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yup I just saw the e-mail too. I definitely was convinced I had been left off the list haha. good luck you guys!

Haha I don't know, after a year in Paris "putain sa mère" or "merde" weren't as impactful as "non mais laisse tomber" or "excuse-moi mais tu rêves" or "vous vous trompez, monsieur..." - I always felt like the back-handed, polite insults were also the strongest ones

I've encountered only the minimum of swearing in Baden-Württemberg, or rather maybe just Stuttgart - which made it all the more hilarious when I heard a ten year-old girl yell Scheiße like three times in a restaurant the other day when she thought she had lost her scarf. I personally love swear words, and when I lived in Paris I felt pretty let down by the utter lack of voltage a swear word in French carries. PS is "olta" somewhat like "alter"? During NYE festivities everyone was using it to punctuate sentences, and I assumed it meant like "dude!"

Very cool, did you do your M.A. in Austria as well? I can't imagine the intensity...maybe I'm thinking too much of Michael Haneke's "The Pianist" (based on Jelinek's novel)...in any case, you are a brave one! Crazy about your test scores - I would say you should ask if you need to resend! They should only take a maximum of two weeks ot be received and updated on your checklist...?

If you spend a few months or a year in a foreign country, you will be able to do effective scholarship using that language - to be a Slavicist or Germanist, or a Comparatist or to work in the French/Spanish/Italian tradition, you don't need to write in the language fluently, you need to be able to read it and speak it rather well (which is, by the way, its own reward). I will be writing articles and books in English, but citing texts in the original. Much of this scholarship is quite useful to those in other fields - Theater Studies, Linguistics, English, Philosophy, History...And as far as criticism: German departments, among others, love literary criticism and theory. Who do you think is responsible for "Critical Theory"? The Frankfurt School. What language do you think they originally wrote in? Fredric James, Judith Butler, Stanley Fish...all cite theorists in other languages in analyzing both English and non-English texts. Virginia Woolf idolized Tolstoy, and regretted that she couldn't read the original. Mark Twain cursed the German Language while frittering away months trying to discover the depths of the German Soul while on a vacation in Saxony (or was it Bavaria? I don't remember).

Most schools have it in their FAQs, etc., that no materials can be changed after submission. I just took my chances and e-mailed the DGS at each school, and it worked out. If you're applying to Penn, which gets like 650 English applicants, you're kind of accepting the fact that such a tiny percent get admitted that errors take on an entirely new meaning. Even an army of secretaries can't keep track of all quick messages from students about their apps, let alone the long, eloquent e-mails they sometimes get. I think a lot of you English folks are brilliant, but I can't figure out why you'd rather study theory or Medieval studies in an English program, and have an impossible time getting admitted even to second and third-tier programs, when you could study very similar things in a smaller, prestigious program that is happy to accept you...and where you get fellowships to study in foreign countries and even seduce someone in a foreign language Of course, some of my favorite professors were English professors, but at least two or three of them also had foreign credentials. One studied with Lacan at École Normale SupÉrieure...and he's a better English professor because he can speak about Lacanian theory in French as well as English. (He's also a bigwig in Penn's English Dept. btw...) If any of you get across-the-board rejections (which is no indication of your intelligence, but merely a fact of the insanely competitive English admissions process), think about studying another language and coming back with a different goal next year - sorry for the propaganda, but one of you might be thanking me next year

Yea, who would have known German would be so popular this year! Considering the generally small number of applicants for the top schools, seeing you all on here either means there are far more applicants than usual, or we're all just "downright dippy for all things digital" as Stephen Fry would put it Also...am I the only person applying to Princeton besides Coffeeplease?

I love this video! This is a great example of changing language. Chillax...book...meld (which in German still means "to send a message", not far from "announce") are great examples. But irregardless just...still isn't hehe.

Yea I think having visited most of these schools at different points (either for school visits or to visit friends) I am unnecessarily biasing myself. Once you're in, I really think your perception of a school changes. So I really do want acceptance at certain schools, but I really want to keep an open mind for wherever I get in. Yale is a bit shinier and more social, but perhaps with Princeton - as in many situations - still waters run deep. All it takes is getting to know a few fabulous people to totally change your perception of a place. Also, I realize how wildly speculative it is to assume I'll get in anywhere, but considering the relative importance of such a decision, I still want to be prepared to make the right choice. That's not as easy as it seems. Where are you at in the U.K.?

I had some crappy mistakes in my writing sample due to translation and being in a non-English context for the last 18 months. My brain is just not as efficient at writing and reading English as it used to be. I cleaned it up a lot and e-mailed Princeton and Yale (the first two I applied to) 2 weeks after submitting apps, and both accepted my revision, as my application hadn't gone to committee yet. I feel like even if I have made other mistakes, hopefully they'll see my initiative and capacity for self-correction as insurance against the risk such mistakes might betray.

Also, "irregardless" has both "ir" and "less", both meaning not - this effectively renders such a neologism morphologically redundant. Even Palin's "refudiate" has a better argument (no pun intended) for linguistic inclusion.

I agree, Two Espressos; one thinks of Brooks' "Well Wrought Urn". However, academic prose is so finicky; word choice is so important, especially when you're training yourself to think and write in a way that will be subject to the scrutiny of academic journal editors. So, for those of us who have a tendency to over-think, sometimes the limits of sensible word choice and tasteful construction are easy to breach. Sometimes I read my writing sample on Derrida and I think "hey, good for me, I treated a convoluted, highly idiosyncratic piece of writing with a clearness and directness that should get me noticed". But then 2 days later I'll look at the exact same sample and I'll think "OMG I sound like a dick". Anyone else have this? Also: I'm all about progressive use of language and informality (I did grow up on a farm after all), but I HATE when people say "irregardless". I will never change my mind on this. It's a blend of "irrespective" and "regardless", two perfectly good English words. Misusing them is the standard for underprepared, undereducated politicians who want to sound smart and just blurt out whatever comes to mind on Fox News (Palin's "refudiate" circa 2008 comes to mind), and it represents muddled thinking. An example of good, new language/grammar would be a number of African-American neologisms, which this white boy is not yet quite hip enough to master...

Princeton. I told them so. I hope they didn't see that as an act of desperation? I just thought it would be nice for them to know they wouldn't be wasting an offer on me hehe. I am torn though because I don't know if I would be socially happy there. I went to college in Philly and visited P-ton a few times, and it felt a little soul-crushing. Yale would be more fun I think; people are sprightlier and far more liberal it seems. But yea, if I got accepted to any one of my schools I would be running and singing my little lungs out like Julie Mother%$?#ing Andrews

I thought I was getting part of my paycheck today, but I didn't so I might not be able to pay the fee - it's only $75, but I've been jobless for so long and I only just signed my teaching contract Wednesday, so it looks like I might miss the app deadline (Sunday night, right?). Thinking about pleading with the DGS there to see if they can do anything...

I got the e-mail too, it definitely made my stomach drop! I'm pretty sure everyone gets the e-mail (though I was looking for some sort of language that might indicate that a first cut had already been made....doesn't seem to be the case, however). It's crazy how formal the process is and how straightforward they're being - there are so few humanities programs that actually interview candidates before making final decisions. From what I've seen in the past, it is possible to be admitted during the Skype interview, but they could also weigh a few candidates in a given day against each other and send the decision e-mails a bit later. Either way, I'm spending my next week watching lots of German film/tv and spending lots of time with a friend who speaks Hochdeutsch but no English, so that I'll be somewhat habituated if I get the e-mail for an interview! Best of luck to everyone obviously! And holy god Coffeeplease, those numbers for NW are rather....encouraging I had another class today and it was pretty hilarious - we actually talked about "at the weekend" which I had never seen. It makes no sense! And it's definitely not on the TOEIC (though that's an American exam haha...). Either way I'm just excited to be focusing on conversation courses and not pure grammar as before. Teaching's fun

5-6 times/hour as of this week. I'm no longer a person.

Well welcome to the thread Ontolome, pull up a chair. I think it depends on the year. I think 25-30 is the high water mark, and this year and last, things have been receding slightly (probably a bit to do with the economy). I wanted to extrapolate a bit as far as total number applying, so I asked my mentor from Penn who is the Comp. Lit. Chair, and he said applications there are down 10% (which means 90 down from 100 applicants for like 4-5 offers - fellowship support remains the same). This ebb and flow, it seems, is somewhat constant among the humanities...? Take from that what ye will. coffeeplease: I just started teaching at Wall Street English in Stuttgart, kind of hilarious. I shadowed a super spritely South African woman today wearing neon pink, who kept misusing a particular construct ("I prefer reading than writing" in lieu of "I like reading better than writing" or "I prefer reading to writing".) She said it was British English, and I just nodded and smiled. Thank God these kids don't have to take the TOEIC... Anyway, anyone else have tidbits about German admissions this year or from years past?

PS am I cursing myself by openly sharing every little tidbit of my interactions with programs? Sorry I'm just so freaking nervous and pessimistic, my internal filter seems to be broken haha.

Yale just e-mailed me, they said my app is complete and is being reviewed. Anyone else get this?

they have a GSAS admissions hotline, they deal specifically with materials questions (though it's manned by undergrads who seem to answer a lot of questions a priori rather than really fully checking things...) the number is 617 496 6100...wow I just did that from memory. How is that seared into my brain already? Gaw I need this to be over ...

Probably just means you were smart and got all your app materials in, unlike me

Ohmahgahohmahgah I got an e-mail from Harvard. They're looking over apps soon. Ohmahgah. They threw away my GRE scores, so I had to send new ones. Frack. Anyone else get an e-mail? Unjustifiably fuh-reaking out lol

This thing is great. Will I get into Princeton? No way. Will I get into Yale? Ask again later. Will I get into Yale? Ask again later. Will I get into Yale? Absolutely! Those were my top two choices -- say no more Magic 8 Ball, I'm all set!! In all seriousness, insofar as chances are concerned, I've asked friends I know at certain schools to snoop around and see if they can get an idea of how many people have applied to my program...every year it kind of ebbs and flows, so if I know I have a ton of competition, at least I can feel somewhat realistic about my chances (though that makes no sense because no one can ever really tell the quality of applicants a priori...). Le sigh. P.S.Equally as important: Will Obama win? Ask again later. Will Obama win? Ask again later. Will Obama win? My sources say no. Will I have a fulfilling relationship when I move back to the U.S.? No way. Will I have a lot of sex when I move back to the U.S.? Outlook not so good. Will I die alone in a pile of cat feces? Yes. Fail. At. Life.

Hi guys! Yup I'm almost done with apps - actually, I am done, but I haven't submitted Northwestern, as I don't have the money...hoping that will change before Jan. 15! I actually thought about applying to Cornell, too, as they also have a later deadline - 7 would be a good number to finish on. But I don't think I'd really like Cornell Stuttgart is already tough enough... And yea Coffeeplease, I'm also having an impossible time distracting myself. My personal life is a bit of a mess, school starts tomorrow (long Heidegger course that I am so far behind in...), and I start my job as an English teacher on Wednesday. It seems I will have enough to keep me occupied for awhile, and hopefully once I start to get paid I can take a couple of mini-Holidays up to Berlin and over to Paris. All fine and dandy. However, part of me wants to lock myself in my room and scan GradCafé for hours and refresh my inbox while watching German TV in case I get contacted for an interview, lol. Harvard does interview, via Skype. Peter Burgard contacts those on his "short-list". I don't know that many other programs do. Good luck