Kamisha

When will Washington put us out of our misery?! I’m just assuming that any offer from them will, at this point, lack funding. That’s making me stress a bit less.

I agree with others here that an A- isn’t going to kill you, but I can only imagine how frustrating it is for you. I killed myself (obviously not literally...that would have been a hell of a course requirement) to keep my 4.0 throughout grad school and I would have been FURIOUS if a professor pulled this. I feel for ya.

The more prestigious the conference, the better it looks on your cv. Oh, academia politics. It sucks, but they definitely exist. This is kind of the order of prestige, from least to most: Undergraduate Conferences Regional Grad Conferences National/International Grad Conferences Regional Professional (MLA, PCA, etc.) Conferences National/International Professional Conferences

People back out of conferences all of the time for a variety of reasons, lack of funding probably being the most prevalent. It’s not a big deal and no one is going to get mad at you for it. Everyone understands and most everyone has done it. Just give them as much notice as possible.

My experience with writing samples comes from my direct contact with the universities that rejected me, which doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s a universal truth, but it could be helpful for people to understand. I emailed the/was contacted by Adcomms and asked what I could do to become a more competitive applicant in the future. Every school but one (who didn’t like my SoP) told me that I made it to the final round of deliberations, but ultimately was rejected because, though my writing sample was high quality, it wasn’t in my area of interest and thus they couldn’t assess my readiness to work in that area. Many of these schools were first-tier in the rankings (Berkeley, Duke, etc.). In that vein, another piece of advice: if you are rejected, email and ask what you can do to become a more competitive applicant in the future. Most adcomms are absolutely wonderful and will give you very detailed feedback about your personal file.

Am I the only one who hasn’t heard anything new on PhD applications for over two weeks now? Is this normal? It’s driving me batty. I’m still waiting for three schools.

Will do. I’ll write them on FB right now and then send you a PM

I am! They aren’t in the English department and are just undergrads mostly, but they’d probably be happy to tell you about the university and the city!

Congrats! I have a bunch of friends at BSU and they love it!

I’m still radio silent on Washington and two other schools. Ugh.

Ran out of up votes, but I’m with you on this.

it is for a PhD program and I actually did visit the campus. I thought it was a better fit before I went.

I actually created an entirely new email address for my PhD applications so I wouldn't have to experience the stress of panicking with each new message. I highly recommend it.

For anyone out there thinking of reapplying, are you going to start from scratch on your SoP or try to salvage some of it?

Very little of what you’ve attempted to articulate here makes sense and what does is riddled with inherent contradiction and hypocrisy. Based on your comments thus far, it is evident that you and I represent two different mindsets about discrimination and how it should be handled and thus this conversation is largely fruitless. As you didn’t seem to understand my comments, let me clarify: My comment about education was purely to point out that you should know better than to dismiss pejorative language. I wasn’t touting that education is an inherent end to discrimination. Those of us who are educated, though, should recognize the harmful nature of using divisive language and strive to eliminate it. There are absolutely material differences between the N-word and being called a cracker, however I reject your implication that the use of the latter term is somehow acceptable. I’ve said it multiple times and I’ll say it again: discrimination and slurs toward any group is harmful to society. Everyone does deserve respect. Your implication that people don’t is very telling about your character. "Thirdly, I do not want to be part of your solution if it is characterized by a praxis of supposedly equity in which everyone always already deserves respect. Do people of color, queer folks, trans people, disabled folks, the poor and the ill get respect already? I am just not here for anyone centering white people's feelings or coddling us in order to talk about respect, or about ending discrimination, or anything at all really.” This passage is so poorly constructed that it’s hard to find your meaning, but the implication seems to be that the only people who deserve respect are minorities, which is simply untrue. Everyone deserves respect. Your assertion that people don’t is very telling about your character and exposes the mindset behind your ideological standpoint that racial slurs toward majority groups are acceptable. We've always been coddled, why would it be useful to continue to do so if we were trying to imagine a world in which everyone is ~*equal*~? Again, the message of your sentence is lost in the poor quality of its construction. (By the way, your term “we’ve” implies that you and I are of the same majority group. The fact of the matter is that I’m of a minority group that is regularly marginalized in American society.) You seem to be arguing that not uttering racial slurs against a majority group is the equivalent of “coddling.” Sorry, but no. It’s possible to promote equality for all groups in a way that isn’t destructive to one. Based on your previous posts, I have a feeling that this discussion is going to do little to change your mind and I don’t care to engage in further conversation with you. Best of luck in your future aspirations.

Some schools are okay with it, some aren’t. My opinion is that it’s better to veer on the side of editing and perfecting ahead of time so that you don’t have to contact departments about resubmitting.

I find it horribly tragic that educated individuals pursuing graduate study can study discrimination for a living in an effort to stop it, all the while preaching that it is okay to use derogatory language. If you ever want the world to change, you need to treat everyone with respect and stop justifying hate speech. The ideological mindset you preach toward your “wonderbread cousins” is what perpetuates racism and pejorative behaviors. Your diction is divisive and serves to reinforce racial divides. In short: You are part of the problem, not part of the solution.

I turned down one program that I was excited about because I didn’t get offered funding. As for the other one, I just don’t know that I can effectively pursue my area of interest there. I don’t think I would have the faculty support to do so. Obviously that’s a huge thing in a PhD program, so it might be better for me to do the MA in Film Studies at East Anglia to gain the skills I’m lacking and (hopefully) defer for a year. Otherwise, I’ll have to apply again. That being said, I’m still waiting to hear back from three schools who, when I emailed for confirmation of my rejection, told me that my file was still under consideration. What are your biggest concerns?

I just thought of another piece of advice: make sure you take the time to learn about the culture of a campus (i.e. how friendly it is, is it hyper competitive, what are faculty dynamics like, what extracurricular/social/professional development activities are available, etc.). Some schools have wonderful programs, but the culture just isn’t right for you.

I’m so glad you created this thread. I’m having such a difficult time with the decision making process. The thing that terrifies me most is the thought of turning down offers this year, then reapplying next year and not getting any bites.

And I thought my program could be bad sometimes. That’s really, really sad. I’ve heard of a few departments that are like that. In my mind, PhD programs should be a place where you form long-term friendships with like-minded individuals. It’s unfortunate when the pressures of academia turn kind and talented people into the worst versions of themselves.

Speaking of Kate Chopin and funny stories... In a British Literature survey course I took as an undergraduate, we read “The Storm.” For those of you haven’t, there is a scene during the storm where two characters get to know each other....you know, biblically. I live in a very religiously conservative area and one student didn’t understand that it was a sex scene, so he raised his hand for clarification as to what was going on. The professor went a rather fantastic shade of red and told the student that the pair were “vigorously enjoying each other’s company.” This is how my friends and I now refer to sex...vigorously enjoying each other’s company.

If I were to ever get a tattoo, it would be a lightening bolt scar on my forehead. No joke.

I hate the term “Writer’s Block,” but am definitely struggling to get my thesis on paper. What do you guys do when you are having a hard time finding the right words and ideas?