just mailed my first app -- tears ensued

[damequixote]

Me too, Rems.... and it's December. I got an email from one department I applied to this afternoon and started freaking. Of course, it was just a (probably form-) email from the DGS thanking me for applying and offering to answer questions about the program. I wish I could sleep until Feb.

[chaucerettescs]

I can definitely count myself on the typos-on-submitted-materials club. I made the mistake of doing one final "clean-up"on my SOPs for Berkeley and Duke.

I realized about ten minutes after submitting that the first four words of my statement are "I very fortunate enough".

Ugly sobbing ensued.

The moral is: STOP editing your SOPs. Just stop. And when you get a funny twinge right before you hit submit... go back and check your app materials one last time.

Edited December 18, 2012 by chaucerettescs

[ProfLorax]

Since this thread is angst-themed, I've decided that this unrelated but related rant can go right here...

I love teaching. I really do. It's the main reason why I am pursuing a PhD in Rhetoric and Composition. But this week is the week of students demanding to know why they failed a class, despite the fact that they

a.) never earned a passing grade on a paper

b.) never turned in a paper

c.) missed several weeks of work

d.) all of the above

It makes me go like this: AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

That is all.

ETA: Sigh. I feel a little better now.

Edited December 18, 2012 by proflorax

[Bearcat1]

But this week is the week of students demanding to know why they failed a class, despite the fact that they

a.) never earned a passing grade on a paper

b.) never turned in a paper

c.) missed several weeks of work

d.) all of the above

This happened to me several times...how did you get into college if you can't figure out that getting a zero on half the assignments will result in a failing grade?!?!?! This baffles me. This, and the sense of entitlement to just "get" an A. I feel like someone's grandmother talking about the good ol' days, but when I was an undergrad, we didn't get good grades, we earned them.

[bfat]

I know this forum is totally dead tonight because it's Friday and everyone's holiday just started, but I just have to say...

 

I JUST SUBMITTED MY LAST APP!!

 

 

 

(Carlton is especially festive, isn't he?)

[1Q84]

Kristen Wiig is happy for you. Oh so happy.

 

[Datatape]

Yaaaaaaaay!

 

[DaisyAdair]

I know this forum is totally dead tonight because it's Friday and everyone's holiday just started, but I just have to say...

 

I JUST SUBMITTED MY LAST APP!!

Excellent!! I submitted my last app yesterday. I am so happy to be done. I am actually a little less nervous now. I am sure it will change. I think I have a while before I will hear so I have plenty of time to worry.

[Datatape]

I just submitted my last application.  Charlotte, tell 'em how I feel.

 

[skybythelight]

I FedEx Express'ed Washington's app earlier today... one more to go. Sigh, so close.

[mostlytoasty]

And for the 2nd time... I'm done with applications! Now on to stressing out over whether or not my transcripts were received/uploaded/noticed and fantasizing about my future life.

[Swagato]

Hmm this is a bit of an off-topic question in this thread, but what do people who are re-applying after one year think about addressing (or not) the intervening period? I've received conflicting advice from faculty members. On the one hand, it has been suggested that a mere few months is really very little time for radical developments and, as such, it is not expected that the limited space of an SOP address the intervening period. Rather, let the revised SOP/application package itself show how you are approaching things differently the second time around (through, perhaps, a much-reworked project, writing sample, and so on).

 

On the other hand, it has been suggested that one foreground work done in the intervening period, even if there is no publication/conference, in an attempt to distinguish one's new application. 

 

Obviously, any presentations/publications should be mentioned. But again, that is not always possible within the few months (basically, April-November or so) and--so I hear--it is not expected by adcoms. So what are the thoughts here regarding this issue?

[dazedandbemused]

Hmm this is a bit of an off-topic question in this thread, but what do people who are re-applying after one year think about addressing (or not) the intervening period? I've received conflicting advice from faculty members. On the one hand, it has been suggested that a mere few months is really very little time for radical developments and, as such, it is not expected that the limited space of an SOP address the intervening period. Rather, let the revised SOP/application package itself show how you are approaching things differently the second time around (through, perhaps, a much-reworked project, writing sample, and so on).

 

On the other hand, it has been suggested that one foreground work done in the intervening period, even if there is no publication/conference, in an attempt to distinguish one's new application. 

 

Obviously, any presentations/publications should be mentioned. But again, that is not always possible within the few months (basically, April-November or so) and--so I hear--it is not expected by adcoms. So what are the thoughts here regarding this issue?

 

I can't speak specifically to a break year although I would be inclined to think that a single year would be unlikely to raise red flags. I graduated in the spring, but I've been doing post-bac work for this year so I've got something keeping me in academia. However, unless it's been a few years and a few app cycles since you left school, I wouldn't worry. As you say, how much can they really expect out of you in four months? I'm sure there are people who got accepted to conferences and got published in that short span, but I doubt it's a majority. I'm certainly not an expert though, so don't quote me on that!

[HHEoS]

Hmm this is a bit of an off-topic question in this thread, but what do people who are re-applying after one year think about addressing (or not) the intervening period? I've received conflicting advice from faculty members. On the one hand, it has been suggested that a mere few months is really very little time for radical developments and, as such, it is not expected that the limited space of an SOP address the intervening period. Rather, let the revised SOP/application package itself show how you are approaching things differently the second time around (through, perhaps, a much-reworked project, writing sample, and so on).

 

On the other hand, it has been suggested that one foreground work done in the intervening period, even if there is no publication/conference, in an attempt to distinguish one's new application. 

 

Obviously, any presentations/publications should be mentioned. But again, that is not always possible within the few months (basically, April-November or so) and--so I hear--it is not expected by adcoms. So what are the thoughts here regarding this issue?

Hi Swagato,

I took a year break after finishing my BA, and while applying to MA/MFA programs (three years ago), I didn't address it at all in my SoP. I got into four of the seven programs to which I applied then. The DGS at the school I eventually attended actually thought I was still finishing up my BA when he called with the admission offer.

I'm reapplying to PhD programs this year after another gap year, and I'm only mentioning it (in my SoP) because something I'm doing right now fits contextually when explaining the research questions I'd like to investigate in doctoral study. The professors who read my SoP had no problem with me not mentioning the gap year in early drafts, and I only added that bit because my advisor thought it was really important to state that I'm working privately on two foreign languages this year. My SoP isn't chronological at all, so when I mention the break, it's quite casual.

So to sum up my take on it is: mention the break if it works to benefit your academic profile; don't mention it if it doesn't. The admissions-committee members are probably working through apps so quickly that they won't even notice it if you don't mention it. Hope that helps!

[Swagato]

Thanks for the couple of responses! To clarify, I earned my MA back in '11 and this is my second round of PhD applications (after I didn't get in anywhere with the applications I made in the fall of '11). I don't know if that would make it count as two years or not. In any case, what I've done is completely reorient myself--sub-focus, major research questions, new writing sample, completely different SOP, and all that. I've been working on languages, but that is indicated on my CV, so I don't specifically mention it within the limited space of an SOP.

 

All in all I've not had any faculty readers indicate that I'm missing desired things in my SOP, so we shall see how things go this round. I was just curious after reading so many conversations involving people stressing out over how to "defend" their gap, so to speak. 

[asleepawake]

 

My applications are DONE. donedonedonedonedone.

 

Now... what do I do?

[Two Espressos]

Now... what do I do?

 

Worry about your now-completed applications at every waking moment, of course! 

[practical cat]

Now... what do I do?

This is pretty much exactly why I haven't submitted my last one yet. (And may NEVER submit it so I can just live in Not Done Land forever instead.)

[asleepawake]

Yeah, it's been fewer than 24 hours since I finished and I feel no closer to any results. 

 

I guess I should finish my thesis or plan for the Spring or something.

 

Or I could apply to more schools....

Edited December 30, 2012 by asleepawake

[bfat]

Yeah, it's been fewer than 24 hours since I finished and I feel no closer to any results. 

 

I guess I should finish my thesis or plan for the Spring or something.

 

Or I could apply to more schools....

 

 

This was pretty much exactly my response. I resisted the urge to apply to more schools.  Instead, I made to-do lists for my thesis and January prep for teaching next semester and then I had a panic attack. Took my mind right off admissions though!!

[ProfLorax]

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mdimtdS6ED1rywj8uo1_400.gif

My applications are DONE. donedonedonedonedone.

Now... what do I do?

Treat yo self!

[dazedandbemused]

Treat yo self!

You know that's right.

[DaisyAdair]

I resisted the urge to apply to more schools. 

I wish I had done this. I decided to apply to one more. No sure what I was thinking other than the fact that one of my LOR writers highly recommended the program and knew someone there. I am just about done with the last app, but I do feel like I am just spending application fees to avoid the long wait until March/April. That really isn't the best approach for my budget.