thatjewishgirl

Thanks!! I hope so! I'm desperate to get the ghost of a chance to visit their Sherlock Holmes special collections.

Yes, you too! I broke down and emailed her after I saw quite a few rejections on here recently.

Wow, so I was waitlisted in 18th/19th century at Minnesota. I am *totally* shocked. Also, anyone else apply to Minnesota in that area?! She said she is notifying waitlisters in that area today.

Also, sounds like you guys have never met any obnoxious Univ. of Oklahoma fans. . . or lived next door to them and their screeching megaphones that blare the Sooner Fight Song throughout the entire neighborhood every time OU scores (or whatever). Also, is Oklahoma essentially a foreign country to everyone on the forum? It is okay if the answer is yes.

Bfat, you are worthy! You should be so proud of that acceptance. All you need is one! but yeah, I totally get the sentiment.

Minnesota!!! They are killing me!! Someone put me out of my misery... I know someone whose status switched to "Decision Made" Monday and they were rejected today. Mine still says "awaiting program decision." I kind of want to email the DGS and beg them to tell me something. I'm going crazy!

I have no idea... #1 I had absolutely no assumptions that I was going to get into Michigan. But even so, I have no idea what they did with my application. I sent my transcripts months ago, and they only just got around to posting them to my application Friday and today. I even emailed the English Department and they emailed me back this morning telling me to contact the Grad School again. So, while I did not assume I was getting in there *at all*, it would have been nice to feel like they looked at my app instead of, I don't know, disregarding it? I wish the English Dept would have emailed me back something to the effect of "LOL!!!!!!!" this morning.

If it makes you feel any better, I got an email from the graduate school telling me they only JUST THIS SECOND found my other transcript. Hahahaha. Thanks for nothing! they = Michigan

I wish I could tell you! Mine *still* says "Awaiting Program Decision." But I think it will be a link at the bottom? Like underneath your test scores? Do let me know what you find out... I noticed that a Minnesota rejection via website JUST went up, so I'm anxious about this program.

Anyone know anything new about Minnesota? My application still says "Awaiting Program Decision" or whatever, but my husband's switched to "Decision Made" today. We both assume we're getting rejected since it looks like they've already notified acceptances and waitlists, but it would be nice if we got rejected at the same time!!

Yeah, same, when I log in to "credentials" it just shows transcripts and gre.

Okay, thanks! Then obviously they only just got around to posting mine... :/

skybythelight, question for you and everyone else who applied to Michigan. My transcripts in the wolverine access system thing were only just marked as received on Friday, Feb. 15, 2013, even though I sent them back in November. Did that happen to anyone else? It makes me think maybe they only just got around to looking at apps?

That is a really interesting story, chaucerettescs! I'm actually really jealous of your experience. I grew up midwest Reform, and starting affiliating Conservative after I met my husband. We do not have a large Jewish population here, and it is definitely an aging one, so I am always jealous of people who have been able to experience a type of Jewish culture, Florida, Boston, etc., that I haven't. And Pericles, I would be willing to bet that they aren't interested in explanation because they feel like they don't have to--I assume that in places where Jewish populations are larger, they just assume you already know. Here, we're used to explaining every little detail. Our rabbi painstaking explains things, even though she should know better because she's largely talking to a Jewish audience. But we're just used to overexplaining for the benefit of the dominant culture.

How strange to me that someone would tell you that because you are German you should be careful studying anything Jewish. I have found that the Germans are really invested in the study of Jewish culture. Jewish studies in English departments is a weird situation. . . I do not believe that anyone would ever tell me I couldn't study it in a million years. I wrote every single seminar paper in my MA program on Jewish literature, and my thesis was on Anglo-Jewish literature. I did encounter hostilities from professors and students alike because I'm religious, but a lot of that, I think, is misdirected hostility toward Christians, since Oklahoma has quite a few of those, and intellectual leftists here tend to lump all religious people into the same category. I'm really glad to see that some people on this board think there is value in Jewish studies in English. I strongly believe that to be true. I spoke via email and phone with several professors from around the country who also work on Anglo-Jewish literature, and they all told me the same thing--it's a growing field. But there is a difference between people letting you study it in a program you are already in and committees being willing to take you if that is your major interest. While I don't think anyone would ever tell me I couldn't do it, I think a lot of people just don't know what to do with it. . . I think a lot of people don't see a place for Jewish lit in English department and think it all belongs in Judaic studies depts.. but unless you are fluent in Hebrew or Yiddish and want to work on Hebrew or Yiddish lit, good luck getting into one of those programs. I haven't noticed much of a place for English language Jewish lit in Judaic studies depts. But cbttcher, I will be so so interested in the progress of your career, so I hope you stay in touch, and I hope you continue to work on Jewish literature (even if you don't emphasize it in your future sops!).

I 100% agree with you, in regards to myself, anyway. I'm really hoping for an acceptance at GSU, otherwise, my applications next year will be VERY different.

Love Daniel Deronda! Such a good one. I hate how so many critics dislike the "Jewish part" of the novel. It is nice to see that other people are interested in the Jewish experience. I face a lot of flack now at my school and in my former program because I'm fairly religious (I say as I'm playing on the internet on Saturday afternoon after I've skipped shul for the past month). I have never yet worked with a professor or other students who share my interest in Jewish literature, so it is nice to know they exist. So, do the two of you feel like people question your interest in Jewish literature because you aren't Jewish? Being Jewish is what prompted my interest in the subject, but I've known a fair number of people interested in minority studies, Native, African American, Asian, Hispanic, etc., who are not ethnically related to their subject of study.

Ahhh!!! How wonderful!! My MA thesis is on Grace Aguilar, probably the most popular Anglo-Jewish writer of the 19th century. You are right about the lack of scholarly interest, which is why I'm so passionate about contributing to the field. What literature in particular are you writing about? Do you mind if I ask what brought you to your interest in Anglo-Jewish literature?

Hi chaucerettescs! I have some comments to add to what you said. Well, it is more coming from my husband than me, but I agree with him. He has had a lot more success than I have this cycle, and he has a lot of advice for me restructuring my applications next year. My research is about 98% on religion and literature, specifically 19th-century Anglo-Jewish literature. I am very passionate about Jewish literature because I believe it is a faction of lit that is really, really underrepresented (unless you are talking about a very specific kind of 20th-century American Jewish lit). So, naturally, all of my SOPs focused on my interest in Anglo-Jewish religious writings. And, naturally, I suppose, I have been rejected across the board. I only have hope for one program--GSU--because I contacted and applied to work with someone who has built a substantial part of his career writing the exact sort of thing I want to write, and you can actually test in Anglo-Jewish lit there. My husband's comments, and I read him your post and he thinks it applies to you, too, is that it is okay to not entirely represent your interests on your SOP. He says that children's lit, fantasy, that sort of thing, like religion/literature, is becoming a popular thing to write about, and I have noticed both at conferences, in publishing, etc., but that older members of faculties (the ones who do the deciding) aren't necessarily hip to some of these burgeoning trends. He suggested to me focusing in my SOPs next year entirely on something pretty well-established in whatever program I'm applying to, and that I should feel free to pursue whatever I want once I'm accepted, but that maybe I shouldn't reference it in my SOP. He thinks that a lot of people applying to grad school have been led to believe that dropping an interest off one's SOP is somehow misrepresenting one's body of work, but he disagrees, and furthermore, says that we should be courting senior faculty members, not junior ones, even if their interests align with ours. So, I hope this helps.

I'm 29 and dreading having to turn 30 with nothing to show for my 20s... I'm with ya!

Good luck!! I got mine today, but my husband didn't. Obviously we live at the same address... don't know what it means.

I know what you meant, and I meant the same. I'm glad you have so many people supporting your applications.

Good point.

Tracy, I'm sorry you are struggling! So many of us are with you--we get it. My husband thinks that I have been so resolutely rejected because my research is almost solely religion and literature, and he wonders if it isn't a bit controversial for many departments. I've seen a few programs that have quite a few Asian students--will you be applying again to different kinds of programs next year?

I feel the same way. Meanwhile, all my lovely friends at work keep telling me I'm wonderful and I'll get in somewhere because, well, I have to! And when I tell them that that isn't necessarily true and I need to come to terms with that, they get on to me for being negative.