HHEoS
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Posts posted by HHEoS
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Just check it! Pull that band-aid off! I hope there is good news for you and sebastiansteddy.
Official News From Sour-GrapesLand: Too much football in Columbus, anyway!
Thanks! Hahaha I just checked it: "In Review". I'll take that as a good sign, but it's a computer system, so who the fuck knows what'll change when. And yes, Ohio State football fans can be pretty overwhelming to put up with.
Now I've got to resist the urge to check the status every five minutes until I go to bed.
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My Ohio State rejection is official on the website. They're sneaky and it just says "DECISION." I had to click "show more information on status." Then it says "Your application for admission was not approved. You will receive further information on the decision by mail." LOL. I think I understand. I do not need more information to explain.
I'm really sorry to hear that asleepawake. Just curious: when did you notice that it rolled over? I checked a few times earlier today, but when it still said "In Review," I assumed there would be no more decisions until next week. Good god. Now I really want to check it, but I'm afraid.
ETA: Okay, I see the answer to my question in your post from a few minutes ago.
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I creep more than I post, but I wanted to add that I just got a decision from Ohio State (English)! No email or word on funding yet, since it rolled over in appstatus maybe 30 seconds ago. I'll be updating the results page, but this is my first notification of the season, so I'm just squeeing right now!
:D :DCongrats!
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Do you really think they check twitter? Mine is mostly about literature (with a couple of Seinfeld quotes and some Patriots fandom) so I am not too worried, but do you really think they go beyond the application you send in?
Probably not. I'm just a paranoid person in general. But there might be profs who Google applicants for whatever reason and might find a Twitter page if it's @(yourfullname). As someone said in another thread, though, he/she will probably be too embarrassed to bring up whatever was found privately in a committee discussion. However, I still think whatever he/she finds will help create his/her impression of what kind of person said applicant is.
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Thanks so much everyone! You guys are the best. Hoping to read good news from all of you in the future. I am pretty relieved, sebastiansteddy, but we'll see how long that lasts when February rolls around.
For what it's worth, my real twitter account @firstnamelastname is basically a several-thousand-tweet-long documentation of my deep fascination with Taylor Swift and that is so not even in the top ten reasons I believe I will be rejected across the board.
This made me feel a lot better, girl who wears glasses, but I do hope you aren't rejected completely. Maybe someone on some adcomm somewhere will be impressed by your passion/fascination if they happen to go acreepin' on Twitter.
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Thanks Datatape! This is what my insides feel like right now.
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Wow, congrats HHEoS!! Do you mind sharing which programs you've heard from?
Thanks, sebastiansteddy!
Sure. The only reason I didn't include them in the original post is because I found a Twitter account today that was @(myfullname), created in the last two weeks, that is a ridiculous Nicki Minaj shrine. I've been paranoid all day that someone is trying to mess with me because though my name rhymes with "Nicki Minaj", I've never found anyone else with my name on Google before. If any potential program is reading this: I am in no way affiliated with that page, and I'm not a Nicki Minaj fan in any way, shape, or form.
Anyway, to answer your question: the program that mailed the acceptance letter is NIU. The one that nominated me for the fellowship is FSU.
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Sorry to hear about those rejections, Swagato and arglooblaha. There's still a ways to go, though, so here's hoping to good news in the future!
Meanwhile, I'm here to freak out about an acceptance, possibly TWO! AAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
This morning, I got an acceptance letter from a lower-tier school that I applied to as sort of a back-up. While it isn't the most prestigious school, the location is great, and there are two excellent scholars in the two fields I work in there. No word on funding until late February.
Tonight I got a fellowship nomination from another program! No word from the English department yet, but the application for the fellowship states that it is awarded in addition to the standard TA-ship. I'm going to assume that it means I'm accepted with a TA-ship (because, why not?).
ERMAHGERD!!!
- sebastiansteddy, 1Q84, Datatape and 2 others
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Congrats, bluecheese! All of this positivity is making waiting so much easier/better for me.
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I just got a nomination for a fellowship at West Virginia. It looks like an acceptance. What am I supposed to do!?
It's started.
I love you all so please share good news asap.
AWESOME! Congrats asleepawake! You're one of my favorite people on here. I'm so happy for you.
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That's a bold move! I'm saying Northwestern, next Thursday (24th).
Any particular reason you say Monday, HHEoS? Mine's a guess based on last year's notifications.
No specific reason. I looked at last year's dates and figured I'd guess a few days earlier. I just realized that Monday is MLK Jr. day, though. Probably not going to happen then. I'm going to say Tuesday 22nd instead.
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Alright*, I'm taking bets on which school will make the first January notification and when they will do it.
*"Alright" is a word. Wanna fight about it?
I'm going to say Northwestern, next monday, the 21st.
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Does anyone else have their GRE scores still listed as "awaiting" at Columbia? It has now been 4 weeks since the deadline...
Yes, I do. It makes me nervous. I check to see if the status has changed everyday. I haven't contacted them yet because of the note on that page that says they will contact you if something is missing. If you do decide to contact them, please post their response.
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I'll be spending the next two weeks avoiding thinking about PhD applications in the best way possible: the hubby and I are visiting Paris and Rome for our first time! I've promised myself not to obsess over results until I get back on January 27. After that, shit gets real. I am most looking forward to the school-specific threads for this application cycle. Reading last year's threads from start to finish was like reading a Jonathan Safran Foer novel (at times comic, tragic, triumphant, and suspenseful); I can't imagine what an emotional rollercoaster actually being a participant on said threads will be like!
Have fun in Europe proflorax! We applied to some of the same schools, so I hope to be in a few of those program-specific threads with you when you return.
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As an offshoot of this, how often do programs offer reimbursement for these visiting days? I know some do, but the grad program websites I've visited haven't said anything about this. It's perhaps too early to start asking, but my job has a set schedule for the entirety of the semester, so I'd like to know as much as possible for the rare case that I get in somewhere.
Hey Two Espressos,
Last year, I was reimbursed fully for the recruitment trip I took (travel, board, and even meals while travelling). The program where I got my MA covers all expenses for their recruitment weekend as well. A friend of mine actually asked a school that he got into if they had funds for visits and they approved his expensive last-minute flights and everything else (for a visit that was completely scheduled by him). On the other hand, he asked the same of another program where he was accepted, and they had no funds for recruitment visits. Basically, you might be able to ask a program to pay for your visit if they really want you, regardless of whether they have organized recruitment days or not. If you're accepted at a program and you can't make their organized visit, it doesn't hurt to ask them to fund a private visit. It shows your interest in the program is high, especially if said program knows you have other funded offers.
I'll add this note as well (even though it may be jumping the gun a bit since we haven't heard anything yet): One of my profs stresses that if a school is offering a visit you should go at all costs. She wasn't offered funding at a particular program, and while on a visit there, she mentioned her funding package at another one and her plan to visit that program as well. They wanted her so much that they offered her funding and she eventually went to that school. Last year, as a result of my recruitment visit, I was offered a $5000 fellowship from the program I visited in addition to the TA-ship. They even added another $5000 closer to the national deadline (yes I turned down a TA-ship and $10,000 last year to reapply this year).
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As a second-timer, I can say that this is true, but it doesn't make the feelings less valid. To even consider applying for a Ph.D. in any discipline, you have to be very dedicated and determined; these are the kind of students who have done very well in at least one level of their college careers. Many have probably been encouraged and supported by their professors or their peers, who recognize potential and want to see that potential realized. Now with a vacuum of response and literally no way to predict how and where responses will come (except for DontHate's psychic abilities, natch), it's absolutely natural for these very talented, determined, and dedicated people to be overwhelmed with feelings of uncertainty and anxiety.
But I can tell you from experience that all those people who are rooting for you, the ones who you don't want to let down, will be the first ones to encourage you to try again. They'll be the ones helping ensure you have a successful year to bolster your CV and fine-tune your writing sample and SOP. They'll be the ones giving you pep talks when you're dreading facing another year of applications. And they'll be the ones who make you believe in yourselves yet again. Yes, getting in nowhere absolutely sucks, and I'm not going to lie to you that it doesn't. But it's not the end of the world and it's hardly uncommon in such a hyper-competitive environment. You have done everything you can, this year. Don't feel like you've let everybody down if you have to give it another try.
As someone also on my second round of applications, I have to agree completely with this. Those in your support system now will likely be the ones who will encourage you and support your future decisions, if the application season doesn't go the way you'd like. However, as Datatape states, the anxieties that some may have now are still legitimate. We're opening ourselves up for judgement from people whose opinions (though anonymous) we are forced to respect. The fear of judgement and the fear of rejection can be crippling. Personally, I'm more anxiety-riddled this year than I was last year. It may be because I'm not busy with finishing my MA, preparing to teach two classes, and associated distractions. My friends who applied with me last year are all in PhD programs. Though I know they'll be supportive of what happens this year, I still fear their potential perceptions of me if I fall flat on my face and don't get in anywhere.
To pose another question, are the second-timers and third-timers here more or less anxious than you were last year at this time? While I'm slightly more confident about what the outcome might be this application season, the waiting is almost twice as excruciating for me now.
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I don't envy any of you right now. Last year around this time, I started to get into a fevered habit of constantly refreshing my e-mail, the forum, and the results board ALL DAY. I probably did it a total of 90,000 times. I will never be able to reclaim the sanity I lost between January 5th-February 8th.
This is exactly what is happening to me right now. Today, I started watching three different movies and couldn't get past the first 5-7 minutes of any of them. I can't stop myself from thinking: MUST CHECK EMAIL NOW (all while knowing that no program where I applied is even close to making decisions yet).
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Wow, yeah, none of my schools asked for any more than 3 eggs.
LOLz I wish there were a way to up-vote this more than once because you just made my day.
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It's good to see all of these dreams from other people; I thought I was going crazy. I think I've begun to fixate on UT Austin or something because I had a really vivid dream in which I got accepted, went there, and became best friends with everyone I encountered. Cause you know, I'm just that cool. Of course, waking up and realizing that I'm really just completely psycho didn't help the anxiety knot that I've been carrying around in my chest since I submitted my last app.
I don't usually have dreams related to real-life anxieties, but after reading these posts yesterday, I had one this morning. In it I got an email from some program where I applied (don't remember which one) about my application being incomplete. Panicking, I scrolled to the bottom of the message to find that my application was missing "7 eggs & 3 CDs." My response: "Why would they need that many eggs?!" Then I woke up and thought: wtf does that mean?
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Hmm this is a bit of an off-topic question in this thread, but what do people who are re-applying after one year think about addressing (or not) the intervening period? I've received conflicting advice from faculty members. On the one hand, it has been suggested that a mere few months is really very little time for radical developments and, as such, it is not expected that the limited space of an SOP address the intervening period. Rather, let the revised SOP/application package itself show how you are approaching things differently the second time around (through, perhaps, a much-reworked project, writing sample, and so on).
On the other hand, it has been suggested that one foreground work done in the intervening period, even if there is no publication/conference, in an attempt to distinguish one's new application.
Obviously, any presentations/publications should be mentioned. But again, that is not always possible within the few months (basically, April-November or so) and--so I hear--it is not expected by adcoms. So what are the thoughts here regarding this issue?
Hi Swagato,
I took a year break after finishing my BA, and while applying to MA/MFA programs (three years ago), I didn't address it at all in my SoP. I got into four of the seven programs to which I applied then. The DGS at the school I eventually attended actually thought I was still finishing up my BA when he called with the admission offer.
I'm reapplying to PhD programs this year after another gap year, and I'm only mentioning it (in my SoP) because something I'm doing right now fits contextually when explaining the research questions I'd like to investigate in doctoral study. The professors who read my SoP had no problem with me not mentioning the gap year in early drafts, and I only added that bit because my advisor thought it was really important to state that I'm working privately on two foreign languages this year. My SoP isn't chronological at all, so when I mention the break, it's quite casual.
So to sum up my take on it is: mention the break if it works to benefit your academic profile; don't mention it if it doesn't. The admissions-committee members are probably working through apps so quickly that they won't even notice it if you don't mention it. Hope that helps!
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Oh another question ( if anyone is still checking this). For your heading what information are you including? Are you putting name, the school you are applying to, date?
I simply put the title of my paper and my full name on the first page. I also used a footer with my name, "WS", a shortened paper title, and page number. Most online application systems add your name, a random ID number, the document type (WS, SoP, CV etc.), and maybe a timestamp when a document is uploaded, so I didn't feel the need to include more than I did.
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Does MLA specify font? I know that it stipulates the heading, margins (1") and font size as 12, but I don't think it specifies a particular font. The head of my English department prefers Chicago/Turabian anyway and requires it in the grad program (since that's what most journals are in), so my sample was in that format. I really don't think it's that big of a deal, or they'd specify on the admissions site. The only school I saw that actually asked for TNR was Virginia. *shrug*
If they're really that picky, I guess I'm boned.
No need to worry, bfat or anyone else. My writing sample was in a version of Chicago last year, and I got into two programs and was waitlisted at two others. Your DGS is right: most journals in our field require some version of Chicago. My sample this year is also in Chicago. No program can disqualify your application for failing to meet specific requirements they didn't explicitly provide.
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As I posted in another thread on here, I contacted the department and was told that the department "prefers" the 500-word statement. You can, however, get a little bit more space out of the "2-page double-spaced" option that's listed with the 500-word one on the departmental webpage.
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But then F-ing UVA wants TWO totalling 25, so I am just screwed there. They are gonna get two choppy, awkward samples.
Yup, this requirement is particularly annoying. It's the reason I didn't apply to UVA last year. Here's what I did though: I gave them my 20-21-page sample that I'm using for all other programs and submitted a 4-5 pager as the second one. The department's webpage says you can submit a pair like this, and while I'm sure it's not what they envisioned when they came up with this brilliant requirement, it does meet their specifications. For me, this was a better alternative than submitting two choppy pieces. It may work for you also, if you have something 4-5 pages long, or can pull off writing something like that between now and the deadline.
Acceptance Freakout Thread
in Literature, and Rhetoric and Composition
Posted
WOW Awesome news bluecheese! Congrats!