Mad props

[jacib]

I feel like this past week there has been some small increase in negativity on the board. With the first acceptances trickling in in the Social Sciences and the Humanities and the rate of interview invitations heating up/becoming finalized in the Sciences, everyone seems to be a little bit more on edge. With that in mind, I thought I'd take this opportunity to list a few people whose comments and advice I've found particularly helpful and, moreover, sanifying (am I missing a real word that means "to make one sane", "to cause sanity"; pacify and the like do not carry the sense of mental health that I hope to indicate). I'd like to indicate some people who are especially praise-worthy but go unrecognized.

Completely off the top of my head, without looking back at older posts, I'd say that, though they've been quieter recently, Coyabean and LateAntique both deserve special acclaim for their consistently good, insightful, positive, encouraging posts, all given while still being (in my view) realistic with people's expectations. Anything posted by either of them carries a knowledgeable, friendly and realistic weight in my book. Peppermint.Beatnik I could say belongs in the same category, though she continues to post as much as she did last month. Captiv8d, Modernity, Melusine, and ColorlessGreen are four women (I think they're all women, at least; for some reason, I mentally associate the four of them) who consistently post useful, pertinent things while being both positive and realistic, and upon whose heads I wish extra goodness to fall. Within the field of Sociology, I think RollRight, who isn't even applying this year, deserves some special commendation.

However, if I had to give one person an award for the most useful comments in the past few weeks, I would without a doubt give it to Fuzzylogician. Anyone who has read his posts will know why.

Yes, this post only featured people applying in the Humanities and Social Sciences, but that is because of the limits of my own experience. Who deserves props in Science and Engineering?

Please do not make this thread into anything but giving props to people who deserve it. Or telling me if there's a real word that means "sanify". Please, give your own praise to particularly praiseworthy posters. It can be to someone I’ve already mentioned, if you personally have found their posts helpful. All the people I’ve singled out are frequent posters, but you need not be. Hell, let me add one more: Eucalyptus deserves praise for posting her interesting and detailed interview experience, after noticing no one had put up anything similar. Though I’m not in a field with interviews, I’m sure many people found it useful and calming. I know I would have.

Be as specific or general as you like with your props, even if it’s just along the lines of “yo, I agree x is great”. Now is when I think a lot of people need to hear a little bit of praise, so even if you don’t post much, I’m sure your stressed out fellow applicants would love hearing from you.

[jacib]

While I don't want to turn this into a forum for criticism, and I really hope no one says, "Hey why not me?!?!?!", if people add to this and you still don't see your name though you post frequently (especially the people who joined within the past month), perhaps you should ask yourself "What do these people do that is appreciated that I do not do?" I firmly believe that people should lead by good example, and by that standard, all the people above are better leaders than I am.

Also, yo, if you respond to this, please don't quote my whole spiel in your reponse. Quoting long things makes the thread harder to read.

Oh and there are several people, particularly in history and anthropology, who also deserve praise but whose user names simple didn't come to my head at the particular moment that I wrote this piece. Please, someone fill my omissions!

[alexis]

I appreciate much of the great advice and support on here, I also appreciate socialpsych, since she (or he?) is in my field and really offered some great insights.

P.S. I think fuzzylogician is female...I think there was a discussion on here awhile ago about how it's hard to tell genders and we do assign them based on our impressions...that would make for an interesting study!

[modernity]

I agree with the names listed here, and I would also add your name to the list jacib. I think this forum is insanely helpful, I don't know if I would have gotten through this process without it. I appreciate recognition, I don't know that I deserve it though - I just have studied the admissions process like crazy since I was rejected across the board last year, and try to offer any insight I've gained with others in hopes they don't have to be quite as obsessive about it as I was! I haven't been around much since as I mentioned in a post I am dealing with some major upheaval in my life right now - but this board, and many of the members on it, have kept me chugging along on my application process and I am incredibly thankful for it. They know who they are, I think! If I do manage to get in anywhere this year, I have this board and its members to thank for a significant part of it. After searching through numerous other grad app. forums and pages, I was glad to finally find a place where people were realistic but not caustic. I think we also have to thank all the moderators for keeping up a place like this for us!

P.S. Your suspicions are correct jacib, I am a female.

[Lantern]

I agree with the above posters, but also wanted to add alexis to the list of super-helpful posters. I wish I had a better memory so I could post more details, but I do remember posting a question for which I really felt that I needed an immediate answer. Alexis posted advice almost immediately, was super helpful, and just came across as being very level-headed. Thanks for that! And thanks to everyone who helps out with such sincere and generous advice. It is so nice to have a place to turn to for great advice when all of us need so much of it!

[Roll Right]

Interesting, Ive never been any good at discerning who was male or female here. I dont think it really matters either way. Thanks for the props jacib, but hell, you deserve some commendation, so I second modernity.

Consistently you provide information that has been useful to me, and constantly contribute to stimulating discussion. Furthermore, you hit me up with some great GRE study tips. Im indebted.

Heres to jacib.

Edited February 1, 2010 by Roll Right

[melusine]

Aw! Thanks for the cyber-love! *blush*

I second all of the above (esp. jacib for starting this!) and would also like to nominate joro, who's been very supportive of many people on this forum, despite having to deal with a pretty horrible situation himself (the MIA Lor). *clap-clap*

yay- this is like the gradcafe golden globes!

[fuzzylogician]

Thanks for the love! It's nice to be appreciated

I agree with all of the above. There are so many great people on the board!

For the record, I am female, but I am very often confused for male - even in real life (it's hard to tell by my name). I've often wondered why that is...there must be some study that asks people to decide what a writer's gender is based solely on the text? If not, *ahem*, dissertation topic!

[Lauren the Librarian]

I think this is a really good group of people. And a rather large group at that. There is so much good info being shared and support being doled out, that I find myself being drawn back atleast once or twice a day (and not just to check the results page).

All y'all rock.

Edited February 1, 2010 by Lauren the Librarian

[LateAntique]

Gee wiz, this is actually very nice. Thank you so much for the mention.

[coyabean]

Wow. How did I miss this?!

Well, thanks. I have been quiet lately because my negativity has gotten me down, and I refuse to spread that around!

I really just try to give back some of the kindness extended to me. Rising_star has been awesome. I've had folks respond to my messages with wonderfully detailed comments that no one could expect of someone in the midst of their own process (I'm looking at you vanishingpoint!). I continue to be amazed by how generous some people are.

Edited February 1, 2010 by coyabean

[Hatem]

I would like to thank all the members who shared their experiences with us.And I would like to add UnlikelyGrad to the list.She's a very helpful member here in the forum and through her blog too.

[ColorlessGreen]

Thank you for the mention! (And you're right, by the way, that I'm female.) I absolutely agree with everything in this thread - The GradCafe has been a joy to be a part of during these crazy months. It's full of so many supportive and genuinely helpful people. I'd like to say thanks to fuzzylogician in particular, who makes me proud to be a fellow linguist; to rising_star, who is a bastion of common sense and clear good thinking; and to jacib, for keeping even the most heated discussions friendly. Folks, you are all fantastic.

[piccgeek]

Everyone listed has been very helpful and supportive! I appreciate you guys so much, you keep me sane in the dark hours of waiting. Merci beaucoup!

[Smaudge]

Out of everyone, I nominate fuzzylogician again. She listened to my nervous explosion of questions and even thoughfully responded with wise encouragement when I inevitably gave her a summary of my writing sample and I asked if I was good enough.

Edited February 1, 2010 by Smaudge

[jacib]

Out of everyone, I nominate fuzzylogician again. She listened to my nervous explosion of questions and even thoughfully responded with wise encouragement when I inevitably gave her a summary of my writing sample and I asked if I was good enough.

I was away for a few days but I'm really glad people used this! Sorry about the gender mix up Fuzzylogician. If its any consolation, at least one person on this board has confused my gender as well. I remember at least one person I mixed: Lauren the Librarian has told me really really interesting things through private message (the latest I still need to respond to).

Yes and I "sillily" forgot to prop the admins, who obviously deserve it.

I lessthan three this board.

[melusine]

I lessthan three this board.

lol! I'm using this!

[jacib]

lol! I'm using this!

Ha, back in the day, a few of my friends started signing emails:

emo<3.

lizzi

Or whatever. And that obviously evolved into different things... </3 was a favorite. My friend Lizzi swore she'd get "<3" tattooed on her arm when she had the money.

....I was really worried that, without enough context, this was going to be too dorky a reference for even this board. I'm glad to know that there is no such thing.