InHacSpeVivo

WHY AM I OUT OF UPVOTES?! /sadhat/

Thanks, girl who wears glasses! I know it was a complete coincidence, it just made me chuckle to myself so I thought I'd share. As I mentioned, the south is just one sub-area. On a very broad level, most of my work is how cannonical works and historical events are portrayed in popular culture in the late 20th and early 21st century (and how the differences in those portrayls reflect the culture of the time). That's why I ended up applying outside of English Departments (though I would LOVE to end up at Boulder or UF, presuming they have funding, of course). It always seemed to me, based purely on your signature, that our areas seemed to intersect. Anyway, if you ever want some recs for good Southern Studies books you know who to ask. Here's hoping, Swagato! Good luck to you.

Already working on a submission for publication, and I've put together a list of some additional programs to look into. It's going to be hard to pull myself together for another year-long ordeal (especially when I'm really not sure there's much more I can do), but I'm trying! That being said, thanks for the pep talk girl who wears glasses. It's funny you mention popular culture for Vanderbilt because that's actually my main area of interest (a subsection of that being pop culture depecitions of Southern Culture). I know it was just a random example, it was just a somewhat ironic one. A poster on another thread mentioned that they hadn't heard anything about Film Studies acceptances at Pitt yet. I don't want to specialize in film, but I would like to get a doctoral certificate in it (and I specifically mentioned that in my SOP), so I'll hold out a little longer for that on that one I suppose.

I wouldn't expect to hear anything from VT, NH, or ME either, postal service has been suspended to all of New England. While most announcements aren't coming via USPS these days, if the postal works get to stay home I doubt much work is getting done elsewhere. I'm not sure if the driving ban in MA has been lifted yet. We have 4-5 foot drifts in the city, so even if it is, I don't imagine too many people are eager to try it out; none of the side roads in Boston have been cleared, so I can't even imagine what the 'burbs look like. The T also suspended service today (if there are more than 100 people at the Bruins game tonight I will be shocked). Personally, it is incredibly likely I will be working from home on Monday, so it's anyone's guess how long this could hold things up.

I just went back and checked my Pitt SOP. I applied to Critical and Cultural Studies and specifically mentioned pursuing a doctoral certificate in Film Studies as well, so you just gave me the tiniest sliver of hope. I suppose I'll give it another week before crawling into a hole with Ben & Jerry.

Thanks, tiger, but I've done the something else for more than five years now. I much prefer school.

Ditto, Mercyhurst. If it was possible to be less than 0% confident, that's where I am. Two official rejections, two implied (Chicago and now Pitt), and I doubt I have much of a shot at Michigan, Brown, or Iowa, so that leaves me with four schools out of eleven that *might* take me. Considering my writing sample was on Southern Studies and Vanderbilt couldn't even put me on the alternate waitlist, I'm really not feeling good about this at all. I understand I can do this all again, but this literally took ALL of my money and free time over the past ten months. If, after all the time I spent narrowing down programs for fit and working on essays I can't get in, I'm really not sure what I can do differently next year. /end rant

Congrats dazed!!!!! Anyone else get e-mails from Pitt Critical and Cultural Studies? Seems like there was a lot of activity on the board, and I'm wondering if now is officially the time to give up on that one...

Good luck jazzy! And congrats so far; from here it seems like you did everything right at this app cycle! It sounds cavalier to disregard schools for a simple test, but I took it as an UG and did horribly, so I can't even imagine what would happen now that I'm a few years removed from school. Honestly, in doing my grad school research I read solid explanations from several fantastic departments for not requiring the subject test, and it's good to see a lot of top programs recognize it's flawed. As other have mentioned, though, it's not a strategy I'd recommend for most, as I do think you can make up for it in other parts of your app (and clearly you have with acceptances at two AMAZING programs!!!!).

I'm not expecting to hear from UF until early March. I got very anxious yesterday and almost called them, then remembered their application deadline was less than a month ago. Yeah, this is getting to me... Exactly. I wish someone would take that down.

I think this was lost in the other discussion related to MAs, etc., so I thought I'd come back to it and throw in my two cents. In looking through the records of professors with whom I want to work, yes, most of them graduated from a top program for their PhD, but I have found plenty of cases where someone from a lower-ranked undergrad got into a phenomenal PhD program in his or her field. I'm sure a "big name" undergrad can help, especially if your advisor has connections at other programs or your department has the funding to give undergrads opportunities they might otherwise have, but, honestly, I think the location of the PhD matters much more in getting a job than undergrad does in getting into a grad program that is a good fit. Also, I think it's important to note that this is exclusively the grad department reputation. Bowling Green, for example, is consistently in the top ten for American Studies, but their English program is currently third-tier. I've come across tons of BGSU grads at the top AmStu programs, but not nearly as many English grads in top-rated English programs. All that being said, this may be more of a result of the opportunities PhD students at well-funded programs have compared to lower-ranked, typically less-supported departments. FWIW, I went to a higher-ranked school and, so far, have two real (and one implied) rejections and no acceptances! So, it just comes down to a lot of this process being a roll of the dice. Sorry for the rambling, that's just my thoughts at the moment, mostly shared to give me a few minutes away from thinking about the fact it's been another week without any positive signs. Speaking of, I was out of upvotes for today, but thank you SO much for your post, rems. I'm becoming increasingly depressed about this whole thing, and, as awful as this sounds, it's nice to hear things aren't daisies and roses for everyone but me.

This is probably horrible of me, but I automatically eliminated any program that required the subject test. It's the devil. Fortunately, there were a surprising number of programs that would be a good match, so having this as an auto-eliminator was pretty helpful. Though, yes, I realize it's awful of me.

Thank you for posting this! You give those of us with all rejections to date some hope!

FYI: I gave into temptation and called Michigan. I was told decisions would be sent out in the next two weeks or by the end of February at the latest. Not super-helpful, I know, but I thought it might ease the minds of other Michigan applicants expecting to hear. I don't know if it's a good or bad thing that decisions are taking 2-3 weeks longer this year...

Very helpful! I was leaning that way, but I just needed a little push; thanks!

Congrats! That is amazing! Happy Birthday! I just turned 30 myself, and it isn't quite as horrible as I expected (we'll see if I get in anywhere...) I thought it was bad having a birthday before application deadlines, but during decision season is WAY worse.

On a similar note, does UChicago have a waitlist? I'm fairly certain they're done sending out acceptances, but I'm wondering if I should hold out hope for a WL spot or just resign myself to the (expected) rejection. Judging by the results board, it seems like they offer an unfunded MA slot instead of placing anyone on a waitlist; it just seems very odd that they would be the only school without a WL.

Seriously. This is exactly how I feel.

Let us know how it goes!

Such a good question! In short, I am interested in studying the interpretation/repurposing of historical events and canonical works in modern culture, especially film/television and literature. This grew from an interest in memory studies, particularly commemoration of World Wars I and II. My M.A. thesis, however, was a study in how television programming choices reflected cultural and historical shifts that occured over the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Those are really my primary areas of focus, and I'm hoping to expand into gender and ethnic studies within those contexts in my PhD. I'd love to hear what others' interests as well.

I did this for one school so far. The rejection letter actually said to contact the department with questions, so I figured I'd give a try (it's not like they could reject me again). I contacted the DGS and got a very nice, albeit general, response right away. It was late in the evening he didn't have access to his files for targeted comments, so he said he would follow-up with more specific feedback next week. It's been a very pleasant process to this point, and hopefully I'll be able to improve my app based on his response (ideally I won't be gong through this process again).

Congrats!!!!!

Ditto, and congrats to you too, girl who wears glasses! I would love a WL right about now, especially at such an awesome school! I'm sure you both have acceptances on the way. Edit: also, thanks for the additional info, dazed! As a flat-out reject, those application numbers are actually somewhat comforting.

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'd say the wallowing has been going on over here for close to a week now. I wish I'd only applied to one school! 0/1 is far preferable to 0/11.