Wake Up, Sleepyhead

Taking eyes-open pictures at 6:45 in the morning is apparently not my forte. This is what I wore last week when I headed out for a campus visit to my top choice grad school. Apparently they liked what they saw, as I was accepted this morning! Pretty darn happy here in alltumbledown world. It is possible that I'm currently sitting at my desk, listening to 80's pop radio on Pandora and snacking on red hots (while being incredibly productive, of course.)

* navy sheath dress-- Target * grey grandpa cardigan-- H&M * black tights-- Calvin Klein * black flats-- Kenzi Girl * western belt-- Goodwill Outlet * camo headband-- H&M *

As with all my campus visits, I was looking for a relaxed but professional look. I picked one out, and while getting dressed at 6 AM, threw that look on the floor and went with this instead. And this is why I don't plan my outfits in advance.

And now, a bit on my grad school saga, aka what has been consuming my life for the past several months. In history (and most humanities fields), you aren't just applying to a department, but rather to work with specific professors studying your time period/theme. Given my interests, that narrowed the field down to about 15 schools across the country. Add to the mix a husband in med school who needs to apply to residencies in less than a year and applying as an Orthodox Jew with a need for an observant community (synagogue, access to kosher food) nearby. Oh, and these programs accept maybe one person per year in my particular field.

Hello, challenge. 

I ultimately applied to 8 schools, all for the PhD track. I was initially approached by one of my top two choices with an unofficial offer from a professor, but when results came out a few weeks ago, my subfield was denied a spot. Ugh, funding. I received several acceptances, but most of the cities would have been impossible this coming year (way too far to travel back and forth to see hubs), and had few residency opportunities for next year, meaning there was a chance that we'd be separated for the duration of residency. While these programs are excellent, I like my husband a bit too much for that. I also received an invitation to visit what had been up there with the first school as my top choice for a visiting day, pre-acceptance. I knew it meant my chances for getting in were high, but that I was not guaranteed a spot. Despite the visit day being on a Friday, I made sure to attend for as much of the day as I could before heading back for Shabbat.

This morning, I headed to work as usual. Sat down at my desk, opened up gmail, and was greeted by an email that read:

I am delighted to inform you that the Graduate Committee of the Department of History at [top choice] with the approval of our Associate Dean for Graduate Studies, has selected you for admission to our Ph.D. program beginning in Fall 2011. You are part of a very talented group of students, chosen from an applicant pool of almost 400 candidates.

Jaw drops. Crazed waving of hands and jumping up and down ensues. Thankfully, I was alone in the office at the time so nobody saw me getting my groove on.

Now, top choice is not in New York , but it is close enough that I'll be able to head back and spend weekends with hubs. While that situation isn't ideal, I do think it will be good practice for residency. The city I'll be moving to has a good amount of residency options for hubs, so hopefully our commuter relationship will not last longer than a year. After being burned by other top choice a few weeks ago, I'm waiting to receive official letter in the mail before informing other programs/giving notice at work, but it looks like I am heading for some new adventures come fall!