Venting Thread

[dgswaim]

I'm watching videos about colors with my 10 month old daughter. The characters are crayons that can only say their respective color in annoying, high-pitched voices. I need a drink.

Edited March 5, 2016 by dgswaim

[dgswaim]

I'm really hoping that when the Mizzou DGS told me they'llbe releasing next week that he meant *early* next week. Like Monday.

[psm1580b]

1 hour ago, dgswaim said:

I'm really hoping that when the Mizzou DGS told me they'llbe releasing next week that he meant *early* next week. Like Monday.

I had forgotten how irritating the last bit of waiting was. Of course, last year I didn't make any WL's, so coming to terms with the fact that I may indeed be waiting until the middle of April is hard. 

[dgswaim]

1 hour ago, psm1580b said:

I had forgotten how irritating the last bit of waiting was. Of course, last year I didn't make any WL's, so coming to terms with the fact that I may indeed be waiting until the middle of April is hard. 

Yeah. These waiting lists really throw a wrench in things. In my case I'm wait listed at several places I'd really like to go, but for different, somewhat non-overlapping reasons. I have no clear picture of where I'll be doing my PhD, which is nerve-racking given that this affects my family in profound ways, too. It doesn't help that I'm generally indecisive, either.

[FettuccineAlfrege]

Just got a call from a California number and I jumped to answer it, thinking it might be USC taking me off the waitlist. 

Telemarketers kill dreams. 

[manchesterano]

11 minutes ago, FettuccineAlfrege said:

Just got a call from a California number and I jumped to answer it, thinking it might be USC taking me off the waitlist. 

Telemarketers kill dreams. 

Ouch.

[dgswaim]

20 minutes ago, FettuccineAlfrege said:

Just got a call from a California number and I jumped to answer it, thinking it might be USC taking me off the waitlist. 

Telemarketers kill dreams. 

Assholes.

[Erratic_Akratic]

Why in the world would anyone look me up on academia, 25 miles away from Ann Arbor, on the very day Michigan were phoning admitting students… 

That's one cruel coincidence! 

 

[Sambino]

Hi all,

Long time lurker, first time poster.  I am waiting on information regarding the University of Minnesota PhD program and someone posted in results stating that they had been on the wait list since January.  There have been no offers posted in results and no other waitlist results.  Now, I know the order of operations is different depending on the program, but I was wondering is there a chance they have not notified first round picks but constructed a waitlist?  Or has my lurking on this forum caused me undue stress and those extended offers just did not post them in results?  Anyways, I thought I would shout into the void a bit...

-Sam

[dgswaim]

Really hoping Mizzou releases some results today. Come on, no whammy no whammy no whammy no whammy...!
 

[samori]

What do you say in soliciting emails? "Do you like me: circle yes / no" ? Really though, how do you phrase it?

[qkjg]

1 hour ago, hot.glass said:

What do you say in soliciting emails? "Do you like me: circle yes / no" ? Really though, how do you phrase it?

Dr. x,

Hello, my name is y. I am writing to inquire about the status of my application for the PhD program at z.

best,

y

I used this for a few schools and received cordial, helpful responses. I usually emailed the DGS.

 

[philosophe]

Morning vent:

Dear admissions committees, please put us out of our misery so that we can focus on the options that we still have. There's no need to wait another month just to reject us, it will not help you and it certainly will not help us. 

xoxoxoxo

philosophe 

[FoxAndChicken]

4 minutes ago, philosophe said:

Morning vent:

Dear admissions committees, please put us out of our misery so that we can focus on the options that we still have. There's no need to wait another month just to reject us, it will not help you and it certainly will not help us. 

xoxoxoxo

philosophe 

Are you waiting for the yellow ones or the blue ones? 

Edited March 9, 2016 by FoxAndChicken

[philosophe]

1 minute ago, FoxAndChicken said:

Are you waiting for the yellow ones? 

No, those are my WLs. I'm waiting on rejections from Stanford and Rutgers, and any news from UT Austin, UCLA and CUNY. 

Edited March 9, 2016 by philosophe

[FoxAndChicken]

Just now, philosophe said:

No, those are my WLs. I'm waiting on rejections from Stanford and Rutgers, and any news from UT Austin, UCLA and CUNY. 

Ohhhh

I'm waiting for rejections from UCBerkeley, Stanford, and UMich.

[dgswaim]

4 hours ago, hot.glass said:

What do you say in soliciting emails? "Do you like me: circle yes / no" ? Really though, how do you phrase it?

I've solicited quite a few this year, and usually I just ask about my status, and then say something about needing more information so that I can rule out the possibility of needing to plan a visit as me and my wife are trying to figure out where we might be moving. I usually get prompt and helpful replies.

[samori]

6 minutes ago, dgswaim said:

I've solicited quite a few this year, and usually I just ask about my status, and then say something about needing more information so that I can rule out the possibility of needing to plan a visit as me and my wife are trying to figure out where we might be moving. I usually get prompt and helpful replies.

Thanks! I don't have a wife so I'll leave that part out. Or maybe you get a quicker response because then they know there's someone else waiting patiently too. I'll put that my mom really wants to know. That should work.

[dgswaim]

I can see no reason why that wouldn't work.

[samori]

2 minutes ago, dgswaim said:

I can see no reason why that wouldn't work.

I'll give it a shot and report back. Also Mizzou have until the end of the week before they are subjected to this.

[dgswaim]

18 minutes ago, hot.glass said:

I'll give it a shot and report back. Also Mizzou have until the end of the week before they are subjected to this.

Hoping to hear from them today. Guess we'll see.

 

[dgswaim]

I have word from a person at Mizzou that they've sent out their initial round of acceptances. I'd email the DGS to confirm if I hadn't already sent an inquiry to him last week.

Edited March 9, 2016 by dgswaim

[dgswaim]

So, Hilary Putnam dying really fucking sucks. 

[Establishment]

1 hour ago, dgswaim said:

So, Hilary Putnam dying really fucking sucks. 

Rest in piece, my Marxist friend. There sure have been a swathe of deaths of famous philosophers the last couple of years. Seems like we're seeing a prestigious generation of philosophers passing away.

[Schwarzwald]

I'm just here to scream into a virtual pillow:

I hate these unfunded master's offers. I recently got an email that stated there was very little chance for even university funding on my behalf because they treated master's students like "paying customers." This was from a highly ranked and very prestigious program. I'm a poor guy from a indigent family, and it just feels like I'm being exploited. One of my primary motivators -- freedom from poverty, is being dangled in front of my face with the catch that I must endure greater poverty to achieve it. Something that just wouldn't be the case were I from a higher class. If I was from a higher background, the headline for me would be "Boy gets into great school and loves it" not "Poor douche bag gets poorer trying to claw his way out of the grave." It just sucks. However, one of the main parts that sucks is that if I was truly a great student, I'd have more funded offers from better or equivalently good places, and so ultimately it's my own stupidity I have to blame. Which also sucks, especially since I know I slacked off at times (like all the times) mostly because I didn't understand how competitive I was suppose to be until the end of my undergraduate career, and I didn't appropriately study for the GRE. I feel like I'm so close to something yet so far away, and my dreams are being used to extort money from me, which seems egregious since I'm already at the bottom of the totem pole. (Why can't they pick on people their own size? Lol). Couple this with the fact that even if I had the money, I'd have to deal with trying to impress the faculty for attention when they have better qualified and funded PhD students in front of them jut makes the situation harsh and unpleasant. 

I do have a funded offer elsewhere, and am wait listed for funding at some places, to which I am very grateful and happy. However, the place that sent the message is quite a bit more prestigious and has a better placement record, to which they know, and which is why they can be charging these exorbitant prices in the first place.

Anyway, everyone carry on now, just had to ragesadblog a bit.