Pending

Yes, be sure to talk about the unexpected burden that comes along with the rock star lifestyle. You know, the drugs, the endless amounts of women, and the loads of money that no academic knows what to do with. It's an increasingly rare topic that deserves butt loads of attention, due mainly to the increasing number of scholarly celebrities who crack under the pressure. 

Dear Miami (Ohio),

It looks like you're starting to notify people.

I know I didn't treat you like you were my one and only but I'm a changed man.  That pretty little program in the south meant nothing to me - pipe dreams! You're the place for me.

Please consider giving me a chance to prove it to you.

Thank you,
BTAC

YAY! CONGRATS! Southern Illinois University Press publishes so many great rhet/comp books.

Also, just googled “Bathtub desks.” I’ll let everyone know what I find. 

I got my first acceptance tonight -- Southern Illinois -- and I'm just insanely happy to have an offer. I had pretty much given up hope, and even though it's not my top choice, it's still a choice and I'm happy to have it. Don't give up just yet everyone who hasn't heard good news; your offer can still come!

I just got a phone call from Tufts University! First acceptance. Beyond excited.

I am happy I got my MA first because I was a dummy dumbhead before I went through my MA program and afterwards I was slightly less dumb.

Visit both, but make ambiguous comments like, "Hmm, I notice your vending machines don't carry Diet Tab." Then gaze out the window as if thinking of the other university. Maybe they'll sweeten the deal!

"Doctoral Applications or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Booze"

I applied to Wendys, but they rejected me. 

Hm, a discrepancy...
 
I've checked again, just to make sure. Here is the cut and paste:
 
I wanted to write and say we received your application. Our current hope is to have our decisions made by the end of February. 
 
Received Jan 16, the day after the deadline. So, what are some likely reasons for the different dates?
The date in my email is one month later than yours because the admissions committee needs extra time to count out  all the scholarship money they plan to award me. My letter from Parks ends with "Sincerely," and yours with "LOL, Steve." You applied to parallel-universe Syracuse, a renowned institution of higher learning with slightly more expeditious admissions procedures. Go Orange! All I can really think is that the first couple of emails were overly optimistic. After all, making admissions decisions by the end of January would have required a two-week turnaround. If the results board is any guide, CCR has never sent out a decision before the third week of February.
 
Anyhow, best of luck and hope we both get in!

Oh, man. So many stats here, and so much self-branding! Someone above mentioned that this could be a bit off-putting, and I think I´m seeing why...
 
If you're clear about what you'd like to research (yet still flexible enough to take direction from your advisors) and if you can show that you have the skills to finish a large project -- you´re fine. Just a matter of finding an amenable department to do your research in. May take a few tries. May not end up where you first hoped. Plenty of opportunity to keep reading and writing in the meantime.
 
Don't equate yourself with your CV: all these stats sound like something engraved on a tombstone.

Try to buy groceries in either city.
 
Which one makes you want to throat punch kittens?
 
Don't go there.

To those of you rejected to UCLA: it's terrible here, the students are miserable, the professors often resort to physical violence, before examinations you must sacrifice small animals, and all universities have agreed to never hire UCLA PhD's. . .

See, they did you a favor.

This is turning into my blog. But I saw another rejection today, which means I'm still not rejected. That makes no sense, but it makes me feel better.

Yeah, especially if you haven't signed with them, you are fine.  They know what app season is like, and they know you have to do what is best for you.  They know how many different offers some people get; they probably did much the same thing.
 
Now, if you break an admission, then it might  get a bit hairier.  Not to say that you shouldn't do what is best for you there, but consider that you would be essentially walking out on them, and just keep that in mind.  It's like previous poster said, you have to weigh the merits of cutting out on a school, and consider the fact that some faculty could carry a grudge if you were applying for a job later. Starts to look like you don't take contracts seriously.
 
I know you were more looking for insight on the former, when you hadn't already signed any contracts, so take the second paragraph as just my ramblings.  For the situation you *actually* seem to be curious about, you are fine and dandy.  Just as the  schools made no promise to admit you, you made no promise to take their offer.

I don't think so at all. In the end, they know that just as they did what was best for them in graduate school, you're doing what's best for you--that is, if you aren't talking about some arrogant asshole faculty member who bases his/her merit on whether or not students they know choose to work with someone else over them. 

If I can jump in while you're on the topic of burning bridges... do programs/faculty tend to hold grudges if you choose another school--even if you haven't already signed with them? "Grudges" might not actually be the best way to put it, but this experience is giving me the opportunity to meet some incredible people in the field, and I'm beginning to worry about offending them if I take another offer. Especially since I might be applying for a position with these programs in a few more years...
 
Any insights here?