2017 Applications Thread

[av2010]

3 hours ago, GreenEyedTrombonist said:

Today I started hardcore thinking I won't get in this cycle. I looked at open positions for a few companies and it just made me sadder. I'm now eating nachos and expecting chocolate tomorrow. Mexican food and chocolate are my comfort foods. 

I'm gonna go hide from the world for a few hours, k?

It's still so early! Most of the schools I've talked to said they won't make decisions until mid February usually! And if you look at the results pages some people don't hear til march! There's still time, don't give up hope just yet! 

[ejpril88]

8 hours ago, DBear said:

You sure?? Mourning requires ice cream for dessert in my world!!

Mourning requires ice cream for lunch, dessert and dinner in mine  Off topic, yesterday I started yoga again and I feel so great and stress-free! I was doing yoga in Serbia for 1.5 years but I couldn't continue here in US because my work schedule kept changing. Now I work until 5pm every day so I had my first class yesterday evening. I would recommend yoga for staying sane during this stressful time. 

7 hours ago, GreenEyedTrombonist said:

Today I started hardcore thinking I won't get in this cycle. I looked at open positions for a few companies and it just made me sadder. I'm now eating nachos and expecting chocolate tomorrow. Mexican food and chocolate are my comfort foods. 

I'm gonna go hide from the world for a few hours, k?

You applied to 5 schools and haven't heard from them yet, so I would say you still have 5 good chances to get accepted I know you must be feeling worse and worse as days go by but hang in there, it will soon be over.

[Chasing_Shadows]

@GreenEyedTrombonist I am in the same boat as you, so I can fully commiserate. Logically, I know that it is still early in the game, but the nerves and anxiety get better of you.

I was absent from this thread for quite a while, so I just want to say my warmest congratulations to everyone who already received acceptances from somewhere! This is awesome, and I hope there is only more good news to come. For the rest who are still waiting to hear, like me, I have every confidence that we'll pull through =) 

[chiquitica]

Guys, this is only the first of February. So many schools haven't made decisions yet. And even when they do, there are still wait lists and people getting on and off, so hold on and have faith. Eat a lot of comfort foods if you feel like doing so!

I am so sorry Minnesota didn't work out for heyDW. There are still a few more to go so I would remain positive. Sending the best of luck to you!

I'm hanging out with a few girls tonight and we will be eating a lot of ice creams and watching "The Bachelor". Every day at around 4 p.m. I thought I'd give up on waiting and stop caring about this whole applying thing, but when I wake up in the morning it's the first thing that comes up, and hangs on my head the rest of the day, until 4 or 5 p.m.  

This is both nerve-wracking and exciting.

[ejpril88]

5 minutes ago, chiquitica said:

I'm hanging out with a few girls tonight and we will be eating a lot of ice creams and watching "The Bachelor".

Sounds like a great night to me I envy you, all of my friends are in Europe. Since moving to US last year, I've made only three friends here and they're all Serbian like me, so I'm looking forward to meeting people from different countries during my PhD.  

[phdthoughts]

Man, you guys...I'm with @GreenEyedTrombonist on this one. Everyday that passes I lose a little more hope even though I've heard nothing yet. Goes against all logic but it's hard not to spectate. I've decided that I'm going to the gym tomorrow darn it! Hopefully will balance out the veggi burger and fries I ate tonight.  

[heyDW]

I totally get the anxiety. I feel SO lucky that I received my first admit so early in the game because I was already a wreck. I have renewed anxiety hoping my husband and I get in to the same program again, but it does make a difference knowing I have some direction if nothing else pans out. Thinking of you all and sending you lots of ice cream vibes. I'm definitely grabbing some Halo Top on payday.

[DBear]

I know this process gets harder with every passing day, but really, it is still early in the game and I think the few schools that have given out notifications before early Feb are the outliers. In both the letter from the program admin and a current student at U Iowa, they said that they start the review process only after spring semester starts, which was nearly on Jan 20. I think many schools that start reviewing in Jan will be like this as well. 

What we really need to hope for at this point is that we'll be done with this whole process sometime in Feb and we won't have to do the whole waitlist waiting game. 

This thing won't let me tag people right now for some reason  -- but @heyDW -  I really do trust that things will work out well for you and your husband!!

 

@phdthoughts - every passing day is a day closer to hearing something good! Let's try and think of it like that because peak notification season has yet to even begin. 

 

[heyDW]

Thanks for the positivity, @DBear  and very true! Even my other Dec deadline school doesn't start sending out decisions til mid/late February. 

[ejpril88]

@heyDW what's Halo Top?

Just wanna report that I ate a cookie, a piece of chocolate cake and a huge ice cream today AND bought a pair of shoes. If anyone asks - I'm going through a lot of stress  

[GreenEyedTrombonist]

Today I read 100 pages in 1984, listened to a musical on repeat, watched NCIS, and went to work (TA job for a night class). Also, the chocolate I ordered showed up today so that's gonna be nice to enjoy in a few hours.  

I realize that there's always still hope, it's just a bit disheartening seeing acceptances come in for others and not hearing a word. I'm happy for everyone who is getting an acceptance, just also a bit sad for myself and freaking out about possibly entering the career force full time right now. 

[kirbs005]

39 minutes ago, ejpril88 said:

@heyDW what's Halo Top?

Just wanna report that I ate a cookie, a piece of chocolate cake and a huge ice cream today AND bought a pair of shoes. If anyone asks - I'm going through a lot of stress  

Half Baked from Ben and Jerry's is my go-to. Sufficient to say I ate like half of one (I was very close to finishing, and probably would have if I hadn't been typing while eating). I highly recommend it.

[heyDW]

42 minutes ago, ejpril88 said:

@heyDW what's Halo Top?

Just wanna report that I ate a cookie, a piece of chocolate cake and a huge ice cream today AND bought a pair of shoes. If anyone asks - I'm going through a lot of stress  

Low calorie ice cream that is high protein and doesn't taste like crap! I lift weights so it's my favorite thing on the planet, hahaha.

[DBear]

OMG - I love where this thread is going!

So, I'm currently staying with my best friend and helping her watch her toddler, so had to wake up at the crack of dawn to go to kiddie singing class with them, then attended a mommy+baby brunch (I don't have a baby so I felt like the creepy neighborhood perv watching all the little kids...) and then played with said toddler for a couple of hours while my friend napped then had a second interview with Wisconsin Madison - so yeah. I ended my day with peanut butter cups, cookies and a couple of glasses of sparkling wine. 

We should change the name of this thread to "what did you eat to numb the anxiety today?"

 

[DBear]

2 hours ago, GreenEyedTrombonist said:

Today I read 100 pages in 1984, listened to a musical on repeat, watched NCIS, and went to work (TA job for a night class). Also, the chocolate I ordered showed up today so that's gonna be nice to enjoy in a few hours.  

I realize that there's always still hope, it's just a bit disheartening seeing acceptances come in for others and not hearing a word. I'm happy for everyone who is getting an acceptance, just also a bit sad for myself and freaking out about possibly entering the career force full time right now. 

 

I love NCIS. I love chocolate. And I know how you feel, I think we all do. Even seeing people being accepted into completely unrelated fields made me anxious and was a bit unsettling. But yeah, I almost went crazy... Let's worry about the career force thing after the fat lady sings. 

[Coffee Snob]

On 2/2/2017 at 12:17 AM, DBear said:

We should change the name of this thread to "what did you eat to numb the anxiety today?"

A quarter of chocolate cake all for myself.

[heyDW]

 @DBear! That whole day sounds SO stressful! Babies and toddlers are exhausting.

....but how'd the interview go??? hehe

[ejpril88]

@DBear I love your comments, they always make me laugh As someone who is hoping to become a mother one day while doing PhD at the same time, you made me worry even more. I know people say it's possible but I guess it's also really hard.

@GreenEyedTrombonist I really hope you will get at least one answer soon.

@heyDW Halo Top sounds great, I will google it

I have a question for you guys that already have MA. Why did you decide to move on to PhD? What's the job market like when it comes to this - will you have more chances for a good job with PhD? Considering both my BA and MA are from Serbian university, I thought I could never find a job in journalism/comunnication industry. I applied to many ads but no one called me, so that just confirmed my initial plan about PhD that I made before moving to US.

Edited February 2, 2017 by ejpril88

[ejpril88]

It's me again - just got an acceptance letter from UC Davis wooot wooot  They didn't mention funding, though... Anyone here willing to donate 50.000 to an aspiring young PhD wannabe? The letter said I should contact the graduate advisor regarding any information about financial help, so I will email them right now.

I confirmed that some universities just don't want to bother with changing the status of our applications. My Davis page still says "submitted", as well as my Purdue page (accepted two weeks ago).

[heyDW]

CONGRATS! Woohoo! That's awesome!

I'm doing PhD after MA because I think job security is a lot better for folks with PhDs...as is pay. I also really like learning stuff that blows my mind, heheh.

[av2010]

3 hours ago, ejpril88 said:

@DBear I love your comments, they always make me laugh As someone who is hoping to become a mother one day while doing PhD at the same time, you made me worry even more. I know people say it's possible but I guess it's also really hard.

@GreenEyedTrombonist I really hope you will get at least one answer soon.

@heyDW Halo Top sounds great, I will google it

I have a question for you guys that already have MA. Why did you decide to move on to PhD? What's the job market like when it comes to this - will you have more chances for a good job with PhD? Considering both my BA and MA are from Serbian university, I thought I could never find a job in journalism/comunnication industry. I applied to many ads but no one called me, so that just confirmed my initial plan about PhD that I made before moving to US.

When I first started in my MA I had it in my head that I was going to continue working in "corporate America" and use the MA to move farther in that.  However, I was working full time, the typical 9-5 job and I was just so miserable, I thought there had to be more than this.  That was when I considered academia.  I managed to get myself hired full time as an adjunct at 3 different universities and I just loved it.  I knew within the first month that this was what I wanted to do forever.  So, I turned to PhD.  Once upon a time a Masters could be enough to be a professor, but that is becoming less and less prominent unfortunately.  If you look at job postings for faculty PhD seems to most of the time to be a minimum standard.  Therefore, I decided that another 4 years of going back to school was worth setting up the next 40-50 years of being in a job that I'd be happy with.  

I can't speak to the commercial or journalism realm because I just am not familiar of the industry and MA versus PhD.

[GreenEyedTrombonist]

congrats @ejpril88!

I'm trying to continue with my education because what I'm passionate about is researching geek culture/all the things I list on my profile and sharing what I've learned. I want to write about my research and teach as well. Having Dr. before my name means being able to apply for more grants and fellowship opportunities, some kind of a chance to teach at university (even if slim in the market right now), and a higher chance that people who hear about/read my books will take my work seriously. 

[Conky3000]

Anyone know about UIUC results? I know the ICR stuff got sent out, but a friend of a friend of mine claims they were emailed an admit to the Comm Studies Phd. Just wondering if anyone has heard anything, I checked results but didn't see anything. I've dug through years of results, and based on some of the rejects I've already seen, I'd like my rejection already so I can stop thinking about it!!!! Just curious, thanks!

[chiquitica]

Hi Conky3000, are you talking about the Department of Communication at UIUC? I applied there as well and haven't heard anything. But in many cases programs just announce their admits and not reach out to their rejects until much later. 

I don't have much expectations for this program because I don't think the fit was that great, so I'm not too anxious about this. But if it bothers you, how about sending them a quick email asking about the status of the admission process? I think it wouldn't hurt. 

[Conky3000]

Thanks for the reply! I recently emailed about a week ago to update some information on my application, and was told it would be early February. So at this point, I'm just biting my nails and waiting, as I don't want to pester anyone. The answer for me may be to just take some antacids tablets and keep waiting. :-)