Dr. Old Bill

Every day should begin with a Ron Swanson smile. Fingers crossed that this week brings good news to most of us. I know it's still "early," but let's be honest here...we're getting into the thick of it now! And here's hoping that the inevitable rejectees don't get too bitter and the inevitable acceptees don't gloat too much! Even though it sometimes doesn't feel like it, we're truly all in this together.

Way to go!!

Agreed! Four of them up there now...none claimed here I don't think? Excellent program!

Welcome to a fellow Vancouverite! (I'm from there originally, but have been in the U.S. for five years). I see you already have an acceptance. Congrats!

Welcome, Obrial! Glad to have you here to share the roller-coaster ride that is graduate admissions!

For what it's worth, I had all of my apps submitted very early (a few of them on the first day applications opened), and the statuses of many of them are still the same as you mention -- some say "submitted," some say "under departmental review" etc.

Congrats, Childermass!!

First of all, thanks for the insights! I've had a few non-GC conversations about the "insider trading" or "horse trading" that may or may not go on behind the scenes, and your comments mesh well with everything I've heard and/or suspected. Secondly, with regard to the text I quoted, I think you're absolutely right. It may, in fact, be my biggest actual annoyance about the application process. It's equivalent to applying for a job when you don't know if there's a position available -- every once in awhile you might get lucky, and they'll want to interview or hire you on merit...but that's a rarity. Yet even this comparison isn't perfect, as an employer will often keep your resume "on file" for when a position comes available... So yes, a little more transparency in that regard would be nice. It would, of course, mean fewer applicants, which consequently means fewer application fees. Multiply a loss of say, fifty applications across thirty or forty graduate programs, and you start to get into six-figure territory. Presumably more than just a drop in the bucket. I don't want to lay blame at the feet of the almighty dollar, as there are certainly other factors...yet the fact that virtually no graduate admissions process has any sort of transparency is telling. Having worked in several administrative roles in my life, I can definitely understand it...but from the perspective of an outsider, wanting desperately to get in, its pretty damn frustrating. It's also why casting a wide application net is often encouraged. At this point, my biggest regret is not applying to more programs.

Bgt, that's one of the nicest things anyone's ever said to me on the Internet. No upvotes to give, sadly...but big thanks. Honestly, this process does weird things to people. I truly thought I had the temperament to ride it out without ever getting too dejected! I suppose the problem is that my entire life hinges on this (that's not even hyperbole), and I'm getting too old to seriously think about trying again next year. So failure at this is looming pretty large for me! My closest "fits" seemed to be at the most prestigious institutions...and I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing. I didn't apply anywhere that I thought I didn't fit, but if I'm being completely honest, the number of prosodists and early modern poetry people at Yale, Princeton, Harvard, Stanford etc. make me think I might have an ever-so-slightly better shot there than some of my other choices. It's such a subjective process that it's impossible to say, however. Just keep breathing, I guess! (And seriously...thanks again for those kind words. I clearly need 'em tonight!)

Thanks Katla. Hope is not lost! Just...diminished a bit. I said to someone the other day that this process was like having seventeen cords suspending me above a snakepit. Every time a cord is cut, I feel a bit less secure. A few swift cuts have me thinking a little more about those fangs... I like your Mr Thornton / Mr Darcy example...although I'm feeling rather like St. Jean at the moment!

There's a hell of a long way to go still, obviously, but I'm quickly realizing, based on the acceptances so far, that GRE scores and publications / presentations etc. DO seem to be bigger factors than we'd like to admit. If I wind up getting shut out this year, and manage to pick up enough pieces of my heart and soul to do it again next year, I'll make a point of sending more work out for publication, and retaking the damn GRE over and over until I get a verbal score that actually reflects my command of the language. (Don't worry, I'm not counting myself out of things yet...but it's pretty dejecting to have four implied rejections in the span of three days).

Thanks for that. I shouldn't be making mopey posts on the acceptance thread anyhow, no matter how utterly dejected I feel right now!

If it's any consolation, with Penn State and Northwestern results coming in, that means I've had three implied rejections in 24 hours. Not fun.

Thanks for this. Yes, I get that sense too. "Faint" hope is rarely rewarded by reality. I've often wondered about this. Would you be willing to elaborate? If not publicly, I'd be grateful for a PM.

Sorry jhefflol.

Gah! Lost in all of this stuff was the fact that Hypervodka was accepted to Vanderbilt! Can't believe I missed that! Major congratulations! It was very high on my list -- such a great program, and indeed, Nashville looks like a blast! Glad you've got some options at this early point!

Yes, there's a bit of a fine line between teasing and mocking...but when everyone's nerves are on edge (e.g. now and the next ten weeks!), things can be blown out of proportion quite easily. I think we should be happy for the person who got into Vanderbilt -- it's a pretty exclusive club. Sometimes being overjoyed at something can lead to a moment of overconfidence. I'm going to guess that this was the case. I'm also wondering if the person was paraphrasing what the DGS said about him / her in the acceptance letter... Either way, I really really don't want to see GC get snarky (even inadvertently!). We can be happy for the acceptances and sad for the rejections simultaneously. I've consulted the Doctor, and he confirms that time and space will not, in fact, crack if we are.

This is a question I've been debating for the past couple of days: what constitutes an "implied rejection." In reading threads from this time last year, there was much furor over people declaring an "implied rejection" far too early. I agreed last week...but now that I have an official rejection under my belt, and have seen some acceptances to places I applied to (that have yet to update my status or respond etc.), I can't deny that it's tempting to assume rejection. I think it speaks to something psychological: it's easier to cope with something definitive than it is to cope with something tenuous. If I assume that U. of Chicago and Vanderbilt aren't getting back to me, I can just focus on looking forward to the other fourteen programs I applied to, as opposed to nervously wondering about those two. Still, I'm not going to count them completely out until I hear back from them. It's just that I think the chances are far slimmer than they were already (and they were slim to begin with...)

That's one thing I will say: I never had a scene. There's a fairly diverse range of music that I like, ranging from solo piano to hardcore punk/metal, and I often find that if there are two bands that are supposed to be very "similar" musically, I might really like one, and dislike the other. But to bring this thread back around ("Saturn comes back around..." BAD, WT...BAD), it would be interesting to consider courses that examine the interrelationship between music and literature, whether from direct influence (like U2's "The Ground Beneath Her Feet" named for Rushdie's novel), or more tenuous connections ("Sympathy For the Devil" after Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita, for instance). Art in general -- even popular "art" -- is inherently interdisciplinary. I think a lot of humanities studies are venturing in that direction anyhow, and I'm not sure if that's a particularly bad thing or not, despite my general nature as a traditionalist.

My original background is actually in music production -- I got a fairly useless vocational degree in it twelve years ago, and spent a few years trying to carve out a career as a music producer. As a result, my interest in music occasionally spills over into my discussions of literature, even though the latter has been my undeniable / firm / no-doubt-about-it career interest for many years now. It IS nice to see a few folks recognizing these bands and lyrics though. I had a feeling that my enjoyment of dark and heavy music was quite an anomaly, given my academic interests...

I hadn't thought about that, but you're absolutely right -- things are always rosier in the daytime! I was so glum last night that my dear wife said "Take the bed. I'll sleep on the couch." (We do have a long and comfy couch, but still!) And good call on the quote. Not very "literary" of me, I suppose, but that has remained one of my favorite albums since the late nineties.

What this whole damn process feels like to me right now: ...and it's still only January! And not exactly a .gif, but what an acceptance must feel like:

It's possible...and you're right. I'm being premature in my assumption that I'm not getting in there. I have to admit though, after a full day of being happy about all the good news, my hopes crashed pretty hard last night and I wound up just going to bed instead of "wallowing in my own confused and insecure delusions" (an upvote to anyone who correctly guesses that quote without Googling). This process really takes its toll.