February 26 marks the beginning of Race for Grad Schools 2001 with the reception of a letter (dubiously dated February 20, 2001) from A. P. Martinich of the Graduate Admissions Committee of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin informing young Ian Vandewalker that he has been accepted for graduate study at the department. He has also been designated an "alternate" for a teaching assistantship, where competition is "exceedingly tough." God help us. Apparently, all the money for this degree is connected to the assistantship, so not offering Vandewalker the TA might put Texas out of the running. Thanks anyway. Vandewalker hopes this letter is the beginning of a deluge of acceptances, and sure ready for that to happen. Of course the safe school gets back to you first. But seriously, Vandewalker is excited and happy to have been accepted.
March 16, 2001. A black day in the small, confusing world of Ian Vandewalker. Princeton University's Philosophy Department has bizarrely decided not to accept Vandewalker for graduate study. Maybe he should have mentioned that his high school colors were black and orange in his personal statement. The general weaknesses of his personal statement weigh heavily on Vandewalker's mind tonight. If only he'd put a little more effort into it, kissed more butt, written more extensively about research interests. But hindsight is, as they say, 20/20. If nothing else, it looks like the wait to find out where he did and did not get in will soon be over. Here's hoping for the best!
April 2, 2001. Tucson says, "no thanks." Vandewalker says, "great" (sarcastically).
April 16, 2001. Rutgers University passes on Ian Vandewalker. Incomprehensible, I know. This little update page is turning out to not be so funny. It looks like I was a little too optimistic in naming the map. The deal now is to wait and see if UT Austin gives me any money or if I get accepted to Chapel Hill, which is still presumably possible, but does not look likely. I did have good luck with the one "wait list" I have been on for admission to an academic instution, but--at this point--who knows?
Cinco de Mayo, 2001. It has been some time since I have updated this cheerful Graduate School Update page. This fact may cast some doubt on the aptness of the "update" part of the title, but if that's the biggest mistake on my website, I'm doing pretty virtually good. I hope everybody's sitting down. The "news" is, Ian is not going to grad school next year. I have recieved phone and both informal and formal written confirmation of my lack of acceptance to Chapel Hill, and Jill G. Glenn wrote me an email a while back telling me that there was no more funding available at UT Austin. This is why the status of "The Middle" has changed to "too close to call," which is an election joke that is especially poignant for me, a Floridian who voted for Al Gore. Becuase they offered me no money and they were my last choice, UT has lost my interest as a graduate student. So next year I'll be a civilian, out of school for the first time in my life. I'll have to resort to freelance philosophy to keep limber. For those of you who are still interested in my plans, despite the fact that they do not include formal academic study, I am moving to Tucson, where I will be living with Keith "I did get into grad school at Arizona" Bentele and Jessica Willis. There I will attempt to infiltrate the University of Arizona philosophy department through means other than official application. If anyone reading this is--or knows someone who is--an employer of nerdy ex-college kids in Tucson, please email me.