jazzyd

yes..... will smith came outta philly, so it can't be too bad

Fib or no, that doesn't change the fact that at least one real person has gotten an acceptance..... I don't know if it was by phone call or not though, I should ask. But I feel like a weirdo since I've done that with at least 2 of their other acceptances lol.

It's not a fib, at least it's not likely. I don't know who posted that, but a friend of mine just posted that he received an acceptance. So... it's more likely than not... nail-biting starts.... now

Welp, it's all quite here at 7:33AM CST, 8:33 eastern, and 5:33 pacific. Might as well call that a day. (I jest)

That's what I've been saying. Mondays have been pretty slow, holidays or no.

I wouldn't say complaining... I'm more thankful than anything else. In fact, I debated not even making one for the sheer fact that it only seems to emphasize that there's not much there. Exactly. This is why I don't think a CV is a make-or-break application component. A good CV can only help - but won't make up for deficiencies in a sample/SOP - and a sparse CV isn't the end of the world. Granted, that vary for between programs or for applicants with MAs, but I agree that I have nothing to complain about thus far.

Well, I for one have class tomorrow... so people waiting to hear word from Illinois might hear some news. Then again, Mondays have seemed to be quiet the past couple weeks. I feel like the most we can expect on Mondays are carry over decisions from the end of the previous week.

Oops! I had no clue why this question was asked and since it was always optional, I always left it blank. I mean yeah, on the positive end it might mean more funding and incentives if a school sees that you might be getting offers from lots of other great programs... but on the negative, they might assume that you'll pass on their program automatically if they have a hunch you'll get into a more prestigious program.

No clue, but considering you got wait-listed at Princeton, I'd say it's not so much of a reach!

I actually already heard of someone who's gotten an offer from Yale, so I've more or less assumed since then that they've already started notifying (as least positively). And does NYU count since they were notifying last week (or was it the week before)?

We placing any bets on this next week? I guess that this week would be cray, so I'm sticking to that... Methinks Rutgers, Michigan, Columbia, UPenn, and Cornell (?) maybe Harvard (?) Has Stanford sent out interview invitations yet and we've just all missed the boat?

This is something about my application (particularly CV + transcript) that I feel I did particularly well. The department here is VERY British oriented and this is reflected in our graduation requirements (out of all our required courses, 5/11 of them are British literature topics; meanwhile only 2/11 are American literature topics), so I've had to fight tooth and nail so squeeze in as many American literature courses as I could. But I've also known that I wanted to work with American literature (and race) since deciding on grad school sophomore year. Meaning everything I've done since then (symposium presentations, summer research) for the most part have revolved around the same broad area(s). (I should note however that my CV is VERY bare; 2 presentations [both at my home institution], 2 summer programs [one at my home institution], 2 scholarships, and my part-time employment since college that primarily consist of journal editing and web development work.) So I don't think it's utterly crucial (and for all I know it doesn't make a difference) that everything on your application and CV match perfectly with what you now know you want to research. In fact, I think the opposite (being too focused and too set) can hurt even more because it shows that an applicant is not willing to be flexible with changes in research, advice from faculty, knowledge from classes, etc. I'll finish off to just say that I consider my CV a supplement, not a major portion, of my graduate applications. And that's the way a lot of programs tend to frame it. Your SOP and writing sample should tell the story, and the CV is more of a nice anecdote to maybe further supply that you're ready for graduate level work. And as I mentioned above, my CV is quite bare, so in terms of telling the story it doesn't in any way at all encompass my ideas and preparation for grad work. My transcript does a better job of that than my CV.

Okay even thought I literally JUST SAID I wasn't going to think about narrowing choices down... what do people think about Chicago versus Brown as far as 19-20th Century Am lit and race studies go? I understand these are broad categories, but I'm curious. During the application process I was too afraid to look at programs too closely, just because I didn't want to fall in love with any program (though it sort of happened anyway )

I got my Princeton rejection as I was frantically trying to finish a paper for a class sooo basically it couldn't have come at a worse time... needless to say I was quite salty for the rest of the day until I checked my e-mail that night. So I consider myself lucky. Has anyone heard from Michigan yet? It's interesting that they're waiting this long. Or perhaps I'm just rejected and don't know it yet, ha!

I'm so far from this it's not even funny! I'm still waiting to here from a good amount of schools so I'm wary about trying to narrow down choices just yet. I also haven't visited any place yet. So I can definitely say that I'm quite jelly of your peace of mind ! Despite my fear of flights longer than 2 hours, I'll be going to the UCLA welcome week as well so perhaps I'll see you there!

Brown!!!!!!!! I can't believe it. It was one of my top choices! Eeeeeee!

killin it! Congrats!!!

This is a different person from the Duke/NYU/UVA admits, though this person did also receive acceptances to Vanderbilt, Berkeley, and UCLA I'm actually not all too familiar with his specialty as we're not too close and attend different universities. I can pretty much guarantee he's not a budding Victorianist, but that's about it!

From what I've seen with the programs I applied too, first year fellowships are pretty common such that a lot of first year graduate students don't have to teach. UIllinois does have first year graduate students teaching rhetoric courses, meanwhile UChicago doesn't have students teaching until the third year. I'm actually really excited to teach, though that's certainly not going to make or break my decision to go someplace. I'm sure once I'm in the mix I'll see why some programs prefer that students wait a bit longer!

Can anyone claim the Yale acceptance? I know someone who was also accepted (same person? ha, it's small world...). Now I get to bite my nails and have the most agonizing (re: tearful) weekend ever.... Edit: Oops, Princeton, I mean Princeton it's been a long week

Yeah, congrats! We have a really great department here and I have pretty much every professor I've come into contact with. I don't know how many other decisions you have to weigh, but if you have any questions as far as campus atmosphere or anything feel free to ask me. Anything but the graduate program specifically (ha) since obviously I don't know much about that realm.

I'm serious! Next week will be the 17-23, which qualifies as late February. Unless programs plan on having visit days in April, they'll need to really notify that week (or of course the next...) in order to finalize flight plans and travel schedules etc.

My bet is that the rest of this week will be fairly quiet (at least from the schools I'm waiting on, which is a fair amount!) and next week will be craaaazy.

Massacre of love hopefully... wait... wut?

The high of being accepted is waning a little, or maybe I just have a bunch on my plate this week and my morale is down aside from applications. I'm a bit upset about not hearing from Berkeley (along with Duke, NYU, and UVA) particularly since someone I know has heard back (positively) from three of them(!) But the fact that I got accepted to 3 programs that I could see myself at is enough reassurance that I do have something to offer and my efforts over the past couple years are being recognized. Just working on staying thankful and realizing that it's not a competition (or is it?); because in the end we can only go to one program.