Venting Thread

[Yanaka]

1 minute ago, tennesseewilliams said:

I think that one is for Oregon State! I applied at the University of Oregon.

Yeah sorry I noticed afterwards! I get confused with these names

[ThousandsHardships]

On 3/16/2017 at 3:14 PM, Yanaka said:

On another note: why do some people (whom aren't even interested in doing a doctorate) think it's relevant to spend 15 mn telling me how hard and difficult it is to do a PhD, how every PhD candidate looks exhausted and sad, how they wouldn't imagine sacrificing their social life, etc etc. I mean unless you're a PhD student yourself and want me to hear you vent, why would you tell me all this? Like I don't know yet?! Oh and the conclusive "well hang in there, good luck!"?! This girl just now doesn't even want to do a thesis (thèse--PhD level), so why would she give me the whole sermon?! Aaaarrrggg

I know, right? I hate that too! People can be so judgmental about PhDs. I don't understand why people keep telling me that a PhD is 1) a waste of time that I could be using to earn money at a legit job, 2) a waste of time that I could be using to start a family, 3) not equivalent to success, 4) an excuse to do a bunch of impractical stuff and brag about it as if you were superior, 5) useless anyway because they happen to know a few PhD grads who struggled to find jobs, 6) something they couldn't imagine doing because the idea of being in school more than you have to is absurd -- and for all the other reasons you mentioned.

I can't seem to convince some people that spending five years at a university doing something that makes me feel alive and keeps me going in the toughest of times - and that pays me enough to live on and doesn't get in the way of family - could be worth the time and effort.

Edited March 21, 2017 by ThousandsHardships

[Dr. Old Bill]

Here's a vent: being comfortably over the suggested word count minimum for your Capstone project, only to realize that your word count was toggled to include footnotes...and de-toggling it puts you a few hundred words under! This is after chopping six pages from my last round of revisions, to adding a couple more in this round. I know that no one's going to look too closely at the word count for an otherwise ideal paper, yet seeing that I'm still sixty-five words under is making me want to write "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" seven times to make up for it...

[Yanaka]

52 minutes ago, Old Bill said:

Here's a vent: being comfortably over the suggested word count minimum for your Capstone project, only to realize that your word count was toggled to include footnotes...and de-toggling it puts you a few hundred words under! This is after chopping six pages from my last round of revisions, to adding a couple more in this round. I know that no one's going to look too closely at the word count for an otherwise ideal paper, yet seeing that I'm still sixty-five words under is making me want to write "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" seven times to make up for it...

Hang in there! 

5 hours ago, ThousandsHardships said:

I know, right? I hate that too! People can be so judgmental about PhDs. I don't understand why people keep telling me that a PhD is 1) a waste of time that I could be using to earn money at a legit job, 2) a waste of time that I could be using to start a family, 3) not equivalent to success, 4) an excuse to do a bunch of impractical stuff and brag about it as if you were superior, 5) useless anyway because they happen to know a few PhD grads who struggled to find jobs, 6) something they couldn't imagine doing because the idea of being in school more than you have to is absurd -- and for all the other reasons you mentioned.

I can't seem to convince some people that spending five years at a university doing something that makes me feel alive and keeps me going in the toughest of times - and that pays me enough to live on and doesn't get in the way of family - could be worth the time and effort.

Yes, all of these reasons + those who should understand best are a pain, too. People, man! 

[Yanaka]

'Nova! Just tell me about my not being funded, already!  

[Scarlet A+]

Rejected from my #1 (Syracuse)

Waitlisted at Ole Miss (#5 on a 12 person list) 

Waitlisted at Purdue (In the top 4 on the list)

Waitlisted for Villanova funding (#13 on a 24 person list)

Feeling like a runner-up.

 

[Thersites]

27 minutes ago, Scarlet A+ said:

Rejected from my #1 (Syracuse)

Waitlisted at Ole Miss (#5 on a 12 person list) 

Waitlisted at Purdue (In the top 4 on the list)

Waitlisted for Villanova funding (#13 on a 24 person list)

Feeling like a runner-up.

 

How did you find out where you stand on the wait list for Villanova funding? I received an email about an hour ago, Heather said I was on the waitlist, but did not specify where I was on that list... Help would be great! So much anxiety.

[Yanaka]

4 minutes ago, Thersites said:

How did you find out where you stand on the wait list for Villanova funding? I received an email about an hour ago, Heather said I was on the waitlist, but did not specify where I was on that list... Help would be great! So much anxiety.

Ask her  

[Thersites]

Hah good idea, thank you!

[Yanaka]

3 minutes ago, Thersites said:

Hah good idea, thank you!

I asked, too! Just received an answer: 12. Ugh! 

[Thersites]

wait- a 24 person list? I didn't think Villanova admitted that many students...

[brontebitch]

16 minutes ago, Thersites said:

wait- a 24 person list? I didn't think Villanova admitted that many students...

I agree, I was kind of surprised! Not sure how many students got offered funding packages either. I think they probably anticipate that lots of students will decline the offer/drop off the waitlist? I am #7 on the funding waitlist and she said it was likely I would receive a funding offer, but I may not hear back before April 15th (meaning I would have to initially accept without funding) so I am probably going with a different school. 

[Thersites]

Hm, yeah I got 5th on the wait list; she said I was likely to get funding as well, but it just sucks, I was hoping today I could stop worrying :/

[Warelin]

On 3/22/2017 at 2:04 PM, Thersites said:

wait- a 24 person list? I didn't think Villanova admitted that many students...

Not all waitlisters get admitted or accept an unfunded offer. It's generally common for schools to either accept their target number, waitlist twice as many and reject everyone else. Other schools accept twice their target, waitlist a smaller amount and go from there.

[Yanaka]

Natalielouise is gonna give us all a little more hope!  

[Thersites]

I see, so the wait list for funding includes applicants who are wait listed for the university. Thank you for the clarification!

[anxiousphd]

Programs that accepted and waitlisted people weeks ago still have not bothered to reject me. They know they're rejecting me. I know they're rejecting me. But the tiny little 0.001% chance that they are not rejecting me is very painful. Please pull the plug already, UNC and UMD. 

[JuniusBattius]

31 minutes ago, anxiousgrad said:

Programs that accepted and waitlisted people weeks ago still have not bothered to reject me. They know they're rejecting me. I know they're rejecting me. But the tiny little 0.001% chance that they are not rejecting me is very painful. Please pull the plug already, UNC and UMD. 

I feel this so much re: UNC. I caved and emailed the head of the graduate program I had applied to and received this response:

"Apologies for our long silence.  The reason you haven’t heard from us yet, is that we are trying to sort out our funding issues.  We do not accept students into our PhD program without being able to fund them and because we are a state school it often takes us longer than we would like to hear about our budget for the upcoming year. This is the case this year.  We hope to have a sense of what we will be able to do in the next week or so.  I know you have other offers you are considering and decisions you must make, and I apologize that we are complicating this process.   I will let you know as soon as possible."

I will read it over once and feel a little hope, and then re-read it and feel absolutely heartbroken.
 

Edited March 24, 2017 by JuniusBattius

[Yanaka]

26 minutes ago, anxiousgrad said:

Programs that accepted and waitlisted people weeks ago still have not bothered to reject me. They know they're rejecting me. I know they're rejecting me. But the tiny little 0.001% chance that they are not rejecting me is very painful. Please pull the plug already, UNC and UMD. 

Agreed! The 0.0001% chance that UCLA is actually trying to work out funding for me because they love me is the worst hope I could ever keep having  

[engphiledu]

35 minutes ago, anxiousgrad said:

Programs that accepted and waitlisted people weeks ago still have not bothered to reject me. They know they're rejecting me. I know they're rejecting me. But the tiny little 0.001% chance that they are not rejecting me is very painful. Please pull the plug already, UNC and UMD. 

Actually, I'm also waiting on UNC and UMD. We should be hearing from UMD next week, and they're still working through how far down the waitlist they need to go at UNC before sending out rejections. Just what I've heard!

Edit to add that Indiana-Bloomington is also in the same boat as UNC. 

Edited March 24, 2017 by engphiledu

[Dr. Old Bill]

8 hours ago, anxiousgrad said:

Programs that accepted and waitlisted people weeks ago still have not bothered to reject me. They know they're rejecting me. I know they're rejecting me. But the tiny little 0.001% chance that they are not rejecting me is very painful. Please pull the plug already, UNC and UMD. 

8 hours ago, JuniusBattius said:

I feel this so much re: UNC.

For what it's worth, I was at UNC's visit days yesterday and today (just got home twenty minutes ago, in fact), and chatted with the DGS about waitlist situations. He said that he should have a clear picture of the funding situation on Wednesday or Thursday of this week.

He also mentioned that prior to his stint in the DGS role, all waitlists at UNC were considered "acceptances"...but acceptances without guaranteed funding. So you could be "accepted" to the program, but they might not be able to pay you or offer tuition remission. Needless to say, the waitlist system is certainly a lot better! That said, it's obviously not perfect. Sorry to those of you who still haven't heard anything one way or another.

Incidentally, the way funding works at UNC is weird -- he said that around 70% of rejected offers simply "disappear." The funds don't get reallocated to other students, and funding has to come from elsewhere. Weird indeed...

 

[ThousandsHardships]

8 hours ago, Old Bill said:

For what it's worth, I was at UNC's visit days yesterday and today (just got home twenty minutes ago, in fact), and chatted with the DGS about waitlist situations. He said that he should have a clear picture of the funding situation on Wednesday or Thursday of this week.

He also mentioned that prior to his stint in the DGS role, all waitlists at UNC were considered "acceptances"...but acceptances without guaranteed funding. So you could be "accepted" to the program, but they might not be able to pay you or offer tuition remission. Needless to say, the waitlist system is certainly a lot better! That said, it's obviously not perfect. Sorry to those of you who still haven't heard anything one way or another.

Incidentally, the way funding works at UNC is weird -- he said that around 70% of rejected offers simply "disappear." The funds don't get reallocated to other students, and funding has to come from elsewhere. Weird indeed...

 

Are you kidding me?! I didn't even apply to that program and I'm outraged at that system just reading your comment. I really hope that my prospective program (where I still haven't heard back from with regards to funding) doesn't operate like that. From what the profs I've talked to said, I'm pretty sure the funding at my prospective program doesn't just disappear when someone declines, so that's good news. But I really fear that they may have accepted more students than they expect to be able to fund, so I'm really hoping that my acceptance isn't a waitlist in disguise like you said UNC's used to be.

[anxiousphd]

22 hours ago, JuniusBattius said:

I feel this so much re: UNC. I caved and emailed the head of the graduate program I had applied to and received this response:

"Apologies for our long silence.  The reason you haven’t heard from us yet, is that we are trying to sort out our funding issues.  We do not accept students into our PhD program without being able to fund them and because we are a state school it often takes us longer than we would like to hear about our budget for the upcoming year. This is the case this year.  We hope to have a sense of what we will be able to do in the next week or so.  I know you have other offers you are considering and decisions you must make, and I apologize that we are complicating this process.   I will let you know as soon as possible."

I will read it over once and feel a little hope, and then re-read it and feel absolutely heartbroken.
 

 

14 hours ago, Old Bill said:

For what it's worth, I was at UNC's visit days yesterday and today (just got home twenty minutes ago, in fact), and chatted with the DGS about waitlist situations. He said that he should have a clear picture of the funding situation on Wednesday or Thursday of this week.

He also mentioned that prior to his stint in the DGS role, all waitlists at UNC were considered "acceptances"...but acceptances without guaranteed funding. So you could be "accepted" to the program, but they might not be able to pay you or offer tuition remission. Needless to say, the waitlist system is certainly a lot better! That said, it's obviously not perfect. Sorry to those of you who still haven't heard anything one way or another.

Incidentally, the way funding works at UNC is weird -- he said that around 70% of rejected offers simply "disappear." The funds don't get reallocated to other students, and funding has to come from elsewhere. Weird indeed...

 

 

Thank you both for the information! It's good to know that the uncertainty is probably almost over. 

[acciodoctorate]

To those of you waiting to hear from UNC (and I say this as both an undergrad alumni and a PhD reject) I'm sorry to say you might have to keep waiting.  I didn't hear from UNC until decision day last year.  I accepted an offer from my current program and assumed it was a rejection before that, but it was difficult considering I still love the school and the city from my time there as an undergrad.

[ThousandsHardships]

@acciodoctorate Just wanted to say, I love your username! 

Now if we could all just accio our acceptances and funding packages that would be uh-mazing.

Oh, and go early modernists!!