Congratulations. Have you heard anything from Penn yet?
Go olives! Wooot!!
Yay!
Congratulations! I remember that feeling oh so well. I try to remember it when I’m under a pile of books and papers and wonder what the fuck I was thinking when I decided to go to grad school.
Anyway, whether you go to Columbia or Penn, I’m sure it’ll be great.
Congratulations! That is huge!
I am very excited for you!
You know when beauty queens win and they look like they’re hyperventilating their hands are waving in front of their face and they are shaking? Well, I wasn’t expecting any acceptance letters yet and got a packet I thought was just more info about the school. When I read Congratulations! and full fellowship, I did the beauty queen routine involuntarily! I was getting my mail at work and my co-workers got to witness this too :o
Way to go Olives! Not that I’m in the least bit surprised, mind; I can’t think of anyone more deserving. 
Not yet. That was sort of the surprising thing – I wasn’t supposed to hear back from Columbia until March, so the news blindsided me completely. I just came home from work, looked into the abyss of the mailbox, and had given up until I popped open my email window. I was so excited and calling people that I forgot to eat dinner. I should hear back from Penn within 2 weeks.
Yeah, thanks for reminding me… jeez. I don’t know. What a decision. The truth is Columbia was my number one choice for several years right up until the interview with Penn, which went so amazingly well that I got confused. Then the acceptance letter for Columbia came and I’m even more confused. I can think of a million pros for each university and none too many cons. Both will require us to move, rearrange our lives and aquire large quantities of debt.
Clearly the solution to this problem is to attend both schools. 
And Karyn I thank you for your very kind words. They mean a great deal to me.
I realized I said something misleading above… Columbia was my number one choice when I was considering a graduate degree in Spanish Literature. After great consideration I decided to apply to Social Work… and was really only planning on applying to Rutgers… but soooooooo many people said, ‘‘You really should apply to Columbia’’ that I finally decided to check it out, at which point I fell in love with the program. One very special thing about Columbia’s Social Work program is that there is the possibility of concentrating in Clinical Social Work with a specialization in Services to Immigrants and Refugees. I’ve scoured the country for anything approaching that, and it’s very hard to find programs that are specifically tailored to providing bilingual services.
A second thing, which really impresses me, is the research focus. Too many people have said to me, ‘‘You can’t do research in Social Work,’’ to which I can now reply, ‘‘I can if I go to Columbia.’’
That’s all.
Heh. I was offered a full fellowship from my safety school and almost fell off my chair.
Turning it down to go to my first choice (which gave me just a tiny fellowship, those jerks) was the hardest decision I have ever made.
Wow. I’m so glad you have this all planned. I was dreading that you would be crushed under debt or something. And you’re right… house is irrelevant. Family is important. If you have love, you are rich.
Congratulations! What fantastic news.
Good for you, olives!
Congratulations! I hope you have time to post about grad school once you’re in; in another life, I would be doing what you are doing now and if I can’t do it, I can read about it!