The Waiting Game - Fall 2014

[jamaisl'hiver]

I've never really paid much attention to that, though there is certainly a divide within the department (mostly because I've been pretty deeply entrenched on the critical side of things). I am fairly certain that the med anthro profs choose the incoming med anthro students, if that helps any... Oh, and I will say this- disregarding the internal politics and divides within the department for a moment, all of the faculty are well versed in each other's work, and certainly recognize a good match between faculty and student when they see one.

Edited January 19, 2014 by Nerding Out

[NoSleepTilBreuckelen]

Thanks, everyone! I think it'll be sort of like a group interview, which will be interesting - I'll report back about it.

 

Haha, monfemme, yeah, that's the reference, but with the 1600's Dutch spelling of Brooklyn, to make it a sufficiently nerdy for me    

Edited January 19, 2014 by NoSleepTilBreuckelen

[NOWAYNOHOW]

Got an invite to travel to NY for an interview at the AMNH - so excited!!!!

 

The program is technically the Biology program and it seems like bio programs are contacting earlier than anthro program... Here's hoping we all start hearing news for our various anthro programs soon

Congrats!  If you need recommendations for things to do or places to eat while you're in town, just PM me and I can help.  Though I'm sure you'll be super busy with important interview things!

[danaofdoom]

So, I'm reading back through this and I see a lot of apps for Berkeley here. I applied there too, but I don't really expect to get in. My scores and GPA are kind of low. Also, apparently my official GRE scores never made it to them, but I'm so broke now I can't afford to pay to have them re-sent until next week. Going to call them Monday just to see if it's not too ridiculously late, but I honestly don't think it's worth it.

 

Did anyone else apply to UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, or University of Pittsburgh? I actually feel cautiously optimistic about Pitt. I'd love to hear what others are thinking of them. 

[NoSleepTilBreuckelen]

hey dana, if you already paid ETS to send the scores, call them and they should resend - you definitely shouldn't have to pay to send them twice. ETS has an online log-in where you can view who you've sent your scores to, and if Berkeley is on that list in the last 5 years, then its on them to make sure the scores get to berkeley, it just might take you calling and hassling them a bit!

[monfemme]

also dana, if you are basing the score thing on what it says on the berkeley website, I have the same 'issue': it also says under submit on my application that gre scores never arrived. I have emailed Ned twice about it, but never got a response, while when I emailed him about something else I got an immediate response. So, I am guessing that it frequently says that on their site.

 

in an unrelated topic, has everyone heard anything from Emory? I am dying with anticipation over here...

[dtpowis]

in an unrelated topic, has everyone heard anything from Emory? I am dying with anticipation over here...

 

Someone here on the fora said they had been asked to submit a writing sample to Emory in the first week of January because, as they explained, it was optional to submit during the application, and serious candidates who had not opted to submit a sample were being asked to, in order to be considered on "even ground" with those who had. I did not submit a sample back in October, and alas, I have not yet been asked to submit one, so I assume that I am not a finalist. We'll just have to wait and see.

Edited January 20, 2014 by dtpowis

[monfemme]

 We'll just have to wait and see.

 

I know I have just never hated waiting more than now! arghhh

[danaofdoom]

I know I have just never hated waiting more than now! arghhh

I've never been very good at waiting, but this is seriously just torture!

[strudelle]

Yeah, I'm obsessively looking at old results from all the schools I applied to and looking to see if anyone has gotten acceptance yet this year.  I'm freaking out.  I am almost 100% positive I won't be accepted.  But I just want to know one way or another.  

[Jump]

Yeah, I'm obsessively looking at old results from all the schools I applied to and looking to see if anyone has gotten acceptance yet this year. I'm freaking out. I am almost 100% positive I won't be accepted. But I just want to know one way or another.

I was doing this! It was taking up so much time that I made a chart with date ranges for the last few years for all my schools. It's now my desktop background. :/

[gradcat]

I was doing this! It was taking up so much time that I made a chart with date ranges for the last few years for all my schools. It's now my desktop background. :/

I did this too, Jump! Excel is a wonderful thing. Now if only there was a way to make it mid-February....

[colorless]

It is almost the end of January.

I am totally looking forward to hear something from Cornell soon if results from the last year mean anything.

Edited January 21, 2014 by colorless

[strudelle]

Haha that's brilliant. You guys are even worse than me with your spreadsheets. Although your organization skills and awareness of the process probably means you're more prepared for grad school than I am.

I am checking my email every ten minutes. It's really frustrating to see that I have new messages and they are all junk. I've never gotten so much junk mail in my life.

[dtpowis]

Yep. Definitely made a Gantt chart of expected admissions decisions based on reported dates on TheGradCafe, too. The next day, a program contacted me for an interview that, according to my chart, shouldn't have contacted me for another two weeks. The chart means nothing now. :/

[Jump]

Just emailed Yale about my app status of incomplete and got a reply stating that it was complete and was currently being considered. Does this mean Yale's committee has/is meeting or is it a general response this time of year?

[strudelle]

I would say it's a general response. All my applications have said they were under consideration since right after the due date.

[colorless]

Consider us internationals! When the day is almost over here, there you guys wake up and start checking your emails. I do check my emails but it doesn't even mean anything since everyone is having a good sleep over there during my daytime here. sigh.

[Jump]

I would say it's a general response. All my applications have said they were under consideration since right after the due date.

I figured as much but I was hoping that it meant decisions are coming out soon. 

[casscan'tsleep]

I need to get out some stress and I apologize if this sounds like a rant...I have heard nothing back from any schools at this point! I applied to 11 schools, and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Duke, and Washington University in St. Louis have all released information...and I have heard nothing! I have a 4.0 gpa from my master's, 3.92 undergrad, multiple hands-on research experiences and multiple presentations under my belt. I have done everything I can to make myself as eligible as possible, but I am very scared that maybe I won't get into any programs (I know I need to wait and see like everyone else, but it really has me frightened that I have heard nothing at all).

 

Any advice from others on what you are doing to stay calm during the waiting process?

[Jump]

I need to get out some stress and I apologize if this sounds like a rant...I have heard nothing back from any schools at this point! I applied to 11 schools, and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Duke, and Washington University in St. Louis have all released information...and I have heard nothing! I have a 4.0 gpa from my master's, 3.92 undergrad, multiple hands-on research experiences and multiple presentations under my belt. I have done everything I can to make myself as eligible as possible, but I am very scared that maybe I won't get into any programs (I know I need to wait and see like everyone else, but it really has me frightened that I have heard nothing at all).

 

Any advice from others on what you are doing to stay calm during the waiting process?

Cass - I feel almost exactly the same way. I'm freaking out now that someone has heard from Duke. 

[Canis]

Here's what I think about during this process.

 

One important thing all of us ought to work really hard to come to terms with is the fact that there are more qualified applicants than spaces. That means some people who have excellent credentials will not be admitted. When that happens, you just try again next year.

 

The stress of disappointment and the worry about the outcome is based on expectations, based on attachment to that outcome. It may be hard, but it's important to let go of the expectation because it is a decision that is out of your hands, and whatever the result, it doesn't close any doors. It's just one thing, in this moment.

 

Consider for a moment, the extremely qualified applicant who doesn't get admission this year, spends a year doing a number of other things and applies again. That gap might result in experiences that change the outcome of life for the better. We wish for a certain outcome, become attached to it when it doesn't happen - but who is to say really that one out come is necessarily better in the long term than another?

 

Patience, long game, big picture - life is huge, this is one thing, one moment, one small year. And if it's what you want to do, you apply again. There are lots of things in life that will require trying more than once, surviving them is a way to learn.

[bellabean]

I need to get out some stress and I apologize if this sounds like a rant...I have heard nothing back from any schools at this point! I applied to 11 schools, and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Duke, and Washington University in St. Louis have all released information...and I have heard nothing! I have a 4.0 gpa from my master's, 3.92 undergrad, multiple hands-on research experiences and multiple presentations under my belt. I have done everything I can to make myself as eligible as possible, but I am very scared that maybe I won't get into any programs (I know I need to wait and see like everyone else, but it really has me frightened that I have heard nothing at all).

 

Any advice from others on what you are doing to stay calm during the waiting process?

I know it is extremely hard to have a dream that lies entirely in someone else's hands-it's especially hard with PHD programs in the Humanities because there really doesn't seem to be any clear path opf reason.  Law school- it's really all about the numbers and that makes that process so much easier to deal with.  

 

It's likely when others get admits to schools, or interviews and you don't- it's possible that you did not make their cut- or they perhaps you are in a different area of studies than the group that rec'd info.  

 

The most important thing to remember is that it only takes ONE yes!  And as difficult as it is to feel "rejected"- it's not a reflection of YOUR value - and if you really want something....it will be worth the wait and worth fighting for !!  

 

Take a deep breath and know you aren't alone!!

[bellabean]

I need to get out some stress and I apologize if this sounds like a rant...I have heard nothing back from any schools at this point! I applied to 11 schools, and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Duke, and Washington University in St. Louis have all released information...and I have heard nothing! I have a 4.0 gpa from my master's, 3.92 undergrad, multiple hands-on research experiences and multiple presentations under my belt. I have done everything I can to make myself as eligible as possible, but I am very scared that maybe I won't get into any programs (I know I need to wait and see like everyone else, but it really has me frightened that I have heard nothing at all).

 

Any advice from others on what you are doing to stay calm during the waiting process?

I know it is extremely hard to have a dream that lies entirely in someone else's hands-it's especially hard with PHD programs in the Humanities because there really doesn't seem to be any clear path opf reason.  Law school- it's really all about the numbers and that makes that process so much easier to deal with.  

 

It's likely when others get admits to schools, or interviews and you don't- it's possible that you did not make their cut- or they perhaps you are in a different area of studies than the group that rec'd info.  

 

The most important thing to remember is that it only takes ONE yes!  And as difficult as it is to feel "rejected"- it's not a reflection of YOUR value - and if you really want something....it will be worth the wait and worth fighting for !!  

 

Take a deep breath and know you aren't alone!!

[gradcat]

Here's what I think about during this process.

 

One important thing all of us ought to work really hard to come to terms with is the fact that there are more qualified applicants than spaces. That means some people who have excellent credentials will not be admitted. When that happens, you just try again next year.

 

The stress of disappointment and the worry about the outcome is based on expectations, based on attachment to that outcome. It may be hard, but it's important to let go of the expectation because it is a decision that is out of your hands, and whatever the result, it doesn't close any doors. It's just one thing, in this moment.

 

Consider for a moment, the extremely qualified applicant who doesn't get admission this year, spends a year doing a number of other things and applies again. That gap might result in experiences that change the outcome of life for the better. We wish for a certain outcome, become attached to it when it doesn't happen - but who is to say really that one out come is necessarily better in the long term than another?

 

Patience, long game, big picture - life is huge, this is one thing, one moment, one small year. And if it's what you want to do, you apply again. There are lots of things in life that will require trying more than once, surviving them is a way to learn.

 

Canis, this could not be more right.  I have my freak outs, too, don't get me wrong.  But we all put our best foot forward, and if it doesn't get me in the door this year then there is probably some reason for it -- either something else I need to do or some other reason why it will be better to start a program a year from now (or, maybe, not at all).  It's so easy to be fixated on one specific outcome, even when it is not the best thing for you.  I know this from personal experience and so I've told myself to *try* to have a more zen attitude about this whole thing.  Either way, it will all work out.