Datatape

"Doctoral Applications or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Booze"

YAAAAAAAY! So glad you got good news, Katia. As far as the phrasing, I think that's pretty standard, and even if the graduate school rejects you for some reason (which actually happened to me at the school I'm now attending thanks to my undergrad GPA being a hair shy of 3.0), generally all that means is the DGS has to fill out a form and send it over explaining that the English Department wants you and they can go suck an egg. In the meantime: go celebrate! Part your hair behind! Eat a peach! Preferably doused in the alcoholic beverage of your choice!

If anyone is applying to Nevada - Reno, I spoke with our graduate director this week and she said the committee is meeting February 7 and will likely have acceptances out by the end of the following week. Good luck, all.

I will say I was notified of an acceptance on a Sunday, but it was just because the DGS was very kind and was only emailing her accepted students in advance of the official notification. I never got an official notification (either acceptance or rejection) but Monday through Friday.

And adding on to this: very, very few schools in general will notify before February. This is likely the only time you'll be able to relax until April 15, so please try to take advantage of it. You will need that rest to help maintain your sanity through February and March.

My DGS has what she calls "the rule of four": that is to say, the total number of classes you are teaching and taking should never be more than four. I've followed it and it's worked out well for me so far - this fall, I taught one class and took three and in the spring I'm teaching two and taking two. When in doubt, I would err on the side of caution; you can always pick up another class later on if you need it and it won't do you any good to get burnt out early because you overloaded on classes.

I don't see why not. Just list it as "upcoming presentation" and you should be fine.

At some schools, you actually have to do this: provide them with two smaller writing samples that combine to about 20-25 pages. I specifically remember having to do that with one school (Kansas? I can't recall off the top of my head) last year. but yes, to echo everybody else, the DGS is the person who would be able to tell you one way or the other whether this is kosher or not.

Yes, good luck, everybody. I was in your position both last year and the year before, facing down a godforsaken number of applications and wondering how it all was possibly going to get done. I'm now attending a dream program that I love - you are all brilliant and I know you will do your best. Just breathe and remember ev-er-ee thang's gonna be all right. Rockabye. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSPjTAFn-l0

A 159 verbal score or 81st percentile is not the end of the world. It's certainly not the highest score any of these schools will see, but it's not so low that you should be automatically DQed from somewhere. Further, your odds are always going to be better applying to an MA than a PhD (I'm assuming that's the program you're applying to for UIUC?) - just breathe and remember that it's only one part of your application, and hardly the most important part at that. The purpose of the test is to show that you're not a complete ignoramus when it comes to English - that's it. As for your math score, unless you scored in, say, the 8th percentile, that should not keep you out of anywhere. As for rankings, that's an argument that's been hashed out time and again here on the forums. Suffice to say, all the schools on your list have excellent programs, so your concern should primarily be which program you feel most strongly about and want to attend the most. The fact that you already have such a positive amount of feedback from a professor at UIUC is a good sign; just keep moving forward and do your best as you pump applications out - that's all that can be asked of you.

These are all schools I applied to, over a course of two years, that did not require the subject test: Alabama, Emory, Florida, Georgia State, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Ole Miss, Nebraska at Lincoln, Nevada at Reno, UNC Chapel Hill, and Texas Tech. In addition, LSU and WashU recommended you have a subject test score, but did not require it, and in year one I was very, very close to getting off the waitlist at LSU without a subject test score. My advice: don't be so caught up in rankings that you overlook excellent schools that don't require the subject test. Many, many posters on here have turned down offers from higher-ranked schools because a lower-ranked one was a much better option for them and what they wanted to do.

My guess would be probably not, but with that said, you may want to write the graduate director and ask if they would consider a supplementation to your application after the deadline had passed. Some schools will, some won't, but it doesn't hurt to ask. I was concerned last year about my GRE subject scores arriving after the deadline for three of the schools I was applying to, so I emailed graduate directors about it. One very politely told me to go pound sand, but the other two were very encouraging and told me to go ahead and apply; it was more of a concern for the Graduate School than the English Department. I ended up getting waitlisted at one of those schools, so it's definitely not a kiss of death.

It didn't help me at all when applying. One of my letter writers was an alum of Oregon and personally wrote to my POI, who sat on the admissions committee. That's just my personal experience and doesn't relate to everyone, but I wouldn't hang too many hopes upon it.

My cohort ranges in age from 25 to early 50s and about a third are on the north side of 35. I don't think your age is an automatic disqualification at all.

I'm in three seminars this semester, two are required in our first semester and the third is the cornerstone for a graduate certificate. Tons of reading, tons of writing, but I'm having a really great time. It's the good kind of exhausted, I guess. Next semester I'm taking a class on ecological restoration with the woman who wrote the book on ecocriticism, which I can't wait for. There's so many classes that I want to take here - it's like getting a huge assortment of delicious looking candies and being told you can only pick out two or three at a time.

I believe if you send multiple scores, schools are beholden to only consider whatever the top score you send is in each category.

Background can matter, though probably not as much as you think. I earned my B.A. at a humongous state school and earned just south of a 3.0 GPA, then earned an unfunded M.A. with no teaching responsibilities at a private college with little to no name recognition outside of the state. I got into three programs last year, including the #1 school in my field, where I'm now attending. I can tell you that my incoming cohort had a wide range of educational backgrounds, including seminary school, large public unis, private colleges, low-ranked state schools, and public Ivys. You can't change where you got your education from, so don't worry about it.

Oh, Katia, I'm sorry. That has to be so incredibly frustrating. Just try to put your best foot forward, as much as you can, and remember that your math score is about the least important aspect of your application. Even if schools calculate your combined score, they'll still have to see that you did well in the verbal. But yes, for now, just take care of yourself. After the GRE subject test last year, I celebrated by eating a Fluffernutter sandwich and taking a nap, and I fully endorse that course of action for anybody feeling a little burnt out during the application season.

I wouldn't, unless your writing score was below a 4.0 (which I highly doubt it would be if you scored in the 84th percentile on verbal). The odds that you'll do much better on the GRE aren't terribly high, and as you said, it is a lot of money for something that isn't a huge part of your application. You'd be much better served putting your time toward working on your Writing Sample and SOP and your money toward application fees at one or two additional schools.

In all seriousness, I'm already working with a professor to get my Master's thesis ready for publication. I'm aiming to have it out by the end of the semester. After that, I'm going to try to be done with all my required courses by the end of the academic year and can then turn to the classes I want to take in year two. It turns out I'm also suddenly on a first-name basis with one of the leading scholars in my field, so there's that.

After this first week and a half? Surviving.

It's been a lot of work (a LOT of work), but I'm so jazzed about being here that it doesn't seem like it. I've got one class that's predominantly theory-based, one class that's pedagogy-based, and one class that's professionalization-based, so I feel like I'm getting very well set up for taking the rest of my coursework. There are ups and downs, as with starting any program, but the ups far outweigh the downs.