It's (Not) About Me

Thank you! I hope you get some good news soon, too! Guyzzzz UNC-Chapel Hill seems to have started their acceptances, too. With this and Cornell, I think today is going to be a sad day for me. Grumble grumble.

I suspect that both of those updates came from people who contacted the dept directly. Which I will probably bite the bullet and do, too, before the end of the day. My email anxiety is focused mostly on the Cornell acceptances that have gone out. Gaaaaahh! ME TOO.

Hah, I am pretty firmly E--that's one thing that never varies when I take Myers-Briggs tests. I am also a Leo, which also supposedly means that I am outgoing and like to be the center of attention. I find it interesting (if not meaningful) when my personality traits actually correspond with what astrology says.

Cool, thank you for sharing that. And I get why you'd be experiencing a mixed bag of emotions, but I think it's worth celebrating! Hats off to ya, and may you be officially accepted very soon! Edited to ask: what program did you apply to, BTW?

OH MY GOD, thank you for bringing this video into my life. Aside from PJs/workout clothes, I never wear pants.

I'd like to know, too! It wudn't me, that's for sure. Haha. I'm surprised that they started notifying so early.

Yep, I realize that. I only mentioned it to reinforce girlwhowearsglasses's comment that Michigan might take much longer than we're expecting. "Early March" is a meaningless time frame that they publicize in hopes of staving off emails from us until then. I love how some programs pretend not to know about The Grad Cafe.

Ps. I have a YouTube playlist called "Shit Happens" that I listened to throughout the latter half of my applications, and it is just FULL of gems like this one.

Oh, oh! This is my favorite song in the category of "Cheesy 80's song by one of my all-time favorite artists that is full of encouraging words but is also basically about suicide but you'd never know it because it's so damn catchy!" http://youtu.be/YhxjNYvJbgM "Just like a boxer in a title fight, You got to walk in that ring all alone. You're not the only one who's made mistakes, But they're the only thing that you can truly call your own." Although, haiii, the video makes it very explicit that the song is about suicide. Oh well. I LURVE IT.

Hmm! I mean, the website says (somewhere, I made a note of it) "You will be notified in early March." But obviously they sent out decisions waaay earlier than that last year. I'm really eager to hear from them! Lolyup. Pretty much all of them, tho. Like Stanford--throughout the whole application process I treated it as almost a joke that I was applying there at all. And since it was my second-to-last deadline, my confidence was so shot by that point that I nearly said "fuhgeddaboutit" to the whole thing. I do not have $125 to spare, you know? But my stubbornness/determination to finish what I start won out in the end. I'm not exactly anxious for that decision because I know what it'll be, but damn, Stanford! Their faculty is so freaking good for my interests! Their last letter? As in, the last time you contacted them personally, or did you get some kind of general update from them? I am the person who's "considering it," hah. I haven't heard a peep from them and it's one of my top choices. I want to contact them--I was really hoping to have an answer before the weekend, too--but I have no idea what to say.

YAY, congratulations you lucky accepted people!! Way to go! I would think that it's an unofficial acceptance? You could always call them up and ask about it? (And then you can ask why I haven't heard anything from them yet! ) Either way, congrats on the nomination! ENFP, I think, but I keep retaking it. Holla. And yes, Impostor Syndrome! I know it well. I keep thinking things like, "As soon as I accomplish X goal, I will know that I really belong here." But of course the goal is constantly shifting higher and higher. Right now, it's getting into grad school. Before that, it was getting honors on my B.A. thesis/graduating with honors. I can't imagine what it'll be next because I think getting rejected from all of my schools will "prove" to me that I'm not meant for this career. So... I would be 100% delighted to get an acceptance at any of the programs I applied to, though! I chose them partly based on whether it would feel like an accomplishment to get in and I'd feel proud to attend.

At what point would it be acceptable for me to contact UW-Madison about my app? It looks like their acceptances went out 1/30 and quite a few rejections around 2/6. I still got nuthin' and I'm going crazy because they were one of my top choices.

Oh, goody! I can't wait to start. Grrrrrrr.

Yeah, what's up with that? It looks like they sent them out pretty early last year. I think it's very, very unlikely that they'll reach out to me, but I'm still curious as to what they're doing differently. Do you think there's any chance they're not having interviews this year? Haha! I've been checking my spam folder semi-regularly (just in case!) and I am intrigued and slightly frightened by all of this mail I never knew I'd received...

Shit y'all, you're freaking me out! Michigan, Brown, Rutgers, and UNC are all on my list. I cannot handle getting that many rejections so quickly after a week of anxious silence. Also still waiting to hear from Wisconsin-Madison, so I'd love to get some news from them. I don't care as much about getting the official Duke rejection, but even that would be nice to know. Anyway, I think Michigan seems the most likely of the ones mentioned so far.

Congratulations!! What a pleasant surprise to have waiting for you after class!

I know riiiiiight? I get it that I'm gonna be rejected, so can I just get my form letter and move on already?

Oh my god, that is awful. You have my sympathy for sure.

@ImWantHazPhD, LOL!! Re: the new Duke posting on the results board, I guess it's time to update my signature? I did an obligatory check of my spam mail and the website, which still sez "Decision Not Ready." I feel comfortable assuming that it's a "no" for me. I am oddly OK with that.

One of my friends started a book club a few weeks ago, so I've mostly been reading our "assignments." The first book we did was The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, which I hadn't read yet and really enjoyed. We just finished plodding through The Golden Notebook, which I enjoyed a little less--but I'm very glad to have read it. After a small palate-cleanser in the form of Letters to a Young Poet (which I've read before), we're tackling Gravity's Rainbow. Oh lord. The only Pynchon I've read is The Crying of Lot 49 and I just couldn't get into it, but I was overruled. Haha. Any opinions on Gravity's Rainbow or Pynchon in general?

Damn! I didn't know it was that common. That does make me feel a lil' better.

Yay davidm! Congrats! DontHate raises a really interesting question: how DO everyone's parents feel about them applying to English MA/PhD programs? Supportive? Bewildered? I have a really difficult relationship with both parents. I don't ask them for any support, and they don't give me any. I haven't told them that I'm applying to programs, but I'll probably tell them if I enroll somewhere. Anyway, my sister is getting a PhD in HDFS at a pretty damn good program, and my brother's career plans have stalled / he's been living with our parents since he graduated college five years ago (nothing wrong with that, but it's not what he wanted, and our hometown is a soul-crushing place)... I am the youngest, and I have no idea what they expect of me.

So true! Right now my stress is focused primarily on wanting decisions, period. I probably won't be so eager to hear from programs once I have a few more rejections under my belt. But thanks for the encouragement re: Northwestern. I'll add that to the pile of pep talk material along with the other points, plus the fact that I got a semi-personal rejection email from them ("Maybe I was really close!"). Haha. Thank you, and I am truly sorry about Wisconsin, too. I can relate to your feeling--rankings may be bullshit, but it doesn't make me feel great to know that the second-lowest-ranked school on my list has already rejected me. It's hard not to feel like that's a bad omen for the rest of them. But: fit, fit, fit. And this process is actually totally random. And like you said, it only takes one! One program to take a chance on a couple of crazy kids like us! Fingers crossed for you. Not bad at all! My boss (also a professor) has indicated that she'll keep me on for as long as I want my job, and I'm endlessly grateful for that too. I'm glad that your spirits are somewhat high.

Congrats, DontHate! Good luck with the interview! Exactly! Common sense says that I should stop talking about it altogether, and damn, I wish I could. But I should reiterate that I am incredibly grateful for their support either way. I much prefer their optimism to the alternative, i.e. one of my neighbors (getting a PhD in Music) who found out that I'm applying to English PhD programs and reacted thusly: "Oh... huh... I'll be interested to see how that goes... You know, English is really hard." *facepalm*

Edit: This is in response to dazedandbemused's post about Michigan: I hope, I hope! Or maybe today! I just want someone to throw me a bone. Even if it's a bad one, haha. I'm still wondering when I'll hear from Wisconsin-Madison and Duke. Do people think that Duke is done contacting people who were accepted? Only one person has submitted a rejection to the results board.