John_Duble_E

Congrats! We're glad to have you! :-)

Today, I was accepted with full-funding off of the wait-list at Rice. Very much hope to attend in the fall. :-)

A hearty congratulations, lechatgris! I hope I can be so lucky. :-)

I noticed someone one got in off the waitlist. Anyone care to claim it? And, congratulations! :-)

I'm a current Ph.D. student at A&M and, from what I understand, M.A. students will be funded in the sense that they receive a monthly stipend, but that they will not receive a tuition reduction or waiver. Have you not heard anything yet?

Does this mean that you're trying to decide between Vandy, Temple and Tufts, ZeeMore21? Or have you made a decision? Best of luck!

Thanks for the update Capo! I hope you enjoy whichever awesome program that you do choose. ? The Awdude, I went to ULL for my M.A., so if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.

Anyone accepted or waitlisted at Rice turning down an offer?

Congratulations, Lechatgris! I haven't received any kind of invitation to the recruitment weekend. So, either way, I'm jealous! :-)

Sorry, I only listed early modernists in my statement of purpose. ?

I'm interested in early modern literature and culture and the performance of gender and sexuality. :-)

I just posted what I think to be the second wait list announcement. Here's the bulk of the e-mail/letter: "This year, our program had an extremely competitive applicant pool with over 130 applications for only 7 funded positions. Since we only admit full scholarship students we cannot, at this time, offer you admission to the program. However, our Graduate Program Committee was very impressed with your candidacy and has placed you on a wait list for admission." Beyond this, it just said they'll keep me informed about the status of my application. Sorry, I wish I could offer me helpful information.

How did you find out you were on a second waitlist, Medicine? This whole idea is very strange and interesting.

I too applied to Northwestern, but for its Interdisciplinary Program in Theatre and Drama. Is that what you applied to, Nineve16? I just saw some interviews for Northwestern's Comm Studies PhD, and since the IPTD is housed in the school of Communications, I'm a little nervous! Good luck all! :-)

I'm already a compulsive e-mail checker and this application season has certainly exacerbated the that terrible habit! It's starting to spread over to my regular mail checking as well. I think I'm becoming paranoid because I've started accusing the mail carriers in the town where I live of not working on Fridays and Saturdays. Haha. Oh man. And to make things worse, my university's post office closes at 12 noon on Fridays and isn't even open during the weekend. Why was I so dumb to use that address for anything!?!? I guess all this was to say that you're not alone. Good luck!

Oh man, Hinesaj, that's really amazing for you. Congratulations. And, thanks for the information. Maybe I can calm myself down until the beginning of March, but I doubt it. ?

Hi LilyB, First, congratulations on being admitted into Vanderbilt. That is fabulous!! However, I was wondering if you've received a hard copy letter yet? Vanderbilt is a dream school for me, and I even received a really encouraging e-mail from Kathryn Schwarz saying that my interests and methodology were right in line with Vandy's English department and that she looked forward to reviewing my application, but I haven't gotten a clear "yay" or "nay." Bah-humbug. But, based on the boards, no one besides you has either. Eek. Anyway, congrats once again!

I applied there as well and got the same e-mail, yesterday I think. Seeing the subject line did make me anxious, but then I was relieved to know that the wait will soon be over. And it was very polite.

I completely agree with you, Pamphilia; I don't think profs who are touchy-feely and overly sunshine-and-rainbows are all that helpful either, especially if they cannot offer any commentary of substance. However, I'm also not for the doom-and-gloom guys either. I think there's a substantial difference between critical and mean. I've had at least two professors in grad school who were simultaneously soul-destroyingly critical with their comments, but who also couldn't be more positive when a student eventually, and I do mean eventually because they're the type who'll go as far in the process as you're willing in order to understand, succeeds. In the first stages of SOP writing, my initial drafts were admittedly pretty perfunctory and had little or no rhetorical savvy. Then, after several drafts and pages of critical commentary, something finally clicked and I was able to produce something of which I am genuinely proud. These same professors have been instrumental in this process. As far the professor who flaked out on me is concerned, I just wish he'd told me when he read my statement, so that I could have corrected these mistakes. I recognize that I'm still learning, but he could have been more tactful in his response: you know, at least by taking a breath between "I'm sorry" and "you suck." Hehe. But I digress, criticism can be painful, but equally, it can be an opportunity for growth. I will try to observe this instance as an opportunity to grow!

Karakiz, though I'm an English major, I can relate to your plight. If possible, I like to use the negative or abusive statements that some professors spew as motivation to achieve my goals. When I first took the GRE, I made a 620 on the verbal, which I was pretty happy with since I'd been out of school for over a year. When I told my old advisor this, he recommended that I not hold my breath waiting to see if I could get into my first choice school. Alas, he was right at that point, but I did get into a school that offered me a non-teaching fellowship. At this school, I've learned a great deal and really focused my long term goals. I retook the GRE and made a 720 on the verbal. Now, I think I'm a much stronger candidate. Although, come about half way through February, we shall see. Last semester, when I was gathering materials to to apply to PhD programs, I asked several professors within my subfield to write letters of recommendation for me. They were all more than happy to do so. Over the break I sent these profs all my materials (CV, Writing Sample, and SoP), and all but one responded. I sent another e-mail to this professor and still nothing. Finally when classes reconvened this semester I approached him. He said that he didn't receive any of my e-mails. So I resent my credentials and links to all the online LOR forms. I asked him the next week if he got my e-mail. He acted very bothered that I should even check, becoming short with me and brushing me off. So, I gave him some space. Well, the deadline for the schools that he was writing these letter for was Jan 15. On the 15th, I saw this professor, but I didn't want to annoy him any further, even though I hadn't received any confirmations saying he submitted even one letter. Finally, yesterday I approached him and told him that he didn't need to worry about submitting any of the letters. He asked me why, so I told him that my applications were all due last week, and not to worry about it because they were all complete. He became quiet, then profusely apologized for "fucking up;" after that, even though he knew that I'd already submitted my applications, he said that he saw some really obvious errors with my writing sample, and proceeded to tell me what they were. This was after two other professors went over the sample, and after a friend and I workshopped on more than one occasion. I'm not sure if this was to prove that he hadn't blown me off, or to hurt my feelings. Either way, I'm no longer going to take this professor. Here's to not letting our dreams be dashed by the douche-y!