BrandNewName

No, they did clear out the extra info. It said that the first admit had received an email from the head of the department, but didn't know anything else except that the weekend for accepted students was March 4th.

Still nothing?! I'm going batty waiting. And, in perhaps the most insidious trick Gmail has ever played on me, I just opened my in-box to find an email from the Chicago Tribune. I could have killed my computer. It was an advertisement for $100 off a flight to anywhere. Strange thing is, I never signed up for emails from the Chicago Tribune. So, I'm thinking it's definitely the adcom taking a more subtle approach to announcing admittance. Maybe I should just email them and tell them I accept... If anyone hears anything or decides to call for more information (anyone want to volunteer?), please update the hand-wringers over here.

Eng is one of my POIs as well at UPenn [dramatic flourish] and I was thinking about trying to run into him when I'm in the UK every now and again (my partner is at Goldsmiths). Alas, I haven't either. I don't think we'll be in direct competition though because I'm pretty sure UPenn is a very weak fit for me, I applied because I'm from Philly and my friends/family would kill me if I didn't. I would love to go there -- campus is amazing and I miss being in Philly, but the department is too focused on literature/I'm too focused on cultural studies for it to really work out. Hmm. I wish you had talked to him though, I would love to know when/if they are sending out decisions. Ok, but let's not get ahead of ourselves: Chicago. Congratulations to sausundbraus: fantastic news! Don't apologize, live it up! Whatever you did, they loved it and think you definitely have the "pedigree" for it - nice job!

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Germany repräsentieren! Okay, so I'm not the only other unhealthy person up at 4AM (?!) checking my emails...well, 3AM where you are. Ridiculous. But, I keep telling myself that it's still only 9PM in Chicago and something could come.

Oh dammit! Sorry, I checked not that long ago and it's already Wednesday where I am...wasn't thinking properly. All right, well I can still hold out hope for the end of the alphabet thing, right? Seriously though, I'd be really surprised if there is only one person on the boards who hears something. There's got to be more to come...

The single admit to Chicago, though, seems to be legit (or is at least keeping up the act) because they replied to a request on the results board for more info saying, "Responding to posting for more info regarding acceptance: received form email from department chair. No word on numbers admitted/applied. A generous stipend, health care, etc. Invited to departmental open house March 4th. Furthermore, I am 100% shocked to have been accepted. I didn't think I had the pedigree for Chicago!" I think they are probably for real. Based on the past few years, I told my partner this morning that I thought Chicago would start notifying today or tomorrow. No word of a fellowship, so I am going to assume that this person's a regular admit and, it seems at least, that answers go out around the same time. Maybe everyone has been notified, but I would be really surprised if there is only one person who frequents the boards who was accepted to UoC. If they're being sent out by the department chair, it may help to know that he teaches on Wednesday afternoons (yeah, I'm that obsessive about knowing). So maybe he shot off a few emails to admits, went to teach, and--as I'm sure many of us can relate to--was just totally beat after class, went home, and said he'll finish it tomorrow. At least that's the narrative I've constructed. And, of course, once that narrative is paired with the (probably incorrect) idea of alphabetized notification popularized in the Duke thread, this Y'er over here is able to keep his chin up. Joking aside though, I have a feeling that more admits will be going out tomorrow from UoC and that until more start popping up on the results page, no one should assume rejection.

Well, at the very least, you'll have the chance to be memorialized in stunning prose that is praised by the masses and Oprah alike, no? See, always a bright side.

One good thing about Chicago is that there seem to be many people on these boards who applied to the English program there and, as it stands now, there is only one acceptance to speak of. I think that means there are still more emails to come -- perhaps they are coming from individual professors and have to be sent by the end of the day? Who knows... although I'm anxious, I've not given up on hearing from Chicago yet. We gotta keep the faith! As for being utterly unproductive, I've now had a pile of student papers sitting on my desk for three weeks and they have to be marked by Thursday. I am going to do the unthinkable now, shut down my computer and only allow myself to turn it back on once I have marked 9 papers. The thought is terrifying...

Congrats to the first admit on the boards! I'm in the refreshing club as well. Good luck everyone!

I don't want to hijack this thread for the Literature program, but if anyone is out there lurking, I'd really like to talk to someone else who is going to interview for Literature in a few weeks time. I asked the secretary how many people got invites, she didn't tell me directly, but from what I can gather based on the schedule they sent out, it appears that they have spots for seven people to interview. Maybe nine. Now back to the Duke English waiting game -- I'm keeping my fingers crossed for everyone still waiting to hear!

I applied to English and American Studies programs this round. In total I contacted one professor at my top school because I genuinely wanted to ask about her work and whether she found an idea in a similar thread interesting. She did and it actually panned out into a vibrant email exchange and a half-hour phone conversation one afternoon. She was great and it definitely confirmed to me what my first choice is. I got no indication from her, however, that she could or would get me in...she said she wasn't on the committee this year (she's actually at another institution!) and that I should let her know what happens. At other programs I had plans to contact all of the professors I was going to mention as potential advisors. But I kept waiting and waiting because I wanted to be sure I could write a concise and clearly connective email about my plans and their work. When it came down to it, I never sent any of them emails (one or two I managed to chat up briefly at a conference and drop my name...it also helped that I had a cast on my arm, made me memorable when I shot them a quick email closer to deadlines to ask one final, brief question about something in their work). On the whole, my opinion on emailing professors in English/Am. Studies has changed quite a lot. I thought it was necessary, but as deadlines grew closer and closer, I began to feel that it was a pretty transparent process, especially because most of my SoPs mentioned two main advisors as well as 3-6 additional people who I would hope to interact with. So which person do you contact? I think unless there is clearly one single person you want to work with at a school and you have genuine questions, then go ahead and contact them. Otherwise, I attempted to ground the research interests presented in my SoP with two main advisors and mention connections to a number of other people in the department. We'll see how successful that proves, but my thinking became: I can maybe (MAYBE) get this one person on my side by emailing them OR totally turn them off to me...or, I could write a strong proposal and connect it convincingly to a number of people in the department in a variety of ways (thematically, methodologically, theoretically) and thus get a number of people excited by my project instead of just one who may not even be on the committee.

Sending good vibes your way - keep us posted!

I would concur with this. On the whole, I was lucky to find people who I would be thrilled to work with at the universities I applied to this cycle (most of which are Ivies and/or highly ranked by USNWR, etc.). If I was certain that my future as an academic was purely US-based, then I would have been more willing to go outside of the Top 20. In European academic markets though--I am thinking here of Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and the UK--I have been advised by countless professors that name recognition and ranking/prestige is HUGELY important in hiring someone educated outside of the country in which you are applying. For example, I did my undergraduate at a Jesuit university in New England that is ranked in the Top 40. When I mention the name of that university on this side of the ocean, most people don't know it, even though I would say most people hold it in relatively high regard in the States. Even my boss will often not remember the name of the place where I did my BA, getting it confused with other schools similarly named. The American university system is well-respected abroad, but the majority of people over here, by my estimation, know about 10-15 schools. Those 10-15 are invariably those that are most highly ranked and are perceived as better than the rest. Whether that's a good thing or bad thing is up for debate, but if you are considering teaching and researching abroad, then rank and prestige has to be taken into consideration.

What is standard practice for recruitment weekends in English and American Studies programs with regard to travel and accommodation expenses? Do most school cover the cost for admitted students to travel to the campus? Do they do so up to a certain limit? Or, is it every admitted (wo)man for himself with regard to cost? I am trying to sort out what to do about visiting a program for an interview weekend in two weeks time, but I know that I won't know about my fate at other programs by that point. Staying in the States for a month and waiting for decisions to roll in won't help matters either because even if one or two responses are positive, most recruitment weekends seem to happen towards the end of March. It seems like I am going to have to fly back for this interview weekend and, if I get another acceptance at a place that I like, fly back again in March sometime. It gets pricey pretty quickly, so I'm wondering if the as-yet-imagined school that admits me will pay for my travel. I know I could visit the schools I'm interested while home in two weeks time, but I feel like attending a recruitment weekend is a must for some of the other schools at the top of my list. I want to see the dynamic of the department (faculty and students as a whole), hear from professors I haven't yet discovered and maybe wouldn't think to take a class with otherwise, meet current students, and take a tour that will show me where graduate student life occurs. Just dropping onto a campus won't allow for that, I don't think. What's everyone else's take on this? Can you really get to know a school by just going on a one-off visit to the campus and (maybe) meeting with a POI and a current student?

This is what I ended up asking: Can you tell me something about the selectivity of these interviews? How many finalists have been invited and how many spaces are available in the program this year? I don't ask to be presumptuous, but to better gauge the importance of my being present on Prospectives Weekend as opposed to later in the month; it would be helpful to know if this final round is highly selective or a matter of formality. I hope I didn't make anyone angry, but I had to ask. Most round-trip tickets at the moment are going for around 500 EUR plus some change, that's half a month's pay for me (cost of living is very reasonable here). To have to do that in February and in March, not to mention again in August should I be so lucky...horrifying.

At the end, however, it does say that final admissions decisions will be made closer to 1. March.

Thanks for all of these replies everyone, I think I will contact them this week to find out more information about the selectivity of the interview process in addition to contacting other programs to find out further information about their visiting weekends. I just don't want to sound pushy or presumptuous in so doing. As to the odd titling of the event, I don't know what to make of it. The subject lines says Prospectives Weekend, the first word of the email is congratulations, but then it says that I've been named a finalist for admission to the program. After that some statement about me seeing if the program is a good fit and them finding out if my interests match with their offerings followed by a bunch of logistical details. Guess I'll have a few questions to ask the coordinator when I call. Thanks again everyone, my partner flew out of town this morning and with no one around to share my excitement except my beagle, I'm glad to be able to come here and gush a bit. And, I'd still be interested to know the others who have been invited and maybe chat a bit before going...

Received an invitation to prospectives weekend (Feb 18-19) earlier today. The Literature program is one of my top choices and I'm excited to be in the running, they've got some amazing thinkers on staff and the course offerings look phenomenal. Unfortunately, I'm based in Europe so I'll have to do some planning, thinking, and a great deal of spending if I want to be there in-person. I can't imagine that interviewing via Skype/phone would give me the same chance as those spending two days on campus with the faculty and current students. Big dilemma...especially because I'd like to only have to make one trip Stateside to visit schools before deciding (should I be so lucky to have options). A little over two weeks from now is much earlier than I was expecting, so unless I hear back from some other programs before then, I can't kill a few birds with one stone. Two transatlantic flights in a two month period is not good news for my back account. To the poster from the results board: there was no mention of total students invited or if offers of admission are only made to those students who interview. Sorry. Someone else posted that they got an interview invite on 28. January, anyone claim it?

Random question. Any significance to your username? As for the stats, I didn't take much from them, just something else for me to spend my time over-analyzing. I do love the program though. My research is on poverty and material culture, incorporating theoretical insights drawn from queer theory and performance studies. If anyone's interested I'd be willing to share more via PM. Good luck to you guys and, please, post as soon as you hear anything - I'm dying to know.

Glad to hear someone else is applying to Duke Literature, I was beginning to think I was the only one of these boards. I would just point out that I think that shift probably reflects budgetary concerns more than anything else. And, as far as disciplinarity goes, I would be hesitant to categorize Duke's Literature program as a Comp. Lit. program and to extrapolate Comp. Lit trends from it. Although they sometimes markets themselves as a comparative literature program, it seems to me that they have much more of a theory/cultural studies bend to them? Maybe I'm off base...anyone else? Even so, I did come across these statistics at some point in the application process and as disheartening as they may seem, they always seem to bring a bit of clarity (and calm) to the whole situation.

With a past and interests as varied as yours, American Studies would be a great fit, but there is another thing to consider about the danger of American Studies and other interdisciplinary degrees. Whether you like it or not, if you hope to work in academia, there is a solid possibility that you will only be able to find work in an English or history department. Oftentimes these more traditional departments look down on interdisciplinary degrees, or, in a more ideal situation, expect you to prove that you know your way around the canonical texts and movements of a given period. So, while American Studies may seem the dream program to encompass all of your interests, at some point you'll have to hunker down and specialize in a field so that you can market yourself post-PhD to both interdisciplinary programs and one standard type of program (as my example above suggests, I think English is your best bet here). Also, be aware that even in gaining this expertise, getting an interdisciplinary degree can prove problematic in the job market. Look at all the warnings against going to school for an English doctorate. Now imagine being someone who is going for a degree whose place within the traditional university is still questionable. For me, because of the strength of American Studies programs outside of the US, I am willing to run such a risk with an understanding that the only satisfying work I may find might be on the other side of the ocean. It's something to think about... As for specific programs, I would suggest that you continue investigating and that even though it seems like certain departments are too restrictive for your wide-ranging interests, explore them! So many traditional disciplines are now members of the church of interdisciplinarity. There are probably many cultural anthropology and area studies programs that would be a surprisingly good fit for you. Many, although I don't speak from experience, are committed to training you in the methodology and theory of the field, but allowing you to craft your own program of study and research as well. My biggest suggestion would be to begin thinking about your project, your dissertation. You've done a lot of coursework and if you're looking to complete a PhD, then yes the courses offered should be a consideration, but the bigger point of the PhD is writing your first book. So what do you want to say? Find professors at school who have said things that you'll turn to to buttress whatever you say or who seem to saying the same thing as you, but about a different author or time period. Once you begin to make these connections, you'll begin to find programs (be they American Studies, Cultural Anthropology, or otherwise) that make sense for you and your interests. This is long: apologies. In short, although interdisciplinarity is attractive (especially to those of us who feel suffocated in traditional departments), attending a program in American Studies does not mean you get to avoid the reality of university/departmental biases and hiring practices. If anything, in those interdisciplinary programs you have to work extra hard to ensure that you develop two or three fields of expertise early on and learn them through and through, you need that if you ever want to get hired.

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I consider myself an American (Cultural) Studies applicant, though I applied to more English programs than anything else. My list of programs is in my signature...there are a few American Studies programs (Brown, Yale, NYU, Harvard). Good luck with your applications and with surviving this waiting game!

Do Embark applications have an area where you can see the status of your application? For example, all of the applications I completed through ApplyYourself say "Completed" and the date that my file was marked as complete by the given admissions office. I assume that "Completed" will change to "Accepted" or "Rejected" at some point, can anyone confirm that? For one school (Columbia), there is an Application Status PDF in the Downloadable Forms tab that says my application is currently at the department. No other schools seem to have that available though... And what about Embark applications-- is there any place where I might be able to see "Under Review" or "Rejected"? I'm not expecting much news for another week or two, but I've seen that a lot of people discover their fate through the application itself before an email, letter, or phone call arrives. Can anyone offer some clarification, help an anxious applicant?