Dr. Old Bill

Looks like there's a Northwestern acceptance from this morning! Anyone claiming it?

Wahoo!! Well done, KikiDelivery...and congratulations!

As much as I tried to distance myself from Plan B discussions, I can safely admit that I was seriously considering moving back to Canada if I didn't get in to any graduate programs. I'm technically an immigrant, after all (though naturalized a year ago), even though being an immigrant from Canada is a far cry from being an immigrant from Syria or Mexico or, let's face it, any country in which the dominant race isn't white. That being said, since I have the option to live and work in another country, I may very well have taken it had my Ph.D. plans not panned out. Since they now have, I will be sticking it out down here and hoping like hell that the situation doesn't escalate into a global war. First of all, massive kudos to you, Yanaka. Seriously, that takes guts, and it's incredibly admirable. And second...I have to believe there's a chance that his presidency will indeed be less than four years. Democracy is power by the people, and what he is perpetrating is NOT democracy in any sense of the word. In the past I've thought that the liberal / democrat / left-leaning folks are a bit too soft when it comes to demonstrating outrage over ludicrous policies...but I don't think that's the case anymore. More marches, more demonstrations, more vehemence, and more good old fashioned resistance may well lead to impeachment and the ouster of the current leader. Here's hoping...

What fantastic news, @Caien! Major congratulations! And as cliche as it sounds, Boston might just be the perfect city for you given your nationality and the scope of your studies...and Boston College is such a fantastic program -- I'm truly thrilled for you!!

For what it's worth, I didn't submit my subject score to any schools that didn't outright require it. My score was 570 / 57th percentile, which isn't bad (things were going well, but somehow I ran out of time and missed 59 questions overall...), but I figured there was no sense in giving those programs an additional largely useless metric when it wasn't required. Numbers have a way of carrying more weight than they should sometimes, so I didn't want to take the chance.

I keep telling myself it's just good research! It's just good research! Not nerdy at all.

Just adding to the chorus here, but...I started my Bachelor's when I was 32, started my Master's when I was 36, and I will have turned 38 by the time I start my Ph.D. There have been moments of awkwardness and embarrassment over being older, and I do have some regrets for not going down this path earlier, but ultimately I think that life experience and a lengthy non-academic background can give you a lot of perspective, and can ground you quite a bit...and I've heard from several people that adcoms know this. In other words, being an undergraduate at 25 (and a grad student at 26, 27, 28 etc.) is probably not going to hurt you, and may even help you. All of the job market posts above are (obviously) completely accurate and on point, and there's really no way to argue with the bleakness of the numbers. I'll just add two side points, however (I nearly called them "alternate facts"): the first is that, while the downward trajectory has been somewhat consistent, it's nonetheless difficult to predict the lay of the land in six or seven years. These are scary times for arts, science, education (and many, many others), but my other point is that if you can afford to live on a fairly slim stipend, there's a lot of appeal to being paid to get an education. I'm not even meaning the pie-in-the-sky "life of the mind" notion. Just on a basic level, getting paid to study literature, teach college students, attend conferences etc. and come out of the process with an advanced degree isn't a bad way to spend two to seven years. There are many who will disagree with this stance, which is completely fair and valid, but I've now spent most of my thirties in academia after spending most of my late-teens and twenties in a series of mediocre jobs and false starts...and I couldn't be happier. I don't make a lot of money as a grad student, but I love the environment, love the constant challenges, love the research, and love the teaching. And yes, I love the feeling (false or no) of increasing prestige. If these things sound to you like a reasonable trade-off for a lot more money and stability (and if you have the kind of long-term persistence and depth of focus that academic work requires), then grad school is definitely a great option for you.

I just took a look at the last few years for Northwestern and cross-referenced them with calendars, and it looks like most of their acceptances are relayed via either phone or email over a weekend. If that holds true, then this weekend might bring some good news to the Northwestern applicants. Fingers crossed!

Yeah, even though I've developed as a scholar and have done better research, gained experience etc., I would say that the biggest difference between my cycle two years ago and this cycle is that I leaned heavily on peer review for my SOP and WS. All three of my LOR writers read both documents, the DGS of my department read both documents, a wonderful book historian from the History department gave me invaluable feedback during a works-in-progress presentation (and later provided specific feedback on both documents), various graduate students read and commented at length on my SOP... What I'm getting at is that I had a large number of eyes on these two crucial documents, and it made a world of difference. Two years ago, I was confident and cocksure, only to be bitterly disappointed at being passed over for a Ph.D. program (even though my M.A. experience has proven to nothing but wonderful). The reality is that my writing sample was "fine" and my SOP was "okay," but a second set of eyes on my SOP could have at least warned me about the perils of proposing a transhistorical approach, while a second set of eyes on my WS could have warned me about the dangers of having almost exclusively old research (seriously -- I almost never went to the library at my undergraduate institution, which is kind of astonishing to me at this point). I'm prattling away, as usual, but I definitely preach the virtues of peer review. After all, peer review is essential on the other side of the Ph.D., so why shouldn't it be essential on the front end?

I'm not going to say "don't worry!", because that's ridiculous advice when it comes to this process...but just remember that so much of an application is about the interplay between your SOP / WS and the adcom. You could have a positively perfect application on its own merits, but if it doesn't mesh with what particular adcom members in your field are looking for, then you might get passed over. Very few candidates get a clean sweep of acceptances to all of their programs (I remember the amazing Hypervodka went 7/7 a couple of years ago, but that was a true exception), but not many GCers get shut out either. That's the great thing about applying to a number of programs: all things being equal (they're not, but stick with me here), the odds eventually work out. Mediocre applications are rarely going to get in anywhere, and good applications may not get in anywhere, but great applications will usually get in somewhere. And hey, it's just January. Keep your chin up for a few more weeks at least.

Really sorry for all of the OSU rejections. That's the inevitable crappy backswing of elation over acceptances -- watching some great people (and yes, even through an Internet forum I can tell you're great people) get edged out. Here's hoping there's good news on the non-Ohio horizon!

Okay, so I know I'm feeling very light-hearted for other reasons, but this exchange has me laughing out loud at work. Thanks, guys.

I hope more folks buy into this. It never really took off in the last cycle, but it could potentially be very valuable -- excellent range of questions!

I'm obviously new to this whole "accepted" thing, so I can't say anything for certain, but I can at least weigh in on my application vis-a-vis my acceptance. I haven't heard directly from OSU yet, but from what I understand from a current student there, accepted students will likely receive a call from the DGS within the next week, talking about funding and other aspects (likely including fellowship options). I know that my combined GRE percentages aren't good enough to garner me the plum university-wide fellowships, so take that as you will. One unique thing about OSU's application is that you add all of your English-related courses to an additional page on your C.V. It's likely an easy way for them to see how genre-focused or diverse your studies were. I think my background was a solid mix. There's a clear line of early modern interest that goes back to my first semester at a 4-year college (in fact, I'm not sure I've had a semester without an early modern course), but I've also taken quite a few 20th century literature courses (fun fact: I just looked at my OSU C.V. and saw I listed "American Literature 1012 - 1960" -- oops!), and at least one course in virtually every literary period (with the odd exception of Victorian fiction -- go figure). As for languages, I have four semesters of Spanish, but those were taken during my first year-and-a-half at a community college...and Spanish isn't particularly relevant to my field. OSU seems to be quite forgiving when it comes to language requirements (reading knowledge of one language), so I doubt that was a factor in my application. My undergrad and graduate GPAs are both quite high, so perhaps that balanced out my good-but-not-great GRE scores. Not sure if any of this is helpful to anyone. My gut feeling is that it really was my SOP and WS that sealed the deal for me. There are two hand-in-glove POI fits for me at OSU, and at least one of them was likely on the adcom, due to his sizable role in the program. I could be completely wrong, and hindsight is 20/20, but I suspect that the matching interests (i.e. "fit") is what ultimately netted me the acceptance, more than any other factors.

Thank you all so much! I was seriously paralyzed for a moment after reading the result, and I posted here before contacting any friends and family...because y'all have been such an incredible support system for the past 2.5 years (and the last few months in particular!). I'll stop hogging this thread now, I promise. I'm just so elated! Good luck to everyone still waiting, and always remember to check application portals, even when you don't have acceptance emails...

I just checked OSU's website. I GOT IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! "Congratulations - you have been offered admission! Use the link on the main page of the Applicant Center to accept or decline. Please click the Application Requirements tab above to see what items, if any, are still needed. Items with a status of 'Incomplete' are still required, 'Received' are currently being processed, and 'Completed' have fulfilled the requirement." I can't believe it. Utter shock and joy right now. I keep worrying that I'm going to refresh and it's going to go away...

Yeah, UW-Madison is such a fantastic program, and were it not for what Scott Walker did to state funding a couple of years ago (I nearly added a few colorful adjectives before his name), I would have applied there as well. It IS a great program, and you should be extremely happy about your acceptance. I do worry a bit, however, about the realities of funding. If you look at the link @Quickmick posted in the Funding thread, you'll see a couple of entries from last year that state a $1000 stipend. I've also heard (apocryphally) about $5000 stipends there. Things may have changed, and those entries might be inaccurate or misleading, but definitely be prepared for a disappointingly low offer, despite the excellence of the program.

This is absolutely AWESOME news, Caien! Way to go!!

Oh HOORAY! Major congratulations to you both!

Thanks, Warelin! I've had this bookmarked for a couple of years. Hopefully people will keep it updated this season as the offers and acceptances come in!

Gotta admit, I'm a tad envious of you both! I can't bring myself to think of plan B's just yet. I know in my heart of hearts that it would be very wise to do so, but I'm constantly blocked by the thought (okay, the hope) that it would ultimately be wasted effort. I wish it were otherwise...

Out of upvotes for the last few, but yes...YES! We're definitely all in the same boat in this regard. With so many intangibles involved, it's impossible to be confident with one's application, but it IS possible to be confident in how effectively you prepared your own application (a subtle, yet crucial distinction). It might be the most amazing application in the world, and still not get you one of the rare slots, just because of factors you cannot possibly know. In other words, @angel_kaye13's infectious positivity rings the most true here. Whether any of us or all of us get in or not, most of us can take solace in the strength of our applications. It's a grueling process -- one that, like @Caien says, most people just don't understand. There's a lot of attrition along the way, and in a way it's just nutty that anyone even goes down this path in the first place. But we do, and that's something.

Personally, every time I think I'm a sure bet to get accepted, I begin a sequence of self-flagellation and bathing in vinegar while reading Heidegger. Works like a charm.