snyegurachka

I would recommend considering it if things don't work out. I got an MA and switched programs after the first semester so that I could better prepare for a phd program and live near my partner. If you don't get in to any phd programs this year, your chances will improve significantly if you take the time to work on honing your interests and writing with supportive faculty without significantly uprooting your life. A lot of people in my program still work full time and take 2 classes per semester instead of 3. I got a half tuition scholarship at the first school I attended and have about 1/3 where I am now plus work study and loans and T.A./instructor positions (might not be available for MA students at a school with a PhD track) to cover expenses. I am also able to receive food stamps because I am a work study student. I am poor but am doing an okay job of not getting into the crazy debt that people talk about with unfunded MA programs. Even if I don't get in anywhere this time around, I feel confident that I have the tools and focus to do it if I apply again. It's a step along the way, not a detour.

I am reading Domesticating History, a history of the political origins of American house museums. Oh, and my thesis. Millions of times over and over again. I can't even remember the last time I read a fun, fiction book for something outside of school. I was on a pretty big Marguerite Duras kick but mostly reading short stories, essays, and newspaper articles. The joke here is that I am terrible nearsighted and have astigmatism that my glasses/contact lenses only sort of correct. The most comfortable way for me to read without getting a headache is to sit at a desk with a book in front of me at enough of a distance that I don't get dizzy. My days of being able to read in bed ended long ago....

The funny this is, at least at Berkeley, there wasn't anything wrong. I just wasn't what they needed this year. He told me that I was clearly talented and serious about my work and should just keep going what I'm doing—the implication being that eventually I will get in somewhere....though probably not Berkeley. Anyway, I think it confirmed what everyone has been telling me, that it is a matter of fit + luck, especially with these hot-ticket programs. It was nice to know that I made it to the short list despite having a mediocre undergrad GPA and okay GRE scores.

I waited a few days, thanked the DGS/admissions committee for taking the time to read my application, and asked for some feedback on my application. I think the etiquette is to mirror the politeness of your rejection. If the department is polite/personal about the rejection (say, sending an email rather than a "check status on website" automated message), or you have been in contact with your POI or the DGS for a while, then writing them back seems like the correct thing to do. I am glad I asked for feedback and may do this at other schools once I receive official rejections.

I think the best thing to do is ask for feedback once the sting is gone and you feel comfortable. Even though it made me more anxious to hear what Berkeley's adcom had to say (mainly that who is ultimately chosen is not exactly random but is for reasons outside of my control), it was good to hear that there wasn't anything bad to say about my application. I should probably try to save up money and find more interdisciplinary programs to apply to the next time around (if there is a next time around) that aren't Rhetoric and MTL and hope I will fit into a niche for one of them.

Did anyone else apply to Brown? I expect acceptances might be coming this week!

I was a little crushed by my UC Berkeley (Rhetoric) rejection. I am sensing implied rejection from Emory and University of Chicago, but those hurt less, as in retrospect were not as good a fit. I asked for feedback from Berkeley (as I am anticipating I may need to apply to schools another year), and was told that there was nothing wrong with my application, I made the short list (which was still long), my POI liked my proposal, but ultimately the candidates who were accepted were chosen for reasons outside of my control, like balancing the research interests of the department, which faculty were taking new advisees, available funding, etc. This gives me simultaneous hope and dread. I only applied to two more schools (Brown and Stanford), and whether or not I am chosen—even if I am on the short list—is at its core going to be a little random. Though I haven't seen anyone post about Comp Lit at Brown, I know that the new student recruitment season will be in March (a colleague was accepted to the Performance Studies program a few days ago), so I am wondering if I may have been rejected there as well since I have not heard yet. I am hoping that I may have a right place, right time situation with Stanford, as MTL is a similar program to Rhetoric. I also submitted that application a bit later and think it may have been an improvement. Alas.

Comp Lit or English, if you don't mind my asking?

I emailed the DGS at Berkeley and wish I hadn't. I read the email as positive, then negative, then annoyed, and overall feel just as bad or worse than I did before. Not worth the trouble/the feeling stupid and embarrassed afterwards.

Hm...well I emailed with professor Mascuch and think that maybe he would have said something if I was accepted if these acceptances are so informal? But what do I know. These people are a mystery to me. Thank you for the deets.

Oh boy! Congratulations? Can I ask about the specifics of that (via phone, website, email, whatever)? I emailed the DGS to ask when admissions decisions might be coming out. He said very soon, but that was all he could tell me for now. Gives me anxiety.

oh my oh my...who is the Berkeley Rhetoric admit? Or has it been posted already and I just missed it? Whoever it is...congrats! I am impressed.

I don't know...while I'm enjoying the assertion that I will hear amazing and unexpected news ~February 3, I am a little wary that ms Miller has noted that I will be thinking about doing my taxes this month...no shit.

Is that generally for the department of the whole graduate school? I am suddenly having terrible anxieties that no adcoms actually read my application. All of my statuses only say "submitted," and I haven't received any notifications except from financial services (fee waivers) and a note about my app being received by Stanford. I think I'm starting to crack.

What is a DGS?