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Fall 2012 Applicant Chit Chat


goldielocks

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Guys, really try to be patient. Everyone operates on their own schedule. Some programs won't tell anyone until they've heard from the Graduate School about university fellowships and awards before notifying all. I know that's why Michigan waits until the end of February (not that it applies this year). It is really a very, very dragged-out process, just like anything else in academia. Just hang on.

As dealing with choices you didn't expect, sometimes it's for the best. I have to admit that I realized that my adviser's picks of schools are actually working out so far- Wisconsin and OSU while my picks of NYU and Indiana have failed me. I didn't apply to NYU this year but have been waitlisted and rejected there in the past. I have to say that, though I was stung by Indiana's outright rejection, a few seconds later, I felt relieved because my decision just got a lot easier (as with Goldielocks' with Northwestern and and Yale). Life is funny that way.

Remember, those with acceptances, cherish them no matter what. Those still hanging there, just keep hanging there until the end.

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It doesnt hurt to ask. It really doesnt. Especially if you cant sleep at night or are so worried you can concentrate. I'm sorry TMP, I'm not trying to say you're wrong, because you're not. People should be patient. But just know if you're SO worried and or curious its affecting you, then it doesn't hurt to call. I've called all the schools and asked w/o giving my name.

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Washington will be sending out decisions at the end of February, early March. I don't know about UCLA. Wait it out until March. If no news, perhaps then will be the right time to contact their graduate coordinators, etc. @TMP: Are you the only person on this thread who was offered funding from UW-M? I thought funding decisions were still in process.

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If anyone is interested, I just spoke to the coordinator at Columbia and they said that they hope to make final decisions within a week. I know they've already notified a couple of people on this board...so that may just mean "we plan to send out the rejections within a week," i dont know lol.

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If anyone is interested, I just spoke to the coordinator at Columbia and they said that they hope to make final decisions within a week. I know they've already notified a couple of people on this board...so that may just mean "we plan to send out the rejections within a week," i dont know lol.

So does that mean they're done w/acceptances and/or wait list?

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So does that mean they're done w/acceptances and/or wait list?

From the way they sounded on the phone, they still had decisions to make. I was just remarking that since at least two people on the board already know they've been accepted, they may actually be done with acceptances, and he just didnt tell me that lol

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Remember, those with acceptances, cherish them no matter what.

So, I'm trying to- I really, really am. I made a conscious decision to only apply to top-ranked programs, because at age 30-something, with family to support, I figured I need to maximize my employability. I have the utmost respect for UW-M as a program, and my wife and 1 yr old have both ok'd the move- if I get funding!!!

For me, no funding=no matriculation. So while my acceptance serves as a feather in my cap in terms of validating my academic achievement and my application building, its hard to really celebrate at this point. My anxiety level is as high or higher than it was a week ago.

This whole post is abou me venting to hopefully reduce some of the stress- I'm typically not this much of a worrier or this melo-dramatic, but I wonder if someone else is in the same boat...

PS: The 2 outright rejections, one informal/2nd hand rejection (UNC), and one passive rejection (Yale) haven't helped reduce the stress much...why cant I just be Safferz?????

PPS: I'm not trying to touch off a debate on whether top-ranked ranked programs give one an advantage over still quality, but not top-ranked programs in the job market. I realize I may very well be altogether wrong in my assessment, and in any event the exceptions to that 'rule' abound, but thats still my assessment.

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From the way they sounded on the phone, they still had decisions to make. I was just remarking that since at least two people on the board already know they've been accepted, they may actually be done with acceptances, and he just didnt tell me that lol

from what I saw on the board the acceptances were told by their POIs not the DGS but I could be wrong, no?

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So, I'm trying to- I really, really am. I made a conscious decision to only apply to top-ranked programs, because at age 30-something, with family to support, I figured I need to maximize my employability. I have the utmost respect for UW-M as a program, and my wife and 1 yr old have both ok'd the move- if I get funding!!!

For me, no funding=no matriculation. So while my acceptance serves as a feather in my cap in terms of validating my academic achievement and my application building, its hard to really celebrate at this point. My anxiety level is as high or higher than it was a week ago.

This whole post is abou me venting to hopefully reduce some of the stress- I'm typically not this much of a worrier or this melo-dramatic, but I wonder if someone else is in the same boat...

PS: The 2 outright rejections, one informal/2nd hand rejection (UNC), and one passive rejection (Yale) haven't helped reduce the stress much...why cant I just be Safferz?????

PPS: I'm not trying to touch off a debate on whether top-ranked ranked programs give one an advantage over still quality, but not top-ranked programs in the job market. I realize I may very well be altogether wrong in my assessment, and in any event the exceptions to that 'rule' abound, but thats still my assessment.

You're not alone

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Grimm, I mentioned a few pages back that, reading between the lines in my POI's e-mail, it seems like they're still making funding decisions at UW-M and helpful have them finalized within the next 10-14 days (I'm looking at the calendar, maybe after President's Day). PM me for the specific situation.

H&P- Just hang on. Funding isn't great of course at UW-M but I would wait and see. If you get something decent (at least for 2 years when you do the MA work) and you really want to go to the program, definitely ask your POIs during your visiting days about future support and how successful their (own) students have been in securing funding.

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If anyone is interested, I just spoke to the coordinator at Columbia and they said that they hope to make final decisions within a week. I know they've already notified a couple of people on this board...so that may just mean "we plan to send out the rejections within a week," i dont know lol.

I called admissions today as well and the very polite gentleman informed they were not finished making decisions and that everyone would officially be notified by the end of the month. I'm not giving up hope yet as I have seen both acceptances and rejections from Columbia on this site, so it doesn't seem as though they have only notified accepted students.

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to anyone publicly fretting about which big-name school they should pick or making up wild fantasies about having their offers revoked, that's a super shitty thing to do in front of a bunch of people with no acceptances at all. just... keep that in mind. by all means, celebrate your acceptances, but try not to publicly lament the "difficult" choice you have between 2 or 3 or 10 acceptances.

can the stress of not knowing when schools will give news affect your health and well-being? sure. any stressful situation can. but one of the good things about this place is that you can go back to older threads and deduce when, roughly, you should be receiving info. if your school didn't notify people until the last week of february last year, don't call them until you've received no news by the first week of march. take the information available to you through this (wonderful/terrible) website and make rational decisions.

and to think, once you're on the job market, some of those job searches NEVER notify you that you didn't get the position. even if you end up being in the top 10 selected for phone interviews or the top 3 invited to campus interviews, they just never bother to tell you that you didn't get it. ugh.

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to anyone publicly fretting about which big-name school they should pick or making up wild fantasies about having their offers revoked, that's a super shitty thing to do in front of a bunch of people with no acceptances at all. just... keep that in mind. by all means, celebrate your acceptances, but try not to publicly lament the "difficult" choice you have between 2 or 3 or 10 acceptances.

Extremely important. This cannot be stressed enough. And I'm saying this as someone who's been on these boards for the last two years or so.

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I'm having an eventful day... A student had a grand mal seizure in my class. I know it is worse for her than it is for me, but I have never even seen someone have a seizure much less while I am in control of a class. At least she warned me before class started and told me what to do in case it did happen. I am learning so much this year...

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Extremely important. This cannot be stressed enough. And I'm saying this as someone who's been on these boards for the last two years or so.

Last year a new thread was started for people with multiple acceptances to struggle their way through the difficult decision process in a more esoteric setting.

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to anyone publicly fretting about which big-name school they should pick or making up wild fantasies about having their offers revoked, that's a super shitty thing to do in front of a bunch of people with no acceptances at all. just... keep that in mind. by all means, celebrate your acceptances, but try not to publicly lament the "difficult" choice you have between 2 or 3 or 10 acceptances.

can the stress of not knowing when schools will give news affect your health and well-being? sure. any stressful situation can. but one of the good things about this place is that you can go back to older threads and deduce when, roughly, you should be receiving info. if your school didn't notify people until the last week of february last year, don't call them until you've received no news by the first week of march. take the information available to you through this (wonderful/terrible) website and make rational decisions.

and to think, once you're on the job market, some of those job searches NEVER notify you that you didn't get the position. even if you end up being in the top 10 selected for phone interviews or the top 3 invited to campus interviews, they just never bother to tell you that you didn't get it. ugh.

I have a man crush on this fella ... well mostly what you're writing sir! If you were a jedi I would humbly seek to be your padawan ... forget the age requirement!

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StrangeLight really does win over and over.

How does one go about asking a POI "sensitive" questions? I know that sounds vague (sorry).

For example, are there topics which one should never, ever broach with a POI?

*sorry for sounding ignorant.

Well as rife as that question is for jokes, I think you bring up an interesting point. There has to be a limit on the things that you can ask a POI because they aren't your personal reference point. Just like once you start your dissertation, you have to do the leg work it finding out the deeper stuff, I believe the same applies to the current situation.

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at least once a day for the past four days, you've been responsible for me having to explain to my wife "what's so funny"

Well thank you! This process is depressing enough by itself ... a little levity never hurt :)

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