Wj2011

Re: Berkeley My contact at Berkeley said he heard it was taking "much longer than usual," so that would seem to confirm what KennethParcell received from the grad secretary. I don't think so. You're not rejected until you're rejected. You can always be in some kind of "waitlist" while they are waiting for their first- or even second-tier candidates to sift through. I would say if April 15 comes and goes without word, then that program is either impolite or administratively challenged. That said, I have been contacted by everyone but Berkeley and have received funding from several programs. Still waiting to hear officially from NYU and UVa (once their open houses are done), but as soon as those are in - regardless of Berkeley - I will make my decision.

RE: NYU I seriously doubt they invite everyone they don't accept to the PhD! I think it's more people that could be interesting but NYU isn't ready yet to invest 5+ years (and if I'm not mistaken, all Ph.D's are funded there - which means beaucoup d'argent, too). The direct-to-PhDs are people who already have MAs (like me) or people that they think (for whatever reason) are sure-things. I don't really remember the timeline 10 years ago... plus I was in Germany studying abroad. However, when I think back to my 2003 application, my SoP was much more vague in terms of research interests, I was coming from a small LAC in KY, my writing sample was good French but not really profound thinking, and so on. I certainly had good letters (from two NYU alums!), was motivated, was a 4.0 student who had studied in France, etc., but I wasn't as polished as I am now. (Please note I am older, non-traditional.) They are having visiting days Feb 26-27 and Mar 4-5. The e-mail said that those who were coming would be accepted or waitlisted, which leads me to believe that their 2013 potential new PhD students (both accept & waitlist) have been invited. HOWEVER, as long as you have not been rejected, you are still technically alive. Perhaps you are on an unofficial wait for the MA program. Seems like I saw where someone on the results was outright rejected by NYU the other day? FWIW, I would take funded anywhere over unfunded NYU... and I adore NYU!

Practice an answer in French to describe (concisely) your research interests and your reasons for applying to the program. I think I could have answered these questions concisely in English, but I was asked in French both times and BOTH TIMES ended up rambling on and on. (You would have thought that I had learned my lesson the first time!) Be concise and precise in your answers. Make sure you give them the opportunity to ask all their questions so you have time to ask questions at the end... the only way this can be done is if you are brief and to the point. They can always ask you follow-up questions to clarify or expand on something you've said. Re-read your SOP, CV, writing samples, etc. before the interview so you remember what you've already told them. Read the handbook and the website. Ask questions about things that aren't clear or well-explained from the handbook and website. Make sure that you don't ask about anything that's already been explained in the handbook and the website!

^^^^^^^^^^^^ THIS! Totally 100% with A nous deux! Do not go into major debt for your Ph.D. A little loan to float your expenses maybe, but do not take out tuition loans. Take a year or two (or more) off, work on your dossier. Present a paper at a conference as an independent scholar. Consider getting an MA from somewhere more local/less prestigious where you'll have professors that can vouch for your GRADUATE WORK and where you can also TA to gain experience. Seriously. I was accepted into NYU MA unfunded 10 years ago - turned it down... had to! You don't need to take 10 years, but with even a couple of years, you can make yourself into someone with multiple offers from programs you really want. Scratch off NYU for now. There's a little checkbox if you apply there again: "I have applied to NYU in the past." There is no shame with that.

I'm psychologically done with Berkeley. I've heard from everyone else at this point (4 acceptances, 2 Open Houses, 1 "no admits"), and I have two fellowship offers in hand. As soon as I hear from those last two open houses and received funding (or not) from the other 2 acceptances, I will make a decision - even if my application at Berkeley is still dangling. One of my schools has politely requested a response by Mar 15 (though I have until Apr 15), and I plan to meet that. FWIW, I have a friend at Berkeley (in French even) who seemed to think I should have heard by the first of the month... February, that is.

Great news! They should act quickly after the interview. I really appreciated programs taking the time to interview me. Bonne chance!

Had a little drama last night near midnight... got an e-mail from Tulane saying that all my recommendations were missing. (!!!) Two were showing up as submitted in the system, so I'm not sure what happened on those. And then the third had never been submitted at all. Yikes! The DGS asked that my recommenders send them as e-mail attachments, so hopefully they all arrived today and I won't be penalized. =sigh= Meanwhile, I was accepted to Oklahoma today, but I have to wait for the hard copy letter for the details of the funding. I actually had to send the entire application in hard copy, so I'm not surprised. (I'm so old, it was actually quite therapeutic to print everything off, put it in a big envelope, go down to the post office...) However, at least there were no glitches about missing components.

Thanks for the encouragement, Donzelle. I hope you have a good time at Yale without making your ultimate decision that much more difficult. What an amazing experience! Even the thought of applying there made me nervous, so I can't imagine the campus visit/interview. (I am considering attending the NYU Open House, but you're right. What about those candidates who can't make it? That email made it sound like some kind of Battle Royal.) I know it's been kinda quiet on the board this week, so I'm hoping someone else has heard something definite today. Acceptances? Funding?

I got the same e-mail as Donzelle. Not happy about the mention of a wait-list up front, really, but I will take a trip to NYC, thankyouverymuch. I think everyone is tightening the belt. Donzelle... Are you going? NYU has been my "dream" school since undergrad days. I already know my POI there personally - does exactly what I want to do, been on panels together before. (The aforementioned kid thing is the kicker for NYU. Just me and hubs, I'd be gone. We will definitely be doing a LOT of math if I get accepted... probably a lot of crying, too.) BAH! Wish this POI were someplace affordable!!!!!!

Affordability and living conditions were two of my major concerns when selecting programs. I refuse to take out loans.... we'll see how far that gets me!

Donzelle, glad to hear I'm not the only one in the childcare boat. It gives me nightmares.

If you do well at the MA, you will be a shoo-in for the doctorate. Good luck on the interview! Better phone than Skype... at least you don't have to clean your room and put on your interview clothes.

It seems like a lot of the people who are posting on the results are not participating in this forum thread...

I have not heard from Berkeley, either, but I won't count them out until I get a rejection note (or a status update on my application!). And thanks for the tip on NYU. At least, I can temporarily suspend the checking of email for that one.

Right around the deadline. Maybe a day or two early on my part, but I'm sure my letters of rec were to the wire. Watching the results board like a hawk, it seems like a few days might lapse in between results from the same school. Not sure what causes it, and I'm trying not to worry that that UC-Berkeley popped up over the weekend! At many schools (even great schools), placement rates can be dismal. Completion rates are dismal. You have to ask both questions outright (preferably of the DGS, because your POI might not know) and be specific: what percentage of students complete the dissertation, how many students have found academic jobs in the last 3 years, where have those jobs been and what type (TT, NTT), how many students have found jobs outside of academia? Even then they may not have the answer. The visit is a good sign; they want you to see what they have to offer and see how you would fit in. I imagine this is for top candidates, and no, I wouldn't give up hope. (1) See above. All the invites don't necessarily go out on the same day. (2) Top grad programs (like Columbia) will have tiers of very qualified students to go through. It's not over until the rejection letter comes.

Finally an acceptance! Indiana came through this morning! For various reasons, this was my top choice going in. SO HAPPY!

I should have mentioned there was no application fee for Vanderbilt, so at least I'm not out (more) money, BUT there is definitely time and emotional investment.

How did your applications go? When I applied for my MA several years ago, I had a GRE on the lower side but a higher GPA. I also applied to a Research I State School. (not public ivy, and I only applied to one due to geographical constraints at the time.)

Yep, that was me. However, I got a super nice explanation (with some encouragement!) from the DGS before getting the canned "rejection" note from the school. It is as much a loss for the department as it is for the applicants. I agree that they shouldn't accept applications if they know they don't have positions, but I have the impression that they thought they had openings only to hear from the administration otherwise. They did review my application, and I doubt they would have bothered if they knew there wasn't any point.

I can cross off Vanderbilt. Quite a bummer, as that was one of my top choices. PS - It seems that they are unable to accept anyone this year. I do wish I had known that before applying, but it is a testament to the economy.

ukulelesummer, are you at UofL? I did my MA at UK, but I am a huge Cards fan... LOL I'm so sorry to hear about the rejection from Indiana - I am waiting to hear from them as well. I don't know about everyone else, but I wonder how much of this is programs' tightening their belts across the board? That could also be why some programs are taking so long to respond... mulling over every possibility and trying to come up with just the right combination of accepted students. I've also accepted that a rejection may not have anything to do with quality - it may have everything to do with which faculty is taking new advisees, the amount of money in the department, having two candidates with similar research interests and the other one being more appealing for one reason or another but otherwise equal --- I view this entire thing as similar to a theatre audition, where you may be a fabulous actress but get overlooked because you're too tall.

Short note about me: I am a non-traditional applicant, 10+ years removed from my bachelor's. In my experience, Europe is more closed. A friend of mine did her undergraduate work in France in Classics, then came to the states to do her Masters in French Lit. Upon returning to France, no Ph.D. program would look at her (unless she could fund herself) due to her atypical course of studies. Germany may be different, but I would concentrate my efforts stateside where individualism is prized. Now, onto... The very first question I would ask would be what are the requirements for jobs in these two fields. You can teach with a Masters Degree, and some programs (like the University of Kentucky) offer a specialized MATWL program - Master of Arts in the Teaching of World Languages. You can also find Masters programs that qualify you to do translations work. If a Ph.D. is not required, I would not pursue one unless you just want one. A Ph.D. prepares you primarily for (1) research and (2) university-level instruction. I wish you the very best of luck, from one non-traditional to another! The fact that you are changing courses shows considerable courage; and your experiences in the "real world" should hold some value when applying - as long as you apply to the right schools.

In theory, the department will be looking at you as an entire package - this is unless they do a sweep of applicants based on GRE or GPA to weed out some of the applicant pool. I would not assume this to be the case going in. Therefore, you need to focus on everything you *can* control: SOP, letters of recommendation, writing samples, recordings (if programs want to hear your spoken German), GRE score, CV. Tips: - See if your German professors have any contacts at any of the schools you want to attend. They may be able to send out an informal email to a colleague and feel out the department for you. DO NOT DO THIS YOURSELF! - You have the opportunity to explain some of your issues in the Statement of Purpose. Don't dwell on them, though. You don't have much room in an SOP, and you want to convince the committee of your future possibilities, not make excuses for past failures. An alternative to the SOP is to ask a professor to comment on your improvement over the years as part of his/her letter of recommendation. Yes, the recommender will ultimately decide what they choose to include, but it is not abnormal to request that the letter address this or that. - Apply to a wide range of programs. Prestigious universities are great, but if you find someone with your research interests at a "less prestigious" program, check it out to see if the rest of the school might be a fit. Ask more than one professor for recommendations. I ended up having an initial list of almost 40 schools by talking to 3 faculty! - Consider taking a year or two off to do something that would bolster your resume and show that you are committed to future excellence. This is a completely acceptable path in all regards.

In any case, it looks good for the specialist in your field to say "I want this one." Meanwhile, perhaps the Committee has also said "hmmm, this applicant looks like a great match for so-and-so." The committee is (theoretically) looking to compose a great cohort that will support the aims of the department as a whole. If it comes down to enough funding, well, no amount of praise from ANYONE (committee members included) will make money appear out of thin air.

Oh, I will add that I am relieved that the last of my applications went in yesterday... now it truly is the waiting game!