2016 Rejection/Plan B Thread

[ScaredyCat]

29 minutes ago, majorshake said:

Sounds like a solid plan. May I ask why you were kicked out? (Feel free not to say, I realise I'm being nosy!)

I'm going to apply for a few Australian PhD programs. There are lots of good people to work with here, but I wanted to try overseas first because the application deadlines didn't match up in a good way.

No problem ;). I hope my story teaches future applicants a thing or two. The story is long and short (I am a Hegelian after all). 

Short story: I failed the history comprehensive exam twice and twice is the maximum.

Long story: I guess the long story may be more of a rationalization than anything else but I do think it is important. 

I went into a program that was not really compatible with my interests. I did not do as much research as I should have the first time around. The program is an analytic program (While I do recognize that the distinction between analytic and continental can be said to be a false one, all I really mean is that the program teaches thinkers that are associated with the analytic tradition such as Frege and Quine and ignores those that are associated with the continental tradition such as Husserl and Hegel). My interests are in German philosophy especially Hegel and feminism particularly French feminism. I got a masters from the New School and did my thesis on Hegelian recognition in The Second Sex. Anyways, since I had an MA I was expected to be ahead of the curve. But instead I fell behind learning a new canon essentially. Also I was not as interested in the material. Not that there is anything wrong with philosophy associated with the analytic tradition; most of it just does not intrigue me. So I did not do so well my first two semesters. Even got a C in a class which is failing in grad school. I did improve in time including my writing skills and learning more of the canon.

By the way, I have always been the type of person to try to do things quickly. I got my high school diploma in three years and my BA in three years. The MA at the New School is expected to take 3 years; I did it in 2.5. So I felt like I was in a groove when my 2nd year rolled around. I became grad student rep, my TA responsibilities started, and took more classes than usual and I took the history exam early thinking I would pass because I read more of those works than my colleagues did. I mean they told me they used Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy to study for the comps. I ended up failing the first time by 1 point. Funnily enough, when someone fails by a single point they relook at questions that profs. were on the border with any try to find a way to reward another point. They did that with me and took 1 point a way from one question and added 1 point to another question. 

Next semester rolled around I kept a similar schedule ( I know it was a mistake) thinking that I would pass this time because I would simply study more. And I did study more! But I ended up getting into a major conference on Hegel in Brazil. I did not want to pass that up. Since the program does not have anybody who does Hegel I did not have any prof that could look over my work. It is so important to find a good fit for a program for many reasons. Besides the obvious, it puts less work on you because then you do not have to work as much to keep up with your own research. Plus I was studying and trying to stay interested in courses that I did not like and I started TAing for logic which is not one of my strengths. This ended up working out for me because then i  could take the logic exam at the end of the semester. Between all that I was exhausted. Even though I studied more I failed by a lot more than I did last time. I was more nervous that time around and I did not sleep much the night before (2 hours). I really believe the mental exhaustion (not just one night's of sleep) caught up with me. I read my responses after the exam like a month later and they were barely coherent.

It was a new policy started that 2 times means getting kicked out. While that policy is in the books I believe, based on evidence I have seen, that if I had a prof. in my corner backing me up they would not  have kicked me out. Someone else in our department has been taking a long time on her dissertation and she was not kicked out. She has gone pass the time requirement on the books but she has a professor that believes in her. The department has even issued her a warning that she will be thrown out if she has not defended her prospectus by a certain point. She did not comply but did not get thrown out. I did not have a prof. in my corner because of my initial poor performance. They did not believe that I could do philosophy, and I cannot really blame them for that. 

Not having a professor in my corner became even more clear when I started applying to programs. I asked two profs. in the program and they both said no.

 

[behindclosedoors]

22 minutes ago, Hermione27 said:

I understand. I was not trying to be judgmental as much as cautious because I know law school is a big commitment. I worry about taking on a lot of debt and then ending up not being a lawyer. Not to mention the time commitment in studying whilst in law school and for the bar. I am still in debt for my bachelor's. Because of the aforementioned I feel I should be careful on embarking on such a huge commitment when I am not even sure about law school. Mostly I was extrapolating from my experience in political philosophy.

But you did make contract litigation sound  more appealing.  

 

No worries.  I completely understand that pursuing law school is a big commitment, and it's important to consider it in its entirety. 

Whilst I know that it won't be your decisive factor, I just caution basing it on the type of law you hope to practise in - which to my, and my peers' experience, has been the most unpredictable element in our legal journey.  Where you end up, that's an important consideration for sure, but what you do when you end up there - to be honest, it really depends on the demands of the legal market at the time, as well as the colleagues you'll end up working with (who you get along with, whose working style suits you etc.)

The chief questions that I would consider if I were to decide about whether to go to law school again (with the benefit of hindsight) are: (1) do I have what it takes to get into a top tier law school (~ T-14)? (2) if so, do I have what it takes (in terms of grit, determination etc.) to work hard during and after law school (in terms of looking for jobs, working etc.) to get to where I want to end up, knowing that it is not going to be pleasant and enjoyable all the time? (3) and, lastly, would I find satisfaction at the very end?

[peco]

9 hours ago, psm1580b said:

Maybe but I've heard about some issues with Canadian schools not being able to take int'l students these last couple of years. Not WO specifically, but it still worries me. 

Last season I was waitlisted by western ontarion because of 'the limited funding for international students'...

[MVSCZAR]

1 hour ago, peco said:

Last season I was waitlisted by western ontarion because of 'the limited funding for international students'...

If this happened to me with Toronto, I'd cry so hard. 

[majorshake]

1 hour ago, MVSCZAR said:

If this happened to me with Toronto, I'd cry so hard. 

Same. Toronto or McGill.
 

UGH. I JUST WANT ONE FUNDED OFFER PLEASE. JUST ONE.

[frege-bombs]

It seems that rejections from Southern California are indeed coming in waves (I did not get one yesterday, but got one this morning). Best of luck to all waiting it out at USC. 

[StFrancisXavier]

2 hours ago, frege-bombs said:

It seems that rejections from Southern California are indeed coming in waves (I did not get one yesterday, but got one this morning). Best of luck to all waiting it out at USC. 

Does it seem reasonable to infer that they're going through their rejection list in alphabetical order? Based on the people who have posted their test scores and gpa's, it seems unlikely that they were the "first cut" of applicants.  Of course, then we're left with the question as to why they would send rejections prior to acceptances letters if they really did know already...  In part I am trying to dampen my own expectations here. 

[brush]

Anyone else getting "User is not authorized for this process" when they try to check their decision letter in the USC portal? I'm sure I'm rejected but it'd be nice to see for myself.

[gughok]

Probably assuming a rejection from Princeton.

[philosophe]

4 minutes ago, brush said:

Anyone else getting "User is not authorized for this process" when they try to check their decision letter in the USC portal? I'm sure I'm rejected but it'd be nice to see for myself.

I got that this morning.... I didn't get it yesterday. When I logged in yesterday it just didn't have any kind of decision. 

Either their website isn't totally working today or somehow they figured out that we shouldn't be on that page yet, since we don't have a decision (???)

[philosophe]

5 hours ago, frege-bombs said:

It seems that rejections from Southern California are indeed coming in waves (I did not get one yesterday, but got one this morning). Best of luck to all waiting it out at USC. 

damn. good to know.

[philosophe]

1 hour ago, brush said:

Anyone else getting "User is not authorized for this process" when they try to check their decision letter in the USC portal? I'm sure I'm rejected but it'd be nice to see for myself.

i tried again just now and the "user is not authorized" message is gone. still no decision letter though...

[MVSCZAR]

18 minutes ago, philosophe said:

i tried again just now and the "user is not authorized" message is gone. still no decision letter though...

[PossibleWorlds]

33 minutes ago, philosophe said:

i tried again just now and the "user is not authorized" message is gone. still no decision letter though...

Same -- I only got that message temporarily. I think it had to do with not being in the browser for a few minutes and then refreshing the page, or something like that. It's gone now. I now see: "One or more of your applications is still under review and a decision has not yet been posted." 

[philosophe]

1 minute ago, philosopher_queen said:

Same -- I only got that message temporarily. I think it had to do with not being in the browser for a few minutes and then refreshing the page, or something like that. It's gone now. I now see: "One or more of your applications is still under review and a decision has not yet been posted." 

We live to see another day...

[brush]

My USC portal now works correctly and contains the rejection letter, so if you still have nothing that's a good sign. It is nice that USC promptly sends out rejections though, unlike most other schools.

Edited February 14, 2016 by brush

[philosophe]

1 hour ago, brush said:

My USC portal now works correctly and contains the rejection letter, so if you still have nothing that's a good sign. It is nice that USC promptly sends out rejections though, unlike most other schools.

Bummer, sorry it didn't work out for you. Still no decision for me, to say I'm on edge would be an understatement. If they're going to reject us they should've sent them all out at once... Staggering is just mean 

[MVSCZAR]

1 minute ago, philosophe said:

Bummer, sorry it didn't work out for you. Still no decision for me, to say I'm on edge would be an understatement. If they're going to reject us they should've sent them all out at once... Staggering is just mean 

That's how I felt about Emory. 

[metaphysician]

I just checked my USC portal: REJECTED. 

[StFrancisXavier]

44 minutes ago, metaphysician said:

I just checked my USC portal: REJECTED. 

Where on the portal did the letter appear?  In your messages or in check application? 

[metaphysician]

37 minutes ago, StFrancisXavier said:

Where on the portal did the letter appear?  In your messages or in check application? 

you.usc.edu > Decision Status > PDF in Mailbox 

[Dialectica]

I've also just checked the USC portal: rejected.

Pretty bummed about this one.

Alas. Moving on.

[philosophe]

My research confirms that the USC rejections were released alphabetically. I know that they've gone at least through W at this point. You should be able to see your rejection letter, if it exists, online. 

womp womp 

[StFrancisXavier]

27 minutes ago, philosophe said:

My research confirms that the USC rejections were released alphabetically. I know that they've gone at least through W at this point. You should be able to see your rejection letter, if it exists, online. 

womp womp 

Hmm, well I'm an S and still nothing.  But also international so that doesn't mean anything. The only status i'm seeing online is "application submitted" on the dashboard, and there are no messages in the account.  So while this doesn't mean anything beyond they haven't reached this part of their list, for now it appears I'm still alive. 

[PossibleWorlds]

4 minutes ago, StFrancisXavier said:

Hmm, well I'm an S and still nothing.  But also international so that doesn't mean anything. The only status i'm seeing online is "application submitted" on the dashboard, and there are no messages in the account.  So while this doesn't mean anything beyond they haven't reached this part of their list, for now it appears I'm still alive. 

You have to go to you.usc.edu --> Decision Status. If you were rejected, you'll be able to click on a PDF with a rejection later. If you weren't, you'll see no mail and "One or more of your applications is still under review and a decision has not yet been posted."