readallthethings

I don't know much about Claremont, other than it has a very pretty campus. I know of someone who went to Claremont for a theology PhD, which was also not fully funded, and they are in extraordinary debt because of it. I honestly don't know anything about the school academically, though. Even if you say Claremont is a little bit better ranked than the program that offered you full funding, I'd say the fully funded program will probably be able to offer you more support and resources overall (financial and otherwise). I agree with what everyone's been saying thus far.

Kind of unrelated, but I thought it was more weird when a school didn't respond at ALL when I declined the offer. Everywhere else asked where I was going/wished me luck (which I thought was a pretty generic, but collegial, response), but one school just did not reply...

The schools I turned down also asked me which program I was attending instead and why I chose it. They either said they were just asking out of curiosity and/or for their records. I'm assuming they do so in order to figure out how they can better strengthen their program. I answered every school that asked, but didn't give many details about why I made my choice, mostly because I felt a little weird about explaining too much. But I agree with everyone else, I don't think there's much harm in answering. Plus, I can't imagine any one particular school will much remember someone specifically for turning down an offer, as that happens all the time.

I've heard of schools that recommend you go on the job market while you're still ABD but not to expect many interviews until your dissertation is finished and defended (at which point you go on the job market for a second year). I think the reasoning there is to gain the experience of being on the job market before your dissertation is finished. I think the stress of being on the job market while finishing a dissertation would drive me NUTS...but I think I'd be more okay if I knew I could still go on the job market later on. Does school A or B have any flexibility in how students approach the job market? For example, does University A ever let students try applying for a few jobs in that extra year?

As an applicant to English MA/PhD programs, I was told by so many people that paying for an unfunded MA is a bad idea because there is never any guarantee of stellar PhD acceptances to come after the MA and the return on the investment just won't be there. Also, I have a lot of undergrad debt which already worries me so the idea of taking out more significant loans for grad school is terrifying. In the end, I think it depends on your financial situation. If you really think you will be able to afford the loans down the road/already have significant savings to contribute, it might be easier for you. Otherwise, I'd really try to look only at funded programs.

I agree with rbamattre, I think I'd email the first choice school and ask when you can expect an answer. Just make sure you ask kindly and show that you just don't want to accept an offer before hearing back from them, which I would think would be fine. If they can't give you an answer, I'd ask the other school for an extension on your decision. If they're not offering you any funding, I don't think the April 15th deadline would be as big of a concern for them but I can't say for sure.

I'm pretty sure that you can still back out of an offer so long as it's still before the 15th, although I do think you'd still need to email the first school and ask them to "release" you so that you can accept the other school's potential offer.

If both schools have signed the April 15th agreement, then you have to ask the first school you accepted to "release" you before you can accept another offer (To the best of my knowledge, that's the 'legal' way to do things). However, as long as you explain to the first school that the other school offered you a better package that will make your life much easier, I don't see why they wouldn't let you go. Also, they should still be able to go into their wait list since it's still before April 15th and someone else could take your place at the first school. Overall, I think at this point it comes down to what is best for you, grad school is a big commitment. Plus, since it's still not April 15th, you're probably not taking a spot from anyone at the first school.

Hey all! I haven't heard anything from Temple and don't think I'll be offered funding at this point, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to remove myself from the funding wait list, so if someone else is waiting on funding I hope that will at least help a bit. But I agree with what everyone's said thus far...Temple's handling of funding is SO stressful all around.

Also, to comment on the Canadian PhD discussion, I've honestly never heard anything bad about Canadian schools in my US undergrad. One of my favorite professors got her BA from McGill, and she's incredibly smart. I would think a Canadian PhD would be just as well respected in the US.

Not sure if there's already a forum more specifically tailored to this, but here's my current problem: At the moment , I'm most strongly torn between two programs. One is a five year PhD program, and the other is an MA program that all but guarantees you will be accepted into their PhD program, but also gives you the opportunity to apply to other PhD programs. Also, both offer adequate funding, so it probably wouldn't come down to which one is offering more money (I currently only have my BA). I visited the MA program a few weeks ago and really liked it, and will be visiting the PhD program soon. Right now, I like the idea of having the opportunity to apply to PhD programs with the added experience of having an MA in progress, and the added research focus from having more study time and course work, but I'm not sure I should pass up a direct-admit PhD opportunity. Of course, if I visit the PhD program and really feel that it's wrong for me, I probably won't hesitate much to pursue the MA/eventual PhD program. Any thoughts?? Would you pursue an MA and apply for the PhD again (hoping for a perfect fit), or take the PhD opportunity you already have?

Yeah, I feel the same. The email didn't seem overwhelmingly positive, so I'm not too hopeful. Plus, the email said funding packages are only guaranteed for four years, not the full five (I only have my BA, so that makes me nervous). I kind of wish there was an organized prospective students day or something, just so I could have met with the department before having to make a decision in case funding were to come through at the last minute or something. Oh man, mid-July is SO late though. That would have stressed me out so much, at least you already lived in the same city...that makes it a bit easier. And yeah, I'm not a fan of super late notice either. I guess some departments can't help it, but it makes the decision making process so much more stressful.

I got a response from the person I emailed at Temple, and he told me that they actually do not have enough funding for all of the people they admit He told me I was an alternate for a TAship, which I guess is basically a funding wait list, so I won't know anything for sure for a couple of weeks. Also, he said that other info about the program (like how to register and whatnot) will come later on if I were to attend.

Thanks! That seems about right for most wait lists I'd think

I just turned down an MA offer at Northeastern. I was being considered for a partial tuition scholarship (which is the most Northeastern offers MA students), but I turned down the offer before finding out if I received it or not because I wouldn't be able to fund myself for the rest. I applied as a Romanticist/Victorianist!

I spent a few months in the summer studying for the GRE General, probably from June - September in small daily/weekly increments, and then took a few practice exams the week before my exam in mid-autumn. As for the GRE subject, I studied for only a month or so before my exam, mostly by looking at a practice exam. I felt seriously underprepared for the Subject test and would have preferred to have also started studying for it over the summer, but to be honest I don't think I would have done that much better either way. Overall, especially for the GRE general, I think what helped me the most was to work with study books for a few months and then take self-timed practice tests, score myself, and see what I needed to look at again. It's kind of pricey (I think it cost me about $30-$40 at Barnes and Noble, but it looks like amazon is cheaper), but I found the GRE study book by ETS to be most helpful, and there are a few practice exams in the back of the book, and a few more on CD with the book (but I'm pretty sure you can get to these same tests through downloading free software from the ETS website). I felt that once I had taken a few practice exams, "thinking like the test-writers" got a little easier. Here's a link to the book. Good luck!!

I know what you mean! I have a couple more schools to hear from but I really want to start making definite plans soon. But yeah, there really haven't been many acceptances posted yet, so I guess there's always a chance.

I just emailed someone from the department that I had previously emailed to clarify something about Interfolio back in December, so I'm hoping I'll receive some type of solid information. If I do, I'll let you know. But it is SO frustrating that they've been telling you you'd hear for weeks and haven't actually given you an answer yet, which doesn't give me a lot of hope that I'll get much more information than you did. And I'm really sorry to hear about the lack of funding This is my second year applying, and last year all of my acceptances were unfunded and I wasn't able to go, which was such a terrible feeling. I really hope Temple or your other program comes through for you.

Shortstack51, I'm not sure you'd have any way of knowing (and you said you don't know how the wait list works), but did anyone in the department mention how many people they typically admit from the wait list? Being in limbo makes me antsy. Anyway, glad to hear that the department seems like a great place!

I applied to their MA/PhD program, and have yet to hear anything at all from them. As it looks like some acceptances have gone up on the results board, I'm assuming that I've been rejected, and am expecting to receive a rejection letter in the mail. From looking at the results from previous years, it seems like the department sends out rejection letters in late March and they sometimes don't arrive until April. I really wish they'd just email, just so I'll know for sure.

I'm also wait listed at UConn! I was told I was on a selective waiting list too, but haven't heard anything since (I received the wait list notification back in february). I have no idea how the wait list works in terms of specialization, but I do know that people have been outwardly rejected, according to the results board (which I'm sure you've also seen!) Also, I'd think the fact that your POI's work is all over your thesis can only work in your favor, since the department would easily be able to see who you'd be likely to work with on your PhD. Wait lists are SO stressful...

Also, as far as I know about wait lists, if you're accepted off of the wait list the program usually offers funding (basically, you'd be getting the same funding offer that a previously accepted applicant turned down). However, it might vary from program to program.

As many people have already said, ALL of my undergrad professors told me to absolutely NOT go to any English graduate program without full funding. They gave various reasons for this: the academic job market is (as we all are constantly told) quite awful, programs tend not to invest as much in students they don't fund, the debt will likely be impossible to pay back, you won't get the experience of a TAship, working multiple jobs to make ends meet while in the program will make it very very difficult to truly focus on your academic work, etc. I was in a similar position last year. I applied for PhD programs and either got rejected, wait-listed (and ultimately rejected), or accepted into partially/unfunded MA programs. Of these MA programs, a couple of them would have looked really good on paper, but I could NOT afford them. One of them would have required me to take out at least a $20,000 loan for the first year, and the others were virtually impossible (about $50,000 just in tuition for each of the two years). I was completely devastated by this at first, but I decided right away to reapply and I'm thankful to say I did much better this time around. So I want to stress that if it comes to you having to take a year off, it is most definitely not over for you! One of the things I was most worried about in reapplying was that schools would look down upon me for "just taking a year off" and think that I wasn't a serious applicant, but I don't think this was the case for admissions committees (of course, I have no way of knowing, but I think most departments look at your record as a whole). Also, I was worried that not being offered funding the first time around meant that I was a deficient applicant and not good enough for programs, and it really hurt. If you're feeling at all like that, please try not to. To have been accepted at all should reflect on the quality of your application, and funded offers can always come through the second time around. I know how hard it is to have only unfunded offers to contend with, so I really hope all goes well.

I randomly checked the website a few days ago and found out that I was accepted, but I haven't heard anything from the department yet (not even a standard admission email). I remember reading somewhere (I think it was a gradcafe forum that a google search sent me to) that Temple tends to admit more people than it can fund (which makes me nervous...), but I'm not sure if that's true or not. I really want to email the department because like you said, there's so little time to make decisions!