Dr. Old Bill

Congrats, SouthernScholar and In Hac Spe Vivo! That's awesome news! I haven't actually asked for an acceptance yet, so maybe I'll try that trick... (begging won't be far behind). And Hreathemus? I think you're the bee's knees AND the cat's meow. High praise from this guy.

Yes, a rejection thread might not be a bad idea. I suspect that the only reason one hasn't been made yet is that the thread will invariably become associated with your name. The same reason why we all think Hreathemus is so amazing, of course. (Nah, the truth is that she simply is!)

Yes, I'm thinking this will be a big week too... Perhaps tomorrow! I would gladly make a bridge-jumping pact with you, but the only bridges near me are about thirty feet high at best. Maiming distance, not misery-elimination distance. Ah well. In hac spe vivo, as they say.

Nope. Nothing. I'm surprised, too. Last year they notified on the first Wednesday of the month. It's now the second Wednesday. Also, someone here was told by the DGS (or someone in admissions) that results would go out last week. So either this means that no one from GC got in (and therefore no posts on the results page), or they simply haven't finalized their decisions yet. Obviously I hope it's the latter... Yeah, given the number of GC admits, I'm calling it an implied rejection too. It's really too bad, as I know they're trying to build up their poetics department (and the main person there in that regard is a notable prosodist). I figured it would have been a great mutual fit given my research interests, but...no dice.

Ah! Hypervodka! Is it just me, or do I see a FIFTH acceptance in your sig line that you haven't announced on the thread yet?!? Congratulations yet again! I'm totally flying down to Atlanta and stealing some of your brain cells.

Congrats Andalus!! Incidentally, my Cornell application has shown my GRE status as "pending" since October. I have contacted their staff a couple of times about this, and they have assured me that all is well on their end...but seeing it "pending" gives me agita. Hopefully my situation will have the same end as yours!

I probably run around 30-35. I also need utter silence to read. I actually have a pair of industrial earmuffs I wear at home to block out ambient sound. It doesn't help that I have tinnitus (years of playing in a rock band, alas), but it's still mostly effective.

Hooray to a cancer-free J-heff!

"Half the lies they tell about me aren't true"? "When you come to a fork in the road, take it"? "It's like deja-vu all over again"? Ohhhh... You must mean "It ain't over till it's over."

Jeebus. Sending good vibes your way!!

To all the GRE angst: agreed. Tenfold. Normally I'm very good at accepting things I cannot change...and the GRE is something that cannot be changed (by us, at least). But the more I think about it, the more it sticks in my craw. This is going to sound like a horrible "excuse," on the level with "the dog ate my homework," but the first time I took the GRE general, I had a bad cold. I tried to get the date changed, but lo and behold, there's a massive change / cancellation fee in effect a few days before your scheduled date! Okay, fair enough, I thought: I'll just take lots of medicine, bring Kleenex, and I should be okay. Oh, I live an hour from the nearest testing center, by the way... The medicine did its job to some extent, but I was quite dismayed when they wouldn't let me bring a pack of Kleenex in the testing room. I understand why (because I could have had a dictionary printed in invisible ink across each tissue, of course), but quite literally one minute after I hit the "start" button, I had a major coughing fit...and my nose. Ohhhh my nose. Let's just say that I had to use my clothes in a way for which they weren't designed. Of course, that ate up five precious minutes. More to the point, however, is that it immediately knocked me off my game, so to speak. I wound up with a 162 verbal, which isn't bad, but I'm realizing more and more that it's a few points lower than most of the recent acceptances. I did a retake a month later, and didn't fare any better...for the most ridiculous reason ever: my alarm didn't go off. It was a new phone, and I had tested the alarm, had correctly set it...but it just didn't go off! So I had to dash out without a shower, hop in my car, drive the hour, and I got there just in time to take the test. So I was rattled right from the get-go, and while it IS completely on me (i.e., it's NOT ETS' fault that this series of unfortunate events occurred), it shows the relative lunacy of a standardized test being worth as much as it is. As scholars, we have (within reason) the luxury of time to read, digest, form solid arguments, choose the best words, actually think about material... None of these vital elements are afforded on a standardized test. Had I realized in the summer just how significant the GRE could be, I probably would have taken it a third time. If I get shut out this cycle, I will definitely take it as many times as I need to for a 165+. I know for a fact that one of my LOR writers made a point of mentioning the breadth of my vocabulary. An 89th percentile verbal in no way sums up my prowess in that regard. So I vacillate between my innate tendency toward accepting the necessity of the GRE, and the anger that it is a necessary step to begin with. All in all, I really dislike everything about the GRE (and by extension, ETS), but ultimately it is something that is partially within our control. I regret not taking it a third time, and that's on me. I just hope (futilely, alas) that graduate programs eventually find a better metric, or jettison standardized metrics altogether.

Sorry for my uncharacteristically emo-esque posts earlier, folks. It seems that implied rejections for me a.) come in bunches, and b.) send me into an acute spiral of despair for a few hours. It's like drunk posting, but without the whimsy! Anyhow, after a long chat with my advisor earlier, I'm feeling more upbeat. Still a little glum, but I'm trying to mentally adjust to the possibility of resorting to a plan B. I've never been much of a plan B kinda guy, and in my heart of hearts I never thought I would have to give serious thought to a plan B for this either...but so long as I can overcome the emotional toll of a complete shutout this year (and I have to remember that I still have eleven cords holding me above the snake pit...), I think I can rationally prepare for alternate options. Part of me is tempted to take a GC hiatus, but more of me wants to fully go through the experience...which includes the joy of seeing some people I now consider friends get accepted to great places. I'll try to avoid posting in my more downtrodden moments, however. P.S.: Zanmato--it's a deal! P.P.S.: For what it's worth, I'm treating any mass acceptance wave that doesn't include me in its ranks as an "implied rejection." It may be an erroneous assumption, but it's an erroneous assumption I'll be more than happy to have corrected!

The more I think about it, the more I think that the significance of the GRE scores is underrated on GC at times. I know that stats can only tell you so much, but looking through all of the acceptances of the past while shows a pretty clear picture: that verbal scores of 165+ predominate. I wonder if cutoffs are simply higher than they have been in the past? Either way, I know that if I wind up getting shut out this season, that's one thing I'll work on for next year.

Yes, congrats to those Brown admits, and any others I may have missed! Definitely a big Tuesday for many folks so far.

Thanks guys. Seriously! I'm still in a bit of a funk, but these comments help. I also talked to my advisor / main LOR writer / best professor in the world, and she commiserated and gave me some good plan B options. And she reinforced the idea that rejections do NOT reflect on the merits of the applicants. It's true, and I know it's true, but it's good to hear it repeated. Nick Cave and Tom Waits, eh? I have to admit that I have several albums by both, so I may just take you up on that suggestion, 1Q84...

Thanks. Just off to a rough start this morning after seeing a couple of acceptances to Irvine -- somewhere I thought I might have a "leg up" given my specific interests in prosody and related subfields. Having to give legitimate thought to plan Bs is unspeakably painful. I'm usually so upbeat, but I've had some downright emo moments lately. Such a heart-wrenching process!

Never have I checked my spam folder so often. I'm starting to feel like I'm the only one who hasn't heard a scrap of good news yet! I know that's hardly the case, but my heated arguments with the calendar are getting to the point that I think it's going to jump off the wall and start beating me about the head.

Ditto on both accounts! Congrats again, Echo449...and since the results page is down, I'm especially dying to know this info!

Ahh! Fantastic news!

Gah! Sorry to hear this! For what it's worth, a similar thing happened to me last night. I got a call from a Washington number...and even though I didn't apply to anywhere in Washington state, in the five or so seconds between the phone ringing and me answering, I had already convinced myself that one of my POIs must be from Washington state, and he/she was just calling me from a personal cell phone. That wasn't the case. Sigh.

Way to go to both of you! Turning out to be a very happy Monday for the GC gang indeed.

AAAAH! Major, major, MAJOR congratulations! What fantastic news! Amazing how fast despair can turn to jubilation, eh? Wonderful stuff.

I remember reading some past controversy on the notion of an "implied" rejection, but what it boils down to is that when a particular program is known for sending out most or all of its acceptances in a short span of time, and its rejections weeks (or longer) after that, anyone who didn't get an acceptance in that first batch is most likely not going to get an acceptance at all. It's very unscientific, yet for many people (myself included!) it's easier on the psyche to just assume that such a scenario is a rejection, rather than clinging to the combination of faint hope and uncertainty that it might-could-possibly-perhaps be a delayed acceptance. Again, it's not very scientific. It's more for peace of mind and the avoidance of false hope than anything.

Well folks...thus begins another week! Good luck to everyone as we get into the thick of things!

Spectacular news!!!