artist_lily

Hi all, I recently heard that I had been admitted to the University of Florida's MA program in English with full funding and the possibility to continue on for the Ph.D. upon satisfactory completion of the MA. As I weigh my options, I am excited to find out more about the program and the graduate opportunities available at Florida. Since I realize others admitted to Florida are likely in a similarly undecided state, I was hoping we could start a thread related to Florida and its English department, while incorporating various other things of interest to the potential grad student -- housing, cost of living, stipends, et cetera -- that will help us all to make the best decisions for our personal circumstances. So, if there's anyone else out there sitting on a Florida acceptance or waitlist who wants to come forward and chat. I would love to hear from you. What kind of impression do you have of the department? (I won't have the opportunity to visit, so this is very hard for me to judge; accordingly, I would be thrilled to hear others' impressions.) Did you receive a fellowship or T.A. ship? And what do you think of moving to Gainesville? I've heard it's very humid, but the cost of living is said to be relatively low. All the best! artist_lily

Is it bad form of me to say "Thank you, thank you!"? Because I'm totally dying to get in here off the waitlist! In all seriousness, thanks for being so considerate of your fellow waitlist-ees and best of luck to you in your admissions decisions!

Yes, "safety" is probably the wrong word here, but I do feel some are MUCH, MUCH more likely than others -- in particular, I'm thinking of state schools that are not known for their English departments and offer Master's programs (even better, funded Master's programs!).

I think strokeofmidnight makes some great points -- applications are, certainly, unpredictable beasts -- but I'm very much in the same boat as woolfie here, and I think my application round would have been served much better had I recognized the HUGE improbability of my getting into a top-10 program when I was putting together my list of schools. Yes, my adviser had told me such schools were long shots; yes, I believed her; but I didn't account for the absolute swell in applications this year... or the pain of being rejected from every program I applied to that was ranked higher than 25. While I realize that one can never predict the results (the nebulousness of this process is nothing if not overwhelming), I do feel that spending hundreds of dollars to apply to "top-tier" schools is, for those with "very good but not excellent" stats like mine, nearly always "a rookie mistake." I would not do it this way again. Sure, I could've gotten lucky; sure, I could've been one of the chosen few; but the odds were slim, and the time and energy I put into my "reach" applications could have been much better spent working on the SoPs for several lower-ranked but still high quality programs. As I heard from the beginning (but wish I had followed more closely), a couple reach schools, several middle-ground schools, and a couple "safety" schools seems to be the right formula.

I don't know if this is helpful or not, but I wanted to just share in case. I received one of the ambiguous waitlist e-mails from Iowa, and it seems to indicate that all those who have been accepted in the first round have been notified of the decision already. A sentence midway through the e-mail reads: "...right now our earliest round of offers has gone out to a small group of other students" The sentence surely leaves the door open for additional rounds and additional offers, but as always, so much depends on the initial yield. I would imagine that the best-case scenario at this point, should you not be among "the small group of other students" positively notified, would be to be on the receiving end of a waitlist e-mail. Le sigh. This application process is for the birds

I second bluellie's response! I've got a B.A. in English and Government and as the rejections are streaming in this season, I often debate whether I would have had a better go of it over there in the political "science" (/Strong Flat White) world

Thanks so much for your response, DeepShadeofBlue! As luck would have it, I think we're from the same neck of the woods -- I actually grew up in northern Virginia and attended William and Mary for undergrad I think the Virginia schools tend to play well with one another; I had many friends who attended JMU, and as a result of having a serious boyfriend who studied there as well, I made my way down Highway 81 quite often! JMU's exactly as you say it is: a beautiful, beautiful campus, and less crucially, but still notably, the food IS, in fact, great On a more serious note, I'm very grateful for your positive comments regarding the department; I had gotten the feeling that the English department there is less rigorous than some of the other schools that I have applied to (and less rigorous than W&M), but the faculty research interests are a great fit for me. Moreover, I am hopeful for the opportunity to possibly get funding at JMU; I am really, really hesitant to go into debt for a Master's degree in the humanities. We'll see what fate holds, though -- I just got an e-mail from the graduate secretary today asking where she should send my decision letter (apparently decisions can't be given over e-mail, and she was confused as I had two addresses on my application), and so hopefully in a matter of days, I'll have word on it. I hope you don't mind if I throw some questions your way should the decision be positive; I'd love to get more of an insider take on the department. In the meantime, all the best to you in your applications, and again, thanks for your response! It's nice to see another Virginian (or at least Virginian as far as college attendance is concerned) on the forums

Thank you all for your congratulations! I'm so excited about the acceptance, and I wish all the very best to all those who are still waiting to hear. I'm sure there will be LOTS of good AU-related news to celebrate soon!

Just wanted to share with all those waiting that I think acceptances are now in the process of going out. I received an e-mail from Dr. Menon, the literature DGS, around 1 PM today (that's my result posted on the "results search" page), accepting me into the program (she said a letter has also been sent via post, but as I'm in Austria, I haven't received it yet). The e-mail didn't provide any additional details but to say that funding decisions would be made in April; there was no info regarding the size of the incoming class or where they are in the notification process. In the meantime, all the very, very best to all those still waiting to hear! I am sure there will be several happy acceptances on this board shortly, and I can't wait to share in the excitement together!

Ah, good point. I had completely overlooked that detail, probably because I applied to some MA programs at schools with ranked (continuing) PhD programs and had somehow accidentally conflated the PhD rankings with the MA rankings. Thanks for bringing that up, meowmeow!

I'm in the same boat and hoping, desperately, for a last-minute acceptance. FWIW, did you hear the rumor about all wait-listed and accepted applicants having already been notified here on Grad Cafe, veronica, or is that something that comes from OSU itself? I feel like I should start preparing myself in earnest for the imminent rejection...

Second this! Would definitely be curious if anyone had any additional info... Penn State's one of my absolute favorite programs, if not my top choice, and I'd love to hear if anyone has some insight into whether all decisions have been made / sent out or not!

Thanks so much for the inside info on AU's program, Bardolater! I apologize if I sounded like I thought AU wasn't a great program because of its unranked status; I just feel like on Grad Cafe, most of the people tend to be pretty focused on the rankings and perhaps then less likely to apply to AU. That being said, I've applied to AU exactly for the reasons you've mentioned: the amazing resources available to grad students because of AU's proximity to D.C., the excellent interdisciplinary approach to literature that the department seems to take, and the friendly response I had when I contacted the DGS. I'm hopeful I'll get an acceptance there, as it's definitely among my top choices! And in that regard, it's terrific to hear a current student there extol the virtues of the program; it's hard to get a real sense of a department "from the outside looking in," so your testimony that AU is, in fact, all it seems to be and more just makes me more excited about potentially attending there. Now let's get those acceptances coming, shall we? As a side note, and of course, if and only if you don't mind sharing, did you manage to secure a funded MA from American, or are you going on your own dime? I couldn't quite deduce from the Web site how likely funding is, but I'm hoping that this year's economic woes haven't put financial packages for potentially incoming MAs out of the picture! All the best, artist_lily

Hi all -- I was wondering if anyone else lurking on the boards had applied to James Madison University. It's a very small and unranked program in Virginia, but it does occasionally offer funding through TA-ships and GA-ships (hence, why I applied). If there's anyone around who's also submitted an application to this program, I would love to hear from you -- I've yet to hear anything from the English department, despite having applied early in the "rolling admissions" process and despite having regularly communicated with the English DGS, and I'm starting to get a bit anxious. Very best to all fellow Grad Cafe members as we continue onwards in this emotionally-draining, ridiculously-maddening admissions game!

Hi bluellie -- I'm hoping that we're both still allowed to hope a bit, as I received this same informational e-mail from the CAS at American U last week. I'm not sure what the e-mail means; I looked on CAS's Web site, and I couldn't deduce from the published material whether this is an invite-only day (i.e., we must have been accepted) or a day open to all prospective graduate students. I fear it's the latter, though, and that decisions either still haven't been made or are yet to go out. Perhaps we can join our forces and find a way to stealthily contact the graduate department in the hopes of getting some information regarding when notifications will be sent? I don't know about you, but I applied around January 1, having heard it was rolling admissions, and now here it is, 2 months later, and I'm still yet to hear anything! *Rolling* admissions, hmph As a side note, do you happen to be from the DC area as well? I feel like there are likely not TOO many applicants to AU lingering on this board, as it's an unranked/not-always-funded program, and accordingly was curious if you were from DC or the suburbs and had gotten wind of it that way (as I had ). PM me if you'd like to and we can chat!

FWIW, I didn't think your post was snippy! I'm in the same (nervous) boat right now, as I thought Purdue would be sending acceptances later and am now excessively anxious about my chances of getting in ANYwhere, having not heard anything. As to snowmiser, congrats on the acceptance! Purdue is a strong program, and I'm sure you'll love it should you decide to go. All the best!

Thanks for such a great post, strokeofmidnight! One quick question: you mentioned that some of your LoR writers were perplexed at your decision to reapply. How so? Had they thought that one shot was enough? Or that it wasn't worth a second attempt? As for clarification, the reason I'm asking is because as we enter the last week of February and the pile of rejections grows bigger, I'm becoming fairly certain I'll be in the same situation that you were previously, and any advice as to how to go about a "round two," particularly in regards to LoRs (my biggest frustration and fear), would be really very helpful

Hahaha, love it! I've been having the same exact (half-joking) thought: now that I've invested so much energy into making these Plan B options sound as appealing as a cloudless summer day on the French Riviera, how could I even THINK of turning my back on them to go to grad school? Let's only see what happens when I actually have to USE one of these (speciously) attractive Plan Bs; I'm praying that my wild imagination won't fail me then!

Hi all, I saw some Ohio State acceptances posted on the results search recently and was wondering if anyone would come forward to claim them. If you've been accepted, would you mind sharing your stats/field? Most importantly, congratulations! OSU has a great program. Otherwise, is there anyone out there who has applied to OSU but who has yet to hear anything? My app status is still listed as having been "sent to the graduate program for academic review," and I'm worried that I'm missing the huge rejection letter that may very well be hidden within the application interface and that my technologically-challenged self can't find. Anyone else in the same boat? I'm unsure as to whether to take the fact that there's no acceptance OR rejection letter (at least that I can find) as an implicit rejection (psychologically, I'm already preparing myself for such a thing ).

Hahaha, love it! It's nice to hear from someone who, if only jokingly, isn't so caught up in the vicious go-around that is the humanities admissions process. Plus, as someone who's currently living and teaching in Vienna and travelling throughout Europe, I can definitely relate to the wonderfully (and often predominantly European) laissez faire attitude that you seem to take in your post. I only hope that I can sustain it throughout this ridiculous waiting period! Enjoy your red wine -- I'm here with my Viennese coffee and pastry doing much of the same as you!

No scoffing here -- LOVE Casting Crowns! Kutless is also good, but I find myself more drawn to Meredith Andrews or even a little Caedmon's Call lately. Glad to see I'm not alone in loving this kind of uplifting music as we're stuck within the waiting game!

I second what genotype said: it can't hurt to send an e-mail since said potential adviser has already expressed interest, and if you frame it as a "Thank you for your call; I enjoyed speaking with you and remain enthusiastic about the possibility of studying at School X / working with you," I think that you can't go wrong. Then you can just tack an apology for being nervous on the end, so as not to draw attention to it or to make it seem the focus of your e-mail -- merely a side note that, while covering your bases, doesn't detract from the main purpose of the e-mail: that is, to convince said potential adviser that yes, you are as great as you seem on paper, and yes, School X would be a fool not to take you! PS -- Congrats on the phone call! I would give anything for one of those myself these days, so enjoy the high and don't fret too much over the nervousness! I would think it's normal

Thanks so much for your sweet reply, intextrovert! I agree with you completely: much of the fear of having to tell family/friends/LOR writers about my rejection from grad programs stems from my own fear and my own embarrassment... not because I don't consciously realize that they won't think differently of me. (Well, at least my LOR writers won't -- as they're in the profession themselves, it's fairly clear that they understand the high stakes of the admissions game.) I just hope that I can remember this when the time comes to tell those whose help I've solicited that I need to ask a favor of them yet again -- and that I can keep my chin up and not break down in tears when I'm forced to break the news to family and friends -- a bit of an unrealistic goal, but worth a shot, anyway, right? And by the way, I particularly loved your teaching analogy -- I come from a high school teaching background myself, and I can perfectly relate to the feelings that you described having when a lesson tanks (and oh God, were there many of those my first year!). People -- and particularly 17 year olds -- do move on rather quickly, and though we're left to pick up the pieces on our own (whether after a failed lesson or after a missed chance at grad school), perhaps this is for the best -- or certainly better than I would imagine having to constantly talk about the failure with everyone would be!

Thanks so much for the great info about how you've spent the past year, LadyL. I can definitely imagine having the same response of wallowing in misery and disbelief for a few weeks -- most days, I feel as if I'm having that very same response, albeit preemptively! And you're right, I can see how across-the-board rejection wouldn't be the worst thing that's ever happened to someone... of course there are always going to be setbacks, but one must nevertheless go on. That being said, these grad school waiting days are simply killing me -- I already feel myself slowing fading into a shadow of my former self, so focused on grad school admissions that it's hard to even THINK (concerted effort or not) of anything else. I read somewhere on this board about an English PhD applicant who's in her second or third round of applications (I forget), and she mentioned that she's playing the "waiting game" so much differently than rounds before -- this time, taking up new hobbies, really immersing herself in her family and friends... basically, enjoying life and not letting admissions be the "be all and end all" of her days. This seems like the same approach you're taking... and definitely an approach I could afford to get on board with right away!

I second this, exactly. Most of the application tasks were rather harmless, though irritating, but the thing that really drives me crazy is that this may very well be for nought. How is that even possible to invest so much time and energy and have it be for nought? That goes against everything I've ever learned about the value of "hard work".. and trust me, that's a lot!