It's (Not) About Me Posted February 22, 2013 Posted February 22, 2013 I just turned down a bunch of programs -- hopefully others hear good news as a result! There are some that I still haven't heard from... but I'm going to Brown. It was my top choice in terms of faculty, ranking, placement, etc. I suppose if I got into U of Chicago I might have convinced myself for geographical reasons. But I didn't, so yeah. Check you out! I will join everyone else in thanking you for notifying those departments so quickly. It's thanks to good citizens like yourself that I have my acceptance, quite possibly my only one of the year. And gaaahh, how exciting to have made your decision! OK, first things first--did you announce it to Facebook? Hahaha. Add me to all of the Rutgers stress and anticipation! Also, IU-Bloomington? I haven't heard many people stress about them, but I'm anxious to hear! There was one acceptance on the results board, from someone who was nomination for a fellowship(?). Otherwise, silence. Is anyone else waiting on them? Any gossip?
katja454 Posted February 22, 2013 Posted February 22, 2013 Also, IU-Bloomington? I haven't heard many people stress about them, but I'm anxious to hear! There was one acceptance on the results board, from someone who was nomination for a fellowship(?). Otherwise, silence. Is anyone else waiting on them? Any gossip? Ditto on the Indiana anxiety! It and UC Davis I think are the best fit for me program-wise, so I'd love to know whether they think the same thing...
nothingnew Posted February 22, 2013 Posted February 22, 2013 Rice, NYU, UW-Madison, SUNY Buffalo, (turned down OSU a while ago). WOW Bluecheese. You've had some application season. What's your area of interest though? Congratulations, btw.
It's (Not) About Me Posted February 22, 2013 Posted February 22, 2013 Ditto on the Indiana anxiety! It and UC Davis I think are the best fit for me program-wise, so I'd love to know whether they think the same thing... Yeah, I've had this weirdly warm feeling towards IU! There are obvious reasons why I applied there, like the awesome program and faculty, I also feel drawn to the school for pretty much no reason at all. Maybe it's just a fear of moving too far from my beloved Chicago, haha. Plus I have a really good friend in Indianapolis, so it would be very easy to visit him. Anyway, at this point I think Indiana and Rutgers are the only other bites I might get, so I'm curious to see whether I'll have a "decision" to make or if I'm UNC all the way! I'm not sure how it would affect my decision if I did get accepted to either of those places.
1Q84 Posted February 22, 2013 Posted February 22, 2013 I'm having a mini-stroke because the online status of my application at Calstate LA is stated as "incomplete" although I did get a letter a long time ago from the department stating that my application was "complete" in their eyes. The online site has 3 different categories: incomplete, complete and accepted. Why am I incomplete?! <existential crisis? ktwho 1
serious_lurker Posted February 22, 2013 Posted February 22, 2013 Hi everyone, longtime lurker here. I don't mean to butt in or anything but I am wondering if anyone knows anything about Stanford and/or Yale? I saw there were some Yale acceptances up on the board a few days ago. The general consensus here seems to be that this implies rejection down the road, but I'm holding on some hope... Any insight? Anyway, congrats to everyone on their acceptances so far!
lewisthesamteenth Posted February 22, 2013 Posted February 22, 2013 Hi everyone, longtime lurker here. I don't mean to butt in or anything but I am wondering if anyone knows anything about Stanford and/or Yale? I saw there were some Yale acceptances up on the board a few days ago. The general consensus here seems to be that this implies rejection down the road, but I'm holding on some hope... Any insight? Anyway, congrats to everyone on their acceptances so far! I still have heard nothing from Stanford, and the results board has shown absolutely nothing. The application indicated that "every effort would be made to send out decisions by the end of February," so until that day comes, hope remains alive?
jazzyd Posted February 22, 2013 Posted February 22, 2013 Hi everyone, longtime lurker here. I don't mean to butt in or anything but I am wondering if anyone knows anything about Stanford and/or Yale? I saw there were some Yale acceptances up on the board a few days ago. The general consensus here seems to be that this implies rejection down the road, but I'm holding on some hope... Any insight? Anyway, congrats to everyone on their acceptances so far! While I would love to hope for Yale, my guess that all the calls have been made (to domestic acceptances anyway). Haven't heard or seen a peep from Stanford so we either all missed the boat, or their decisions are forthcoming (!).
lewisthesamteenth Posted February 22, 2013 Posted February 22, 2013 It seems that one of us Stanford hopefuls may have to bite the bullet and send out an e-mail? (Finger to nose)
jazzyd Posted February 22, 2013 Posted February 22, 2013 (edited) It seems that one of us Stanford hopefuls may have to bite the bullet and send out an e-mail? (Finger to nose) "Not I," said the fly Edited February 22, 2013 by jazzy dubois
It's (Not) About Me Posted February 22, 2013 Posted February 22, 2013 It seems that one of us Stanford hopefuls may have to bite the bullet and send out an e-mail? (Finger to nose) I mean, I would, but I'm not anxious to hear from them because I know I don't have a chance. Perhaps I should be the one to call because I DGAF about bothering them/I feel like I have nothing to lose. Lol.
serious_lurker Posted February 22, 2013 Posted February 22, 2013 can't bring myself to. once Monday rolls around, maybe. my impression is that they tend to call / send out emails closer to the morning? (Somehow I have it in my head that 10:00 - 11:00am is some golden hour for decision making)
Datatape Posted February 22, 2013 Posted February 22, 2013 Has anyone on the board heard anything from South Carolina's English Ph.D.? There are a few Comp/Rhet results on the board as well as an isolated English waitlist from a couple weeks ago, but I haven't seen anyone who's actually got a confirmed reply from South Carolina one way or the other. Last year, they notified this week, so I'm currently debating whether to send an email to them or not.
muchado Posted February 22, 2013 Posted February 22, 2013 (edited) I'm one of the ones in at SC for English comp/rhet and don't really know anything about people pursuing English literature there. That being said - I've received a good bit of information over the past week or so about the visit weekend and making plans for that. It seems like most schools don't start sending that info out until they are finished handing out acceptances. However, the visit isn't until the last weekend in March, so it's not like they are running out of time to notify people. I don't know if any of that is helpful, but I hate the whole having no information part of this, so I wanted to share what I do know. Hope you hear officially from them soon! Edited February 22, 2013 by muchado
Datatape Posted February 22, 2013 Posted February 22, 2013 Thanks for the word. If I don't hear anything by Monday, I'll probably break down and send an email.
lilliputian Posted February 22, 2013 Posted February 22, 2013 On 2/22/2013 at 12:55 PM, Datatape said: Has anyone on the board heard anything from South Carolina's English Ph.D.? There are a few Comp/Rhet results on the board as well as an isolated English waitlist from a couple weeks ago, but I haven't seen anyone who's actually got a confirmed reply from South Carolina one way or the other. Last year, they notified this week, so I'm currently debating whether to send an email to them or not. Hi Datatape, I'm in at South Carolina English PhD -- literature focus. I was notified a couple weeks ago by the DGS but he mentioned that it was early notification bc of a fellowship offer. I did receive an e-mail from another professor in the dept and a grad student about accomodations for visiting weekend just this week -- visiting weekend is at the end of March so they may be making decisions still. I wish you the best of luck! Datatape 1
DHEnthusiast Posted February 22, 2013 Posted February 22, 2013 On 2/22/2013 at 12:29 AM, patientagony said: Seriously!! It's the only school left that I haven't heard from without it being an assumed rejection. I swear, it has to be this weekend though. They seem to notify most people on Saturdays and a few on Friday though, so we should know in the next two days whether or not we made the cut. I am very envious that you will be done when you hear from Rutgers. I still have not heard ANYTHING from any school. I have my two assumed rejections but geez...I'm wondering if the flood gates will open next week for me though...not sure if I am ready to give up my last sliver of hope... On 2/22/2013 at 1:08 AM, cicada123 said: They said they would be making decisions by Monday. My guess is that means we will be hearing next week. UGH. That is all.
jazzyd Posted February 23, 2013 Posted February 23, 2013 Stanford does not miss a beat! (Yale was pretty fast too) Not that it stings any less, but I feel like it's a positive (small positive) to be notified this quickly. Now I can stop hanging by my phone (well, still waiting for news on Rutgers though...).
Gwendolyn Posted February 23, 2013 Posted February 23, 2013 Dilemma: School 1 was one of my top choices. It's in a location in which I know I can live happily, the average graduation time is 5.2 years, and the fellowship offer isn't bad, definitely livable. I've visited, met with faculty members and graduate students and I love the campus. I even have a friend who might also accept an offer in the program (two others who are on the waitlist). I believe my POIs can successfully help guide me throughout the PhD pipeline although I know there are somewhat better fits elsewhere. Another school which I'd rather not name (read my sig, there's 3 to pick from lol) probably is the single best fit as far as faculty goes. Their resources (specific to my research interests) are AMAZING! I visited the campus which was quite nice and the faculty members and the graduate students are nice enough, but I just can't see myself being happy there for what is an average of 7 years. I spoke with one of my faculty mentors from a research program I did and because she is quite close to all three of my POIs at said school, the next thing I know they're offering me more money. I got an email from both my faculty mentor from the summer program and one of my POIs last night and they are offering a considerable amount more than OSU. I rarely see these numbers for programs in the humanities/social sciences and now I'm slightly torn. One voice says: Go to OSU, you know that's what you wanted to do from the beginning. The other voice says: Money will dry your tears from the blistering cold of living in the middle of nowhere.
Ategenos Posted February 23, 2013 Posted February 23, 2013 You have to be hardnosed about this. As much as School 1 might be cozy, the place with more resources is probably going to make you more employable at the end of all of this... and as for not thinking you'll be happy there, how much of this is because you already feel comfortable with School 1 (friends going, know it well, etc)? Fact of the matter is, if you make an effort when you get there, you'll most likely make this other university just as much of a home as you've already constructed out of School 1 in your mind... and you'll have more money to relax in those few precious hours that you have off than you would otherwise. As for the friends... even if you don't become best buddies with the people in your department, as long as you can at least be amiable to each other, there are tons of other departments full of students to get to know. Other people will no doubt disagree with me... patientagony and Laokoon 2
jazzyd Posted February 23, 2013 Posted February 23, 2013 As one who's spent close to 4 years in quite literally the middle of nowhere (B1G school in Illinois, take a guess), albeit as an undergrad, it's really not as bad as you might think. And it sounds like you'll have more than money to dry your tears... you'll have amazing resources and best fit faculty. But if in your heart of hearts you won't be happy at anyplace but school 1, then that's important too. It comes down to how much you trust the faculty at the other department. There's nothing that says your interests have to be so close to your advisor's that you're practically book club buddies, but they do need to be a little extra great to be able to guide you in something that's not directly in their line of expertise. Laokoon 1
intextrovert Posted February 23, 2013 Posted February 23, 2013 I think this choice is actually quite clear. It sounds like you are familiar with School 1, and so it is comfortable and feels safe to you. But by every other metric, the other school seems the clear choice. Money is really important, resources both for your interests and in general are hugely important, and having the best faculty fit is so, so important. Those are fundamentals. Another thing to keep in mind is that time to completion is artificially long at some institutions because their grad students are permitted to stay on (and keep getting paid, and having insurance) if they haven't yet gotten a job, even if they could technically be done with their dissertations, whereas other schools won't support you as a fallback option, whether you have a job or not. That's why Yale, for example, has something like a 10-year completion rate. (That's one thing I'd add - if job placement at School 1 is significantly better than at this other place, that could swing things in that direction.) I'd always say all other things being equal, go where you're intuitively drawn to. But in this case, no other things are equal. You'll make the other place a home and eventually be comfortable there, too.
ProfLorax Posted February 23, 2013 Posted February 23, 2013 What are the job placement rates for each school? Is there a significant difference? I'd recommend looking and see where their recent graduates ended up. Which school places graduates in the type of institutions you'd want to end up at? Lucrative funding is great, but that's only for five or six years. I'd recommend go to the school that will help you produce amazing scholarship and place you into a fantastic academic job. The job is the endgame! ETA: And a positive graduate student experience will help you write a memorable dissertation and get the job, so also don't discount the importance of your happiness. damequixote 1
brigadierpudding Posted February 23, 2013 Posted February 23, 2013 I'm also facing a tough choice between two universities. I honestly don't know what to do. That said, it's probably best to let it all sink in for awhile; after all, you have nearly two months to make your final decision. Try doing something to get your mind off grad school for a week or two, or at least for a weekend. Later on, even though you've visited both campuses already, you should definitely make an effort to go to their recruitment weekends. When it comes down to the wire, go with what feels right. Being happy means being productive.
Ategenos Posted February 23, 2013 Posted February 23, 2013 Saying that, it's always best not to take two months. This is why their needs to be some kind of rule that all initial acceptances need to be out by a certain date, and decisions from these by another date (so that there's plenty of time to deal with wait-lists). Unless you are waiting on a school that you REALLY want to go to, there's no reason to keep the other schools waiting until the final deadline.
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