Welcome to the 2012-2013 cycle

[Quigley]

I'm hoping that the mailman is late today instead of the possibility that I got no mail.  I broke about 17 traffic laws racing home at lunch.

Edited January 28, 2013 by Quigley

[jasonkowk]

For those who have received the mail, has the application status in your My UW changed from pending to any decision? 

[PoliSwede]

Any ideas about Michigan State? Last year's results show a few went out Jan 26. Has anyone heard something?

Like a littlebitofluck said, I've not heard anything. I've been expecting them to be one of the first ones out based on previous years, but still nothing.

[RiffRam]

I'm hoping that the mailman is late today instead of the possibility that I got no mail. I broke about 17 traffic laws racing home at lunch.

I didn't receive any special mail today. Now I'm drinking away my sorrows.

[Quigley]

For those who have received the mail, has the application status in your My UW changed from pending to any decision? 

 

Someone earlier said that it was still on pending.

[alittlebitofluck]

Someone earlier said that it was still on pending.

 

This seems to be a thing with schools. Even though I received an official offer from Illinois a week ago, the app status is still 'submitted.' Updating the application portal probably falls pretty low on the list of priorities for many administrators.

[MyUSofWhatever]

In at OSU....shaking....

 

I'm happy to join the list of people who struck out their first cycle, and got in on their second try. Keep the faith everyone!

Congrats! That's great news; it must be a giant relief.

 

I'm on my second go-around as well, although there hasn't been much action from any of my schools other than an e-mail asking me to apply for a fellowship. I suppose Emory has already sent out interview/visit requests, but I'm working under the assumption that I'm such a lock there that they don't feel the need to interview me  . 

 

All kidding aside, doing this once before was good preparation and gave me a better idea of how to approach the whole process. I'm also less stressed this time - after all, I'm living proof that one can survive getting rejected from grad school. This whole process is not very much fun, but it's worth remembering that the worst outcome is that you spend several hundred dollars in order to be told 'no' and have to apply again next year.

[forestgreen]

For those who have received the mail, has the application status in your My UW changed from pending to any decision? 

 

 

mine still says pending, so keep the faith!

[brady]

Will anyone else be at Emory this weekend? I can't help but wonder if I would prefer if they stuck to the more traditional way of doing things, rather than getting all cozy with prospectives before they decide. I hate interviews! Also, it would be really great to have heard back from a couple more schools before I go, so I can have a better idea of the likelihood of ending up there. That said, what other schools do y'all think will be reporting this week?

[sm321]

Has anyone heard of any more movement from UNC?

 

With no word from UNC and no mail from Madison, I'm beginning to lose heart lol.

[lucid1984]

Congrats to the Penn State acceptance. I wish I got a phone call from the school   

[Longtime Lurker]

Heard back from Penn State earlier tonight - sounds like they should be notifying folks over the course of the week!

[Orlien]

http://www.poliscijobrumors.com/topic.php?id=86412

 

PSJR scares me... like, actually.

[Quigley]

Has anyone heard of any more movement from UNC?

 

With no word from UNC and no mail from Madison, I'm beginning to lose heart lol.

 

I wouldn't lose heart yet, sm321.  Last year's results show one UNC acceptance posted in late January, several all at once on Feb 9, then a few more staggered during the week the followed that.  It seems too early to start worrying just yet since no other UNCs have been posted.

Edited January 29, 2013 by Quigley

[BornAndRaised]

Congrats to all those who have received acceptances already! Much deserved, I'm sure. =) 

 

Quick question. I just wanted to know when we start hearing back from the following schools:

Princeton, Yale, Chicago, Northwestern, Washington, George Washington, Johns Hopkins, Indiana - Bloomington, Cornell and Berkeley

 

I've applied there and am trying not to check my app status till absolutely necessary. 

 

Also, do schools also email you the result or do they just update the status? 

 

And all the best to those of us who haven't heard back yet. Hopefully, good news is on the way. =) 

[PoliSwede]

Heard back from Penn State earlier tonight - sounds like they should be notifying folks over the course of the week!

Okay, that's not helping. Better keep the phone charged.

 

I assume you're the acceptance? Congratulations if that's the case!

[GopherGrad]

I've applied there and am trying not to check my app status till absolutely necessary.

 

That's an easy fix. Log in here once a day and someone will let you know.

 

Also, do schools also email you the result or do they just update the status?

 

Depends on the school, and in some cases the candidate.

 

More to your point, Berkeley, Princeton, Yale, Northwestern and Chicago are all dark so far as I know.

[xcrunner]

Does anyone else get overly excited when they receive phone calls from blocked numbers in anticipation of an acceptance?

[chaetzli]

http://www.poliscijobrumors.com/topic.php?id=86412

 

To those writing these posts (on PSJR): It seems that you really enjoy reading our posts and we obviously read yours. I welcome you to share your grad school experience with us instead of being a douche and making fun of us! 

 

I think everyone who got an acceptance so far can be really proud. OSU or any of the other universities that sent out acceptances are great schools and many people do not get in. So people can be excited about getting an acceptance letter, mail or phone call. This is especially true for those who know the pain of not getting into grad school from previous application cycles.

 

Furthermore, this application process is not only time and energy consuming but also quite costly. So yes, shaking is absolutely legit! 

[Quigley]

Well put, Chaetzli.  It's pretty clear that some people on that site feel the need to tear other people down to make themselves feel better about their own shortcomings.  

 

Investing hundreds of hours over the past year and nearly $1500 with GRE costs with the hope of convincing schools with a 2% to 10% acceptance rate to pay you while receiving your free $200,000 education is a very taxing process emotionally, physically, and financially.  It's a big deal.

 

These guys know this and were the in the same position just a few years ago, but enjoy the reaction it creates when they say things like that.

Edited January 29, 2013 by Quigley

[ThisGuyRiteHere]

If its so bad out there...why not share their wisdom with us and let us know instead of making fun of us.

I mean really if there is asymmetric information, we should be informed before we make life changing decisions.

Ill tell you one thing my dad told me (a blue collar guy - Im the first in my fam to go/try to go to graduate school).."Once you get out here, a job is a job. You work 9-5, you come home, eat and go to sleep and get ready to do that all over again." That is what scares me. I did that last year. That's the only reason why I have not withdrawn my own applications. I mean even assuming the worst and we all end up on the Post-Doc circuit (I think I would rather be a post-doc than an adjunct)...I would rather know when I die I spent 5 years doing something I loved and studying something i was passionate about for free (or atleast less than 30k-Most im willing to pay)...That most people can say they have never done or wish they have. Its tough out there and I know the Shit Boomers are f*ing every one up by not retiring, but im young, (under 25) i can afford to take risks now, so why not?

As I write this, I am currently waiting out side the school gates waiting for the white smoke to come out to let me know they have made a decision

[ThisGuyRiteHere]

Oh and congrats to PSU acceptance

[GopherGrad]

"Once you get out here, a job is a job. You work 9-5, you come home, eat and go to sleep and get ready to do that all over again." That is what scares me. I did that last year. That's the only reason why I have not withdrawn my own applications. I mean even assuming the worst and we all end up on the Post-Doc circuit (I think I would rather be a post-doc than an adjunct)...I would rather know when I die I spent 5 years doing something I loved and studying something i was passionate about for free...

 

This is right. I know I've posted something similar before, but anyone who's had a job knows that dreams get crushed in the working world.

 

The PSJR board loves to use the "snowflake" trope. Ironically, all that crying and whining about how hard it is to be a grad student is just them failing to recognize that disappointment is not unique to social science PhDs. Guess what? You're not going to make partner at Sidley Austin or chief surgical resident at Cedar Sinai or be Daniel Day-Lewis's talent agent or the CEO of Coca-Cola, either.

 

There aren't very many jobs at the top of any field. The market is soft for everyone. The reality of being ambitious is that at some point you hit your ceiling. That's never easy and the worst of PSJR is one graceless way to react to it. For those of you that haven't worked or otherwise don't understand (from experience) what I'm talking about, remember this when you hit a wall: You can always drop out and manage a Starbuck's or become a lawyer if that's what you prefer to teaching at some forsaken LAC in western Kentucky. Seriously. Just know that no one is going to drop a ladder from the clouds for you there, either. The question, really, is whether, the consequence of reaching and falling short is worse than the consequence of not trying.

 

It seems like it was news to some PSJR posters that not everyone gets a TT offer at Harvard. Hopefully that's not the case here.

[balledematch]

This is right. I know I've posted something similar before, but anyone who's had a job knows that dreams get crushed in the working world.

 

The PSJR board loves to use the "snowflake" trope. Ironically, all that crying and whining about how hard it is to be a grad student is just them failing to recognize that disappointment is not unique to social science PhDs. Guess what? You're not going to make partner at Sidley Austin or chief surgical resident at Cedar Sinai or be Daniel Day-Lewis's talent agent or the CEO of Coca-Cola, either.

 

There aren't very many jobs at the top of any field. The market is soft for everyone. The reality of being ambitious is that at some point you hit your ceiling. That's never easy and the worst of PSJR is one graceless way to react to it. For those of you that haven't worked or otherwise don't understand (from experience) what I'm talking about, remember this when you hit a wall: You can always drop out and manage a Starbuck's or become a lawyer if that's what you prefer to teaching at some forsaken LAC in western Kentucky. Seriously. Just know that no one is going to drop a ladder from the clouds for you there, either. The question, really, is whether, the consequence of reaching and falling short is worse than the consequence of not trying.

 

It seems like it was news to some PSJR posters that not everyone gets a TT offer at Harvard. Hopefully that's not the case here.

+infinity

[PhDhopeful2013]

This is right. I know I've posted something similar before, but anyone who's had a job knows that dreams get crushed in the working world.

 

The PSJR board loves to use the "snowflake" trope. Ironically, all that crying and whining about how hard it is to be a grad student is just them failing to recognize that disappointment is not unique to social science PhDs. Guess what? You're not going to make partner at Sidley Austin or chief surgical resident at Cedar Sinai or be Daniel Day-Lewis's talent agent or the CEO of Coca-Cola, either.

 

There aren't very many jobs at the top of any field. The market is soft for everyone. The reality of being ambitious is that at some point you hit your ceiling. That's never easy and the worst of PSJR is one graceless way to react to it. For those of you that haven't worked or otherwise don't understand (from experience) what I'm talking about, remember this when you hit a wall: You can always drop out and manage a Starbuck's or become a lawyer if that's what you prefer to teaching at some forsaken LAC in western Kentucky. Seriously. Just know that no one is going to drop a ladder from the clouds for you there, either. The question, really, is whether, the consequence of reaching and falling short is worse than the consequence of not trying.

 

It seems like it was news to some PSJR posters that not everyone gets a TT offer at Harvard. Hopefully that's not the case here.

 

I totally agree.  I posted something similar in that "Dear brilliant students" thread in the Lobby.  I've worked full-time for many years and I can't help but think that some previous cohorts of PhD students (now profs on PSJR) had no clue about a) what they were getting into in grad school or b ) the realities of working full-time in any field.  So many of these individuals give a similar verion of the "don't get a phd" speech, but I can't help but realize that these people often went straight from undergrad into a phd before getting other professional experiences.  the pitfalls of academia are simply not unique to academia... they are the challenges of any field and of professional life in general!  the one unique situation about doing a phd is the fact that you are making some significant financial trade-offs.  so while working full-time in another field would provide you at least a decent salary and benefits, you really won't have the same finanaical freedom during a phd.  BUT the benefits of having a lot of flexibility and working in a field that envigorates you are huge intangible benefits.... maybe without the experience of slugging away day in and day out in a field they don't like, the cynics aren't appreciating the intangible beenfits of their academic career path... so yes, I also get frustrated by the PSJR sentiments that we're discussing....  (and of course I am generalizing and there are plenty of other very supportive, non-cynical profs, who have had other professional expereinces, etc, etc.... but you know what i mean)