ecg1810

I know Yale is top for British Literature. Indiana University--Bloomington also has a stellar Victorian Studies program. Washington University in St. Louis and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are strong as well. Hope this helps!

A word from my mentor that might help all of us: There's nothing to lose from being optimistic before you receive news; it shortens the length of time you might be miserable, should you be rejected. In other words, why lose faith before the race is completely over? Makes sense to me. . .

Dear Grad Schools, I thought you should hear something my friend posted on my Facebook wall the other day: "Ecg1810, you have checked The Grad Cafe website on my computer so often that it is now one of the first things to come up when I start typing in a URL. It's up there with Google and Wikipedia." Please tell me something before the damage to my psyche (and my friend's computer) becomes irreparable. Love, Ecg1810, a Desperate Grad School Hopeful

Thanks for the inside info., Pamphilia. Out of curiousity, do you happen to know when UVA starts to make offers to first-choice candidates (i.e. Accepted right away, not off of the wait-list)? The history on Results Search seems to indicate anytime between now and the next two weeks, but I was wondering if you had any additional input.

That does seem logical. Some schools do evaluations in rounds--GRE/GPA consideration--then SOP/LOR--then writing sample. Certainly possible UVA works that way too.

Too true. Two cents more: My mentor made the point that many of the applicants in the pool this year who are applying because the economy is down are likely not as competitive as applicants who have been planning for several years to do graduate work (since these applicants likely have, to some extent, tailored their undergraduate career toward becoming a viable candidate for grad school admission).

I'm reading Oliver as well. . . AND I own Lies. How funny! In addition to Dickens, I'm reading Victorian Crime, Madness and Sensation, and re-reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (some easy, no-brainer reading to keep my nerves in check). Next on my list: Elizabeth Gaskell's Ruth. Should be excellent!

I know! I'm driving myself and everyone I know crazy. I was at work when I received the e-mail and immediately thought, "Oh, no! I can't get rejected at work! I have to be composed and articulate until 9:00 P.M." *sigh* Maybe I should send all of my schools a letter saying that they should only e-mail me bad news at X times; that way I'm in a position to grieve. I don't know if we should be too worried about the "great number of applications" comment. After all, I'm sure they receive a "great number" every year, since they're a top program. I think the phrase "record number of applications" would have seemed more condemning. Here's to hoping it's the former!

Dear Grad Schools, Please DO NOT send me e-mails that begin with "Thank you for applying. . ." during feedback season if you're not sending me a rejection letter. I can only handle so much adrenaline. Love, Your Absurdly Anxious (Alliterative) Applicant

Did that e-mail from Madison give anyone else a heart attack? Especially since it started with "Thank you for applying. . ." Sheesh. *wipes sweat off of forehead*

While looking at my application: "Aw, how cute! This girl thinks she's literate. . . priceless."

I've been wondering about this too, Mathk1d. I, too, feel like it could potentially come across as conceited for someone to notify via Facebook status about a top-choice school, especially if it's extremely prestigious. However, I can certainly understand the desire to celebrate and/or quickly share this sort of information with close friends/family who want to know as soon as you find out your grad school application results (and presumably these close friends/family would not find it conceited for you to share said information with them since they know you well). So. . . I've decided in the event that I am accepted to my top choice (God willing) that I'm going to post a "code" joke status that only my close friends/family would understand. For example: "ecg1810 was accepted to Hogwarts Graduate School of Arts and Sciences!" Seems more fun to do it like this anyway.

Laughed out loud at your post, Ornithology. I can totally relate. Thanks for the grins.

I know! When I saw it and then proceeded to read the "thank you" introduction it scared the heck out of me!

One of my friends got into an Ivy English program a couple of years ago with a 1200 combined GRE (580V, 620Q). . .

I applied to English. How about you? I just checked and was only able to find two of the e-mails (there might have only been two. . . not sure). One's from December 8th and the other from January 12th. Neither of them said anything particularly suggestive--just something to the extent of "thanks for applying" and "we thought you might find these websites about housing and life in New Haven helpful." I asked my mentor about these e-mails and she seemed to think that it was pretty customary for schools to send you things like that, so I didn't get too excited. :/

I've received several e-mails like that from Yale, but have yet to hear anything else (and don't think I will until mid to late February). *sigh*

Right there with you!

That's true, Socialpsych; there certainly are exceptions to the rule. I didn't mean to make it sound black and white.

Yes. . . to echo Cleisthenes: I've been told the main reason professors discourage students from doing their graduate work at their undergraduate institution is because it's a kiss of death to have three degrees from the same school--it looks like the only reason you may have been accepted was due to connections.

Haha! Too true. A carrier pigeon would be a more than acceptable way to receive the news--positive that is. I mean, it would seem quite antithetical for you to receive negative news in such hard core way. *sigh* I guess I was curious to know about the phone/e-mail issue because I didn't want to automatically equate an e-mail notification with rejection. . . for the ten seconds it takes me to connect to the appropriate link. This waiting business must really be taking a toll on my sanity. And Hinesaj, it's interesting that you brought up Yale's apparent effort to conserve paper. The reliable source I quoted below told me that even though Yale's application is (for the most part) entirely electronic, the adcom usually ends up printing all of the materials anyway. Irony at its best!

Out of curiosity, how much does a LOR writer's connections at the school to which you're applying help your admission chances, assuming you submit a strong applicaiton that is? (I'm not saying I have any connections--just interested to know.)

Does anyone know if Yale notifies by phone for acceptances and e-mail for rejections, or e-mail for both? An extremely reputable source told me that Yale notifies by e-mail (as also indicated by information on the online application), but there are people from the last application season posting about receiving phone calls from Yale for positive news. What's going on???