jazzyd

Hmm, with only last year for comparison, this seems pretty typical. Only because most visiting days are within the first couple week/end/s of March. But schools continued to notify after visiting days into April, which was why I still say 'it ain't over till it's over'. Schools do seem to be sending rejections earlier this year. I don't think I received any of my rejections sooner than March last year.

How is that any different or worse from a mass e-mail to check the status on an online application form? Last year Harvard sent out paper rejections, which was oddly nice. I was actually visiting schools at the time and had my roommates open it and text me back. They were so excited for me when they saw the letter and I think it was more of a let down for them than me!

I don't. Trying to improve on that. For now it's just a matter of budgeting enough time to get it all done... or at least enough done to fake it!

Congratulations! Michigan is a great program, great school, and outside of academics you can't go wrong with the Big 10. That's great news! Will be crossing my fingers that you get into a spot.

I don't know if there is a standard - it necessarily varies with the size of the school along with of course the program's general philosophy on teaching and commitment to professionalization. My alma mater had English grad students not on fellowship teaching in their first semester, which I have a much better appreciation for now as a grad student myself! But my alma mater is a huge public school. Where I am now is pint-sized in comparison and doesn't need grad students teaching until after they've completed courses.

Yes, but completely understandable. I felt the same way last year; application season really messes with your head. If you didn't see yourself at any of the schools you haven't yet heard from, why did you apply them? Every Katia said is on the money. Sit tight. There's every chance you'll get an offer from a program (or programs), visit, and fall in love.

I mentioned financial resources instead of salaries for the very reason that salary caps exist; but there's many things a team like the Lakers or Cowboys can do to lure talent outside of a strict offer of more money. I mean, just look at Jerry Jones' overpriced playpen. Thinking just in terms of name, finances, resources, prestige, there's no reason why the Cowboys should be as abominable as they are. Or at least, there wouldn't be if we were following along the alma mater=sport teams analogy, prestige=more success. I had no clue about the NBA penalties though. Very cool. Very needed, lol.

UIUC is a great school! Would this mean you wouldn't have to teach? I believe most of their students teach the first year, so if your fellowship allows you to just take classes, that would be awesome. What other school are you considering?

I guess I don't understand the analogy. Huge sports franchises with boatloads of financial resources and the most to lure good coaches and talented free agents with - Yankees, Lakers, Dallas Cowboys - don't make it to their respective playoffs every year. Or win championships every year. By that logic, these teams would almost always be at or near the top every year by virtue of their clout alone, even if less wealthy teams with fewer resources had better players. That's not that case at all. Unless you're making the comparison to college athletics, in which case I think it holds more water what with the NCAA division between D1, D2, D3 schools, the BCS system for college football, the bid system for basketball, etc. etc. where a school that's undefeated in an obscure conference will in most cases go ignored in comparison to a Big 10 or SEC school with a poorer record. In either case, I'm sure I thought way more into this than it warranted

"Is ETS screwing us over more than we thought?" Yes... the answer is always, "yes".

Eh, I beg to differ. Or I guess, I'm curious how advanced you would consider 'reading knowledge' of a language.

^Basically. Fit + good work (or potential to produce such). I don't know what the "tiers" are or what tier my program would be considered in, but from a numbers point of view as an applicant I had 0 pubs, 0 conferences, an alright verbal score, horrifying subject score and good GPA (though most definitely on the lower side for those coming out of the humanities). My recommendations I would bet were great, only because each of my writers had gotten to know me and my work pretty well in my last couple years of undergrad, but none were what you might call "famous" faculty. My undergrad is a well respected research institution, but nothing in the realm of Ivy or even public Ivy (the latter perhaps depending on who you ask). Not listing these things as evidence of a super stellar SOP and writing sample or anything; after all, I was rejected from the vast majority of schools I applied to. This is more testimony that as Swagato said, there's no silver bullet. I've said this a couple times, but my cohort is a mix of people with and without MAs, pubs, conference presentations, teaching experience, prestigious diplomas, even strict backgrounds in English. And it's very arbitrary. Even if I were to pull an MIB and selectively erase the memory of the admissions committees of everywhere I applied to last year and reapply again with an identical application, there's no guarantee I'd even get into the same schools again. Or any schools.

Congratulations!

I believe faculty hiring has pushed things back a bit; at least that would be my guess. The prospective day has been set, but that's all I know.

I also recommend sticking to departments where you've had some sort of contact or exchange with a particular POI. I contacted a couple departments last year and didn't hear back from most; the one I did hear back from told me that with the season being closed, the department no longer had access to that information. Really, I'm guessing my application was one out of many that didn't make the final cut and/or it wasn't worth the department's time to try to dredge it up. But someone with whom you've spoken who maybe had an eye on your application, even if they weren't directly involved with the selection process could be of better assistance.

It's a play off of a joke from The Office. Dwight considering himself to be Assistant Regional Manager, with Michael (the Regional Manager) correcting him ("Assistant to the Regional Manager").

Though I don't think my posts have been rude or condescending, if something in particular I said was off-putting, then I apologize for saying it.

Not necessarily. Two schools I didn't hear a peep from until mid-March last year offered spots in their MA programs (Duke and UVA). And it's entirely possible to be waitlisted and not be notified of it. Someone mentioned that grad apps are like applying for a job. If an employer says they will touch base with you in 2 weeks, would you call them 5 days later to see how everything is going? Not harping on you specifically, but just trying to put this whole crazy mess into perspective. This is why people say to stay away from GC!

Very very cool! I feel like English is still deciding what to do with social media, meanwhile the social sciences have taken it up and kept on moving.

Please resist the urge to e-mail grad departments. We've just reached the first week of February. It may feel like 5 years in GC time, but it's just the beginning of the notification season. Unfortunately, not knowing is part of the process. But you never know what might come out on the other end, an offer for the PhD program or the MA program. Looking at that thread from another forum someone posted, I'd be wary about sending unnecessary e-mails with grad departments, especially when there's a good chance not everything has been decided yet. Just my $.02.

Congrats! I'll cross my fingers for ya!

Will you be including #solidarityisforwhitewomen in your discussion by any chance? 'Cause you totally should.

Schools want applicants who can produce good work, period. Or rather, applicants who show potential to produce good work in the future. These expectations may or may not be proportionate to the amount of lines an applicant has on their CV. I do not think a school would pass up a Master's student with conference presentations or published articles who has good ideas and is producing good things in favor of someone fresh out of undergrad who doesn't show much promise, all just because the latter is in fact "fresh". And if they do, well, it says a lot about that school that they think they cannot have a positive influence on someone who's already got good things going on. What do they do with new faculty then? On the other hand, I don't see why a school would look over a brilliant, but perhaps clumsier applicant with a short CV in favor of someone who may have a Master's, but aren't producing anything the department can work with (which is not to say it's not good, but it doesn't fit). Or maybe I've let my own department's thoughts (or what I perceive to be their thoughts) cloud my mind enough to state these as generalities. I just know that my own cohort is a complete mixed bag; some people have their Master's, some don't. Some have peer reviewed articles under their belt, most don't.

Fwiw, Berkeley didn't send out rejections until mid-March last year. Though, that doesn't necessarily have any bearing on what they do this year. Keeping my fingers crossed that this week ends on a good note for everyone. Fridays seem lucky in my mind...

I don't think I ever would've known what an implied rejection is if it weren't for GradCafe. Or rather, it would have materialized much differently. W/o gradcafe an implied rejection would mean getting to mid-March without a peep from a certain school, oh well. On Gradcafe, an implied rejection means 2 people got offers at 2:30 and now it's 2:33 and you feel like the world is crashing down on you.