Porridge

I can't upvote, but well done!

In at Iowa. I am declining.

Ha. Accepted into Iowa

Dear Fishbucket, Tell me. Love, The Internet.

I'm still waiting to hear from UIowa (implied rejection), UBuffalo (implied rejection) and UWashington. Don't care. I've made my choice!

Yes

I'm 35, will be 36 when I start the program. This is very very common in my country. That said, I'm off to the States to undertake my PhD.

I took a gap 9 years...

Take it as a learning curve. You may not be successful this time round but you haven't failed. You will have learned to do things differently. After April, email the Chairs and ask for feedback on your application.

Two programs have been very very proactive with me - one less so. My feeling is this: the treatment you receive now may be an indication of how you will be treated once you are in the program. No contact now bodes poorly in my books.

ditto re my application status. I'm hoping they email rejections since it could potentially take a month before I receive a postal letter.

Petrified: I have to finish my thesis. I have to prepare visas. I have to finish somewhere to store everything. I have to find someway of living when my stipend runs out. I have to find somewhere to live in US while still abroad. I have to book tickets and organize my pets to be flown to the US. I am stressed. I think I know what offer I am going to accept though. Good news. Still bloody stressed!

Off topic, I'm curious why you didn't apply to UIowa as the English department seems very supportive to DH.

Even with 7 acceptances, I suspect you would feel still like an imposter. First, you deserve your offer. Clearly, you are a penetrating scholar - your writing style on this site betrays clean judgement and cogent ideas. This admissions process is essentially uncontrollable. Too many applicants are vying for a few places and universities will turn away excellent candidates because, in these fiscally-dubious times, they cannot afford them. Aint nothung to do wif you, sweets. Just keep on being brilliant.

Hi there! Thanks for the thoughts. I will be unable to visit since I'm not in the country but I am speaking to faculty and grads at both places. I treat the negative attention directed towards UChicago with a grain of salt and I prefer to trust my gut. From my conversations thus far, it seems to be a supportive environment. I wouldn't expect a coddling environment. Instead, I demand an intellectually challenging environment with opportunities for collaboration. That said...I don't know what to do yet!

Digital track.

I've just declined the offer at UWM.

Does undergrad prestige really matter? Or is it, rather, that prestigious universities have excess funding to invest in undergraduate students (thereby devoting more materials and resources to upskill them)? I suspect it is the latter.

Would it be too early to decline an offer?

Can I, for a moment, scream at this choice?

Do you mean waitlisted for funding? What is your speciality?

I'm having many conversations. And the decision feels incredibly complex. UPenn is very very attractive to me for the reasons you have described.

Avant-garde poetics, new media and digital poetics.

Yes, I'm skyping. It's just...just so hard.

How do you make a decision? I'm torn between awesome (UChicago) and awesome (UPenn).