0% Confidence of Acceptance

[Sparky]

My first concert was about my freshman year of high school, but in my defense, I was sheltered as a child and got my first CD player in late middle school. Before that I made mix tapes off the stuff on the radio. Which was not best exposure.

Heh. My first purchased CDs were Beach Boys, Bruce Springsteen, and the Forrest Gump soundtrack.

I was not born in the right decade.

[andsoitgoes161]

(Much less the department secretary, a.k.a. your greatest ally and best friend as a PhD student).

I love this! Hahaha, so awesome. I'll also propose that the student secretary in the Registrar's office is a fine, fine fellow to have on your side.

[Enzian]

Yes, some of my friends and I used to bust out into improptu singing of "semi charmed kind of life" with one person the reserved "do do do, do do dodo" person. Back when life was simple...

My first concert was about my freshman year of high school, but in my defense, I was sheltered as a child and got my first CD player in late middle school. Before that I made mix tapes off the stuff on the radio. Which was not best exposure. And "Jagged Little Pill" was an AWESOME album.

I did this too. I hope they're all ashes by now but I suppose it's possible that somebody somewhere is listening to a second-hand, ripped-from-the-radio cassette full of gems like Local H, Our Lady Peace, the Butthole Surfers, and "Possum Kingdom."

[impending]

Um. Your decision timelline? It's February 12th. Can you think of a *faster* way to say to stressed-out professors, "I am the center of the universe and why haven't you fit your schedule to suit my needs"? That is NOT the impression you want to give to potential advisors and dissertation committee members. (Much less the department secretary, a.k.a. your greatest ally and best friend as a PhD student).

This is something you can raise at, like, the end of March. Until then?

ETA: I'm sure we can all think of exceptions in which an earlier decision is not just stress-reducing but legitimately essential. But as a *general* guideline, the LAST thing one wants to do is think one is exceptional when ze is not--or more to the point, to give profs the idea that one thinks so highly of oneself. Apologies for the awkward avoidance of the generic "you"--I really don't want this to come off as criticism of any particular person, even by accident.

Um, it does come off as a direct criticism, and I don't think by accident. I was just passing along the advice I received from a professor--this isn't something I completely made up by myself as an uninformed potential student. Obviously you are entitled to disagree with that advice...but I don't really appreciate the tone. Plus, as someone who used to be the person who received those emails (I answered my department's generic grad email address), I had no problem at all giving nervous prospective students some peace of mind, nor did the "secretary," (ahem, talk about making allies...I don't think many graduate program/department coordinators appreciate this antiquated title). In fact, the students who kept in touch with her, even about decision progress, were the ones she looked out for the most. Anyway, my mentor didn't say I should nag professors about when they'll finish already, but that I should email the graduate program coordinators just to see if they had an idea about where they were in the process. I apologize for that lack of clarity, but even without I think your reaction was, uh, harsh.

[veniente]

Oh, the madness of words. Between intention and interpretation.

[jywayne]

If I don't hear something this week after many weeks of hoping to hear something already, I think I'm going to go looney.

Edited February 13, 2012 by jywayne

[Grunty DaGnome]

One of my programs still lists that I only have 2 letters of recommendation. This, after I re-emailed all my advisors January 2nd, over the holiday, to ask them to resend letters. All of them emailed me back that they had already sent in letters, but they'd send them again.

I've decided this program can go F itself. I reject you guys. Don't bother to review my file.

[the international]

(Thanks impending, Sparky, everyone - I guess there is no right answer - yet again. The waiting is amazing.)

[Aztecson23]

Oh, the madness of words. Between intention and interpretation.

Beautifully said.

[Silent_G]

One of my programs still lists that I only have 2 letters of recommendation. This, after I re-emailed all my advisors January 2nd, over the holiday, to ask them to resend letters. All of them emailed me back that they had already sent in letters, but they'd send them again.

I've decided this program can go F itself. I reject you guys. Don't bother to review my file.

Would it happen to be Brown? Because I have the same problem. My professor even forwarded me the email confirmation she received from them that my letter had been uploaded, but the system shows it as missing. I also filed a help ticket over a month ago and when I checked in they said that my request was still waiting for someone to review it. Ridiculous.

[Grunty DaGnome]

Would it happen to be Brown? Because I have the same problem. My professor even forwarded me the email confirmation she received from them that my letter had been uploaded, but the system shows it as missing. I also filed a help ticket over a month ago and when I checked in they said that my request was still waiting for someone to review it. Ridiculous.

It is NOT Brown. I wish I were in a position to tell Brown off, but unfortunately, they are my dream school, so I would put up with all that abuse and more if it were Brown.

[rawera]

Brown's app looked like a shitty social media service, right?

[Grunty DaGnome]

Brown's app looked like a shitty social media service, right?

Compared to many of my other programs, they were actually pretty good. The sections for listing schools was kind of weird though, the way it kept indenting the new fields below the old ones.

I know many people complained that embark went down as the deadline approached, but I had all my preliminary materials uploaded early, so I had quite an easy time with embark.

[Aubergine]

Brown's app looked like a shitty social media service, right?

I had a ton of problems with embark and the Brown app as well. For one thing, I had to have my referees email my letters, which never came up as received on the website. All is now of course forgiven, since it looks like I'll be attending in the fall.

[Silent_G]

I had a ton of problems with embark and the Brown app as well. For one thing, I had to have my referees email my letters, which never came up as received on the website. All is now of course forgiven, since it looks like I'll be attending in the fall.

Congrats! When/how did you hear from them?

[Timshel]

Since we are discussing problems, I HIGHLY suggest contacting departments to make sure they received all materials. One of my transcripts is in my maiden name, and one of the schools I applied to contacted me to tell me that they never received that transcript, only to find out that they did have it, but didn't connect it to my application due to the different last name, even though I listed my maiden name on the application. I was then paranoid and contacted all of the schools to make sure they didn't make the same mistake, and all but 2 had it listed that they were missing one of my transcripts because of the maiden name issue, but none of them contacted me and would most likely have kept my application as "incomplete." I bring this up now because I was just contacted today by a school that has not made decisions yet, but they had my application as incomplete because of the transcript error.

[Aubergine]

Congrats! When/how did you hear from them?

Thanks, Silent! I heard back last Wednesday by an email to check the website, and then a phone call from the DGS. I applied to Theatre and Performance Studies-- NOT English or Comp Lit.

Since we are discussing problems, I HIGHLY suggest contacting departments to make sure they received all materials.

Totally a good idea. I made sure to check in with all of the schools that didn't explicitly tell me via email that my application was complete.

Edit: Silent, did you try calling the Brown Graduate School? I found them to be super friendly and helpful and very willing to check on whether or not my letters had arrived, etc.

Edited February 13, 2012 by Aubergine

[Katy85]

Thanks for clarifying what department you got accepted to, Aubergine! I almost had a mini-heart attack but you prevented it. And congrats!

[Mr Grimwig]

Brown's application page still says I am missing a letter, even though my professor sent it twice, forwarded to me both confirmation emails that they had gotten the letter, and even though I called the department and confirmed myself that they had indeed received the letter.

The moral of the story: worry not if Brown's application tells you you've got problems.

I liked the look of the Brown application, and it seemed streamlined and easy at first. But, in the long run, I've found it to be perhaps the most vague and frustrating application I filled out. It felt like I was sending my application materials into a black hole, with no peace of mind that it had been received.

[Mistral]

Since we are discussing problems, I HIGHLY suggest contacting departments to make sure they received all materials.

...

I bring this up now because I was just contacted today by a school that has not made decisions yet, but they had my application as incomplete because of the transcript error.

ughh. This is making me nervous. Has anyone else applied to the U of Washington? Has your online status been updated to show receipt of your mailed materials?

[lyonessrampant]

I applied to UW last year and it never updated, though I know my application was considered. I emailed the DGS sec and was told it was complete. You could probably do the same if you're worried.

[Mistral]

I applied to UW last year and it never updated, though I know my application was considered. I emailed the DGS sec and was told it was complete. You could probably do the same if you're worried.

Thanks for letting me know, Lyoness. I think I will email to put my mind at ease.

[Timshel]

That's what I did. Some of the websites weren't updated or clear, so I just emailed. Everyone I emailed was very nice with their response.

[rubyrunner]

I applied to UW last year and it never updated, though I know my application was considered. I emailed the DGS sec and was told it was complete. You could probably do the same if you're worried.

Seconding this. I e-mailed the grad department at UW to confirm that all my materials had been received (online status never updated).

[bdon19]

UGH, here I am, back again. I'm feeling really down today, worried about funding at the one school I have an acceptance from, and facing an implicit rejection from another school. Greeeeeeeeeeeeat.