I didn't get in to the grad program I applied for.
fml. Now What - my plans for the next few years was sort of hinging upon this.
New plan, I suppose. Just have to figure out what exactly that will be.
I'm sorry. That sucks. Having your plans blown open is a "nothing can really be said" situation but I'll say this anyway: On February 13, 2007 I got laid off. On February 15, 2007 I was informed by the financial aid office that I wouldn't be doing the Peter Stark Program at USC (the Starkies didn't even bother sending me a rejection). And for March and April I had no clue what the hell to do. But May I spent three weeks in Thailand and June I started mixing national television. In July, I found out that the guy who changed the coffee was a graduate of the Peter Stark Program at USC. I was making about six times as much as he did, actually had my name in the credits and wasn't sitting on $200k in student loan debt two years in the future. Odds are, this isn't a similar bullet dodged. Odds are, it would have been a spectacular fit. But odds are, one door closed and another opens. Keep your eye out for open doors.
Damn. I so sorry to hear that sp00ns. Rejection from an academic program (or anywhere for that matter) is really disheartening and can be taken personally. But it is nothing personal as it is just a numbers and personality game. I have probably been rejected from more programs than have accepted me and I know the feeling well. Especially if you have your heart set on one in particular. I really wanted to do law at Oxford. Had the marks, had a glowing recommendation from someone who had her LLD from there (the highest law degree possible), had corresponded with the prof I wanted to study under and not being accepted fucking killed me. In hindsight that was probably a major factor contributing to me not finishing my 4th year of undergrad. I just gave up. But here I am with 2 more law degrees and with far less tea and scones in my belly. Not the end by far my friend.
Ach, I am sorry. That happened to me, so I know how it completely derails your life. I'd been working for a year to save money as well, so it all looked like it had been for nothing. It did give me the chance to explore other avenues, though, so even though you'll feel like crap for a while I hope something positive comes out of it. And don't listen to your friends with their boring platitudes! Figure out what you want — you can do anything you want now.
I know how you feel. My plans for living have been broken twice, so far: once when my health got me out of conscription (while I was mentally prepared to go through the mental torture that is Russian Army, all the while the health "problem" is gone now and was just a minor fluke), another time when I didn't the five more points (out of hundred) of the History exam necessary to attend the Novosibirsk State Uni (which is located right near my favourite Russian city). It sucks, but you'll soldier on. Life doesn't stop there, nor does your well-being. I worked a variety of jobs during the gap year, and it's been a good experience for me. I hope it's going to be so for you, whatever you decide to do. Have strength, and have faith.
Well, I can, but I didn't go to university to get a job, really. I'm a musician, and I'm an Academic, so I go to school because I love living and working in academia. Long term I want to be a professor at a university.
well, to me it means that I am always thinking of my topic of interest, trying to constantly see it with new eyes. It means I'll be thinking about stuff and go "I should write a paper about that". It means writing scholarly articles in your spare time because it's fun. It means being an unabashed, overenthusiastic nerd about your subject. Of course, all of those things can and should exist outside of an academic setting, but it's a lot easier for me to do those things inside of an academic setting, at a university.
Sounds to me like you should try taking the year and teaching undergrad at a college somewhere while you wait and re-apply? That should be an option at your education level. The pay won't be great, but it'll be in-field and in academia. Is it too late for you to start looking for adjunct/part time positions? Sorry to hear, spoons. Rejection sucks.
Well, this is my second Masters, and I wanted to study with someone specific. They want to work with me, the school they are associated with didn't accept me.
I've already been doing so - She's been helping me edit a paper I'm writing.
Did she write you a rec? It's my understanding with grad school at least in the hard sciences that if you can find a professor at the target university in the specific line of research you want, and get them in your camp, you're basically in, since all you're gonna be doing for several years is working with them.
Yeah, she did. Idunno, U of T can be a weird school. Super conservative about really dumb things. They might have just not liked my thesis.Did she write you a rec?