djb1993djb

i won't lie that my other admissions had greatly increased my confidence in my chances of admission to other schools, but it was not my intention to suggest I was expecting "guaranteed" admission to UCSC. suffice it to say today's blow to my ego resulted in a foolishly-worded post that seems to have stepped on a lot of toes. i will desist and rely on the hope that you all might accept my apologies for the impertinence.

I should apologize for my unfortunate use of those adjectives to describe my WS-- they were employed (in retrospect very poorly) more with a view to self-effacement than to any disrespect towards UCSC's English department. i guess my post did not come off that way

oh,,, ouch. forgive me. shocked as i have been from the good news prior to this rejection, i am somewhat disoriented to meet such a different perception of my application. of course, the success has probably gotten in some measure to my head. perhaps you are all right to interpret my reaction as bratty entitlement. this rejection is the verdict i initially expected from every school to which i applied. but i am genuinely curious as to the ultimate reason my application was rejected by this particular adcom-- and i'm left a little forlorn at the rather vague form letter issued me for its lack of answers. this post probably isn't helping my case-- ah, well. smarts a little to be on the receiving end of the mirth of this supportive community

rejected from UC Santa Cruz's MA program. This one comes as a bit of a surprise-- my GRE verbal and writing scores are perfect, I have a strong GPA, and had already been given lovely offers from NYU and PSU as well as an acceptance at UMD. I suspect I overplayed or was too theatrical in my answering of all the "diversity" questions (to which I personally/ethnically/culturally really do have a strong claim). Either that, or the department was truly concerned with the question of "fit". I could see why my work might feel too socially-disengaged/aloof/ivory-tower-ish for their mold, but I had gone in with the expectation that my interest in formalism/consciousness would have gelled well with all the folks with hands in the History of Consciousness department there. Nonetheless a bit of a headscratcher for me, especially considering there have been no admits posted on the boards yet

Update: DGS called to inform me of my acceptance to not only the MA program but pretty much guaranteed admission to the PhD program, in addition to a fellowship covering all tuition and fees plus a generous stipend. In hac spe vivo, this was indeed Penn State. I wouldn't despair quite yet, it's still rather early and judging by the results boards plenty of admissions were given later on in the year in the past. Needless to say am floored at the news, thanks everyone for the wellwishes. cheers!

Many thanks. On a related note-- does anybody know how common interviews are for English MAs?

Hello everybody, I'm wondering if anybody has ever received an email of the sort I did yesterday. The message below was sent to me from the director of graduate studies in English at a university where I am an MA applicant for Fall 2015, from their personal gmail account rather than one affiliated with the University. It reads: Dear [djb1993] I'm the Director of Graduate Studies in English at [university], and I'm writing to ask if we might arrange a time to talk about our graduate program. Are you available in the next few days? I look forward to speaking with you soon. --- I responded with my availability, and intend to prepare for the conversation as though it were a formal interview-- but the fact that nowhere in the message does that word actually appear, and that the email was sent from a non-University account, leaves me scratching my head as to the intended formality of this upcoming correspondence. Has anybody received anything similar this application cycle or in the past? Am I overthinking what is in actuality just a typical interview invitation? any and all feedback appreciated. NB: Application portal to the school does not indicate an admission decision has been made at this time. UPDATE: this professor just responded to my email wishing to schedule a phone call tomorrow-- a Saturday. Is this normal? Professional for the academy?