Kamisha

A University of Chicago acceptance is up! Congratulations!

Jocko, why do you think you’ll never be finishing your PhD? I think that you can still do so. It might not be easy to get into another program, but clearly you’ve got the credentials and drive to do so. Don’t give up!

I agree with Mikers86’s post above--contact them.

They just built a huge building about two hours away from my apartment. I could drive there. Should I just knock?

I’m in the same boat in terms of feeling most confident about the schools that notify in March, though I’m really not feeling confident about anything at this point. Baylor is flying 15 of us out for interviews (PhD program preview) this weekend, so send good vibes my way. I need to wow them. I doubt they’ll take all fifteen of us. It’s likely going to be Hunger Games: Academia Edition.

That is so kind of you! My goal is to see you get in, as well. Teamwork.

Is there a way to find out who is looking at your profile on Academia.edu rather than just the state (or, if international, country) from which the person has searched for you? It’s driving me crazy.

I can see where the previous two comments are coming from. That being said, you probably don’t want to wait too long. Schools do get rid of application packets and, at the very least, you want the DGS to remember your file and feedback. If you wait until April, you may not have that luxury.

Congrats to the Emory acceptances!

If you are concerned, always veer on the side of being overdressed rather than too casual. No one will look at you oddly for presenting in a business suit, but they will often do so if you are in khakis and a denim shirt.

....eat Chef Boyardee for dinner. How about you guys?

I’m told that some departments don’t love it. Our school DGS told me that it’s common practice to do so, but most schools will just ignore you. That being said, I’m now to the point where I would recommend it. I was nervous, but had communicated with my POI at Duke, so I decided to go for it. I got a really wonderful, personalized response when I did, so I thought I would try my luck at my other schools. Thus far, it’s been EXTREMELY helpful and the DGS at each school have been very, very kind about it. One of them even thanked me for taking the initiative to do so and heartily encouraged me to apply again next year. If you choose to do so, I’d just email the DGS unless you’ve been in contact with someone else in the department.

Lol I wasn’t going to either, but I’ve been emailing the departments who rejected me (Duke, UNL, and Davis so far) and asking them what I can do to make myself a more competitive applicant in the future. I got some really interesting feedback from one of them that just didn’t make any sense. So I looked back at my statement of purpose and, sure enough, I now completely understand the rejection. Haha. I apparently made the same mistake on my Washington application, so I’m saying goodbye to that school, too.

There’s nothing quite like looking back over your application materials on a Sunday afternoon and realizing you accidentally cut out two crucial paragraphs in one of your statements of purpose. You know, the paragraphs that talk about your MA thesis and explain how your writing sample ties into your research interests. Whoopsie. Bye bye, University of Washington. The dream was nice, but I don’t think it’s going to last now. Haha.

Dwight is my spirit animal.

You’re right. It is exciting. One day, they will call us all the “GradCafe generation of scholars” and talk about how we changed the world. Wishful thinking? Haha

Genius. Pure genius.

Is anyone a title savant? I need a blog name. Haha.

I was rejected from Davis. I can’t say that I’m “surprised” because you can never be surprised when these things happen, but four people from Davis had been looking at my Academia.edu and LinkedIn accounts and I was hoping that would translate into good news. Alas, it did not.

Wait, what program did you apply to at Irvine? I’m assuming rejection, but I haven’t heard anything yet. I applied to their English program. Maybe good news awaits you from Davis!

True, though I think I’d be more inclined to go the Starbucks route. I like the sound of “Barista.”

Haha Critical Theory is one of my interest areas, we well And don’t knock high school teaching. Lol. I did that for two years and I actually enjoyed it a lot (minus the eyes of the administration monitoring everything I did). It’s not what I want to do, but I think I could do it for another couple of years if I have to go through the PhD application process again, though I’d likely just stick to teaching composition because I love doing it.

I also seem to recall that you are a Medievalist. Clearly, they are more focused on 1990s American culture.

You probably weren’t the right “fit” for the direction they were looking to go this year.

Speaking of Plan B...I’ve been thinking about Plan B options in case I don’t get into a great PhD program this year. Good news: all of Wendy’s old training videos are available on YouTube! For the record, this post isn’t serious. That video is just too great to pass up.