Please tell me what to do

[nabh]

Hello everyone,

I know that this is a little early in the game to start being paranoid, but I am an intl student and this economic scene makes me really worried and just want to have an anchor.

I contacted a faculty member at one graduate school very early in the term. He was very responsive and at the end of our first, long conversation he urged me to send in the application as soon as possible, even though I suggested waiting until my grades are out in January. FYI this particular school is a Canadian one and only considers your application if you already have some prof there back you up.

The thing why I asked for delay was because my gpa last semester was markedly lower than the rest due to a constant threat then that I might have had to drop out of school for financial reasons. The subject that killed me was not relevant to the MSc program I am applying to however. My mission this semester is hence to improve it and then submit the application. I consulted many people and in the end, attached an explanation in the application but did not tell the prof.

With his strong urging I sent it in and all other papers were received, indicated by the online application. A month passed and last week the department secretary informed that they still have not transferred the one REC and transcripts to her yet. What?! She promises to write me as soon as the decision is made.

I wrote him two days ago and receive no answer until now. You may say that I am luckier than some of us but I think I have reasons to dread that something so promising in the beginning will turn into utter disappointment:

- It is my understanding that if they change their mind, a paper version of rejection is on the mail to me now. Is it true? Will they bother even emailing me about this?

- They might look at my disastrous grade last semester and end of the game. As I said the sessional gpa is lower than the cutout but the cumulative one is way higher since I had hitherto done well. Could it be due to this that they dont even bother transferring the rest of the package?

- Should I write again to the prof and the secretary? I dont want to tire them of my questions and would very much like to believe that they are just waiting as I am?

I would really appreciate your thoughts. And please understand if this is too much a paranoid to you. I know many have not even heard anything yet.

[Minnesotan]

I would not count on admittance just because a professor encouraged you to apply. In fact, of the ~20 schools I applied to for my MA and PhD cycles, a professor encouraged me to apply. I got rejected at more than half of them.

I guess this is a variant of the old maxim, "don't put all your eggs in one basket," with a little "don't count your chickens before they hatch" mixed in for good measure.

I'm not sure why so many maxims deal with poultry. Someone should write a paper.

[nabh]

That was something I need to keep my feet on the ground and my head still high. Well, this is not just some professor; in fact he accepts me informally and with an internship. At first it seems that all matters now is just paperwork, but the silence all of a sudden made me dread. When profs change their mind or something happens shouldnt they at least inform us? What do you guys think?

I just mailed off another batch of applications and just kept repeating to myself that this is too early in the game.

[miratrix]

You can't really know what they're thinking, and things do go crazy for professors and offices at the end of the semester...good luck, hang in there : /

[misterpat]

I would not count on admittance just because a professor encouraged you to apply. In fact, of the ~20 schools I applied to for my MA and PhD cycles, a professor encouraged me to apply. I got rejected at more than half of them.

I guess this is a variant of the old maxim, "don't put all your eggs in one basket," with a little "don't count your chickens before they hatch" mixed in for good measure.

I'm not sure why so many maxims deal with poultry. Someone should write a paper.

Ha. That would be an interesting paper.

But yeah, I was encouraged to apply by nearly every professor I contacted (the notable exceptions being someone at Harvard and someone at Penn, where I was ignored). I don't imagine I'll get into some of those programs, so it might not mean much.

[Ferrero]

I was encouraged -- quite animatedly -- not to apply. I don't get it.

[Minnesotan]

I was encouraged -- quite animatedly -- not to apply. I don't get it.

Did you call him a bloody rascal and challenge him to a duel? I believe that is the appropriate response in most cases.

[rinneron]

In my first class of my Master's, which was "Introduction to Advanced Literary Study," the professor (who was also my school's DGS at the time) told all of us the following:

"Most of you want to apply to PhD programs in English, but I think you should reconsider. Graduate school isn't for most people, and most of you won't get in, so I don't know why you would want to waste your time applying. It's a very select group, and I don't think many of you make the cut."

This was the woman who told me, when I mentioned perhaps wanting to use 'Crying of Lot 49' and 'Wild Sheep Chase' as ways to examine some kind of postmodern detective story for our term paper (which was entirely open ended), "I think Pynchon is over."

Seriously. Anyone who tells you to flat up give up has forgotten what it's like to be a student. Dreams are important, let them live on!

[jackassjim]

Seriously. Anyone who tells you to flat up give up has forgotten what it's like to be a student. Dreams are important, let them live on!

Those of you who shared the dream probably kept on keepin' on, while the ones who didn't have the chops probably quit. I think it's just fair warning. That's the kind of stuff you need to hear early on.

[mraig]

In my first class of my Master's, which was "Introduction to Advanced Literary Study," the professor (who was also my school's DGS at the time) told all of us the following:

"Most of you want to apply to PhD programs in English, but I think you should reconsider. Graduate school isn't for most people, and most of you won't get in, so I don't know why you would want to waste your time applying. It's a very select group, and I don't think many of you make the cut."

This was the woman who told me, when I mentioned perhaps wanting to use 'Crying of Lot 49' and 'Wild Sheep Chase' as ways to examine some kind of postmodern detective story for our term paper (which was entirely open ended), "I think Pynchon is over."

Seriously. Anyone who tells you to flat up give up has forgotten what it's like to be a student. Dreams are important, let them live on!

I don't know; I think this is pretty good advice in general. It's easy to get stuck in the academic mindset that you *have* to keep progressing and moving through the system, when the reality is that there are more applicants to graduate school than there are slots in programs, and more people with PhDs on the job market than there are jobs for them.

We live in such a feel-good, you-can-do-it world that sometimes it's a shock to even consider the possibility that someone might want to do something but not be able to. Well, the reality is, not everyone is good enough, not everyone is smart enough, and not everyone has the right personality type to be a professor. I imagine that law and medical students hear this type of advice all the time.

That said, lots of professors get off on making students feel bad. Maybe this was one of them.