orst11 Posted January 3, 2012 Posted January 3, 2012 Hopefully, everyone has had a good holiday season. A little less than a month until results start coming in, and hopefully we will all start hearing good news.
iwouldpreferanonymity Posted January 3, 2012 Posted January 3, 2012 I second what orst11 has written. Now that the holiday season has passed, and I have finally submitted all of my applications, I wanted to take a moment and thank the users of this forum for their generosity. I have benefited greatly from reading through the suggestions, clarifications, and other comments made throughout the Political Science forums. To everyone on these boards - I hope that your top choice, your best 'fit,' admits you with lavish funding.
balderdash Posted January 4, 2012 Author Posted January 4, 2012 Cornell just contacted me about my application. It had been showing "incomplete" back in November, a few weeks after I submitted everything to them, so I emailed and was told to wait until mid-December. Today they finally confirmed it was complete. Sheesh. I feel bad for the administrators who are that backed up...
orst11 Posted January 4, 2012 Posted January 4, 2012 balderdash, at first when reading your post I was getting freaked out thinking they messed up your application entirely. I know they don't have a very cheap application, so it's definitely good to hear they got it together. Looking at the results survey, it looks like they have some time to get everything organized though before they start making and sending out decisions.
balderdash Posted January 4, 2012 Author Posted January 4, 2012 balderdash, at first when reading your post I was getting freaked out thinking they messed up your application entirely. I know they don't have a very cheap application, so it's definitely good to hear they got it together. Looking at the results survey, it looks like they have some time to get everything organized though before they start making and sending out decisions. Yeah, I wasn't pulling out my hair or anything but it certainly got worrisome. In any case, all set now. Thanks for the concern.
balthasar Posted January 4, 2012 Posted January 4, 2012 I second what orst11 has written. Now that the holiday season has passed, and I have finally submitted all of my applications, I wanted to take a moment and thank the users of this forum for their generosity. I have benefited greatly from reading through the suggestions, clarifications, and other comments made throughout the Political Science forums. To everyone on these boards - I hope that your top choice, your best 'fit,' admits you with lavish funding. Same here. Thanks to everyone contributing to the Poli Sci forum. I hope 2012 brings the news everyone here so anxiously wait for.
CooCooCachoo Posted January 4, 2012 Posted January 4, 2012 Cornell just contacted me about my application. It had been showing "incomplete" back in November, a few weeks after I submitted everything to them, so I emailed and was told to wait until mid-December. Today they finally confirmed it was complete. Sheesh. I feel bad for the administrators who are that backed up... The same here. I don't mind the delay; I was more worried that I had actually omitted something, thereby risking voiding my application. CooCooCachoo 1
balderdash Posted January 6, 2012 Author Posted January 6, 2012 In case others are awaiting confirmation: Madison emailed today to say that my application was complete.
orst11 Posted January 6, 2012 Posted January 6, 2012 In case others are awaiting confirmation: Madison emailed today to say that my application was complete. Just by looking at the results survey, it seems like they are are running pretty close to what they were last year and should have decisions trickling out at the end of this month. Hopefully, you'll be hearing good news soon.
saltlakecity2012 Posted January 7, 2012 Posted January 7, 2012 Happy holidays, everyone. Today is one month until the first results should start trickling in, as Stanford has led the way for the last few years in late January. It's crazy to think the waiting has passed this quickly. Goodness... I was looking forward to having a month or so to be slightly terrified before the results started coming in. Shit. Anyone know if the Stanford Political Economics PhD through the business school notifies around the same time?
Secret Squirrel Posted January 7, 2012 Posted January 7, 2012 I am going to have a heart attack before the 26th.
saltlakecity2012 Posted January 7, 2012 Posted January 7, 2012 Yeah. Full on cardiac infarction. The program I applied to at Stanford doesn't notify till mid-March, but I still get to wait peacefully for Columbia at the end of January. Kill me now. Anyone know about Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD?
CooCooCachoo Posted January 7, 2012 Posted January 7, 2012 Yeah. Full on cardiac infarction. The program I applied to at Stanford doesn't notify till mid-March, but I still get to wait peacefully for Columbia at the end of January. Kill me now. Anyone know about Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD? If last year is any indication, early to mid-February for all three. Fingers crossed!
balderdash Posted January 7, 2012 Author Posted January 7, 2012 The program I applied to at Stanford doesn't notify till mid-March... What program was this? At least I have the (NFL) playoffs to help me through the month... and with hockey and basketball seasons in full swing, there's always something to zone out to whilst worrying about silly things like getting a graduate degree and a career.
saltlakecity2012 Posted January 7, 2012 Posted January 7, 2012 What program was this? At least I have the (NFL) playoffs to help me through the month... and with hockey and basketball seasons in full swing, there's always something to zone out to whilst worrying about silly things like getting a graduate degree and a career. The PhD in Political Economics through the business school. At least, that's what it says on their website, but last year's results indicate that it's more likely to be in February/early March.
RWBG Posted January 7, 2012 Posted January 7, 2012 A lot of departments say they'll send results way later than they actually do.
ohsnap Posted January 10, 2012 Posted January 10, 2012 Acceptance #1, received. I can't believe that I got one this early, but I am hoping to get a few more. So happy to know that I will be going somewhere next fall! saltlakecity2012, lordvader and CooCooCachoo 3
Secret Squirrel Posted January 10, 2012 Posted January 10, 2012 Congratulations! What's your top choice, fellow theorist (which I say like it's a cult)?
saltlakecity2012 Posted January 10, 2012 Posted January 10, 2012 Still freaking out even though there is absolutely nothing more to be done on my end. Petrified, actually. Here's the downside to putting in a large number of applications: the possibility that one could receive 15 rejection letters and go a bit mad as a result. Ugh.
saltlakecity2012 Posted January 10, 2012 Posted January 10, 2012 Anyone who's been through this rigmarole before have any advice on how best to mentally prepare for rejections?
balthasar Posted January 10, 2012 Posted January 10, 2012 congrats ohsnap!! I hope you receive the other acceptances you expect as well. well, we all know that this means everyone here can officially start checking their application statuses, frantically..
balderdash Posted January 10, 2012 Author Posted January 10, 2012 Congrats, ohsnap. I take it that it was TAMU? Anyone who's been through this rigmarole before have any advice on how best to mentally prepare for rejections? I'll try to answer, in rambling fashion. It's a complicated question. First, you should know that you can't be truly prepared. Getting a rejection hurts, and it will do so no matter how much you warm yourself up to it. That said, it's a lot like getting rejections for college, if you can remember what that felt like. The stakes are higher, but the sensation is the same. And you need to know that you will get rejected. Many, many times. So with this in mind, to answer the question practically, I think the best you can do is to not focus on it, because ultimately it is now out of your hands. Instead of biting your nails, try to manage the stress of waiting. Personally, I try for self-enrichment. I've been watching classic films (8 1/2, La Notte, Terence Malick's filmography), reading pretty widely (P G Wodehouse, Bertrand Russell, stuff within my field such as the new Will Reno book), and indulging in a lot of hobbies (following the GOP horserace, NFL playoffs, nights out at the pub). The goal is twofold: productivity and sanity. You have to balance pleasure with work, but since your attention span shortens, its good to always have a lot of activities queued up so you never get bored. Besides, you really only have 2-3 weeks until you know whether or not you're rejected. Soon there will be ~4 notifications of acceptance on the board for a school to which you've applied. If you don't get a call/email from that school within, say, 36 hours, you're almost guaranteed to have been rejected. Once it starts, it's a whirlwind two weeks as you process the knowledge that you won't be going to Research University or Prestigious State School. lordvader 1
Tamboursg'sell Posted January 11, 2012 Posted January 11, 2012 Hi, I've been a reader of this forum for quite some time and have just decided to become active. Here is my strategy: 1. Don't go on GradCafe. I only go once or twice a week, but whenever I go the site somehow succeeds in turning an otherwise calm person into a nervous freak. 2. Travel to foreign countries. I've decided to spend the remaining six months on a road trip to developing countries. Amongst other things, this will a) allow me to realize there are much more important things in life than grad school and prevent me from checking my applications all too often (there is simply no internet around). 3. Sign a job offer. I signed a contract last month, which means I know what I will be doing given I am rejected. Moreover, having a job lined up puts a high opportunity cost at going to graduate school and very high bureaucratic costs of getting out of a signed contract. In sum, it creates a situation in which I almost "don't want to get an offer" - if that makes any sense. 4. Demystify grad school. Who wants to be an unemployed PhD anyways? Moreover, the schools I applied to are so freaking good that I would be the dumbest kid around the block anyways - so yet another reason to happily anticipate rejections. Safferz, blaspheming, CooCooCachoo and 1 other 2 2
lordvader Posted January 11, 2012 Posted January 11, 2012 I am not agree with your strategy. If you want to pursue graduate studies you have to be sure, I mean, you cannot say “Who wants to be an unemployed PhD anyways?”. My personal strategy is to have a Plan B just in case. If I have only rejections I will write a new paper, attend new conferences, etc. My alternative plan has a direct relation with try to be admitted. lordvader 1
orst11 Posted January 11, 2012 Posted January 11, 2012 ohsnap, Congrats!!! Hopefully, this means we will all be hearing good news soon.
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