jazzyd

Uh.... what?

Congrats all! Nice to see some excitement around here

My guess is that applicants who are "next in line" so to speak, aren't given rejections until much later in the event that one or several (or more than they expect) offers do not accept, they can still have options. Or maybe sending out rejections is such a hassle that schools don't find it crucial to do until last minute. Hence why my mentor told me sometime last semester that if I don't hear from anyone by March I can assume rejection :/

I would probably cry if that happened!

I try to talk about it as little as possible, since the last thing I want to do is drive them crazy. One of my roommates is applying to Vet School, so we can sorta commiserate together, though the process is pretty different. Her apps were done in October, yet she still has to interview this month. Meanwhile, mine weren't all done until early Jan and I'm already out of the hole (in that I know I have someplace to go for sure). Basically, I've let them know when I've gotten accepted someplace (I mean, it's hard for me to contain it!) and the places I get rejected from I'll just keep to myself unless asked.

Still no word from Duke or NYU, yet I know Duke at least has been sending rejections following acceptances. This process just confuses me the more I try to think and rationalize it. The bulk of my apps were sent out on Dec. 15th deadlines. I wouldn't be upset to hear from all of them this week, though I think it's very very unlikely.

Haven't people already received Michigan acceptances? Or am I'm getting confused with another B1G school? I'm a little unsure about my chances at Michigan...

When I say POI, I just mean someone at the University who's reached out to me, whom I'm also interested in working with at a given program. I've heard that there's nothing wrong with contacting professors, I was just too intimidated to do so. Thus, I've only been in contact with POIs from programs at which I've been accepted.

Congrats!

No no no no, haha, I think my tense was a bit confusing there. I'm not going through that hell again! Hence why I said I wish I had applied to fewer programs. But obviously I had no way of knowing I would be where I'm at just going into the second full week of February. That sounds like a smart approach. I know a current graduate student here who is involved in film and visual studies, but due to the small scope of the field actually applied through English literature programs and is technically an English graduate student. The only downside is that they won't be able to teach or assist any film courses here since they are not officially a part of that department.

^This was more or less my approach as well. My mentality was that I'd rather go for broke and see what happens, than be tempted by a program that I wasn't overly enthusiastic about going to just because I wasn't accepted by any place else. Were I planning on applying again, I would add in more of these programs and take away some more prestigious ones. That being said, I applied to way way way too many programs. Once I got into double digits I went kinda nuts. In hindsight, I might have applied to only half as many programs.

This is why, in my unimportant opinion of course, it's much less productive to go by straight rank (which varies across sub-fields and subsubetc-fields) than by placement record. Obviously these records can change over the course of time it takes for one to finish their doctorate, but it's a bad sign if hardly anyone from a department is finding work even if there's a "big name" attached to the program. Correct me if I'm wrong, but ranking is determined by the research a school puts out, and it's not a guarantee that the driving forces behind a department's impact are willing to work with or work closely with incoming graduate students.

My inbox is silent as well.

I've been told that Chicago can be a little different in that Chicago really really likes it's own grads. However, I've heard the MAPH -> PhD route isn't quite as direct as one might like and actually adds to more of a cut throat atmosphere... or, again, so I've heard. I asked two mentoring professors about applying at Illinois and while neither mentioned that I would be at a disadvantage, they both discouraged me from applying here if only because there's really nothing 'left' in the sense that I've exhausted many of the resources of the English program already. Additionally, the department here is veeerry Brit lit based.

Just started The White Boy Shuffle by Paul Beatty and am already in love after the first paragraph. I'm incorporating two novels of his into my senior thesis and I know right now I won't have to worry about a lack of literary analysis. I could probably write an entire essay on that first paragraph alone!

I think all the silence from [much of] the east coast (motivated partially by the weather perhaps?) is what makes it feel so silent. I haven't heard anything from schools I applied to east of Lake Michigan, though I know and see that other people have.

Depends on whether they'll pay for my flight or not lol... I really would like to get a feel for the campus atmosphere since I think it must be very different from what I'm used to, but flights to Cali are not cheap especially during spring break season.

Got a e-mail from UCLA this afternoon! I've never been to California before, but I've been in love with UCLA since sophomore year. Also got a really nice e-mail from a POI at Chicago whose work I am a huuge fan of. Feeling very blessed right now

Yeah, I was so glad that Chicago doesn't require the subject test, in fact I think they mention that they don't even consider it. The test is just so dated, it's almost as superfluous as the GRE General. I'm saying this as a person who dabbled in calculus, chemistry, and computer science freshman year, that subject test was by far the hardest test I've ever taken in my life. Half of the questions go past even identification... it's like "The person referred to in this poem excerpt also wrote which of the following?" or "Which of the following poems below also contains the allusion found in lns 3-4 of this poem?" Uhhhhhhhhhh.... I would have given anything to trade with the woman next to me taking the Psychology subject test.

Congratulations! With a fellowship nomination to boot, that's awesome!

I'm now starting to wish I had done the same. The test went so horribly for me and it's such a glaring weakness that I'm now discounting any program I applied to (a good many) that required it. And that's really just a waste of money, hope, and heartbreak. Duke, UVA, Berkeley, UCLA (all whom I've heard nary a peep from, but personally know someone--a possible medievalist--who has) all required it. Staying hopeful though! It helped that my school just beat the #1 bball team in the nation, heh.

Received an invite to Northwestern's visit weekend today with only 12 other names in the recipient line which is interesting. I don't know if Northwestern waitlists, but if anyone is still waiting to hear something it seems very possible that more offers will be extended (?).

Congrats to whomever posted the recent UCLA and Berkeley admits!

Congrats!

Phone has been silent all day. Oh Berkeley how I so wanted you.