InHacSpeVivo

I got my MA from a state school and we had a couple out of staters who were classified as residents for tuition purposes, despite having just moved to the state. I'm not sure how it works or if its something all states do, but in some cases the school determines residency and can offer it as an incentive to attract qualified out of state students.

Best. Plan B. Ever. Granted, I didn't have much confidence to start, but being 0/2 I think I'm officially at 0%.

Good luck to everyone still waiting! It's am amazing program. This was definitely a bummer for me because my writing sample was related to Southern Lit. Oh well... I figure if you don't hear anything today no news is probably good news in this case!

Yeah, but I applied to the American Studies program. I'm not sure when the English Department is notifying. Also, looks like Vanderbilt rejections are trickling in...

Random question... is anyone else applying to Iowa? I was just lurking around the web and saw rumblings that their program might be getting cut. I really hope that's not the case!

Hey, the occassional program does send out letters on Saturdays. I told myself that all last weekend, but I'm not sure if knowing an answer might come in felt better or worse...

Good luck RandiZ! Moving UP an interview definitely has to be a good sign!

aec, are you from HI originally? If not, I would take a rejection from UH with a grain of salt. There are some very interesting upper-level policies that make it tricky for non-residents/former locals to get in. Either way, I totally feel your pain! The first notification being a rejection does absolutely nothing for one's confidence!

This is such a great thread! Thanks, Ruby, and everyone else, for sharing your stories so none of us feel like we're alone in this!

I have the exact same issue! What's worse is my long term boyfriend's parents also didn't go to college. I told him to keep my applying on the dl in case I didn't get in anywhere. So, in addition to wasting time and money and having to work at a lame job for at least another year, I'll have to deal with his family assuming I'm an idiot because they can't seem to grasp the concept that these programs have a 2-5% acceptance rate. No pressure... Sorry for the late-night venting! Good luck all!

I've heard both. I was very happy to hear from others on this board who were advised against and/or thought it was a bad idea. I spoke with a grad school advisor about it late in the game, and she said it was fine to do, as long as you had something useful to say. At the same time I was the one who suggested (not her), so I figured it wasn't a crucial part of the application process. It seems like a fair number of people do it, but it's not necessarily a deciding factor (no need to look any farther than this thread for examples). I get the feeling it's something that's done much more in STEM.

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one! I spent MONTHS (literally, I defended my MA thesis in April, filed in a few weeks later, then was researching PhD programs within a few weeks of that) narrowing down where I would apply. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that contact was a good thing until around November, and by then I was so busy getting everything together I only had time to contact one. I'm not sure what I'm going to do if I don't get in. I have a full-time job, so this application process ate up pretty much every bit of my spare time (and a few vacation days) over the last few months. I felt horrible for my boyfriend because he basically ended up being a shut-in with me in addition to picking up all the clack around the house and I didn't get to see any family over the holidays because I had to devote any day off to app preparation. The thought of going through all that again makes me a little queasy. However, getting a PhD is my dream, so that just may be what I have to do. If I am flat out rejected, I might try to take classes somewhere around here and get in contact with POIs sometime in the spring or summer. Fingers crossed it won't come to that... Good luck, PhDreams! And thanks for the optimism. I sure hope you're right! The fact that the school you contacted rejected you an another school where you didn't contact anyone gave you an interview gives me a lot of hope. Thanks for sharing! After the MN ordeal, I was beginning to think I'd be an auto-reject for not contacting anyone. Obviously an interview would be WAY better than a rejection, but I may seriously have a panic attack if I get called for an interview. I would have no idea what to do/say!

Everytime I am sad I'm just going to look at this and feel better. CONGRATS amlobo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Exactly! Why one school had to send an e-mail encouraging applicants to visit campus with the subject line "Welcome to X!" and another sends e-mails with the subject line "Congratulations! Your application is complete" is beyond me. I'm starting to wonder if the tourture is intentional. Also, wemayet, you have no idea how wonderful it was to read your post and discover that someone is thinking the EXACT same thing as me!

A weird question for the group... Is there anything I can do post-submission to reiterate my interest in a program? I assume it's probably too little too late to contact POIs. I reached out to profs at Minnesota pre-submission and didn't get much useful information (and, obviously, it didn't matter anyway), so that kept me from contacting profs in other departments. Also, and this is going to make me sound like a complete moron, but, until I found grad cafe, I was under the impression that I shouldn't contact POIs because they were likely too busy. The problem is I spent literally months narrowing down programs that were a great match for my interests and had at least a few profs I would want to work with, rather than just one (so that if one prof was leaving or on sabbatical or not taking on new students there would still be a match in the department). Now, seeing everyone who has developed relationships with faculty, I'm worried that's going to prevent me from getting any acceptances (or even WLs). I realize it's very likely I'm just freaking out and there's not anything I can do at this stage, but I figured I'd ask. I really don't have a "safety" school, I would be THRILLED to get into any of these programs, so if there is a sliver of hope left I figured I should try to find it... And, PhDreams, I think I officially congratulated you on the other board, but just in case I didn't, CONGRATS! It sounds like no matter what you're set for graduate school.

Welcome, cicero13, and good luck! Definitely sounds like you have at least one very solid process; let us know how it goes!

Congrats kyjin!!!!! Congrats, that's awesome! Good luck! Out of curiosity, did you reach out to any POIs AFTER you applied? I talked to a few POIs at Minnesota before I submitted my app, but that didn't exactly work out. :-/

ahaidaris, congrats on making it that far, and good luck! Let us know how it goes; I hardly ever hear about AmStu interviews, so it will be interesting to hear how it works!

I'm no expert, but I wouldn't think your GPA would hold you back if a good amount of time has passed since you graduated, especially considering you have a 4.0 in your more recent degree and am AMAZING GRE score!

You've definitely got their attention! I'm sure a great interview will only seal the deal. Good luck!

The best guess I can come up with is, given such a historically small applicant pool and so few admits, chances are the 10 or so people who got offers just don't post to GC.

Thanks, PhDreams. At least I appear to be in good company...

Thanks, mochicologa; here's hoping!

Sorry to bring down the room, but it turns out this was actually a bad omen, not a good one. Rejection offiicially came through.

And the rejections from Minnesota are officially coming...