Dr. Old Bill

Hooray, Radcafe!! How awesome! I, too, have run out of upvotes...but I'm thrilled for you!

That would be in my top 10 favorite books of all time, for what it's worth. Rushdie's a little hit and miss, but his hits are amazing. Haroun and the Sea of Stories is a great little novel as well. Almost a Y.A. novella, but delightful for all ages.

That sounds the exact opposite of selfish! Plan Bs are pragmatic, and since I'm normally a pragmatic kind of person, I'm actually a little surprised with myself that I literally gave zero thought to it until I got my UW-Madison rejection. There's nothing like the dose of reality a single rejection provides... I do think it's natural to be able to feel joyous for others while sad for yourself. At least, I know that *I* do sometimes. But yes -- thinking about a plan B is a good way of keeping the joy separate from your own prospects.

While it's probably too soon for any of us to start despairing about our chances of getting in to a program, the reality is that that time is coming up fairly soon. Until very recently, I have given no thought to a plan B. And while I am still mostly confident that I will get in to one of my schools (or as confident as one can be in a process that is mostly subjective and completely out of one's hands at this point...), I think it's time for me to start thinking about contingency plans for if I don't wind up getting in...and I'm guessing the same is true of many of you as well. One option is to find some local unfunded M.A. English programs with relatively late deadlines (I know of a couple reasonably nearby with March deadlines). Another option is to simply look for a full-time job that will take someone with diverse work experience plus a B.A. in English. Either way, I think I'm resolved to applying for Ph.D. programs again next year. Coming into this, I suspected that this would be my "one shot" and that I would give it my all. And while I did give it my all, I think I would try again. It's pricey, and my pride would take a major hit, and I would be undeniably embarrassed by it (warranted or not), but I can't help but think that this is what I really want to do for the rest of my life. I'm old enough to have lived a lot of life, and learned a lot. An academic career is definitely the ideal, and barring that, at least several years of enjoying the academic life. So...how about the rest of you who are in the same boat? Any solid plan B options?

What's great, however, is that he went on to become a Member of Parliament while he was still quite young! It was indeed considered a scandalous novel at the time, but clearly not so scandalous that it affected Lewis' political career. (Imagine the author of 50 Shades of Grey getting elected to the Federal government?) I've moved on to The Two Gentlemen of Verona. I'm about halfway through, and am only moderately enjoying it. I've never been a big fan of Shakespeare's comedies, however. Fortunately I (like most) think many of his tragedies (Coriolanus and Hamlet in particular) are among the best works ever written in English, so it all balances out.

Awesome news, Lycidas! Congratulations!

Wahooo! Congrats, fancypants!!

If only it worked like that! It's been five and a half months since I applied to UMD, and still no word here either! Having said that, it's getting to the time where WashU, UMD, UVA, and a few others traditionally notify. Given the relative quiet of the past couple of days, today could be a big one. Then again, I've said that every Friday, I think. Or maybe I say it every day... (this is probably a sign that I post too often...)

Perfect opportunity to whip out one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite artists... Not to everyone's taste, I'm sure...but it pops into my head whenever someone mentions either wanting or NOT wanting to live in Los Angeles.

Basically a repeat of my last "I wouldn't" post in this thread. It's just too far along in the process, and frankly a paper "under consideration" and a theory group for undergrads aren't really things that will have much of an impact either way. Don't get me wrong -- they're great things for you personally, and for long term C.V. data points...but probably not all that compelling for an adcomm at this point. For what it's worth, I had a paper accepted to an academic journal a few weeks back (albeit an undergraduate journal), and I decided not to email my schools about it. I don't think one publication (or a publication under review, for that matter) will push an app over the edge.

Every person who reads this has to give LyonessRampant an upvote. It's GC law.

I'm just here for the upvotes.

I wouldn't, personally. As frustrating as it is for us as applicants to have to wait...and wait...and wait some more, I think we have to respect the process. You also want to avoid the possibility of becoming "that annoying person who emailed us..." in the eyes of the adcomm. I doubt that would happen. I really do. But by that same token, it's just not worth taking the chance. The wait seems inexorable, but when you talk to graduate hopefuls who aren't on GC, they have very little conception of when they'll be contacted, indicating that GC probably compounds the issue just as it makes it more tolerable. It's almost like GC is the Tree of Knowledge and all of us are cotton-headed Adams and Eves.

So I got a SECOND email from Northwestern this morning, telling me that my status has been updated on their website. Fortunately I was fully expecting the status to be exactly what it was -- confirmation of a rejection -- but it still had an air of an ex-girlfriend calling you after a break-up, just to remind you that you're still broken up...

Woot woot! That's HUGE, Gustav! Congrats!

Gah! I picked a bad day to go to bed early! Congrats ModifiedMolloy, Lycidas, and Margeryhemp on your awesome acceptances! And good luck to you again, Lycidas, on your interview at Columbia!

Fingers crossed for you! For my own part, I've seen little dribs and drabs from UMD and Penn State. Trying not to read into them too much. UMD would be a real coup for me for many reasons, but especially because I already live in the general area, and my wife works relatively close to their campus. Would be the ideal relocation scenario...

Well, I applied to Stanford's English program, and I know they only required UNofficial transcripts. I'm not sure if it's any different for the MTL...or why it would be, for that matter. I understand your concern, though -- nothing's worse than contemplating being DQed on a technicality... I agree with what you are saying, though for the line of study I'm intending, the schools I applied to are demonstrably among the best fits. I did look at lower prestige programs, but very few have solid prosodists on their faculty. Getting an M.A. in the interim would at least give me graduate experience and make me arguably more employable for other fields. Again, it's truly a Plan B. The other option would be getting a low level job for a year and just trying again for 2016...but that might be even more soul-crushing than going the other route. We'll have to see. I really haven't thought about it much, and won't unless / until I get shut out.

I agree. While I don't have a firm "plan B" in mind as yet, if I don't get some good news in the next two or three weeks, I may very well apply to a few local unfunded M.A .programs with March or April deadlines. It's not what I want to do -- not by a long shot -- but it would be a sidestep with the aim of applying for Ph.D. programs again next year. Otherwise, it will probably be a case of finding a job / career that is possible with nothing but a B.A.

Agonizing is right...but I'm hanging in there! One simple email or phone call and ALL of this agonizing is immediately eradicated. I did not get an official rejection email from U. of Chicago, so it probably shouldn't be crossed off all official-like in my signature...but I think the chances are very remote at this point. If that changes, I will be more than happy to eat crow and change it to an acceptance.

Just got my official rejection from Northwestern. Not surprised, as it has been an "implied" rejection for a few days. Still sucks, though it's oddly cathartic to delete that bookmark from my browser... Next!

Oh! I totally missed ToC saying that. Yes! I love The Monk too! The day I finished reading it, my wife posted this status update on Facebook:

Yes, I've read some Faulkner and enjoyed most of it, even though I'm generally not fond of Modernism. Actually, I gave an 80-minute presentation / discussion on "Barn Burning" last year that seemed to be very well-received. It may, in fact, be my favorite short story, period. I also read his novella "The Bear" recently, and enjoyed that too. I remember trying to read The Sound and the Fury about a decade ago, when my literary reading was an avocation, rather than a study...and I made it about thirty pages in before I stopped. I suspect that I'll give it another try at some point, and that when I do, I will appreciate it far more, knowing what I know now! I have a couple of collections of Faulkner's short stories, but as is always the case when I'm in my "busy" season, I regret not reading more stuff when I had the time. There's just so much good stuff out there. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to get through even a quarter of it.

Ah, The Devils of Loudun! What a great novel. So dense...but so good. Since I'm fully in the thick of a busy semester, all of my reading is for classes these days. I'll be reading As I Lay Dying and Two Gentlemen of Verona over the next couple of weeks. A very odd combination, to be sure...