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Posted

Hope you're right and the wait is almost over for Michigan...Michigan, penn, and funding at Madison are all killing me!

Posted (edited)

The University of Phoenix entry in the results survey is a joke, right?

 

Search for "University of Phoenix" on the results board. Our group has done a stellar job with those this year.

EDIT: Looks like the good ones have been deleted. :(

Edited by levoyous
Posted

Mine was the acceptance with Citibank loans to cover the $60k annual tuition, but I don't see it now.

Ha I loved that one.

 

My POI at the University of Pheonix was very encouraging but I still haven't heard anything from them :(

Posted

Indiana's is doing the same to me...I think its a conspiracy!

 

I suspect Michigan is in a huff because I restrained myself and didn't log in five times a day to check. 

Posted

I'm heading to my first prospective student weekend in about a week. What sort of questions should I be asking? What should I be on the lookout for? Are there any specific telltale signs that should serve to either scream "This program is perfect for you!" or "Stay away!"?

Posted

I'm heading to my first prospective student weekend in about a week. What sort of questions should I be asking? What should I be on the lookout for? Are there any specific telltale signs that should serve to either scream "This program is perfect for you!" or "Stay away!"?

 

This is a good question. I would also appreciate advice on what to think if you've gotten drastically different pictures of the department from different students you've talked to.

Posted

This is a good question. I would also appreciate advice on what to think if you've gotten drastically different pictures of the department from different students you've talked to.

 

Well, a lot of my questions so far have revolved around teaching opportunities (i.e.: are there opportunities to teach my own courses, or will I be stuck as a TA?), language requirements (i.e.: if I fail, then what happens?), and the stability of the funding (one funding package had semi-tricky wording regarding fifth-year funding, and I had to ask a graduate student to clarify).

 

Cost-of-living has also factored into my consideration; a $25K funding package might be plenty in, say, New Haven, but wouldn't support you in New York.

 

I also plan to ask questions about the degree of individual attention I can expect (I've heard that graduate students can sometimes be neglected in bigger programs), opportunities to minor in outside departments (I consider some of my interests to be inherently interdisciplinary), and the average time to completion (hopefully 5 years, but some programs have students who stick around a lot longer, and I'd like to know how/why that might happen).

Posted

Appropriate question to ask a DGS or not? Also, let me know if it's a stupid question with an answer that I should know without asking.

"Although the program is structured to allow students to finish in five years, many graduate students need additional time before they complete their studies. What sort of setbacks might hinder my progress, and how frequently do they arise at your program? If I find myself in such a situation, am I permitted take on additional TAships in the department in exchange for continued university funding, or will I be expected to rely on outside funding instead?"

Posted

Mmm, I think I would either address that question to a graduate student, or not bring it up. The DGS is unlikely to give you a straight answer on that one. But if you ask a graduate student "do you know of anyone who has struggled to finish, and what support did they find?" I imagine you will get a more truthful idea.

Posted

First, congrats those who have received acceptances today and throughout this season! Second, how are most people dealing with rejections?  I felt as though I could see mine coming, so when I got the email wasn't too surpised, but I still feel sort of icky and keep wondering what it was about my application that made me sink among that particular pool of applicants and what to expect from similar pools. 

Posted

Make sure you ask your prospective adviser (point-blank) and his/her graduate students about summer and research support and how they're funded when they run out of guaranteed funding.  Ask his/her advisees what kind of role their adviser have played in their program and what's his/her general style of advising.  Also, make sure you allow yourself an opportunity to talk about other faculty members who you know who works with who and their particular strengths.  Find out how sensitive the faculty is to the increasing costs of going through a PhD program.

 

If you do have to write a MA thesis, find out how the research is supported.  Our graduate students get no funding from the department for out-of-town research so either students pay their way or find funding elsewhere or stick to what's available via Inter-Library Loan (ILL).. 

 

The key is: Leave the PhD program with little debt as possible.

 

Also, find out how is the courseload on a TA-ship vs. fellowship.  Fellowship students have to take one more course, which is a lot to handle if not carefully managed (just a lot more intense work than being a TA, where most of "busy work" is grading (and prepping for discussion sections if part of the duty)).  Being on a fellowship at my university is definitely brutal.

Posted

What's the deal with Cornell? Seems like they're onsie twosie POI admits, but do we think this is the wave and that's it or will they continue to trickle?

Posted (edited)

Well, four, and two rejections (one accept is art history). But I'm thinking so too. Three to five seems to be the standard GradCafe Cornell cohort from previous years.

 

If so, pending a last-second twist from UVA (where I survived both the acceptance and rejection waves), I'm settling at 0 for 6 this cycle, up from 0 for 3 last time around. At least this time I can say I put my best foot forward. I plan to reach out to some POIs (many of whom I met this fall, most of whom were warm and all of whom were helpful) for their comments, but most likely -- against some of your recommendations -- I'm looking at law, a field that is blessedly more numbers-driven. When a person is 0 for 9 at one thing and 6 for 6 at another (including two funding offers so far, and with luck, two more on the way) at some point it's hard not to read the writing on the wall. That said, two of the three schools I'm seriously considering (and two of the two I've been admitted to thus far) are at or near the schools I applied for history at, so I may yet take one more crack next year!

 

If not, there's always the late-in-life vanity degree. I'm going to write my damn dissertation come hell or high water - ha!

Edited by hdunlop
Posted

What's the deal with Cornell? Seems like they're onsie twosie POI admits, but do we think this is the wave and that's it or will they continue to trickle?

 

We're a small program (usually admit around 13 or so), so it's possible those are all that will go up on gradcafe, although it's possible some POIs haven't reached out (I don't know...maybe they've been busy/abroad/on leave/it's not their style?) and some applicants will be informed by email or letter instead. I remember I didn't get official notification for awhile after my POI called. 

 

For the record I haven't heard anything about admits since the faculty met about admissions two weeks ago, so I'm not sure if everything's set in stone yet. 

Posted

Has anyone else not heard anything from NYU???

 

I haven't heard anything, either.

Posted

Here we go, it's Monday morning! Hoping for good news all around!

 

I second that, I hope everyone gets in the program that they want.

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