Fall 2014 applicants??

[toasterazzi]

I've done three apps so far. I think I'm doing four more, but a few of them aren't due until the end of January/beginning of February, so I'll get to breathe a little bit after this next one.

[jazzyd]

I submitted my Stanford app, but the page says "incomplete" because my GRE scores have been "received" but aren't official... what does that mean?? Trying to call them...

 

Was there a page on the application itself that let you self-report your scores? If so that might indicate that they have scores on file, but that they still need to be confirmed by the official scores from ETS. Or, maybe they have your official scores, but they haven't been matched up with your application yet.

[StardewDropIn]

Was there a page on the application itself that let you self-report your scores? If so that might indicate that they have scores on file, but that they still need to be confirmed by the official scores from ETS. Or, maybe they have your official scores, but they haven't been matched up with your application yet.

Yeah, I think you're right I emailed Stanford and they essentially said "Calm the f' down" because the scores just haven't been confirmed yet. You'd think they'd have a warning about this on the application pages... 

[gatz]

Speaking of Stanford...I'm really curious about something. The application fee was $120 dollars. If you multiply that by 300ish that's almost 40 grand. That's a whole lot left over even after flying out admitted students and everything...I wonder how much these departments make off of applications after all of the associated expenses. Why are the fees so high, and where does that money go anyway?

[champagne]

Why are the fees so high, and where does that money go anyway?

Because their application total isn't being driven down by their costs (i.e. supply and demand). There are still hundreds of people (delusional though some of them may be) that think that the $120 fee is well-worth it if they can get into a Ph.D. program with the prestige of Stanford. When you think of the opportunities that having a name like Stanford on your C.V. gives to someone on the academic job marketplace, you can't really blame them for risking the $120. It's not that much of a risk if you think about it like that. Unfortunately, too many of them get mystified by the prestige and not the hardcore reality that is the unlikelihood of them getting accepted.

 

To answer your second question, I'd imagine it goes into the Graduate School Office of Admission. I'm sure that schools do it differently, though.

[gatz]

Because their application total isn't being driven down by their costs (i.e. supply and demand). There are still hundreds of people (delusional though some of them may be) that think that the $120 fee is well-worth it if they can get into a Ph.D. program with the prestige of Stanford. When you think of the opportunities that having a name like Stanford on your C.V. gives to someone on the academic job marketplace, you can't really blame them for risking the $120. It's not that much of a risk if you think about it like that. Unfortunately, too many of them get mystified by the prestige and not the hardcore reality that is the unlikelihood of them getting accepted.

 

To answer your second question, I'd imagine it goes into the Graduate School Office of Admission. I'm sure that schools do it differently, though.

 

I guess I just wanted to hear that the departments themselves get the money at least. Then I can feel like a wealthy donor supporting the field instead of paying for university advertising during football games or something. Oh well. 

[Romanista]

UCR applicants, has anyone been able to clarify whether the SOP must be 3,000 characters or less? The grad school application page says this but the department does not mention a length requirement. This was discussed in the Fall 2013 application season thread but I could not find a definitive answer...

[Phil Sparrow]

I guess I just wanted to hear that the departments themselves get the money at least.

 

They do not.

[Creffecreve]

So, I am finishing up applications... and beginning to have panic attacks at the thought of waiting till March/being rejected from everywhere/telling people I've been rejected/having ruined my life by a misplaced comma, ad infinitum. Anyone else?

[Katia_chan]

Me...very much me.  This is my third app cycle, fourth if you count the one that got me into the MA at my UG school...I've been "in the process of applying" since 2011.

 

The thought of possibly having to tell people again that it didn't work out is enough to send me under the bed until June.

 

It's so hard to stay positive during this process...

[Romanista]

For those applying to FSU: apparently the deadline has been moved up to tonight due to some technical issue. However according to the email I received you don't have to submit the SOP and WS until 3 January 2014. Next monday they will send out information on how to send the SOP and WS later on.

 

The problem is that you can't submit your application until you have uploaded something for both SOP and WS. I don't really feel like rushing out a SOP when I have another 3 weeks to do it so I'm thinking of just uploading a document that says "SOP will be sent later etc." 

 

Has anyone else made sense of this? It's almost enough to dissuade you from applying to FSU at all.

[ProfLorax]

So, I am finishing up applications... and beginning to have panic attacks at the thought of waiting till March/being rejected from everywhere/telling people I've been rejected/having ruined my life by a misplaced comma, ad infinitum. Anyone else?

Here's how I survived the waiting period last year:

 

1. Surrounded myself with supportive people who I knew would love me no matter what happened. Also, instructed said friends and family to never tell me that admission was a sure thing. 

2. Unsubscribed from all email lists (groupon, moveon, planned parenthood, etc). Seriously. Do that now. That daily groupon email will give you a heart attack every.single.time come late January.

3. Went on a really awesome two week vacation in January (Paris and Rome), so I was distracted and actually didn't want to check my email. Climbing the steps of the Eiffel Tower>Checking Email. However, if you can't swing a trip to Europe next month, even a weekend camping trip would do.

4. Read tons of YA fiction. My crack. Last year, I was all about The Fault in Our Stars, Code Name Verity, and Parable of the Sower.

5. Threw myself into work. Fortunately, I loved my job (teaching at a community college), so it was easy for me to do. 

6. Datatape's gifs. 'Nuff said.

[Katia_chan]

Okay, I'm freaking out.

 

I just saw that one of my writers didn't submit a letter yet for something I notified him about a month ago.  That app isn't the problem, but it's making me wonder if he submitted it for the one that was due on the 1st.

 

I'm having trouble looking at the app status page, so I can't currently check.  Is it worth Emailing the department?  Or, since the deadline was a week and a half ago, am I pretty much screwed if he didn't do it?

 

I *hate* this so much.  For serious.

[ComeBackZinc]

Almost all departments know that letter writers are notoriously tardy. They often expect letters to come in late. Send him an email with a reminder about all the deadlines. Make it generic and not accusatory. You'll be fine.

[champagne]

 

4. Read tons of YA fiction. My crack. Last year, I was all about The Fault in Our Stars, Code Name Verity, and Parable of the Sower.

I can't wait to read TFIOS! I understand it wrecks you emotionally, but I've had so many people recommend it to me. The prose I've read from it has just been heartbreakingly beautiful. 

 

I suppose part of my coping process is thinking about all of the fun-time reading I'm going to get to once I'm done tweaking and turning in this God-forsaken writing sample: re-reading Confederacy of Dunces, re-reading Catcher in the Rye, The Pale King, Crying of Lot 49, Gravity's Rainbow, re-reading 100 Years of Solitude, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao...

 

Dammit, I hope I can read all of those before I start next fall and still maintain my edge with theoretical/academic reading interspersed throughout. 

[ProfLorax]

I can't wait to read TFIOS! I understand it wrecks you emotionally, but I've had so many people recommend it to me. The prose I've read from it has just been heartbreakingly beautiful. 

 

I suppose part of my coping process is thinking about all of the fun-time reading I'm going to get to once I'm done tweaking and turning in this God-forsaken writing sample: re-reading Confederacy of Dunces, re-reading Catcher in the Rye, The Pale King, Crying of Lot 49, Gravity's Rainbow, re-reading 100 Years of Solitude, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao...

 

Dammit, I hope I can read all of those before I start next fall and still maintain my edge with theoretical/academic reading interspersed throughout. 

You have some great books on your list! I love Catcher, Solitude, and Oscar Wao. Yes, TFIOS wrecks you... but it's totally worth it. It's a quick read, too, something you can easily wedge in between some of the books on your list. 

 

Related: I've noticed that as I get older, my reading selections get younger. This winter break, a friend and I are re-reading the Harry Potter series together. I haven't done this since the seventh book came out, and I am so ready for some magic in my life. The promise of butterbeer and Hogwarts is the light at the end of the seminar paper tunnel!

[hj2012]

I can't wait to read TFIOS! I understand it wrecks you emotionally, but I've had so many people recommend it to me. The prose I've read from it has just been heartbreakingly beautiful.

I suppose part of my coping process is thinking about all of the fun-time reading I'm going to get to once I'm done tweaking and turning in this God-forsaken writing sample: re-reading Confederacy of Dunces, re-reading Catcher in the Rye, The Pale King, Crying of Lot 49, Gravity's Rainbow, re-reading 100 Years of Solitude, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao...

Dammit, I hope I can read all of those before I start next fall and still maintain my edge with theoretical/academic reading interspersed throughout.

Wow. That's quite the reading list! Wish I could say the same, but knowing me, I'll probably be curled in bed with a copy of 50 Shades of Grey....

[antecedent]

I've been reading The Mists of Avalon and it's taken me right back to my 'Arthur of the English' Arthurian legends class during my undergrad. I also hope to read some good YA fiction in the next few months. I loved TFIOS, and next I'm thinking of Lev Grossman's The Magicians. I also want to reread JPod over Christmas  

 

Woohoo fun reading! 

[Imaginary]

For those of you who like Parable of the Sower and/or YA fiction, try Nnedi Okorafor's Akata Witch and Nalo Hopkinson's The Chaos.

[toasterazzi]

I love the love for YA I'm seeing in here. It's one of my main research interests .

[jazzyd]

I know this is absolutely not going to happen, but my advice would be to get off GradCafe from Feb-March. I drove myself absolutely NUTS running coming to this site multiple times a day (multiple times an hour) refreshing the results search page to see if a school was sending out offers yet. If they were, then I was just sitting nervously by my phone and inbox praying that I, too, had gotten the golden ticket. 

 

It also made me less appreciative of the acceptances I did get. There would be euphoria and excitement and a feeling of self-affirmation for awhile... and then I'd check Gradcafe and see that X University was sending out offers today and then the nail-biting would resume.

 

At the time I told myself "I'd rather know, than not know" and I'm sure some of y'all are thinking the same.... but there's really something to be said for not knowing, at least while the first round of notifications are going out. If it gets to Marchish and you haven't heard anything, then maybe poke around here to see what's up.

 

Again, I'm pretty sure nobody is going to follow this advice, but just throwing that out there as an option 

[Imaginary]

You're right. It's not going to happen. I appreciate the advice, though.

[gk210]

So pissed. Or more so, STRESSED. I submitted my first app on Tuesday. It required a 10-15 page writing sample. Or so I was pretty positive about. 

 

I look on the grad admissions page (they sent me a confirmation link about supplemental materials/official docs/etc. post-applying.) Under Literature MA it said required materials was a writing sample 15-20 PAGES.

 

I was at 11. I was at ***&*&^*% 11, and submitted it at 11, because it said clearly on the app 10-15. 

 

I'm effed. 

[Creffecreve]

Trust me, I've got a huge list of books on my to-read list, that's basically been untouched since this summer. I just read Jhumpa Lahiri's The Lowland over thanksgiving, and that was the first non-work book I'd read in so long (especially since I took the subject test, and felt obliged to read stuff that might be relevant to that all summer).

 

As for not being on gradcafe in february/march- I want to say that I might try that, but truthfully, it ain't going to happen. Not after the long month of January which is basically winter break and will be spent huddling in the cold imagining up worst case scenarios.

[iExcelAtMicrosoftPuns]

Holy crap. This is happening.

I've actually applied for grad school.

woah.