I'm so sorry.

It's insane that they got 600 applicants. I hope it's not part of a broader trend..........

Anyone else with Northwestern news??

Edited February 4, 2012 by crazedandinfused

[Safferz]

Well, I'm not disappointed about Northwestern but it goes to show how much of a crapshoot this whole process is. I thought I had a pretty good research fit with the professors there, and I didn't get in. But the school I almost didn't apply to, Yale, liked me enough to offer me an interview (the convo with my POI and news of a recent hire since changed my mind about my initial concerns about fit). You just try your best to submit the strongest application possible, and hope that what you have to offer matches the department/subfield's needs for that particular application season. If it doesn't work out, there's a new application season just months away with an entirely different applicant pool, so you try again.

Hoping for better news next week

[Ganymede18]

my partner is the Northwestern acceptance (I'm much more neurotic about these things though, so I'm the one lurking on grad cafe!). exciting! was first response. sorry to folks who didn't make it.

[crazedandinfused]

Well, I'm not disappointed about Northwestern but it goes to show how much of a crapshoot this whole process is. I thought I had a pretty good research fit with the professors there, and I didn't get in. But the school I almost didn't apply to, Yale, liked me enough to offer me an interview (the convo with my POI and news of a recent hire since changed my mind about my initial concerns about fit). You just try your best to submit the strongest application possible, and hope that what you have to offer matches the department/subfield's needs for that particular application season. If it doesn't work out, there's a new application season just months away with an entirely different applicant pool, so you try again.

Hoping for better news next week

That's a wonderful outlook Safferz. Having the strongest possible application is truly only half the battle, and I'm proud of the fact that I even put together an app that I would consider submitting to Yale.

Plus they could totally still call me or put me on a wait list, or offer me a funded MA, or even an unfunded MA............

[Lms13]

That's a wonderful outlook Safferz. Having the strongest possible application is truly only half the battle, and I'm proud of the fact that I even put together an app that I would consider submitting to Yale.

Plus they could totally still call me or put me on a wait list, or offer me a funded MA, or even an unfunded MA............

Was rejected from Northwestern too. Like I said earlier, it was really flooded this year so a huge congrats to those who made it!! Kind of glad though I'm not going there. I'm not too fond of their new dean, Dwight. He's rather fond of making cuts so this may be the start of a trend for that school :/

[Safferz]

That's a wonderful outlook Safferz. Having the strongest possible application is truly only half the battle, and I'm proud of the fact that I even put together an app that I would consider submitting to Yale.

Plus they could totally still call me or put me on a wait list, or offer me a funded MA, or even an unfunded MA............

It's just so easy to read a rejection as a statement on your strength as a candidate and feel defeated, when it's really more complicated than that. And it's certainly not an indication of how your application is received at other schools, which I think my example shows. Staying optimistic is the way to go! That said, I'll be stopping by Tim Hortons in a few moments to get myself a consolation honey cruller and a white hot chocolate with whipped cream

Congrats to your partner, Ganymede18! I know quite a few of us applied to Northwestern, so hoping more people have positive news to share too.

[Kelkel]

Also rejected. Yes, I woke up in middle of the night, checked this thread and then checked my decision. Bah I say, bah.

[oseirus]

Why are there people lurking on here @ this hour (0550L EST/0250L PST)?

[goldielocks]

I'm so sorry to everyone who got disappointing news from Northwestern.

Just wanted to share that I have been accepted there. It is my top choice, next to Yale, so I am ecstatic. Now I just have to wait for news on the fellowship from my POI this week. I've been on pins and needles all month. Had talked to my POI on January 3rd, then heard again from her this week, and now this. I'm absolutely over the moon.

Everyone else: Keep your chin up!

[holdon]

Congratulations to those who were admitted and commiserations to those who heard that they didn't fit!

[RevolutionBlues]

Just checked Wisconsin and it says: "Your program has recommended you for admission. The graduate school will be reviewing your file. Please refer to this page for updates." this is my third cycle applying to graduate programs and after 9 rejections over the last 2 years I now have a tentative acceptance at one of my top choices! Even if it doesn't come with funding just making it this far has me ecstatic. Best of luck to everyone and check that page!

[oseirus]

What good pieces of news you guys are sharing. There are more positive things in store w/in the next 50 hours!

[diplodocus]

Congrats to all the Northwestern acceptences! It really is a wonderful program.

Is there anybody out there who doesn't have a decision posted to their Northwestern account? Maybe the person posting rejections got tired and stopped halfway through. My status just says submitted.

[StrangeLight]

congrats to everyone that received good news!

kelkel, a funded MA is a GREAT position to be in, and not a plan B at all. a lot of more sought-after programs have begun to take mostly students with MAs in hand rather than straight out of the BA since the financial crisis because it saves them on a few years of funding. the process of doing an MA will change you as a scholar. i know, for me, since getting through my MA, i saw with great clarity the 10,000,000 mistakes i made on my grad applications so long ago. being in a program allows you to learn the language of academia and to have a better sense of what an adcom is looking for. guaranteed, your applications to PhD programs will be stronger and more successful after the MA than during this cycle (even if you get into PhD programs this cycle, you'll still be a better candidate once you complete an MA at any institution, even if you never apply anywhere else). people discourage others from getting the MA first only because MAs aren't usually fully funded. but, with a fully funded offer, if you do the MA, you will be a MUCH stronger candidate for PhD programs two years from now. a funded MA is a great opportunity to open doors into top programs that may be out of reach right out of the BA. this is a very good acceptance and opens FAR more doors than it closes. congratulations!

a few pages back, i was accused of posting "the worst" stories about the lives of graduate students in my program. they were actually examples of some of the strongest students in my program, not ones who regularly falter or struggle. but i left it at that, because it didn't seem worth bringing up again. except now: the PhD student on the job market, with a baby and only one job interview and a mock job talk that went not-well, GOT THE JOB. tenure-track, 3/2 teaching load, a graduate program with advisees, close proximity to some of his family. he liked the campus and the faculty, and other than one year-long survey he has to teach, he can teach absolutely any courses his heart desires. he's not stuck doing the surveys of regions outside his specialization. he could teach a class on jazz or the cocaine trade or bob dylan if he wanted to. i'm kind of hung over from celebrating...

of course, this good news was relayed to me by his advisor, who then said (because we're in the same subfield) that "this is a challenge to you, because right now the latin americanists have a 100% employment rate." ugh. thanks. anyway, i share that to say, hey, people get jobs at schools you've heard of with reasonable teaching loads and they don't need to come from harvard or yale!! light at the end of the tunnel and all that.

[Lms13]

Just checked Wisconsin and it says: "Your program has recommended you for admission. The graduate school will be reviewing your file. Please refer to this page for updates." this is my third cycle applying to graduate programs and after 9 rejections over the last 2 years I now have a tentative acceptance at one of my top choices! Even if it doesn't come with funding just making it this far has me ecstatic. Best of luck to everyone and check that page!

I checked and still nothing. Does that mean I was probably rejected?

[Hopin'-n-Prayin']

My Wisconcin portal says: "Your program has recommended you for admission." !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK, huge relief, much happiness, cant wait to hear about funding etc...

sorry, just a little too geeked up to write anything profound- will check back in later- now I gotta go explain to my wife how Madison, WI is a lot like New Jersey, where she grew up and was hoping to move back to!!!

[Kelkel]

Thanks for all the guidiance. I guess I've just heard things on this site that had kind of dissuaded me from really understanding the help of an MA.

Congrats to the Northwestern acceptances and the one Wisconsin! Edit: Two Wisconsin!!!! Yay Hopin' and Rev!

Edited February 4, 2012 by Kelkel

[genesisy]

I was accepted to Northwestern as well. Can't believe it! Waiting to hear details about funding, but their website says that they are very good about funding their students. Yay!

[jlb]

Does anyone else not have a decision yet on Northwestern Application?

[Simple Twist of Fate]

Congratulations to the NU and Wisconsin admits, and commisserations on the rejections.

Those are two schools I really would have really liked to apply to if the fit had been better for my interests. I hope the admits celebrate tonight.

[diplodocus]

Does anyone else not have a decision yet on Northwestern Application?

I don't either. I wonder if some parts of the department have made decisions and others haven't. Or maybe the system is just slow to upload our rejections.

[jlb]

I don't either. I wonder if some parts of the department have made decisions and others haven't. Or maybe the system is just slow to upload our rejections.

What is your area of interest?