rainy_day

This is a true story in the rainy_day household. Last year my partner was waitlisted for Houston's MFA program. The same year James Franco got in there.

I'm still "awaiting program decision" too. Yikes, this is crazy stressful.

Also did this, and got my rejection. Happy to have the answer. It's cold there!

I am finding myself getting strangely defensive! Haha. Confederacy of Dunces is probably my favorite book of all, and I love Zadie Smith. I am appreciating the Pamela bashing, but I tend to study (contemporary) pop culture, so I often love what I hate.

Definitely the waiting.

I'm not sure of the exact numbers, but CUNY has a really high average for years to degree. I think their average is something like 9-10? I would suggest that you look into that and also job placement rates for both programs as a way to measure. Congrats on two great offers!

Thanks, Trip!!

Just got the waitlist email. It's my first bit of "good news" in this process, so I'm pelased!

I happen to know for a fact that the MA is on a different schedule! Feel free to PM me if you have Brandeis questions. (Allso, the school will be closed next week because Brandeis has a February break and a week off in April for Passover.)

I concur. I'm batting 0/5.

Oh man, I'm 0/4; I could really use some good news!!

Congrats to everyone who got the call!! To everyone else: internet hugs. This is a difficult and long process; anything may still happen.

I agree!

If you like nonprofit work, check out www.idealist.org for jobs.

Two of my good friends currently enrolled in a PhD program insist "good news comes late"

This does not sound like cause for immediate rejection. If they weren't okay accepting an email, they would have just said no.

Well, there goes that one. *sigh*

Anyone else feel perilously close to having a nervous breakdown? Here's hoping some good news comes through this week.

Oh wow, thanks for the info! You just saved me a weekend of getting my hopes up, which would have only made things much, much worse. I really appreciate you sharing this info. Good luck to you, Kelkel. From your signature, Miami clearly has better weather than Buffalo.

Hahah! Great minds & all... Best wishes to you, too! It looks like some email rejections went out today, so maybe this *is* potentially good news? Ugh,being hopeful is more terrifying that being despondent! Good luck to you!!!

Has anyone checked the status on their application? Mine was changed today to "Under Committee Review - 2/3/12." I had assumed I had been rejected since I hadn't heard anything yet, but why wouldn't they just update my status to "rejected" and/or why bother to update it at all? I'm wondering (unrealistically hoping) if this means I'm maybe being considered for waitlist? What does your status says?

I thought this thread would be about the sharp increase of drinking that has gone on in order to endure the wait to hear from programs. Because then I could contribute.

Yeah, I've walked by this place. It's in the lower level of an apartment complex and the sign looks like its as old as Freud would be. definitely not BU or BC.

I'm finishing up my last semester of an MA, and I've found it incredibly beneficial. I was offered a good grant/scholarship package, and the chance to TA in my second year (and i'd been doing the corporate thing for 3 yrs, so had some savings). This made it financially feasible for me, but that is always an individual case, and you will crunch the numbers on your own. It's a huge part of the decision, obviously, and a different matter for everyone. I knew (from HS, nerd alert) that I wanted a PhD, but being interdisciplinary/cultural studies focused, I had no idea how to articulate or even identify my interests. Also, my sense of theory was shaky, at best, even though I was interested in it. So when people told me "research for fit. Look at faculty bios/work" during my first batch of applications, I had NO IDEA what to look for. The MA has been infinitely helpful in allowing me the space to sort out and learn to articulate my interests. Also, i am proud of my writing sample and generally the work I've produced. The MA also gave me a chance to do more sophisticated service work, attend and present at some conferences, gather stronger letters of rec, etc. I'm very glad I took the MA offer. It's true that people expect more from MA applicants than undergrad ones, but goodness, if you aren't presenting more after 2 yrs of graduate study, I think there's a problem. I am a proponent of either a 2 yr MA or a 1 yr in which you wait to graduate before completing applications, because otherwise you don't have the chance to actually get any of the benefits of an MA before applying again, but you're still shelling out $$. Obviously, the less you pay the better. Also, some schools (cough, NYU, Chicago) use their MA students to fund their PhD students. Don't go there!! Everything I've heard is that the environment is toxic and professors don't respect your work. Again, this reduced the benefit of the MA, making it less valuable. YMMV. Hope this helps.