more.truly.more.strange

Why does it take Berkeley so long to send rejections? Why does it take anyone so long? I appreciate Penn's quick turn-around

So far, I've only gotten acceptances in the Mid West and West Coast. I live in and am in love with New York and am worrying about a) leaving the comfort of the East Coast, which is the only part of the country I've lived in and b ) leaving a huge/wild/strange/diverse/buzzing city for a much smaller town. Any fellow worriers or advice?

Same! (For Elisha Cohn) but as I said, moving on...

I was actually pretty bummed about this one, because even though I know it's really competitive, it felt like a really good fit and I had an email exchange with my POI there. OH. WELL. moving on....

I decided to apply all over in part because at the time i was in a “down-on-new-York” phase which made me want to explore other options. But ultimately this is where I’m most comfortable.... Thank you for your thoughts on this. It’s interesting to observe myself already feel really guilty about applying to schools I got accepted to but that I’m now less excited about. It feels ungrateful and selfish not to give them a shot. Spoiler alert: I need to work on trusting my gut and best intentions.

Is there an appropriate maximum number of campus visits? What I mean is—I’ve gotten three wonderful acceptances so far, but I applied to 15 schools so I’m hoping for maybe 2 more. Five visits crammed into a month and a half seems like too many to me (albeit this is purely hypothetical at this point). I already have some inclinations as to location (I’m a New Yorker having serious doubts about my ability to be truly happy in a small midwestern town, no matter the quality of the program), and then funding/teaching loads seems like an easy way to make an initial cut. However if I should be so lucky as to get into four or five schools, should I just suck it up and give them all a chance? (Note: I have a flexible work schedule so taking time off is not a major issue)

They aren’t sending official acceptances until the end of February, that result was probably an unofficial acceptance.

I was literally typing up my u chicago rejection on the results board for posterity, when I got an email offer from Indiana Bloomington!

Not exactly what I was asking but still relevant--as in, how many Thursday afternoon classes and tutoring gigs will I have to be skipping....? But yes, my primary concern is what if one of my top schools accepts me (which would be amazing!) and it happens to be the same recruitment weekend as the one acceptance I've gotten so far, which is not my first choice school. Do schools make an effort to avoid overlaps? Even if I have to miss another recruitment weekend, maybe a separate individual visit would accomplish the same thing? Probably not that big of a deal, just wanted to vocalize my anxiety to help diminish it

I’m anxious about saying yes to a recruitment weekend now only to be invited to another conflicting (first choice school) one later this month. Is this a real concern?

Wish I hadn’t seen that acceptance on the results board. Can’t stop checking email.

When I saw an email about an application decision, I was bracing myself for a rejection from Chicago or Berkeley (per the projected schedule) and was totally shocked by my Austin acceptance!

Is it very unwise to plan a much-needed sunny vacation the second week of March? Will it definitely conflict with campus visits?

I got a call from a Michigan number yesterday and, thinking 'what if??', I answered. A woman's voice on the other end said something indecipherable ("this is xx at the admissions office" perhaps?), "Sorry?" I said, and she replied: "Do...do you speak Romanian?" Sadly I do not: wrong number.

I have a related question. I've sent very brief emails to some faculty and have gotten very brief responses akin to "your work sounds interesting" and sometimes "I'll look out for our application." On the application itself then, can I mention that I spoke to this professor, even if the exchange was very cursory? The phrasing is usually "Names of any faculty members with whom you have consulted about admission"--does a brief email exchange qualify as "consulted about admission"?

May I ask where you're applying? I'm working on realist novels (particularly George Eliot) and psychology, but I'm also really interested in religion (and the relationship between psychology and religious ideas.

First time writing, first time applying... I just wanted to put myself out there to gauge whether there are other lurkers with similar research interests! I'm a Victorianist hoping to work on the influence of 19th c psychology and scientific discovery more broadly on George Eliot. I have an (anachronistic) interest in psychoanalysis but I'm also interested in how recent affect theory registers the kind of cultural and disciplinary debates that also shaped the Victorian era. My schools are, in no particular order: NYU, Cornell, Columbia, Rutgers, Harvard, Berkeley, U. Chicago, UT Austin, UVA, U. Michigan, USC? Duke? Princeton? Brown? Stanford? (I'm not thoroughly convinced of the fit at the last 5) I think I'm going to try to whittle it down a little. Although then again, maybe I should just go big as an earlier poster suggested. I'm going to add a question in case anyone knows if a) Peter Brooks takes on (English) students at Princeton and b) what the deal is with Ian Duncan at Berkeley, who seems to be a "long-term" visiting prof at Princeton now??

Does anyone know whether Peter Brooks is actively taking on students, and if so, whether he makes a good advisor?

I'm looking into curatorial and critical studies programs and was hoping there may be some grads lurking around who could provide some insight. I'm looking at Bard CCS, but also CCA's Visual and Critical Studies and am open to hear about others, like SAIC's Visual/Critical Program and even programs in the UK. Anyone have thoughts? Thanks!