A couple rejections and nothing else?

[ChrisTOEFert]

10 minutes ago, Peanut said:

The New School for Social Research - the letter didn't say anything about who I'd be working with, but I hope to work with Hugh Raffles on human-animal stuff.

Congratulations.  That's a great school from what I've heard around my department.  Now that you're in, don't be surprised if you got into a couple of other programs as well, and then you have the fun task (read: headache-inducing task) of deciding where you want to go and weighing which school is going to be best for you!  It actually is fun a little bit because you finally have all the power in your hands, but no matter your choice, even if it was a full-funded ride to Harvard or something with guaranteed publications for your entire PhD/MA career you'll still have a little knot in the back of your brain saying "did I do the right thing...?".

Just remember that whatever you choose, for whatever reason, be it better funding, better program, closer to home, better prof, etc., that the decision you made is the best one for you and that is all that matters.  But most importantly, have fun!  I know I posted a couple things about the monotony of grad school, but if you keep a smile on your face and don't let the deadlines pile up it is actually a hell of a lot of fun.  Except for grant writing, that sucks

[Ilikekitties]

I'm waiting for hear from three more programs, so if I get into any more, things will get tricky.

[ChrisTOEFert]

10 minutes ago, vandemataram said:

Maybe we can turn this thread around? 

I definitely feel like I'm coming in 2nd place a lot. I applied to 6 programs and have heard from 5 of them...1 rejection, 2 waitlists, and 2 master's acceptances (applied for Ph.D.)

I know I should be proud/happy that they haven't all been rejections, and I should stay hopeful about the waitlists, but it's getting harder to stay positive. My fingers are crossed so tightly that the last school, or one of the waitlists, comes through! And ideally soon...I thought the wait from December to February was more than I could handle, so looking at another month (or more) is pretty daunting.

Sending good vibes to everyone else stuck in limbo!!!

You should stay positive!  You got into 2 programs and have the potential for 3 more (your two waitlists coming through and your 6th providing a positive answer).  Are the master's funded at all?  I guess it is country specific but in Canada, they don't even look at you for a PhD unless you have a Master's degree first or your undergrad career would make Tesla and Einstein combined look like Forrest Gump.  I consider a master's acceptance a very good thing.  From what I've read/been told, that U.S. PhD programs are very long to begin with (6-8 years), so that is essentially a combined MA/PhD in terms of length from where I go to school.  I've also heard in some cases when you graduate you may be awarded a terminal MA out of it as well, but I think that depends on the department.

If I were you I'd be very happy with the MA acceptance and keep my fingers crossed for potentially a better option (i.e. the PhD which is what you seem to really want).  In a lot of cases there are many positives about an MA program and in a lot of fields they consider Master's as a good enough amount of schooling to start teaching at a college/lower tiered university or score a sweet gig in a private/public industry sector.  Don't sell yourself short, you've accomplished something that many people on this forum, and even some followers of this thread, would be over the moon to have received.  Fingers crossed for the PhD for you, but don't be so down about the MA....it might be a great option to get a great job with less time investment!

[ChrisTOEFert]

16 minutes ago, Peanut said:

I'm waiting for hear from three more programs, so if I get into any more, things will get tricky.

Nahhhh...they just get more fun because then you get to ask for more money hahaha.  

[Ilikekitties]

IF I get into more!

[vandemataram]

11 minutes ago, ChrisTOEFert said:

You should stay positive!  You got into 2 programs and have the potential for 3 more (your two waitlists coming through and your 6th providing a positive answer).  Are the master's funded at all?  I guess it is country specific but in Canada, they don't even look at you for a PhD unless you have a Master's degree first or your undergrad career would make Tesla and Einstein combined look like Forrest Gump.  I consider a master's acceptance a very good thing.  From what I've read/been told, that U.S. PhD programs are very long to begin with (6-8 years), so that is essentially a combined MA/PhD in terms of length from where I go to school.  I've also heard in some cases when you graduate you may be awarded a terminal MA out of it as well, but I think that depends on the department.

If I were you I'd be very happy with the MA acceptance and keep my fingers crossed for potentially a better option (i.e. the PhD which is what you seem to really want).  In a lot of cases there are many positives about an MA program and in a lot of fields they consider Master's as a good enough amount of schooling to start teaching at a college/lower tiered university or score a sweet gig in a private/public industry sector.  Don't sell yourself short, you've accomplished something that many people on this forum, and even some followers of this thread, would be over the moon to have received.  Fingers crossed for the PhD for you, but don't be so down about the MA....it might be a great option to get a great job with less time investment!

Thanks!!! The MA programs I got into offered partial scholarships, but unfortunately I'm not in a position to take an offer unless it's fully funded. I'm just trying to remind myself that so far the signs seem to indicate that I'm a somewhat competitive applicant, so if nothing works out, there's always next year!

[ChrisTOEFert]

7 minutes ago, vandemataram said:

Thanks!!! The MA programs I got into offered partial scholarships, but unfortunately I'm not in a position to take an offer unless it's fully funded. I'm just trying to remind myself that so far the signs seem to indicate that I'm a somewhat competitive applicant, so if nothing works out, there's always next year!

Bingo.  Your profs wouldn't go through the hassle of writing reference letters or suggesting schools if they didn't think you were at bare minimum, make the cut off for consideration.  Keep positive about a fully funded situation coming in.  Worst case scenario, you re-apply next year with more research experience, a couple more classes (online or through your undergrad school) under your belt to boost your GPA, and come ready with some external funding.  External funding is very very hard to get (I'm still 0/3 for my attempts for government/university sponsored funding as are many of my friends), but if you do manage to get some, it's an incredibly good thing that almost guarantees better funding from the universities and a higher chance of getting in somewhere near the top of your list.  Good luck.  

Edited March 10, 2016 by ChrisTOEFert

[yayspace]

On 3/9/2016 at 8:03 AM, Peanut said:

The New School for Social Research - the letter didn't say anything about who I'd be working with, but I hope to work with Hugh Raffles on human-animal stuff.

I don't know what you mean by "human-animal stuff" but it sounds AWESOME. Can I be a test subject?! I want to cuddle pandas.

[Ilikekitties]

I'm interested in if/how people categorize animals in terms of edibility mainly. I want to cuddle pandas too  There's actually a prof at UNC-Chapel Hill who studies panda-human stuff, but I didn't apply there.

[yayspace]

15 hours ago, Peanut said:

I'm interested in if/how people categorize animals in terms of edibility mainly. I want to cuddle pandas too  There's actually a prof at UNC-Chapel Hill who studies panda-human stuff, but I didn't apply there.

That's very interesting! I've been thinking a lot lately about how disconnected I am to the meat I eat. I don't even see it as animal, unless I really stop to think about it. It's sort of frightening, actually.