Silent_G Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Just got my first official rejection. Not a good way to start what will be a very long day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ategenos Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Just got my first official rejection. Not a good way to start what will be a very long day. I know that feeling. Commiserations, Silent G. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jbarks Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 I'm still operating under complete radio silence. Did I even apply to programs? Maybe it was all just an illusion. LLajax, surefire and Historiogaffe 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TripWillis Posted February 16, 2012 Author Share Posted February 16, 2012 I had a very active week last week, but no e-mails whatsoever this week. I think Davis and Maryland are implicit rejections/waitlists at this point. Holding out hope for Rutgers and Tufts (feeling confident about the latter). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaruNoKaze Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 felt an implicit rejection from Berkeley, now feeling one from UT... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perrykm2 Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 I made the mistake of asking Tufts for feedback, and was told that my application was adequate in all areas but distinctive in none. That hurt (talk about damning with faint praise). The whole process hurts. I feel like if I could just have one acceptance, or even a wait-list, then I could handle the rejections... but it's really starting to hurt, and the 'shut out' feeling is beginning to descend. </rant> Holy shit, that is SO rude. I hope it wasn't phrased exactly like that. :/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HunkyDory Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 I made the mistake of asking Tufts for feedback, and was told that my application was adequate in all areas but distinctive in none. That hurt (talk about damning with faint praise). The whole process hurts. I feel like if I could just have one acceptance, or even a wait-list, then I could handle the rejections... but it's really starting to hurt, and the 'shut out' feeling is beginning to descend. </rant> Reminds me of my favorite comment I ever got from a professor. Freshman year, first paper in a Romantic Poetry class, and he writes- "In class you seem smarter than this paper would lead me to believe" Nice backhanded compliment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stately Plump Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Reminds me of my favorite comment I ever got from a professor. Freshman year, first paper in a Romantic Poetry class, and he writes- "In class you seem smarter than this paper would lead me to believe" Nice backhanded compliment. My personal favorite was "Ugh" sketched lazily into the margins next to my introductory paragraph. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obrera Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Reminds me of my favorite comment I ever got from a professor. Freshman year, first paper in a Romantic Poetry class, and he writes- "In class you seem smarter than this paper would lead me to believe" Nice backhanded compliment. I received a comment extremely similar in a Shakespeare class in my second year. Something along the lines of, "Your paper is disappointing. You seemed like much more of a critical thinker in class." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelK Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Hi all, long time lurker, first time poster. I am hating this. I sent my best piece of writing (got a 19/20 in a Scottish masters program which only on vanishingly rare occasions gives 20s in the arts), got pretty good GREs (168/160/5.5 and 630 in the subject test), what I hope were good references, and personalised SoPs for each university - and yet I am currently 0/3 (and probably 0/6, if I count the unis that have already sent out acceptances and wait-lists)... I mean, I was expecting rejections, but practically bankrupted myself on these cursed applications. I'm in the same boat, Adam. From everything I can tell I'm a strong applicant. The numbers are all there, the sample was edited, read and reread by myself and others; I won awards, earned recs, etc. But none of that seems to matter. I made the mistake of asking Tufts for feedback, and was told that my application was adequate in all areas but distinctive in none. That hurt (talk about damning with faint praise). The whole process hurts. I feel like if I could just have one acceptance, or even a wait-list, then I could handle the rejections... but it's really starting to hurt, and the 'shut out' feeling is beginning to descend. If, at the end of the process this spring I haven't gotten in anywhere (looking distinctly possible with the schools I have left), I sense that this will be the reason why. I think it's a shame that the topic of writing samples composed in our junior or senior years when we're 22 or 23 plays such an important role in this process. As a part-time marketing employee, I sometimes wonder if I wouldn't have been better off approaching the process of applications from a sales perspective. Rather than write the thesis my professor wanted, or that I felt aligned most with my views, I should have composed something specifically for the audience I wanted to reach. I should have researched professors' approach to texts first and written a thesis that was derivative of that work. A somewhat sickening thought. Of course, from my outside perspective, I sense that the system doesn't get any different from here on out. Sexy wins. It wins now, when we're 23. It wins with publishers. It wins with departments that are hiring. It probably wins with tenure decisions. So it goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelK Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 HOLY SHIT. At my lowest point (see above), I get a call from UVA. I'm in. Goddamn! Time for a beer or three. Idealists can win! I'm rooting for all of you. wreckofthehope, surefire, Enzian and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComeBackZinc Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 (edited) One of the smartest things I was ever told about this process, from a very accomplished professor, was that people often suffer because they romanticize the process. Of course, we're all in it to pursue the life of the mind and chase our research interests. Nobody here is in it for the money. (Ha!) But of course this process is marketing. How could it not be? The academy is filled with human beings, so fads, personalities, flash, marketing, and self-promotion matter. That doesn't mean that candidates who get accepted (or hired or published or tenured) aren't deserving. Far from it. But pure hearts and pure intentions can't be separated from human failings and frailties. That's life. The fact that grad admissions aren't "fair" (whatever that means) isn't a bug, but rather a feature. It helps you get used to the fact that none of it, wherever you are in your career, is "fair." Edited February 16, 2012 by ComeBackZinc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perrykm2 Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 My personal favorite was "Ugh" sketched lazily into the margins next to my introductory paragraph. One of my LOR writers, who is a GREAT professor, had a tendency to just circle things in my papers and write "NO." Not even like, "this isn't right." When I got my first noted paper back, I was like, "HE HATES ME, HE IS MY SEMINAR PROFESSOR AND HE HATES ME!!!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
transcendental Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Random note: has anyone else been getting server overload errors for this forum? We are breaking the internets! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perrykm2 Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Yep. We're on fire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TripWillis Posted February 16, 2012 Author Share Posted February 16, 2012 Well, I now have 0% confidence of acceptance from Davis, because they rejected me. Oh well. Not going to cry about this one. My SoP, in retrospect, was really bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rawera Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 One of my LOR writers, who is a GREAT professor, had a tendency to just circle things in my papers and write "NO." Not even like, "this isn't right." When I got my first noted paper back, I was like, "HE HATES ME, HE IS MY SEMINAR PROFESSOR AND HE HATES ME!!!" That's how you know you've got a good professor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hanoverkontent Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 MichaelK, that is absolutely wonderful news- congratulations! What amazing timing UVA has! In the hope that there is magic in the GradCafe- Despair-Confessional form, I will vent my despair: I applied to 12 programs and have heard back from only one, which put me on the wait-list. Like many Grad Cafe-ers, I studied the historic notification times of my programs and expected to hear from at least eight of them by this time. Everyday goes by in anxious expectation-- I had no idea how exhausting this could be! The time I spend on Grad Cafe has caused me to neglect my duties at work, and I am perpetually behind now and will probably be fired. Every now and then, a wave of anxiety comes over me and I have this strange feeling like a vein in my neck is constricting. This process is hell. Sending sympathy vibrations to all still waiting for positive words! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grunty DaGnome Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 MichaelK, that is absolutely wonderful news- congratulations! What amazing timing UVA has! In the hope that there is magic in the GradCafe- Despair-Confessional form, I will vent my despair: I applied to 12 programs and have heard back from only one, which put me on the wait-list. Like many Grad Cafe-ers, I studied the historic notification times of my programs and expected to hear from at least eight of them by this time. Everyday goes by in anxious expectation-- I had no idea how exhausting this could be! The time I spend on Grad Cafe has caused me to neglect my duties at work, and I am perpetually behind now and will probably be fired. Every now and then, a wave of anxiety comes over me and I have this strange feeling like a vein in my neck is constricting. This process is hell. Sending sympathy vibrations to all still waiting for positive words! I would take this as a positive sign. All programs are different where fit/funding/cohort size are concerned, but if you're waitlisted somewhere, you know your application was noteworthy in some way. They passed over hundreds of apps to waitlist you. Someone else is bound to make you an offer. It's early yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perrykm2 Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Yeah, that's great, MichaelK. The universe has ways of rewarding patience (sometimes.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marlowe Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 MichaelK = boss. It is greatly humbling to imagine that a group of tenured professors (with careers doing exactly what you want to do) picked out our writing and application out of literally hundreds of others. Intensely gratifying. My best advice (although I am in no way qualified to give it): make a list for schools next year, and spend a ton of time tailoring your SoP and writing sample to the individual professors that you would like to work with. I think this is so much more important than visiting the school or writing to professors or any other strategies that are still yet unproven. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antecedent Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 MichaelK, that is absolutely wonderful news- congratulations! What amazing timing UVA has! In the hope that there is magic in the GradCafe- Despair-Confessional form, I will vent my despair: I applied to 12 programs and have heard back from only one, which put me on the wait-list. Like many Grad Cafe-ers, I studied the historic notification times of my programs and expected to hear from at least eight of them by this time. Everyday goes by in anxious expectation-- I had no idea how exhausting this could be! The time I spend on Grad Cafe has caused me to neglect my duties at work, and I am perpetually behind now and will probably be fired. Every now and then, a wave of anxiety comes over me and I have this strange feeling like a vein in my neck is constricting. This process is hell. Sending sympathy vibrations to all still waiting for positive words! Oh hanoverkontent, me too. Sigh. *Hug* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hanoverkontent Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Thanks for the perspective, Grumpy-- you are right: it is still to early to take a completely defeatist attitude. And you stand strong, antecedent! I see you were accepted at Edinburgh- I received an MPhil at a UK institution last year, so feel free to PM me with any questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzian Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 One of my LOR writers, who is a GREAT professor, had a tendency to just circle things in my papers and write "NO." I'm still laughing about this -- I had a prof that did the same thing. It was disorienting at first because it seemed like he was answering questions I wasn't (or at least I thought I wasn't) asking. Congrats to MichaelK! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avalanched Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 I'm experiencing my own despair. So far I've gotten one rejection and seen 4 schools send out acceptances, and still I hear nothing. I'm starting to worry that this won't happen for me, despite all the positive feedback I've gotten from professors and such. I hope the fact that I haven't heard anything from the schools accepting away (WUSTL, Brown, UVA, UChicago) means that I'm still in the running somehow. I guess I'm also hoping that the Bitching Fairy will take pity on me if this goes out into the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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