waparys

I actually had pretty broad criteria for fit, but only had certain places I'd be happy living. Brown looked great but Providence is too small for me. Same with Yale. (Obviously we're talking reach schools here). I'm 19th/20th-century British; modernism; language; urbanity.

I started out with a respectable list (12 or so--I know that's lower than most people's minimums) but realized I couldn't see myself living in many of the places. It really came down to "where do I want to spend the next decade-ish?" I ended up with four schools I'd love to go to, one that'd be a great school but not-so-great living situation, and two that are...degrees.

If there was a University of Tobago and they had a great English program I'd be there in a hot minute.

Edinburgh had lots of wine (during the program. I didn't visit beforehand, nor did they offer).

Last year I was invited to a finalist weekend at an Ivy graduate school of education. I ended up not getting in, but they covered my flights to and from Europe and paid for a hotel and certain meals. I don't think this is the norm...

You mean the ASF? No...

Michigan. Sorry for the late response.

Just checked--mine's listed as incomplete, too (but everything has been received).

Probably, yes. Writing a thesis shows a commitment to graduate study and academic pursuits. The same would be true of someone coming straight from the BA with a senior thesis under his or her belt. Other posters will also point out fit, but I'm guessing we're disregarding this for the purposes of your question.

"Modern Fiction," A Room of One's Own...those are just bi-products?

No love for Woolf?

0.9 inch margins.

I don't know about GA, but in PA non-US citizens can get driver's licenses. Anyway that's crazy. And probably a violation of privacy.

I'm pretty happy with my list. Maybe I wish I'd gone through with the complicated-looking application for UIC, since I'm dying to be in Chicago. I also wish I'd been more aware of which schools are international-friendly (or the opposite) instead of thinking my US undegrad would make that a moot point. Anyway. Oh and Two Espressos we overlap on 2/7 applied-to schools. And if you'd applied to two of your regrets, it'd be 4/7. May the odds be ever in your favor. And maybe I'll see you someplace!

Okay I tried to post this yesterday but GradCafe was havin' NONE A THAT. (But seriously, I still can't post using my normal browser--it thinks all my posts are empty. Help?) Anyway, are GPAs considered absolute? As in: is a 4.00 from a poorly-ranked, little-known program better than a 3.5 at a top 10? Will it get plugged into a machine along with GRE scores to determine if you make the first cut? What about international programs?

OK I called just now and was informed that we won't get a confirmation. As long as you were directed to the supplemental data form, that means you've submitted successfully. Which just means I won't be hearing from them until they reject me... Edit: This was Re: Harvard application submission, btw.

Well it's just my MA (MSc, really). My BA is from the US.

Yeah I would say, coming from the UK, that it's very difficult to get an "A" (aka over 70 in British terms). I sincerely hope adcomms are aware of this...

I'm so sorry. This is so not how you want to start out decisions season. I'm not sure who you've been in touch with but try to reach out to the department. Maybe consider having your professor call them herself? If not, you have some other wonderful programs on your list and you're clearly very well prepared. Try to hang in there.

I'm so sorry to hear this. Don't give up hope yet. I'm a little screwed, too. They still don't have my MA transcript (BTW why do some schools INSIST on originals???) and I was first told they could use self-submitted scans (this was way before the deadline). Then the person I was in touch with said: oh you're an international student, we definitely need your originals NOW. Yeah, thanks.

This only happened with my SOP. Once I was done with my writing sample, I was too scared to look at it again.

Is it relevant?

That's my point.

I would put Stanford in no. 2 with Penn and Columbia. I would switch Brown to the lower tier. Dartmouth barely registers on most radars because of its size.

I'm hoping the reputations of my BA (non-HYP Ivy) and MA (Russell Group) institutions will get me past the first round of cuts. I know that's shallow, but I feel like I'm up against some pretty tough odds as an international student so I'll take anything if it'll help me stand out. It's just another way we play the game.