Dr. Old Bill

A Rutgers and a Michigan acceptance on the board... Any claimants? (*Dies a little*)

Happy to share sandboxes with you, good buddy!

Getting one early... Man, what a wonder it does for the psyche. Rejections still sting, but it's more like stinging through a thick jacket...or a puffy Ohioan parka... Indeed! Although I do love Milton a great deal. If I could be both a Miltonist and a Shakespearean, I would...but that's a pretty tough balance to strike at this stage. Still, I've read all of Milton's seminal works (even Areopagitica ), most of his less seminal works, and think PL is the best epic ever written (and I love me some Odyssey), and that Comus is the best masque. In other words, even as I continue as a Shakespeare scholar, I'll remain something of a Milton "fanboy"...

It came through as I was reading Act IV of Titus Andronicus, too! As for the Yale acceptance...mucho congratulations to whoever that is. I suppose that means an implied rejection for me, which makes for a pretty black Friday in terms of decisions... 0 for 3. I was over the moon about OSU 3.5 weeks ago, but now I'm even more humbled and honored by my acceptance there in the face of all of these rejections...

C'est moi. I guess my hypothesis from yesterday was correct: just no GC folks with acceptances a few weeks back. Go figure! Incidentally, while I'm not at all upset with their program, I can't deny that logging in to see text that reads "We are very pleased" before realizing that it's just the initial "thanks for applying" text before you click on the status update is a little disheartening! Well, considering the implied rejection of Berkeley, I'm down to five left to hear back from. OSU is looking more and more like a certainty to me (even though it would have been a "finalist" no matter what happened).

I largely agree with the wise folks above, but I will add one minor counterpoint. A lot of this depends on you and your readiness to go down this path. The problem is that you might currently have no way to gauge that -- you might think that you'll be able to make an easy transition from undergraduate to doctoral level work, and discover that the chasm is far wider than you could have anticipated. OR it could just require a bit of rapid adaptation on your part, and you'll find you can adjust rather easily. Two years ago, had I been accepted to a Ph.D. program as well as the M.A. program I ultimately attended, I almost certainly would have taken the Ph.D. program. However, with the luxury of hindsight, I can see how much better served I was by getting the M.A. before moving into a Ph.D. program. I still think I could have done well in a Ph.D. program right away, but the two years of M.A. work have been invaluable. In your situation, getting an M.A. from one of the highest ranked programs in the country could position you for even stronger work when you pursue a Ph.D. two years later. All of that being said, I do think the most obvious choice is to go for the Ph.D. and don't look back. I just wouldn't want you to think that there's not at least some merit to the other option as well.

Congrats! Vancouver is quite expensive (it's my hometown), but you do have the exchange rate working in your favor. It's also a very metro-friendly city, and has some beautiful summer weather and typically mild winters (when it's not raining). I haven't lived there in over seven years, but if you decide to attend, feel free to PM me and I can give you recommendations and potentially put you in touch with some folks.

Indeed! I last changed my user name and profile pic when I decided on UMD (so a little under two years ago), and since I'll no longer be a "Terp," a change seems welcome. I'll likely leave an "FKA" in my sig line. For archival reasons, of course.

If I stick around GradCafe for the next cycle, I'll be your absolute biggest cheerleader -- count on it! (Oh, and I already have a new user name and avatar pic in mind for when this cycle is over )

Yep.

I don't want to knock you for this post, because your feelings are obviously legitimate, and I can't blame you in the least for having this personal apostasy. That being said, like many others have already mentioned, 28 is by no means old. You'll be among the youngest people on the job market, in fact, as you've taken what is now considered to be the standard path: high school -> college -> grad school -> job market (presumably with no gaps). Academia is a long haul, and that's the point. You do have to spend a decade or so on education, because that's how you earn the distinction of becoming a doctor of philosophy. As for the relationship issue, I am a little perturbed that you think you're going to be washed up in the looks department... Even if that were the case (it's certainly not), there's more to relationships than looks, right? I won't press on that any further, because we all have our relationship priorities...but even though it's certainly fine to feel that way, I hope you recognize that it's just a feeling, not a fact. For what it's worth, I say this as a 37-year-old in the midst of a divorce who will likely finish his Ph.D. at the age of 42. Also for what it's worth, you might want to check out this thread for inspiration or solace.

Me too! I normally silence my phone when I'm at work...but not today.

O frabjous day! Calooh! Callay!

I know this is a venting thread and not an "advice" thread...but I think that you should go with your gut. Yes, spending money for a Master's is onerous and may cause long-term financial regret, but if you're treating it as a stepping stone to a Ph.D., and if you're very aware of all of the circumstances of the job market and the finances required etc., then do it. Conventional wisdom is all well and good, but "convention" doesn't really define much of what we do as English majors, after all. There are a few folks here who did an unfunded M.A., got into a funded Ph.D. program, and have excelled. Sure, they'll have student loans to pay off, but they've also spent five, six, seven years doing what they love and getting the highest possible degree in the process. That sounds more like an investment to me. Again, this isn't advice I'd give to everyone. I'm sure I've made posts in the past discouraging the unfunded M.A. route...but in your situation as you describe it, I can't help but think "why not?" And clearly you've got three programs that are completely sold on your research, which bodes well for future applications (if that's the route you go). Just my two cents.

Yeah, this list really has to be taken with a grain of salt -- it just a general idea that's based on when programs have notified in the past few years. Any number of factors can change the notification timeframe. That being said, I'm also curious about Vanderbilt. There's that one anomalous waitlist on the board, and nothing else. It could mean that they took a very small cohort this year, and none of those people happen to stop by GradCafe, or it could mean they're doing rolling admissions, or it could mean they've completely revamped their process. It's hard (okay, impossible) to say for sure, though I suppose we'll find out soon enough...

It seems as though the Results page is set to GMT, meaning that any results posted after 7:00 PM EST are going to show up as the next day.

Waitlisted at U. of Alabama's Strode program, and plan on staying on the waitlist for awhile. I'm extremely chuffed with OSU, but I'm also really intrigued by what they've got going in Tuscaloosa, so I'm hoping the spot frees up and I can make a visit before all is said and done...

Where's the ambivalence and confusion? When you boil it all down, it's a case of them letting you know when they're ready to let you know. It really is as simple as that. Ph.D. programs are making around a $100,000 investment (on average) in their acceptances...and I'm not even considering waived tuition and travel stipends in that approximation. You can rest assured that they have to be well-considered decisions from an institutional standpoint, and that simply has to be their first consideration...especially in a day and age where funding for our very field is rapidly dwindling. If this were a situation where you have no idea if they will ever let you know about acceptance / waitlist / rejection, that would be one thing...but that's simply not the case. You know that they HAVE to inform you by April 15th (with a few minor exceptions), so that is the frame that you're yearning for, and it already exists. In other words, it really does come down to being patient and respecting the process. I'm not going to say any more on this topic, as I'm frankly a little annoyed that this isn't just common sense. I recognize that emotions are running high right now, but be that as it may, I don't like this implication that programs need to kowtow and be utterly transparent about every facet of their process to their applicants. It's way too much to expect, and simply doesn't factor in the sheer enormity of the job admissions personnel have to do.

Congrats to all of the Fordham, Oregon State, and CUNY Grad Center acceptances yesterday! I wonder why no one's posted about their acceptances in this thread...

Argh. I don't want to sound like a surly old man, but here's the thing... It's perfectly fine for you (us) as Ph.D. program hopefuls to be antsy about admission timelines. It's to be expected, really -- it's one of the biggest moments of our lives, and that's not hyperbole. BUT, you should also keep in mind that these admissions committees are often dealing with upward of 300 applications...and almost all of those applicants are in the same boat as you: worrying, antsy, emotional, on edge, and unsure of when they'll hear back. Admissions committees have an unenviable task, and while it's largely a mystery to us as to how they make their decisions (and it almost certainly varies by program), I just think that we have to respect that they do it the way they do it for a reason. Professors are usually busy at the best of times, and I can only imagine how hectic it is during this time of year when they're sitting on an adcom. Likewise, a DGS (and his/her staff) has to juggle all of these acceptances, rejections, and waitlists for a couple of months. All of this is to say that I completely understand the desire to know all of your options as soon as possible...but sometimes I worry that that desire starts to merge into an expectation that you are owed an answer right away. I simply think that you have to respect the process, and understand that adcoms have their reasons for doing the things they do the way they do them. They have to do their job...and it's a very hard job to do. Calls and emails from panicky applicants isn't going to speed up the process or change anything. I hope this doesn't come across as a rant. I don't mean it as a rant. I just want you to remember that, as difficult as the waiting process is for us, it's also difficult on the adcom side of things. Just try your best to be patient. ETA: Cross-posted with AnxiousGrad

You guys just can't help yourselves, can you?

No offense, but I don't know where you're getting that from. I wouldn't infer a waitlist situation from what @phoebusrising posted. Waitlisted candidates are almost always notified of being waitlisted. There are indeed some cases of "invisible" waitlists, but trying to infer too much in this process is an easy way to give yourself fits. Hope is great -- essential, even -- but it has to have a foundation.

My heart just burst into a million pieces for the both of you! Major congratulations to a couple of awesome, earnest GCers!!

Probably wise. I've said it around these parts a few times lately, but despite the temptation to contact departments about application statuses, it's probably one of the most annoying things you can do right now. It is hard to be patient, but if there's one thing you can be assured of it's that programs will let you know if you've been accepted (and usually, albeit more tardily, if you've been rejected...)

You should probably specify which USC. I'm guessing you mean University of Southern California, but the USC is also (confusingly) used for University of South Carolina. If you mean the latter, then it looks like acceptances went out last week...