So, here is some of the text of an email I received from a woman in the Asian & Middle Eastern Studies program at the University of Pennsylvania this morning:
We are in the process of reviewing applications for admission to our graduate program in September 2004. I cannot tell you anything official yet, but unofficially I am certain you will be admitted. We are now working on fellowships. We plan to make every effort to be able to offer you a fellowship for next year.Here's some more of the text:
I know Prof. Hurst called you last week to let you know how impressed we are with your application.And here's some more:
Dear Jeffrey,What I'm getting at here is that this email came to me by mistake. I never got a call from this Hurst fellow and my name's not Jeffrey. Which is fine, save only this: I don't know what the hell to think. On the one hand, maybe the email came to me because my name's on the list of accepted folks and it's only the name and phone call that were wrong. On the other hand, maybe Jeffrey just has an email address very similar to mine and the woman clicked on the wrong one.
I might get in, I might not. I've got no way to know yet. But an email like this doesn't make me feel good about my chances and if I don't get in then the email just becomes cruel. And I was doing so well at not thinking about it, too...
note: the order of the quoted text above was changed for dramatic effect.