Fall 2012 Applicant Chit Chat

[oseirus]

AFB, I am with you... I am expecting rejections from Georgetown, UPenn, NYU, OSU and Harvard. Now I am trying to wrap my head around the depression of not starting in a PhD program next year, talking to the chair about getting my contract renewed next year and what I can do to improve my app. I am going to be beyond blue if I get rejected from ten schools...

Man I can't begin to imagine the level of frustration you have right now but as long as you don't have that email/letter in hand saying you're rejected you gotta have hope!

[oseirus]

random question: is anyone writing a paper to publish in the interim or are you all focused only on the results?

[telemaque]

random question: is anyone writing a paper to publish in the interim or are you all focused only on the results?

this definitely sounds like something i should be doing to keep my mind off things!

[oseirus]

I only ask because I have never had a paper published and in case I never get accepted I felt this could boost my chances the 2nd go-round. Or if I get accepted, it would show the professors a rough idea of what I am planning to write my thesis on.

[A Finicky Bean]

Man I can't begin to imagine the level of frustration you have right now but as long as you don't have that email/letter in hand saying you're rejected you gotta have hope!

It is really hard to have hope when one has only been receiving rejections...

[oseirus]

It is really hard to have hope when one has only been receiving rejections...

I know it's hard and I can't begin to imagine where you are right now as far as the emotional and mental state but you have to compartmentalize these things. One box does not determine the other. These things don't make logical sense so who is to say Harvard won't give you a fair shot or that NYU doesn't want you? I say, until it is 15 April 12 or you have a rejection letter/email from that school you have as much right as anyone to believe you will be going there. Now I am not the most eloquent of speakers, so I will rely on the words of Rudyard Kipling to maybe bring you some comfort.

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too:

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated don’t give way to hating,

And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;

Edited February 11, 2012 by oseirus

[Gene Parmesan]

It is really hard to have hope when one has only been receiving rejections...

At the end of the day, people (even those with acceptances already) will have more rejections than acceptances. These schools don't talk to one another (at least to my knowledge), so someone can get straight rejections and then one acceptance. I got acceptances up front and then came (and are still coming) the rejections. Unless you've heard from your last school, you're hopes for fall 2012 aren't over.

[Sparky]

Two three things to consider, y'all:

1. I had one funded acceptance. ONE. A pile of rejections, and one as-good-as rejection (unfunded PhD? in the humanities? sure, and I'll take the Brooklyn Bridge as well). One was all I got, but it was all I needed.

2. On publishing in the interim: okay, maybe, possibly, but be damn sure it's a paper you are going to be proud of in 7-10 years when you are on the job market. You do NOT want crap out there, your academic "naked baby photos," if you will. (And allow me to offer my humble case: I thought I had a brilliant paper, and indeed I was told by PhD-teaching profs that it was publishable; three years later, I can already tell you that having this particular paper in the publication universe would keep me up at night crying in shame. I'm not saying you're me; I'm just encouraging you to think very carefully whether you could turn out to be me).

3.

Edited February 11, 2012 by Sparky

[oseirus]

3.

not going to lie this is all I took away from your carefully worded and deeply inspiring post ... damn my inability to focus on the important things!

But seriously you raise a great point about the paper

[Veilside1]

Anyone here want to claim the rejection to Princeton with an emphasis on Ancient History?

If you'd rather not announce this publically feel free to send me a message. I've also applied for Ancient History at Princeton, PAW (Program in the Ancient World), via through the Classics department. Was your application to PAW through History or Classics? If you also applied through Classics, then I perhaps still have a very narrow chance of divine intervention bringing me an acceptance from Princeton. Any info would be great, as I've been sitting on a lone acceptance to SUNY-Buffalo for two weeks now with no other word, and I'm beginning to have quite heavy doubts about my chances of getting in to any other program.... perhaps this feeling is normal PhD applicant nerves, but two dry weeks of no news does a number on your confidence.

[RevolutionBlues]

Did other Emory applicants receive the FinAid email? I wish schools would coordinate between admissions and FinAid better so their applicants wouldn't have heart attacks finding that school's email address in their inboxes.

[Kelkel]

So I don't want to point out how truly obsessed we are, but goldielocks, oserius, crazedandinfused and I are all on the top ten posters for January.

I have a feeling we will be over half of February's!

[oseirus]

So I don't want to point out how truly obsessed we are, but goldielocks, oserius, crazedandinfused and I are all on the top ten posters for January.

I have a feeling we will be over half of February's!

To borrow a phrase from The Wire, those are NOT clean stats! I am NOT obssesed ... just because this is the first thing I do every day when I wake up

[hanlin]

I got into Georgetown with fellowship!!! This is my top choice!

[Grimm101]

I just received my UW-M rejection too. I knew it was a long shot, but it's the first response I've gotten and of course, it was negative. Great. Happy weekend..........

[Applicant12]

Also rejected from UW-M.

I asked this yesterday, but no one responded so I guess I'll try throwing it out there again. Does anyone have any hunches about NYU's timetable? Do we think those of us not invited by POIs to the prospective students' weekend are out of the running?

[goldielocks]

So I don't want to point out how truly obsessed we are, but goldielocks, oserius, crazedandinfused and I are all on the top ten posters for January.

I have a feeling we will be over half of February's!

Hahahahahahahaha.

I have a problem.

Edited February 11, 2012 by goldielocks

[telemaque]

So I don't want to point out how truly obsessed we are, but goldielocks, oserius, crazedandinfused and I are all on the top ten posters for January.

I have a feeling we will be over half of February's!

hahahaha mazel tov you guys!!!

Edited February 11, 2012 by telemaque

[crazedandinfused]

Yeah, I knew something was afoot when my posts per day went from .12 to like .3 in the span of a month.......... I've been going crazy!!!!!

I'm with applicant12 in wondering about NYU's weekend. Anyone?

Oh, and congrats to the georgetown admit and condolences to the Wisconsin rejects (that sounds really sad).

[crater21]

NYU visiting days are Feb 23-24 I think.

But, don't take an invitation or lack of invitation as a measure of your chances there. From what I understand, some people in the past were able to get admission without being invited, whereas others who had been invited didn't get in. (People with NYU experience please confirm if I am mistaken).

Also, my understanding is that they also do Skype conversations. So, you may still end up hearing from them, even if you are not invited to the weekend.

[oseirus]

hahahaha mazel tov you guys!!!

I feel so much shame ... I feel such a level of shame that I shouldn't feel

[superfluousflo]

NYU visiting days are Feb 23-24 I think.

But, don't take an invitation or lack of invitation as a measure of your chances there. From what I understand, some people in the past were able to get admission without being invited, whereas others who had been invited didn't get in. (People with NYU experience please confirm if I am mistaken).

Also, my understanding is that they also do Skype conversations. So, you may still end up hearing from them, even if you are not invited to the weekend.

This is consistent with my experience. I wasn't aware of the skype option. The weekend is 2 weeks later than it was last year. That pushes decisions later. Blast.

[oseirus]

This is consistent with my experience. I wasn't aware of the skype option. The weekend is 2 weeks later than it was last year. That pushes decisions later. Blast.

Can anyone speak to the Skype experience?

[sandyvanb]

Congrats to those who got acceptances yesterday!

Thank you for the kind words of encouragement. Yesterday was just a bad day emotionally for me. With all of the things I've dealt with in my classrooms my spouse said that I had a lot to talk about when I am on the job market. Last night I spoke with a good friend who is already in a PhD program and texted with my mentor. I am feeling better today but still uneasy. I am working on a paper for publication based on my thesis. It was rejected from one journal, but I was encouraged to send it to two international journals for consideration. I'm going to take a look at it in the next few weeks to see what needs to be done to it. I also have another article I want to research so I will stay busy if this year is a bust. I already have a book review that has been published, so my app was lacking conference presentations. My conference in the UK this summer will fill that void. I'm looking for something else to submit to next year as well. I just want it to be mid-March so I can start making plans one way or the other...

[Simple Twist of Fate]

I got into Georgetown with fellowship!!! This is my top choice!

Congrats! And since this was apparently your first post, welcome.

Hope everyone's weekend is going well so far. Last night, I was able to distract myself from that feeling.

Oh, and I talked to my mentor/adviser yesterday. I told him about the rejections (explicit and implicit) and his only response was "Oh. That's stupid." Thanks.