Mar 30 2009
Hanging out in the Grad Cafe
Yikes!
Been reading some of the posts in the grad cafe forums …. just can’t get over how many people have received nothing but rejections (or unfunded spots, which isn’t much better).
That has got to hurt.
Every single application represents a huge investment …. not only do we wannabe grad students pay for the privilege of applying - and for multiple copies of test scores +/ transcripts to be sent - each one also involves a great deal of time & energy.
Statements of purpose, resumes/CVs, and especially rounding up letters or recommendation from profs all take time to write, edit, get….
All so much fun - but when it works it all feels worthwhile. When it doesn’t, though….
This year has been particularly difficult. The economy has impacted on a great many programs, and there have been a lot of cuts to both the number of positions and to the funding offered….which means there are even more disappointed people.
*sad*
I think that a lot of funding is related to invested monies. Trusts and so on. …so with the markets such a mess there is just less $ to draw on.
Enrollment at the college where I teach is up significantly. At the U. not so much.
I’m sitting here waiting to hear from the PhD program I hoped to start this coming fall. Their website continues to say that my application is “In Process” and the nice person in the grad school office, who I talked to at the beginning of the process to make sure everything had arrived, has not returned my call from a couple of weeks ago.
The suspense is brutal! I am a single mother and I will be moving to another city to start the program so there is a great deal to do before August. Yes, I have researched schools, neighborhoods, and housing prices. I have also come up with a Plan B for if I don’t get accepted and last weekend I started a meditation class to take the edge off.
What else can I do? No, I didn’t apply to any other program which, I can see now, was a mistake. I’m tired of hiding in my office and avoiding friends because of the inevitable question: “So, have you started packing your bags yet?” It is getting tempting to just say I wasn’t accepted and move on to Plan B which includes changing jobs and putting off, yet again, plans to leave town to start a PhD program.
It’s stupid, in my opinion. For long term improvement, education should be at the front of the line for funding. Skilled/educated labor is the only defense against a world of cheap unskilled labor.
Not that I’m opinionated or nothin’.
Oh, I do hope you get in Vic… the suspense would be HORRIBLE… but a rejection would be even worse
I was really lucky …. my husband kept saying that maybe I should apply more places… and he was probably right… but I applied only to 2 and got into my first choice… don’t know what I would have done if I hadn’t.
Grad student hopeful here — why does funding matter in whether a person gets accepted into a program or not? Is it just people who can’t afford to go without financial help? Or is it something else?
That is part of it I think. School is expensive. And if one has a family to support, which many nontraditional students do, funding makes a huge difference.
That is not the whole story though. I think that being accepted without funding would suck even if one were independently wealthy. If you think of it like a job it makes sense. …we want these guys here so much we will pay them to come. But you can only work here if you pay for the priviledge.
Which is not to say that people in unfunded spots are any less worthy. In fact, their willingness to perservere says a lot about their comittment. But it would hurt.