PhD application saga:

So, the recommenders showed up. And one by one, the letters are rolling in. I am a little hopeful.

And also anxious since there's a mere 4% acceptance rate.

But now, we shall wait...

🐀
*Goes into hiding to anxiously binge-eat*

@rutee07 cheese balls 😏
And I'd share, only if you bring me snacks next time!🐀

Don'tose hope, and work on te personal connections while you do it.

It 90% personal connections, and 10% qualifications.

So what you mean to say is at a 4% acceptance rate you'll have to apply 20 times to have a 50% chance of acceptance.

Make your own luck.

when I'm anxious about this kind of stuff i try to think about something else, que será será. it doesn't work for me, maybe it'll work for you 😂

While I applaud your academic achievements and truly wish you the best, I can't help but dislike the fact that earning a PHD seems to have very little to do with merit and more to do with the whims and likes of a group of boomers sitting down thinking if they can put their own biases out the window for a bit in order to grant you the honor of earning your doctorate.

To me you seem intelligent enough, to a lot of people as well, just don't let it discourage you whatever happens, this is not a reflection of you, but a reflection of the boomers making the decision.

@rutee07 😏 I doubt you can get the second, so I'm content with the first.

@TheCommoner282 @Wisecrack
Not how it works 😛 they get about 1000 applicants and about 40 places to fill each year.

@magicMirror as much as you're right, it seems super counterintuitive. I mean, academia was supposed to be the one place a lonely brainiac could live happily.

@darksideofyay doesn't work either. My future plans depend on this, and my future company, and the stakes couldn't be higher.

@AleCx04 yeah... If this doesn't catch, I'll have to make another uni invest in a similar project. I have a dream, and that dream is currently a running project so let's hope they let me in.

@NoMad nothing but my best wishes for you! you're gonna go far! and hopefully I will be able to ask for your input whenever I finish my masters degree and move on to the PHD. I have faith in you!

** puts hands to the sky to give you my ki

@AleCx04 same to you! May you create things that bring in "cash, cash, money" for you and goodies for others!
... and advance science for humankind and stuff 😜

Any word yet?

@devphobe nope. Gotta wait till mid feb. I'll keep you posted. I don't have much confidence tho, so don't get your hopes up. 😜

@NoMad "you miss 100% the shots you don't take" is not simply a turn of phrase, it is the literal truth. There is any time you go for it, a not insignificant chance that you are approved, accepted, or gain what you're after purely as a fluke of luck.