Nicko

Congrats to you all! Unfortunately, it turns out I'm not accepted anywhere... I still haven't heard anything from Boston but I suppose it's way too late now (how rude of them by the way...). It was nice to share this stressful time with you all, have fun!

Vanderbilt are pretty inconsistent! Sorry cicada, I can't really help you with your dilemma, all I can say is that it's good that you have one, at least you have somewhere to go! I've just been rejected from Columbia but they're still going to review my application for a masters there (an unfunded one probably, and I know they say this to everybody, so I have no illusion). Still waiting to hear from the other unis, not looking good though...

Yes, I think it's important that you talk to people on Skype, that will give you a good idea of what the uni is like. Especially students, I don't think they try to pretend their uni is better than it really is... And I totally agree about the city, it IS important that you love the place where you'll spend 5+ years of your life. I did call Columbia and NYU and it wasn't a fruitful exchange indeed. How did you find out that you were waitlisted at Columbia? Did they tell you? They told me I was still under consideration, plus I saw some people got a rejection email, so all of that makes me think that I'm waitlisted, but I didn't receive anything official to confirm this. Same thing about NYU, except I don't think they sent rejection emails to anyone yet.

I emailed a professor to make sure they did receive my application, and he replied that in fact I was waitlisted and he thought that the Graduate School would have told me. So either they did forget, or they just wait to know if you're rejected or accepted before they tell you anything. That's weird, I didn't receive anything from Columbia. What does it mean? Maybe I'm waitlisted and they also 'forgot' to tell me!

Thanks! Cicada, you should probably email them, I actually learnt that I was waitlisted at Brown by emailing them, they just forgot to tell me. Patrick K, what do you mean by 'status check email'? Did you email Columbia to ask them about your application? Sorry to hear that anyway. But at least you have NYU as a back up plan, which is not bad!

I'm waitlisted at Brown! I have no idea of what it means though, I don't know if it's (relatively) good or (slightly) bad news. I don't know how likely it is that I will be accepted eventually. Does anyone have any experience about that? Apart from that, still no news from the other unis, which starts to be a bit frustrating really!

Gosh, so many rejections! Sorry to hear that guys. I got a rejection from Northwestern as well. It's weird, I thought the interviews went really well... Still waiting to hear from the other unis, but I suppose I have to wait for the interview days to be done. Does anybody know when the interview days are/were for Brown, Columbia, UPenn and Boston Uni?

NYU said they'll give their answer in March, which makes me think that they're waiting for the interviews to be done before they tell me anything. So yes, the waitlist theory seems to be right Merci, j'espère que tu as raison ! Je suis quand même pas très rassuré, je pense être sur le fil du rasoir avec ces universités... What's the process with admissions after the open house? And how do you think they interview candidates?

This might sound a bit harsh but shouldn't we consider ourselves rejected from all the programmes which didn't reply to us? They already had their interviews, so it's surely over, isn't it? Just out of curiosity, what sort of price would that be?

Sorry to hear about the rejection. I was just rejected from Cornell today as well Still no answer from NYU, Brown, Columbia, or any other. Why do people hear back from them, and not me??!! NYU just told me that my application WILL BE reviewed! Isn't it too late already? They're probably just being polite, their interview day is in three days! Good luck Fransces, if they sounded happy, that should be fine!

Yes, do prepare it in French, although Northwestern didn't ask anything in French to me (well I'm French so it doesn't mean anything) or the other candidates at all. I suppose it depends, I did hear about a lot of unis interviewing in French. And yes, learn your SOP by heart, and think about as many theorists or general knowledge about your future research as you can. They might ask you some detailed questions, but most importantly, prepare some questions to ask THEM, it will show you're motivated and interested in the program. Don't worry and relax anyway, it's not very hard! Wj2011: does it mean NYU just invites all the people they rejected from the PhD programme to their MA programme?! Did they make you wait a long time before sending this news?? Maybe you can answer the question I ask earlier, I'm worried they're just not replying because I'm rejected, and their visiting day is early March, so I suppose I still have a long time to wait before they let me know!

It was pretty easy actually! Thanks for your advice! It was very informal and relaxed, but I still had to prepare a 15 min presentation of my interests. I had to meet some potential supervisors, etc., they mainly asked if I had some questions for them. I think it went well but we'll see. Now, I'm just waiting for other replies from other unis. I saw that NYU, Columbia and Brown already sent an email to their candidates to invite them for an interview day, but I didn't receive anything, does it mean I'm rejected? Do you think that not having heard from anyone yet is bad news or good news overall? Is it rude to email them and ask for some information?

It was pretty easy actually! Thanks for your advice! Very informal and relaxed, but I still had to prepare a 15 min presentation of my interests. I think it went well but we'll see. Now, I'm just waiting for other replies from other unis. I saw that NYU, Columbia and Brown already sent an email to their candidates to invite them for an interview day, but I didn't receive anything, does it mean I'm rejected? Do you think that not having heard from anyone yet is bad news or good news overall? Is it rude to email them and ask for some information?

The interview at Northwestern was pretty easy really. It was very informal, breakfast with the faculty, visit of the campus, etc. We had to do a 15 min presentation of our interests + introduce ourselves, etc, then we had five interviews with potential supervisors, but it was more like a relaxed talk, they mainly asked me if I had questions for them. Anyway, good luck with the interview!

Thanks! But do you think that not having heard from anyone yet is bad news or good news overall? Is it rude to email them and ask for some information? If I were you Patrick, I think I would go and do my MA at NYU, whether they accept you for a PhD afterwards or not, it still looks good on a CV, and it's a great experience...

Hi everyone! I didn't write anything on this discussion yet but I read everything you said with great interest! I still didn't receive any answer from any university (except from Northwestern who interviewed me two days ago), so I'm wondering what's happening! I applied to NYU, Columbia, UPenn, Cornell, Brown and Boston, and I saw that some of you already heard from them (whether good or bad news). I have no news, urgh, what does it mean?!

Hi all! I thought I would start a thread about PhD interviews in French (or languages in general), since I didn't see anything about it in this forum. Do you know what a grad school interview for a PhD in French is like? I saw somewhere in this forum that it was more of a casual thing, and you have nothing to worry about: if you have an interview, then it's basically like a definite acceptance... Is that true? I have an interview at Northwestern University! I'm still waiting for an answer from the other unis I applied to... It would be nice to have some advice from those who went through it!

Thanks I have an interview at Northwestern University! I'm still waiting for an answer from the other unis I applied to... Do you know what a grad school interview for a PhD in French is like? I saw somewhere in this forum that it was more of a casual thing, and you have nothing to worry about: if you have an interview, then it's basically like a definite acceptance... Is that true? Or should I revise everything like crazy?!

Hi, Thank you for your reply! I wrote my MA thesis on dandyism in the works of Barbey d'Aurevilly and Oscar Wilde (it was a Comparative Literature MA). My field of interest is mainly the writers of the fin-de-siècle Decadence in France and the nineteenth century in general. I would like to explore the fact that Barbey d'Aurevilly's rejection of society is paralleled by Alphonse Daudet's antisemitism, anti-parisianism and ultra-monarchism. More generally, I'm interested in the repercussion of Barbey d'Aurevilly's dandyism in the works of Huysmans, Daudet and other writers of this century. My background: I'm from the south of France (Avignon) and I'm half-Catalan, I was taught Occitan from an early age. I come from a very rural and traditional background. I started studying science in "Classes Prepas" then in a School of Engineering in Paris, but hated it. I gave up these studies - although they were quite prestigious - to study literature, in Montpellier first, and then in London at UCL. I didn't know the writing samples were so important! I thought they were looked at only to determine my level of French or English. Anyway, please let me know what you think about all this Cheers!

Hi! I would like to know what my chances are to get into a French PhD at top american universities, please. My GRE scores are: Q158 V160 A 4.0 I'm French, I did my undergrad in France (Montpellier), I got excellent marks (almost the best ones in the class). I did a masters at UCL in London, I got excellent marks too (71%). My three recommenders are from UCL. I think my statement of purpose is very good. I applied to NYU, Columbia, Brown, UPenn and Boston so far, but I think I'll apply for more. I just don't know what kind of uni I should be aiming for. Do you think I have good chance for the ones I applied for already and which universities should apply for in the future? Thank you!

Ok, thank you!

Hi! I would like to know what my chances are to get into a French PhD at top american universities, please. My GRE scores are: Q158 V160 A 4.0 I'm French, I did my undergrad in France (Montpellier), I got excellent marks (almost the best ones in the class). I did a masters at UCL in London, I got excellent marks too (71%). My three recommenders are from UCL. I think my statement of purpose is very good. I applied to NYU, Columbia, Brown, UPenn and Boston so far, but I think I'll apply for more. I just don't know what kind of uni I should be aiming for. Do you think I have good chance for the ones I applied for already and which universities should apply for in the future? Thank you!

Anyone?

Hi! I am considering applying for some PhD in the States but I have kind of a dilemma. I am French, I have a BA in French literature from a French university (Montpellier), and I have an MA in Comparative Literature at UCL. I will apply to NYU, Columbia, Cornell and Brown, but I would like to know if, being French, my chances to be accepted to these universities are higher if I apply to the PhD in French, or the PhD in Comp Lit? My thesis could be done in both these fields so I would like to choose the PhD for which I am more likely to be accepted. Please, could you give me any advice? Thanks!