Category Archives: applications

Almost Time

So there is this website (which I briefly mentioned before), GradCafe. There is a section on it where students post which grad schools accept or reject them. It is anonymous, minimizing any need to lie. My friend and I are obsessed with it, and while I can’t speak for her, I refresh the page every five minutes. Aside from seeing U. of Wisconsin reject every single person who applied, it gives us a sense of which schools are posting their decisions, and getting a general idea of what kinds of students each are accepting (the students posting have the option of releasing their stats like GPA, GRE scores, and such… again, totally anonymous). We have decided it is like American Idol for academics.

You can narrow it down by campus or field. So far the schools I have applied to have only released their decisions in the maths and sciences. The humanities are just now starting to pop up, and English hasn’t come up, until today. One of the schools I applied to sent a rejection to someone. That means they are posting their decisions. I log into my account with them, and my application went from “submitted” to “check your mail.” They do not release their decision via email or phone, but in an actual letter. A bit later I realized I had not checked my mail today. Nevermind that I had just stepped out of the shower… Nope… sopping wet, barefoot and in only a towel I run to my mailbox. As I am rifling through the box I am praying I didn’t just lock myself out.

Mind you, this is a very small box, meaning nothing gets lost in it. I had some junk mail, but that could have been from a previous day… so either my mail man hasn’t come yet, or I didn’t get any actual mail today. Both of these things are possible. I will check again later, but this time I will have some decency and at least put on some sock.

On an unrelated note, I am very excited about this thing I have been working on. Should I finish it up tonight, I will post it.

Ok… back to writing and page refreshing.

Well Then

It is official. The worst part about doctoral applications is the transcripts submission process. I just got another email this morning from a different school that cannot locate my transcripts. And this time it is worse. The first school that did this was terribly cryptic about the whole thing more or less telling me “there is something wrong with your application, but we can’t tell you what. Contact us immediately.” And then after a bit of back and forth it was resolved. The school this morning told me “there is something wrong with your application. We can’t find your undergraduate transcripts.Do not contact us. Resolve the issue immediately.” Well then.

And they have this attachment they need included with the transcript, meaning I have to reprint it, fill it out, personally take it to my undergraduate school, and have them resend it.

However, because I am terrible at following directions, I did contact their English department directly in regards to this. And got a prompt response back basically stating “what did we say about contacting us?”

Well then. I guess I know what I will be doing on Friday.

Update: They found my transcripts. Can you guess where they were? Under my maiden name. Which defeats the whole purpose of having a cover sheet attached to them stating my account number, current information, and/or any name changes.

 

And Done

This isn’t really a post, but more like a mini rant.

I have submitted the last of my grad school applications. A process that I never thought would end is now over. Well, as over as it is going to get. Now I wait.

Waiting is hard, but as long as I don’t think about it the months will pass and I will hear back, for better or worse. I guess this is no different than my test results, where all I could do was wait.

As I submitted the last one I realized it is all out of my hands at this point. I thought I would feel anxiety, but instead I feel relief.

It is over. I will never have to do this again. Oh my God, I will never have to do this again!

The process was as time consuming as an actual semester in school, and took just as long. Writing samples, statements of purpose, resumes, actual applications, and several other components. All neatly put together in electronic packets for each school.

And now I am off to distract my friend from writing about Austen with wine, tapas, champagne and flatbreads. She needs a break, and what kind of a friend would I be otherwise?