drownsoda

Thanks for the responses you two, and that is especially reassuring to hear. As of April, all my degree requirements will be complete. It's just the technicality of not getting the actual degree finalized at the time I had specified that had me worried if I did potentially get accepted into a grad program.

I've been reading Elizabeth Wright's Psychoanalytic Criticism for a class I am taking right now. It's... sort of fun(?) I'm not too much into psychoanalysis, but I've actually kind of enjoyed it in correlation with the class. I also have been re-reading The Devils of Loudun on my own time, just because I love Huxley and I think that that story is so fascinating.

So, I've been kind of fretting over this and am not sure if I should be. I am an undergrad in my last term of college, and while I was filling out my applications for graduate programs, I estimated my "degree award date" to be in April of 2015. Due to unforeseen technicalities (i.e., I stupidly missed the deadline to apply for spring graduation), I won't actually be able to get my degree finalized until the summer graduation date. I will have all the credits necessary as of April, but I just won't be able to get my physical degree awarded to me until the summertime. My question is: Supposing I get into any of the programs I applied to, is this going to be a problem? Like I said, I would have my degree awarded before hypothetically attending any of the graduate programs I applied to (they all start in the fall), but I'm curious as to whether or not this will be a potential issue for me if I do get in.

I am so happy for the acceptances on here; I can't even imagine how great that must feel. You deserve it. I still haven't heard anything back either, but I believe it's too early for any of my programs to start notifying (mid-February is when I'm expecting at least one response). In the meantime, I've been pacifying myself with endless bowls of Honey Bunches of Oats. Oh, and I bought a pair of Dr. Martens today, because, well, I gotta look fabulous, right? Alas, the waiting game is stressful, as everyone in my camp knows— "the unknown," or maybe I'll start referring to it as limbo since I was raised Catholic. Miraculously, I've actually been losing weight in spite of my cereal addiction. Maybe it's the fiber? Good vibes for everyone— try to stay healthy!

Realizing that it's February and that my top school is supposed to send out responses within the next week:

I've had the flu all weekend, so I literally laid in bed for two days straight watching Intervention and drinking Emergen-C and Yerba mate. The worst part? I'd have done the same thing even without the flu thing.

Maybe I'm in a minority for mentioning my transcript gap then? My whole thing was that I wanted to address it without really drawing attention to it; my assumption was that a committee may see a year long gap on my records and fill in the blank as to what happened and why I wasn't in school-- briefly acknowledging it was my way of not letting them do that, I guess. Hopefully doing so wasn't injurious to my applications :/

I've been eating a lot of Ballerina Swedish cookies (the ones with hazelnut and cocoa filling that you used to be able to get at Ikea) and drinking red wine on the nightly. It's getting scary, I think I'm gaining weight!

The unadulterated truth. My family, friends, and co-workers have all been asking me if I'm "alright" lately because I seem to out of it. It's almost like a dream state, except not really. It's weird. Ever since I submitted my applications I have felt like I'm in a fog that I can't escape.

I just got an email from one of my professors thanking me for the gift and letter (I got each of them a nice hardbound notebook and tied individual letters to them). She was really appreciative and said she would use the notebook for poetry or her "nature observations." I'm really glad she liked it, because I had trouble deciding on what to get each of them. I settled on the moleskine notebooks because those are pretty much universally professor-friendly, and they're nice.

Haha, thank GOD for this. I mean, I got a 5.0 on my analytical writing, so I did pretty well, but those essays I wrote... definitely not my best work.

Woke up this morning with an email in my inbox— FROM NYU. Turns out it was a ruse though. It was just a confirmation email that gave me an "ID number" and confirmed that my application had been processed through their system. Ugh.

When my friends/family/co-workers tell me, "Oh, you're going to get in. Don't worry." Me thinking about my future if I get rejected by every school: 2am when my confidence hits an all-time low: Each time I see that there is a new email in my inbox:

First off, congratulations! Second, I think this might depend on each university, though I'm not sure. I would call or send an email inquiring about it; just explain that you kindly want to withdraw your application to remove yourself from the pool in order to give others a spot if at all possible.

Yeah, it's the GRE. I think, if I recall correctly, that you are able to accept or decline for your scores/information to be made public to universities. I selected the "yes" option and have gotten lots of emails as well; a couple from the University of Chicago, Boston U, and multiple ones from Claremont.

Kind of off topic, but did anyone else read the title and expect this thread to be about making a living as a postgraduate with an English degree?

I'm going to infer that you are talking about what I posted, and that wasn't my intention at all. I was just explaining what my experience was, not for sympathy or shock value or anything of the sort (my experience is actually fairly normal for many people). We all have our stories, I don't see what's wrong with sharing them with people who have gone through similar things.

Not in a grad program, but I applied to several MA programs and I know where you're coming from. I come from parents who divorced when I was really young. My dad is a self-employed carpenter and we were actually somewhat wealthy during my childhood because he made really great money; long story short, my parents split up, and then some years later as I neared the end of high school, my dad struggled finding work, lost all of his money, and almost lost his house in the process. I had planned on going to school across the state, but couldn't get enough aid for it; that, and my dad had owned a house in that town that was a rental property which he was going to let me rent out, but it ended up being foreclosed on, so the whole situation just sort of imploded. I ended up at community college for two years, where I had some wonderful teachers. I later transferred to a university downtown, which is where I'm graduating from here in a couple months. I went to school full time, worked my ass off to get good grades, and I waited tables throughout my entire time in school (during my streak in community college also). My parents weren't able to help me pay for school, so I lived with my dad and, with the help of grants, was able to pay for most of my education myself. My senior year, the course load reached its zenith, so I ended up working less so I could focus on school more. I have ended up walking out with a B.A. and am only around $8,000 in debt, which is kind of unbelievable. I have friends who are $100k+ in debt from undergrad, so in the end, I'm glad with how I did it. It was a rough road, but I think there's something to be said for those of us who had to fight the good fight. I know some people whose parents paid for their entire college experience, and they totally take it for granted. I knew a girl whose parents paid for her tuition, her rent at a downtown loft, food, books, and sent her on multiple trips around the world, and she never seemed to understand how lucky she was for it. The only trade-off was that I didn't have time internships or anything really as an undergrad, because all of my free time was eaten alive by homework and/or my job. I did manage to complete two internships my senior year, but it was because, like I said, I was working less. I only applied to five schools also because the GRE and application fees drained all of my money from me. It's not necessarily bad though, because I honestly only am interested in a small number anyway. If I can't get into a solid program, then I'd rather not go. End of. It's not worth it to me, and applying for the sake of applying seemed pointless to me. My thought process was, "Even if I got into this school, would I actually go?" If the answer was "probably not," then I didn't apply. Anyway, my point I guess is, kudos, and that I empathize. I too come from a very much "working class" situation.

I believe in you! Only one of my applications for MA English programs demanded foreign language reading/writing proficiency, and it was Fordham's. The kicker was that it had to be proficiency in one of four languages: French, Italian, Spanish, or Latin— so I guess my massive German/Russian extended family plus the four years of German that I studied in high school did jack shit for me there. Thankfully, I'm semi-fluent in Spanish, and studied it for two years during undergrad, so I think I'm covered. I actually just took a Spanish class last semester for the first time in almost three years, and did remarkably well in it, so I guess I've retained it pretty well. I wish I could say I knew Latin, but I was a good little Catholic boy after Vatican II, so mass was always en inglés.

Like others have said, I'm not sure it's "intensity" that gets you anywhere. It's just a matter of drive. Where there's a will, there's a way, sort of thing. I try to avoid doing the self-diagnosis stuff on the net too because it frankly just confuses me even more. I don't think intensity and being an introvert/extrovert are related either. I've considered myself an introvert my entire life; I spend 80% of my free time alone (willingly), I tend to be pretty quiet, and I get caught up in my own head all the time like you do. The weird thing though is that a lot of people have taken me to be an extrovert. I mean, if I feel comfortable, I'll open up easily, but I'm not particularly loud or outgoing or brassy. Still, I've had classmates and friends be like, "You are not an introvert," but I truly feel like I am one. Like, for example, I had an internship educating elementary classrooms on the environment one time through my school, and the girl I was paired to teach with was super reserved and not comfortable speaking in front of the kids and their teachers, which forced me to be the one to take the lead. She told me at the end of that internship that I was a "godsend" for her because I was able to be "loud," talk with the kids, not be nervous— I was "completely extroverted, and [she was] an introvert." And I was like, "WHAT? I'm an introvert too!" Just because I can talk with people and be social doesn't mean I'm not introverted!

It's impossible to say, but I think your GPA is fine, especially since your major GPA is almost a 4.0. Hell, my major GPA wasn't even that good! I think mine's like a 3.84?? The fact that you have so many other things on your application (experience, extracurriculars, etc.) is a nice offset from your numbers, I would think. That said, different schools, different programs, and different individuals on committees all look at things... well, differently. Some people may weigh your experience over your numbers, and vice versa. All that said, again, the high level of experience is a nice mitigation to your lower-ish numbers. As long as one or the other of these is solid, then I think anyone has a fair shot. I'm sort of the opposite of you; I have about a 3.78 overall GPA, good GRE scores (aside from quant— I bombed it with a 140 like you did, but I don't think this is weighted at all if you're going into humanities), but I don't have research experience in the literature field, so to speak. I've had an internship at a writing center and have tutored college students professionally, but that's about as far as my pertinent experience goes. I see other people on here with heaps of experience in all sorts of fields and it freaks me out, but I've just tried to ignore it because the applications are already in; nothin' to do but wait now.

I totally empathize. My dad has been in and out of town for work, but the other day he called me and was like "Have you heard anything from the schools?" and I was like, "No, dad, I won't know anything for another month at least." Lol. They are just really naive about it, my mom especially. And it's not like you can shut them out over it or get pissed off, because their intentions of course are good, but the entire thing is emotionally stressful enough without your family being so damned sure of you.

I applied for MA programs, but for what it's worth, I didn't talk about teaching experience at all in my SOP. I have a minimal amount of it, but I did work in a college writing center and tutored people, but I figured that was best left for my C.V./Resume because it has nothing to do with my academic interests.

Twenty-four if I end up getting in, which, I'm not holding my breath. We'll see. I think anywhere from mid-twenties to early thirties at the latest is the general range for most MA applicants.