scribnera

oof, this thread is beautiful and so necessary. i'm dealing with a breakup + i keep having dreams about getting accepted into grad school and dreams about getting rejected from grad school and i can't even tell which one makes me feel worse when i wake up because i still don't know anything :/

oof, this thread is beautiful and so necessary. i'm dealing with a breakup + i keep having dreams about getting accepted into grad school and dreams about getting rejected from grad school and i can't even tell which one makes me feel worse when i wake up because i still don't know anything :/

oof, this thread is beautiful and so necessary. i'm dealing with a breakup + i keep having dreams about getting accepted into grad school and dreams about getting rejected from grad school and i can't even tell which one makes me feel worse when i wake up because i still don't know anything :/

oof, this thread is beautiful and so necessary. i'm dealing with a breakup + i keep having dreams about getting accepted into grad school and dreams about getting rejected from grad school and i can't even tell which one makes me feel worse when i wake up because i still don't know anything :/

I've made this point in years past, but I saw someone express this kind of anxiety recently, so it bears repeating: it's perfectly natural and quite common to not feel happy or excited after you decide what school to choose.
 
When I heard back from the program I'm attending, I knew I should feel ecstatic. It was my top choice, by a wide margin. I had worked to get into grad for ages. I also had the daily experience of reading people here who hadn't gotten in to the schools they wanted or anywhere, sometimes. I expected to feel fantastic. And then I just... didn't. I felt guilty for not feeling anything. Why didn't I feel happier? But when I shared that feeling here and with other people I knew, I found it was quite common. I think there's a variety of reasons for that. First, there's just the mental and emotional drain of the process. You spend all this time working, and then all this time stressing, whether it's about getting in or choosing your school, and then it just... stops. Which might make you feel really happy, or might just make you feel a little numb or exhausted. Second, no program can ever be as exciting as the promise and potential of any program. It felt good to know where I was going. But before you choose, there's limitless potential. You could end up anywhere, which is exciting and invigorating. No matter how happy you are with your choice, it can't contain all the potential of all the schools you applied to. Finally, I find that unless they get into all or almost all of the departments to which they apply, many people can feel somehow unsatisfied or rejected even if they get into their #1 choice or a school that they are very happy to attend. I know I've talked to different people who have said, "I would have chosen the program I'm in even if I got into those other schools... so why does the rejection hurt so bad? Why do I wish I had gotten in so much?"
 
If you don't feel this way, all the better. But if you aren't feeling as good as you thought you would, don't sweat it, and don't feel guilty. It's natural and happens to a lot of people.

This is a helpful distinction for me. I'm just very worried when people get all pollyanna about grad school with stuff like, "Well I don't mind burying my nose in books for 5-8 years, to hell with the consequences." I would add that often the casual fallback option planning is far too casual. People need to realize that 5-8 years of studying for a degree that probably won't get you a job is a long time to not be earning and saving for whatever your needs may be in the future (retirement, family, home, etc.) It's just a huge chunk of deferred income (5-8 for the degree, but +2 years or so if you choose to try your hand at the academic job market; so that's 10 years of deferred income, people!) that can really screw with your life plans if you're not ready for it.
 
I hate the rat race and every other part of capitalist society that makes me worry about the crap I listed above, but simply ignoring it is not going to help me and my family survive.
 
And I think this is ComeBackZinc's point--if you go in with the express knowledge that you can walk out either unfinished or without a job with a smile on your face, then have at it. The awareness is what's key. Have Plan B's and C's that you're ready to move up in the queue at a moment's notice. Ph.Ds are not just a risky choice anymore, it's almost a sure-lose.
 
Unfortunately, like OP said, I really do think there's a lot of exceptionalism in these types of threads, so his or her warnings are very, very much needed for that reason.

The NYU acceptance was me! Thank you!   Don't think I've posted my stats before, but you were right anyway.
 
I'm at the recruitment weekend for Emory comp lit, so this news was totally overwhelming to receive right now, but in the best possible way. I keep checking my phone to make sure the number is still there in my recent calls because I am in such shock.

The NYU acceptance was me! Thank you!   Don't think I've posted my stats before, but you were right anyway.
 
I'm at the recruitment weekend for Emory comp lit, so this news was totally overwhelming to receive right now, but in the best possible way. I keep checking my phone to make sure the number is still there in my recent calls because I am in such shock.

The NYU acceptance was me! Thank you!   Don't think I've posted my stats before, but you were right anyway.
 
I'm at the recruitment weekend for Emory comp lit, so this news was totally overwhelming to receive right now, but in the best possible way. I keep checking my phone to make sure the number is still there in my recent calls because I am in such shock.

The NYU acceptance was me! Thank you!   Don't think I've posted my stats before, but you were right anyway.
 
I'm at the recruitment weekend for Emory comp lit, so this news was totally overwhelming to receive right now, but in the best possible way. I keep checking my phone to make sure the number is still there in my recent calls because I am in such shock.

The NYU acceptance was me! Thank you!   Don't think I've posted my stats before, but you were right anyway.
 
I'm at the recruitment weekend for Emory comp lit, so this news was totally overwhelming to receive right now, but in the best possible way. I keep checking my phone to make sure the number is still there in my recent calls because I am in such shock.

The NYU acceptance was me! Thank you!   Don't think I've posted my stats before, but you were right anyway.
 
I'm at the recruitment weekend for Emory comp lit, so this news was totally overwhelming to receive right now, but in the best possible way. I keep checking my phone to make sure the number is still there in my recent calls because I am in such shock.

The NYU acceptance was me! Thank you!   Don't think I've posted my stats before, but you were right anyway.
 
I'm at the recruitment weekend for Emory comp lit, so this news was totally overwhelming to receive right now, but in the best possible way. I keep checking my phone to make sure the number is still there in my recent calls because I am in such shock.

The NYU acceptance was me! Thank you!   Don't think I've posted my stats before, but you were right anyway.
 
I'm at the recruitment weekend for Emory comp lit, so this news was totally overwhelming to receive right now, but in the best possible way. I keep checking my phone to make sure the number is still there in my recent calls because I am in such shock.

I would also add that I was asked why I chose to apply to a national lit department rather than the comp lit department, so comp lit folks may want to think about the reverse question in prepping for your interview. I think it's also a good question to ask professors to gauge their approaches to scholarship.

hypervodka, though my interview was a very different format (skype, just two profs at once), what you say is very relevant to my experience. SOP and WS were the focus, and email correspondences I'd had with them came in to play at times as well. the only discussion of language was them telling me what resources I'd have for further study (though the interview was for English, language prep is important for anyone trying to do medieval studies). My WS dealt heavily with translation and translation issues though, so perhaps because of that they felt no need to "test" me. But I too never felt interrogated, even if they had specific things they wanted to ask me.

But yeah, can't stress the SOP and WS thing enough. Even if it's painful, it really is worth going over those two things again. When it's been almost two months since you submitted your materials, it helps to know what you can casually mention to "update" their knowledge of you and to know what they're working with so you can address their questions, etc. Best way to know how they see you is to go over the two biggest things they have to work off of when getting to know you on paper.

Yes, I interviewed for Emory!
 
Yours is spread over multiple days as well, right? I did meet a couple of comp lit professors while I was there--there's not a lot of official departmental overlap imo, but I think it'd probably be similar. Thing is, though, my understanding is that the lit department changed their interview strategy very drastically this year. In past years you 1) met with a four- or three-person panel of the members of the adcomm, 2) met with one graduate student, and 3) met with one POI in your area group. Instead, I had like 7 different interviews, all scheduled for thrity minutes (though several went way over with chit-chat), all one-on-one.
 
Either way it goes, my experience at Emory was really more FUN than anything. I didn't have access to the internet the whole time I was there (wonky phone) and I was somehow still happy. They're not trying to trap you. This is really a recruitment week. They want you to be happy while you're there, not stressed, because they do want you to come back.

Wow congrats!!!!

Yes, thank you, I need this thread! Preparing for an on-campus interview, too. I talked to a friend's sister who went through the interview process for the same program at the same school two years ago. Gonna copy her response here in case it's helpful for others:
 
"The most important thing is just that you have a clear sense of your project, and how you’re going to make use of your time in grad school. Having a sense of the kind of classes you want to take, what areas you need to work on, your methodology, etc. is a good idea. It’s also good to have a sense of the kind of work the faculty does there, so you can tailor your answers to their particular way of doing things. Beyond that it’s really not that intense, they’ll just ask you to elaborate on parts of your personal statement, classes you took, and papers you wrote, and where you see yourself going in the future. Just make sure you can talk freely about all those things! The biggest thing is to be relaxed, and think of it as a time to have fun talking to people about the stuff you like."
 
So it seems like the main point of these interviews is to make sure you can articulate your goals well and you're not a sociopath (or at least visibly a sociopath). Easy enough, I hope.

& I told my LORs too, and they were happy to hear about any good news.

Alright, a some of us have some interviews coming up, so I thought it'd be helpful to talk through preparation methodologies? Some people have discussed their experiences in the but I thought it'd be a good idea to have a separate forum as well.
 
I talked to a couple of folks at my target university (mine is a campus interview), and they were pretty explicit about what to expect during the process. From that, I came up with a few questions to practice the answers to.
 
What is your research topic?
Why are you interested in your research topic?
What sets you apart from our other applicants?
What about your undergraduate experience has prepared you for a graduate career at [university]?
What is your dominant methodology for this project?
What evolution do you see you project taking?
How will your research project benefit from instruction at [university]?
How does your research work through and expand upon contemporary criticism in your area of specialization?
Why are you interested in the PhD program at [university]?
Why do you consider yourself a good fit for [university]?
What would you consider to be your teaching philosophy?
How would you justify the value of [area group] to an undergraduate audience?
What would you teach at [university]?
What work of literature has influenced you as a person?
Where else have you applied?
Do you have any questions for me?

Yes, thank you, I need this thread! Preparing for an on-campus interview, too. I talked to a friend's sister who went through the interview process for the same program at the same school two years ago. Gonna copy her response here in case it's helpful for others:
 
"The most important thing is just that you have a clear sense of your project, and how you’re going to make use of your time in grad school. Having a sense of the kind of classes you want to take, what areas you need to work on, your methodology, etc. is a good idea. It’s also good to have a sense of the kind of work the faculty does there, so you can tailor your answers to their particular way of doing things. Beyond that it’s really not that intense, they’ll just ask you to elaborate on parts of your personal statement, classes you took, and papers you wrote, and where you see yourself going in the future. Just make sure you can talk freely about all those things! The biggest thing is to be relaxed, and think of it as a time to have fun talking to people about the stuff you like."
 
So it seems like the main point of these interviews is to make sure you can articulate your goals well and you're not a sociopath (or at least visibly a sociopath). Easy enough, I hope.

& I told my LORs too, and they were happy to hear about any good news.

Thanks, all! I don't have an MA. Just applying with my Bachelor's. From what I've heard from current students in a few different English PhD programs, it's usually an even split between those coming in with BAs/MAs.

Also loving all the Russian-inspired usernames here. I applied with a sample on Bely last year 

Hey y'all, I've been staying away from the forums this year because they made me SO anxious last year, but I wanted to speak up and claim one of the Emory comp lit interview invitations. I don't know for sure that they sent out all the invitations at once, but I can tell you that they wanted us to all book flights ASAP and seem to be in kind of a hurry, as the recruitment weekend is in 3 weeks. So I would assume they're at least sending them all out this week. Also not sure if you necessarily have to be invited to interview in order to be accepted, but I think probably?
 
Thanks for the congrats  I had a really tough round last year that ended with me getting rejected off of a wait list at the very last minute, so it's such a relief to get some good news this early. Good luck to everyone else who's waiting!

Hey y'all, I've been staying away from the forums this year because they made me SO anxious last year, but I wanted to speak up and claim one of the Emory comp lit interview invitations. I don't know for sure that they sent out all the invitations at once, but I can tell you that they wanted us to all book flights ASAP and seem to be in kind of a hurry, as the recruitment weekend is in 3 weeks. So I would assume they're at least sending them all out this week. Also not sure if you necessarily have to be invited to interview in order to be accepted, but I think probably?
 
Thanks for the congrats  I had a really tough round last year that ended with me getting rejected off of a wait list at the very last minute, so it's such a relief to get some good news this early. Good luck to everyone else who's waiting!

Woooo joining the waitlist train! Just heard back from NYU. I'm so excited to still be in the running but also v nervous about the prospect of dragging this process out until mid-April.
 
My email didn't mention anything about visiting. Did you guys ask specifically about it or did they invite you?