Venting Thread

[axiomness]

20 hours ago, dgswaim said:

So, I've been at a conference in Indianapolis the last few days to present some work on the history and philosophy of biology that me and my advisor have been working on. Super awesome, super chill conference.

The person that interviewed me from ND HPS was also there to present, and I got to chat with him a few times. At one point, he tells me that I basically almost got in, and that almost any other year I would have been admitted, but this year they had some weird issues with considerations over program composition. I really kind of wish he hadn't told me that. Now I will always wonder "what if...."

That's horrible, I was told something similar to that back when I applied for my first round two years ago. (On a side note--I almost went to that conference with one of my advisers who presented. Was it good?)

[dgswaim]

36 minutes ago, axiomness said:

That's horrible, I was told something similar to that back when I applied for my first round two years ago. (On a side note--I almost went to that conference with one of my advisers who presented. Was it good?)

It was *fantastic*. Very congenial, but also rigorous. Like me and my co-presenter, there were a lot of peoplr with 70 to 80 percent finished projects, and so it felt very workshoppy. Lots of pointed, but friendly and constructive questions and suggestions. Also, the keynote lineup was amazing! Stathis Psillos, Anjan Chakravartty, Jutta Schickore, Betty Smokovitis, Helge Kragh, and Eric Scerri all gave talks. Great conference! 

[bechkafish]

Where the fluck is Brown. Also, everything is terrible and I really just want to stay in bed today.

[MVSCZAR]

A reminder to really make sure your Skype is working if you have an interview. Mine wasn't and it was 10 minutes of disaster. Almost had to call FEMA. I can only imagine that they had my face in a weird position frozen on their screen for the whole time. We ended up having to just use Skype audio after I switched to a personal hotspot. I need like 20 cigarettes in my mouth right now. 

[majorshake]

Best thing about living in a very different time zone to all the schools I applied to? I sleep through the day there so I have hope of something when I wake up.

Getting pretty sick of waiting though. Nothing again...

[MVSCZAR]

10 minutes ago, majorshake said:

Best thing about living in a very different time zone to all the schools I applied to? I sleep through the day there so I have hope of something when I wake up.

Getting pretty sick of waiting though. Nothing again...

It's coming through snail mail: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmciuKsBOi0

Edited February 22, 2016 by MVSCZAR

[majorshake]

5 minutes ago, MVSCZAR said:

It's coming through snail mail: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmciuKsBOi0

I saw that DePaul sent someone a rejection in the mail.. so yes. Yes it is.. (presumably)

[DontGetMeSartred]

On February 21, 2016 at 1:40 PM, dgswaim said:

The person that interviewed me from ND HPS was also there to present, and I got to chat with him a few times. At one point, he tells me that I basically almost got in, and that almost any other year I would have been admitted, but this year they had some weird issues with considerations over program composition. I really kind of wish he hadn't told me that. Now I will always wonder "what if...."

"Considerations over program composition," I find this language to be rather equivocating. Would you mind clarifying the semantic intentions of this statement? 

[dgswaim]

51 minutes ago, DontGetMeSartred said:

"Considerations over program composition," I find this language to be rather equivocating. Would you mind clarifying the semantic intentions of this statement? 

Basically, they already have a couple people doing the sort of thing I'm doing, and that ended up counting against me once they whittled it down to the last group of applications.

[DontGetMeSartred]

7 minutes ago, dgswaim said:

Basically, they already have a couple people doing the sort of thing I'm doing, and that ended up counting against me once they whittled it down to the last group of applications.

That was my initial interpretation, but did not want to make the mistake of assuming. Thank you for the clarification! I firmly believe that even within esoteric fields, individuals can provide a multiplicity of insights that lead to a great deal of differentiation and heterogeneity. I wish this was appreciated more profoundly (and prioritized accordingly) in the academic world, rather than compartmentalizing ideas and disciplines to satisfy certain metrics. However, may this allow you a greater opportunity to distinguish yourself in a program that finds what you have to offer less circumstantially hackneyed! 

[perpetuavix]

7 hours ago, metaphysician said:

Job applicants don't pay 100 bucks to be considered. 

They don't pay $100, but they do pay $20+ per application: http://leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/2013/11/interfolio-costs.html

[majorshake]

Will tonight be my night? Will I finally get an offer?

I no longer care (in a sense).. I've worked out my plan B - it might be better in the end.

[bechkafish]

You guys, I was on the train this morning, heading to the library to get some work done, and I looked down and there was an adhesive label lying right between my feet on the floor of the car that read CREMATED REMAINS and if that experience isn't a metaphor for my whole life right now, I don't know what is.

Edited February 23, 2016 by bechkafish

[maxhgns]

On 2/22/2016 at 10:55 AM, metaphysician said:

Job applicants don't pay 100 bucks to be considered. 

We don't pay application fees, but we do end up paying for other things. Like Interfolio costs, transcript costs, snail mail costs, APA costs, transcript "translation" costs (if one of our degrees is from a "foreign" institution, viz., outside the US), etc. Multiplied by 100 or more, not ten or twenty. 

 

Don't get me wrong: I think PhD applicants should be notified, and in a timely fashion. I'm just saying that departments don't care about those they reject at any level. Often, they don't even care about those they shortlist either.

[metaphysician]

1 hour ago, maxhgns said:

We don't pay application fees, but we do end up paying for other things. Like Interfolio costs, transcript costs, snail mail costs, APA costs, transcript "translation" costs (if one of our degrees is from a "foreign" institution, viz., outside the US), etc. Multiplied by 100 or more, not ten or twenty. 

 

Don't get me wrong: I think PhD applicants should be notified, and in a timely fashion. I'm just saying that departments don't care about those they reject at any level. Often, they don't even care about those they shortlist either.

I apologize for my ignorance! Departments should be courteous to all applicants.  

Edited February 23, 2016 by metaphysician

[Siegfried42]

I foresee a long week of protracted disappointment and repeated rejections... Applied to many high-ranked schools because of the "you never know" factor (and because my advisers thought I should), but now I don't look forward to the continued stress about a bunch of mostly hopeless applications. 

On another note, @metaphysician I completely agree with your complaint about schools not sending out rejections, or sending them out weeks after decisions have been made. It takes five minutes to write a courteous and timely note to rejected applicants. Perhaps the GradCafe community should start polling about this and mentioning/ranking/awarding schools/departments that treat their applicants with the greatest/least degree of respect. 

Edited February 23, 2016 by Siegfried42

[SamStone]

It sorta looks like the Cornell acceptances were sent out all at once, given how closely in time they were posted. Hopefully thats not the case...but if so: bummer.

[Siegfried42]

26 minutes ago, SamStone said:

It sorta looks like the Cornell acceptances were sent out all at once, given how closely in time they were posted. Hopefully thats not the case...but if so: bummer.

I really hope you're wrong...but it does look that way. Although, there are only three posts, none of them claimed, so we should try and stay hopeful.

[oldmanPhDStudent]

I don't want to vent too much, but I just had a minor freakout. In monitoring my apps outstanding, I discovered that today my app was marked "Incomplete." Now I have taken great pains to pay close attention and follow all instructions, so I was very concerned. It was one of those schools that the phil. department instructed me to send transcripts to a certain place, and the official app to another; long story short, I apparently have chosen poorly. Anyway, I noticed that it may take 2-3 weeks for my documents to be recognized. I should have double-checked; it was likely a "both-and" rather than "either-or" and I just didn't clarify. Doh!

I'm going to go to the gym for a fitness class; I have a gut that needs trimming in any case.

[jacbarcan]

2 minutes ago, oldmanPhDStudent said:

I don't want to vent too much, but I just had a minor freakout. In monitoring my apps outstanding, I discovered that today my app was marked "Incomplete." Now I have taken great pains to pay close attention and follow all instructions, so I was very concerned. It was one of those schools that the phil. department instructed me to send transcripts to a certain place, and the official app to another; long story short, I apparently have chosen poorly. Anyway, I noticed that it may take 2-3 weeks for my documents to be recognized. I should have double-checked; it was likely a "both-and" rather than "either-or" and I just didn't clarify. Doh!

I'm going to go to the gym for a fitness class; I have a gut that needs trimming in any case.

I wouldn't hesitate to call and see if there's anything you can now do. Most likely, they'll tell you it isn't a big deal and that they'll only really need something later if you're given an offer. 

[oldmanPhDStudent]

11 minutes ago, jacbarcan said:

I wouldn't hesitate to call and see if there's anything you can now do. Most likely, they'll tell you it isn't a big deal and that they'll only really need something later if you're given an offer. 

Thanks for the advice! I'm having trouble getting hold of them currently, but I did upload the transcripts that I had as quickly as possible. I couldn't tell if this "incomplete" really will set me back a few weeks, and if it's an indicator that they just now got to it, or if they were going to extend an offer, or what.

[jacbarcan]

All that stuff is ridiculous. I actually misspelled the name of one of the schools I applied to. Luckily, the administrator replaced it the next day before the applications were even due. But I freaked out about that for so long.

[gughok]

My vent for today...

Proportion of PhD programs listed on the official prediction page that have sent their acceptances out: ~75%

Proportion of PhD programs to which I applied that have sent their acceptances out: ~30% (and UCLA is probably not done)

My frustration correlated with the difference between these two numbers.

[bechkafish]

Brown is going to kill me. Is there any reason to believe that more acceptances will go out?

[dgswaim]

UBC!!!! WHERE ARE YOU!?!?!?