elizabethevrhrt

Right?! I'm going through the same thing right now. I just want to be rejected everywhere so I can comfortably accept my masters program offer. I am terrified that if I accept it, a random PhD will make it's way out of the shadows and admit me.

I emailed Chicago and asked when to expect results (aka rejections), and they informed me that decisions had been finalized and would be released by the end of this week or early next week at the latest. Obviously acceptances have already been sent out, so what kind of sick pleasure are they really getting from almost 3 weeks of holding on to rejections?

Also, does anyone remember when a poster in this thread shared the response the department had given him after he asked if all acceptances had already been sent out? They told him they accepted in waves and that the first round of admittances had been sent but that they were preparing the next. It does seem to me like this person got 100% bullshitted by the department -- don't you think?

Alright, U of Michigan, you are killing me. I see that some people got acceptances, wait listed, and rejected--what the eff is my status? I assume it's a rejection, but can we get this over with already?

I'm reading this thread and seeing your stories and concerns, and they transport me back six years ago, when I first applied to graduate school. I applied to graduate school right out of my undergrad. All the PhD programs rejected me. This was after I had received such encouragement from my professors, a high major GPA, and several awards for both my academics and extracurricular activities. I was kinda a big deal in college and had told everyone about my pursuits. The rejection letters completely rocked my sense of self. I taped them to my bedroom door as punishment, because I wanted to feel them mocking me, putting me in my place everyday. Friends and coworkers were asking all the time about my plans, and each time I had to answer, I felt my inside shrivel up a bit. 
 
I was not in a good place. 
 
I don't know if I would have felt better if I could have seen in the future, but if I could have, I would have known that I had an awesome life ahead of me, regardless of those rejection letters. I ended up doing an MA program, where I met the best of people, produced some fun work, and presented at fancy conferences. I ran into an old friend during my first year of my MA program, and now we are married and have one adorable dog. In the past five years, we've traveled around the country and the world. I taught for three years at a community college, three years of the best years of my life, where I met the most tenacious, witty, and creative students. I am now in a great PhD program in a different field, one I didn't even know existed when I first applied out of my undergrad.
 
It's impossible to know what next year holds for us. But I am hoping that my story demonstrates how little those rejection letters reflect who we are. For me, my letters did not signify that I was worthless or a loser, which is 100% what I felt six years ago; rather, the letters signified that I wasn't ready for grad school and I wasn't applying to the right field. So trust me when I say this: your rejection letters do not define you. 

I too was rejected. Wow. No email. Nothing. What did I pay that fee for?

To quote the wise Abed... I think I may have done some damage here.
 
I didn't mean to introduce a tizzy about re-asking for letter recs.  To clarify, it was the part *I* most hated about reapplying, but every single person I asked was incredibly wonderful about it.  They didn't say boo to the fact that I had to do it 3 times, and they were encouraging and helpful every single time.  I couldn't have done it without them.  I got encouragement, and even suggestions for schools I had never considered before, one of which is my only current acceptance.
 
And I know it's becoming my mantra, and I'm the repetitive crazy lady in the corner, but there is NO harm in reapplying.  These days, less common is the one who gets into something their first round.  There are just so many of us, and so many spots.  And we all converge on the top 20 like frantic nerdy sharks, and a bunch are bound to go hungry.  So you swim and circle for a year, take the time to become more awesome, and you do it again. And maybe there's a cooler shark, and you have to try again, and maybe again. But eventually you eat.
/Shark metaphor.
 
...and reapplying is a drug.  Every year I wondered if I had the gumption to go through it again.  And then October came around, and there I was, gathering materials and being all optimistic and annoying.  If it's what you wanna do, you just...have to keep doing it.  Either that or I have an obsessive disorder and should seek help soon.  But I can go both ways.

So much of what you said resonated with me. Even though I will most likely get rejected from Rutgers, I still have hopes. In fact, even when I knew I probably had been rejected at UMich, when I got an email from UMich admissions, I still had butterflies in my stomach thinking maybe, just maybe, it could be an acceptance (spoiler: it wasn't).

And what you said about the subjectivity of the SoP/writing sample? SO TRUE! Everyone that read my SoP felt it was very strong, but even now re-reading it, I feel like it is a mess! Who knows what kind of mood the person will be in when he/she reads it – or what sort of stellar sample he/she may have read directly before mine. The subjectivity of this whole thing is making me nuts!
 
 
 
 
I too am starting to lose hope. I’ve only heard back from two schools, but they have been rejections, and then I also have a few implied rejections from schools I just haven’t heard from but sent out acceptances and waitlist notifications. The worst part is, as you mentioned, definitely telling undergraduate professors/recommenders.
I need to meet with one professor to get some paperwork signed and I am absolutely DREADING it! He's been my academic advisor since I was a freshman and we're incredibly close - he's the first person to suggest I am capable of "going all the way" and getting a PhD. I also have a meeting today with the head of my College's McNair program, and she's definitely going to ask about applications; I am so stressed out to tell her that I've gotten two rejections and no acceptances! She will probably reassure me, but I'm still worried and stressed about it.
 
 
 
Edit - Grammar, it no love me no more.

I'm thinking a lot about reapplying too. I haven't been accepted to A SINGLE SCHOOL. And the stress is killing me. Even being waitlisted at this point would feel like a god send.
 
I'm sure that it's probably juvenile, but I am seriously dreading emailing my undergrad profs and telling them that I got rejected across the board... and then asking if they will write my letters again for this coming application season. I totally shot myself in the foot during this process. I should have applied to some "lower tier" schools, some MA programs... I knew this would be hard but this feels ridiculous. 
 
I'm trying not to let my negative emotions spiral out of control but sometimes I just can't help it. 
 
Dear Graduate School Gods,
 
I just want ONE acceptance... I don't care where. Thanks!

I still haven't heard anything. I'm obsessively checking my email. Needless to say, I'm not being very productive at work today.

Hi everyone...
 
I have already finished drafting a 1000 word version of my SOP that I'm very happy with, but three schools that I'm applying to require a 500 word SOP. In my 1000 word version, I go into more detail about my projects and I have a personal introductory paragraph. While reading some other threads here, I noticed that many suggested removing the personal paragraph in order to save space, but I'm not so sure. 
 
If anyone has any thoughts or suggestions, I would greatly appreciate them!
 
-------------------------------------------------
 
As an undergraduate at the University of Maryland, I studied an array of subjects. I was a government major, a biology major, and finally an English major. My diverse academic background allows me to look at literature and literary issues from nontraditional perspectives: I can examine a text’s historical and political context, understand the use of scientific elements in the text, and unpack the literary devices that bring the narrative together. Part of my academic training included a semester at the Folger Shakespeare Library, where I studied with Dr. Sarah Werner in her highly competitive course on early modern literature and the study of bibliography. My study of A Collection of English Words… involved in-depth deconstruction of the book as a historical document as well as supplemental research to determine the bibliographic history of the edition. I conducted much of my research using digital biographies and archives, an experience that began shaping my interest in the digital humanities.
 
In my final semester, I worked with Dr. Jesse Oak Taylor on my senior thesis project, a discussion of the presence of exotic animals in the nineteenth century domestic manual. I argue that the presence of animals in the domestic manual, while uncommon, posits that domestic manuals from the nineteenth century were much less dated and arbitrary than typically imagined. I worked with online resources for this project, using digital editions of the three domestic manuals in my investigation. I would like to expand upon this project to include a wider survey of manuals and digital resources in my graduate work. In addition to my research experience, I had the opportunity to put theory into practice as an undergraduate teaching assistant for English 101 courses in the spring and fall of 2012. The courses were “blended sections,” taught in both the physical classroom and online. As a TA, I was responsible for creating an engaging online environment, grading assistance, and teaching a few lessons. I also took a pedagogical course that discussed contemporary pedagogical theory.
 
Wisconsin would afford me real opportunities to pursue my questions about the culture of the nineteenth century and it pertains to women and the social construction of gender and sexuality and the manner in which they are represented in Victorian literature. Dr. Susan David Bernstein and Dr. Anne McClintock would make excellent mentors for my graduate study. Dr. Bernstein’s work in her Victorian Serialization project and its ability to reveal common patterns and methods in popular (and unpopular) Victorian literature is something I wish to explore further in my own study. Dr. McClintock’s Imperial Leather has inspired some of my undergraduate study, especially with her discussion of imperialism and the female body. This research is something I would like to build upon in my graduate career. Furthermore, I intend to pursue a minor in Women’s Studies in order to diversify my study of Victorian literature and the nineteenth century.