Feeling Two foot small

Alas, a whole week since my last update; we've spent the last week looking at many schools, and generally beginning the glorious process all over again of applying to graduate schools. Having a year break between applications is a good reason to me for a two year master's degree, instead of only a one year one, but alas and alack, it was not to be for us.

Currently we're applying to: Yale(Connecticut), UPENN (Philadelphia), Duke (N.C.), Johns Hopkins (Baltimore), and Wisc-Madison (Wisconsin). We're looking for another school to add to this list, because we need another "safety" school, ie, a school that doesn't have a 4% acceptance rate for the department we're applying to (Duke) or even a 7% rate (Yale). We like Wisconsin's stats a lot more (58%). Partly it's more, though, because they don't have nearly as good of financial packages as the first four schools, which basically guarantee complete tuition payment, plus a stipend and health care (but for Avram only; I can dream), which means they can only let a very limited amount of people in.

Currently I just changed the music I'm listening to to "You've Got to Hide Your Love," by the Beatles, because the sentiment "feeling two foot small" aptly applies to the feelings of graduate school applications, although it could also be expressed as two inches small as well.

I must clarify here, that I'm actually not applying to get a doctoral degree at all; only Avram is. But I'm so wrapped up in it, and certainly my future is so affected by it, that I feel like it's "we" that's applying. Just like in a way, I usually tell people that 'we're having a baby.' Because Avram and I work differently, it's helpful to have both of us involved in the application process; I thoroughly read ever website for all of the small, yet vitally important information on applying, the program, etc, while Avram gets to fill out all of the forms. Also, he gets to write to the professors he's potentially interested in working with, and say inane things like; "gee, I like you. I think you'll like me. Please let me in?" Okay, so it's a good thing Avram has to write these emails and not me. They're important because in the application you're supposed to say who you want to work with in the department, and of course it helps if you've found out from that respective professor if they hate your interests, or are terminally ill, etc, etc.

Luckily, all of our applications are online, so we don't have to worry about the vagaries of international mail.

I'm sure all of my dear readers will be hearing a lot more of this subject over the next while; most applications are due the beginning of January, so we're not out of the grisly application jungle yet. And then comes the interminable waiting.... I just tell myself that by the time our baby's born, we'll know for sure where we're going to school. Then it doesn't seem so long. And somebody has to let us in, right? Actually, no. I know someone who did classics, and was very impressive as an undergrad, and he went through two rounds of applications to grad school, and didn't get into anywhere, and then he changed his tack, and applied for law school, and got a full scholarship at a prestigious place. I can't decide if this depressing story has a happy ending, or not.