KyCountry

Sorry for the confusion, guys. I would never leave a school hanging like that. I just didn't know if there was a formal "release" process involved. I talked with the school today and everything was fine. I let them know I had a better offer and couldn't pass it up. Hope this helps someone else.

Hey, guys. Quick question. If I've only verbally committed to a school (with GTAship) via email to the DGS, do I still need to be "released" by the university if I decide not to accept? I've heard this word being thrown around and wasn't sure if it only applies to people who have signed something or sent a deposit in. I haven't paid anything, signed anything, or enrolled in any classes. I was just pulled off the waitlist of my top choice and wanted some clarification. Hopefully this helps someone else as well.

Baggies too?

This thread's a joke, right?

Mine was generic as well. However, I will likely be taking myself off the wait list, so hopefully it will help someone!

I'm waitlisted there for the MA. So feel free to turn down the offer!

I've thought about this a lot as well. It's like chosing between the girl that's crazy about you or the one that just decided she's willing to settle for you. (At least, in my weird mind.)

It definitely depends on the university and I'm sure that each department learns their general trends from previous years. But for, say, a non-top 50, it would make sense for the waiting list to be the same size or larger than the list of accepted students. Take this scenario: University of A is lower tier and is generally considered more of a safety-like school for qualified candidates who don't get into any of their top programs. They accept 15 students and 8 decline the offer. They offer the remaining 8 spots to the first 8 on the waiting list and 5 of those candidates end up chosing other schools (or get off the waiting list somewhere else, etc.). Then the 5 offers go to the next 5 and so on and so forth. It's statistically possible to run through a waiting list much larger than the number of accepted students. But like I said, I'm sure each school and department generally knows what to expect, as the trends shouldn't be drastically different from one year to the next.

I've been told that in some cases, you can try and defer an unfunded offer in hopes of getting funded the next season. I'm sure it all just depends on the department.

Thanks, Alex! I'm shooting you a PM.

Bumping this thread. Anyone else considering K-State's English MA program for Fall 2014?

WARNING - May contain extremely irrelevant and long-winded material. Greetings from Hilltopper country. I've been reading a lot on the forum and figured I'd pose a few questions for the more knowledgeable. History - I'm currently an English student at WKU with an emphasis in creative writing. I will be graduating in May and want to fully pursue a career in academia. My college career thus far has been- well, pretty interesting. My GPA blows. I think, as it sits, I'm at a 2.65 or so and will likely have above a 2.7 during the application process. My career began in agriculture and engineering which definitely didn't help anything and since then, I've really been all over the place. I did a semester at Oklahoma State, was hospitalized with wicked mono during finals (not exactly a GPA booster), moved back to Kentucky and was unable to get my application processed in time at UK and had to do a semester at a community college, then two years at UK and will finish up with two years at WKU. My motivation didn't really kick in until last semester when I decided to go to graduate school but my last few years haven't been all that bad. I had what I like to rationalize as a 'transition semester' when I first arrived in Bowling Green and did poorly but other than that, my last 2.5 years have been above a 3.0. Goal - Teaching at the college level. Situation - I haven't taken the GRE yet (I am scheduled for Novemember) but I realize my application is not going to be competitive. I am getting married in the summer and due to the wife student-teaching in Kentucky the following fall, don't want to move more than 300 or so miles from Lexington. I'm also still undecided on the whole MA/MFA thing. My writing skills are much better than my GPA and I believe I would have a much better shot at an MFA program but am also interested in the comp. field. To be honest, I love creative writing and I love comp. as well (from the few classes I've taken). That being said, there's a chance I would attempt to pursue a PhD in comp. one day but not even sure if an MFA would suffice for a PhD program acceptance (since I guess it's considered a terminal degree). Also, I obviously want to attend the best school possible but money is certainly an issue. So if I was to get accepted into a not-so-prestigious-outside-the-small-alumni-community school with some funding, I would certainly be thrilled. To make things even worse, the wife and I are small town folks. Talking her into moving to a big city is out of the question, so rural schools are much perferred. (Of course you can be picky with a 2.6, right?) Questions - Okay, guys. What should I be shooting for here? Disregard the fact that I haven't completely made up my mind about the English MA or Creative Writing MFA and assume I would be willing to apply to either. Actually, I'm way ahead of myself. Would it even be realistic for me to get an MFA and then apply for a PhD in the comp. field? I'm sure I would have some explaining to do anyway. But what schools do I have a realistic shot at that won't bury me financially? I've talked with WVU, Marshall, SIU, Murray State and of course, WKU is still on option. The only reason I am contemplating going elsewhere is due to 1) the possibility of pursuing an MFA, which WKU doesn't offer and 2) the assumption (from what I've been told by current professors) that going somewhere else will look better on my PhD application. Are there any solid but rural programs I should be looking at? I know Winston-Salem isn't a small town by any means but I've looked into Wake anyhow, for example. Side note - Neither of us are too keen about living in Lexington (we are both from the area) and attending UK again but will certainly shoot an application their way anyhow, due to the funding possibilities. Even Bigger Question - Is there a real difference between applying to a PhD program with an MA vs. an MFA? I'm aware that it would depend on the field, I was just wondering if there are people in MFA programs who are planning to get a PhD. I feel I would thoroughly enjoy an MFA but would never expect a decent job with JUST the MFA. I apologize for the crazy length and complete randomness of this post but I'm trying to obtain as much information as possible. Most of the people I've talked to attended graduate school a decade ago and I thought it would help to be advised by students who have undergone the application process recently. Thanks for any help I can get.