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Let's just all agree that there's no shame in watching Outlander, okay? I think the world will be a better place if that's the case. Sometimes I feel like Empire is the only thinking keeping me going through this process

In regards to implied rejections, at least in cases where there are only a couple of entries on the results board and no rejections, I definitely wouldn't count a school out. It seems with Syracuse (and many other schools too), they notify first those who have gotten fellowships or nice funding packages and then notify the rest of the (sigh) "regular" admits later. But I don't mind being "regular" I'm still grinning ear-to-ear from receiving this acceptance!

I woke up this morning to a nice letter letting me know I have been admitted to Syracuse University. I've been someone who fully believes in the force of the implied rejection and I definitely had written this school off as one. It feels very good to have to admit that I was wrong!

I made the unlikely decision to check my horoscope in my local paper today and it seems infinitely related to the application process: Libra--4 stars--"You could be somewhat withdrawn as you see what goes on around you. [surely this relates to seeing all of the red on the results board, it's definitely queasy-making and I'm hoping some green shows up throughout the day too!] Someone with whom you need to speak also might seem distant. [Every DGS, obviously.]" How is this a 4 star day, astrologists? I don't get it Anyway, I'm sending positive vibes out into the cold and uncaring universe for us all!

Yeah, if you scroll down a bit you should see a link about decisions (although it could just be up for those rejected? not sure)

I was rejected by UVA as well and I too didn't necessarily see it as the best fit (though I did see where my work could fit). I'm not surprised by this or even that sad about getting rejected from this school particularly, but I do see my hope for getting into a program and getting funding slowly slipping away. We'll see though, I guess I'm oddly starting to prefer the anxiety of not knowing to the reality and despair of rejection

Okay, so I just saw that someone posted on the results board about University of Nebraska-Lincoln sending out the scariest anti-climactic email (that I've) ever (received). I'm so confused about what this means: Your departmental graduate application status in the Department of English has been updated. A final decision has been made and forwarded to Graduate Studies. You should receive a follow-up message from the department or Graduate Studies soon. Is this good? Is this bad? Is this normal? I assume it's bad because it's so form-like. Mostly I'm confused about why this was sent out when there is no decision posted through their application system. The system they use, GAMES, just says this too " Review complete, decision forwarded to Graduate Studies." Thanks, I guess? Also, I was so confused when I first got the e-mail that I thought it was my rejection from OSU finally, so I went and checked their website instead and saw my application was still "pending" and whoa was I stunned by that Edited to say: I wrote this too soon, just received the official rejection. I'm still mildly amused that I checked the OSU site for that rejection first though... I don't know what that says about my mental state right now haha

I would just like to say thank you Wyatt's Torch for starting this thread and thanks to everyone who has chimed in so far--it's given me some interesting new paths to look into I would also like to second the usefulness of going through an MA program prior to applying to doing a PhD. My MA experience seems to be much like thepriorwalter's: I also (briefly, so very briefly) took a look at the list of funded MA programs and didn't see Western Washington on there. They have both a funded MA and a funded MFA--teaching experience, tuition waiver, etc. Not everyone gets funding but the majority do. During my second year there, they also found funding and RA positions for those without TA positions (I know that funding for the RA positions was much less, but I'm also sure it helped some). Also, WWU has a great track record for those interested in teaching at CC's or applying to PhD programs. It's a nice (if small) program, where the professors will really work with your interests as well as help you to expand those you already have. There's also a mix of literary studies, creative writing, rhet/comp, and film people both in the department and in the MA cohort. Anyway, an MA program will at least let you know if you're truly interested in pursuing a PhD and it's a pretty good way to look for other options if you figure out you're not interested or if the adcomm overlords bring only rejection. (Edited: Oops, left some weird mistakes in here the first time! I didn't mean to say something about figuring out you, yourself, are uninteresting Although I do often sit and worry about how uninteresting I really am .)

I agree with those who've said to prepare for it like it's an interview. It could also be a situation where maybe the professor is considering nominating you for a fellowship and they just want to know a bit more about you and your studies first. Anyway, I would take it as a positive sign of the school's interest in you as a candidate for admission--you are at least on their radar! I'm also very shocked at the number of schools that are interviewing this year, I didn't even realize this was a possibility in the world of English grad admissions.

I think that's a great suggestion, Mikers86. I was definitely warned off of a few programs just by seeing where grad students got previous degrees (and seeing that I didn't appear to fit with those they usually accept). It can also give some clue into other programs to look into as well--beneficial all around! I don't think you should be embarrassed by this, it's obviously a great way to go about the application process. She knows your work and presumably has your best interests in mind. One of my mentor profs actually recommended that I apply to larger programs, in general, due to the availability of different options within a larger institution that might present themselves. So outside of "fit," I did let her advice guide a few of my choices and I ended up applying to a couple of programs where my research interests seemed to have a place in the department, but not a strong one. We'll see how that works out for me!

As Katla has brought up research of current grad students, did anyone else make an effort to seriously check that out for schools of interest? I don't know how reliable those pages are (or how updated they are), but part of my own process for figuring out the fit did definitely involve seeing if any current graduate students had similar interests to me. In some situations, I was actually really surprised at the number of people studying in a particular area in comparison to the stated faculty interests on department websites (so obviously I agree with everyone saying to look elsewhere for current research ). Edited to add: Feel free to say this isn't a good way to go about determining fit, I'm genuinely interested in how much others might have taken this into account (if at all!). Also, I've already applied so I can't really take anything back at this point .

Congrats to all of those getting acceptances, interviews, and waitlist positions! Very, very exciting

I'm both surprised and not surprised by this. I clearly do come from programs (undergrad at university of washington, grad at western washington) where the integration of popular culture was more encouraged, I guess. I can see how this might be uncomfortable for some, as it generally takes a different form than much of what has been traditionally studied in english literature (specifically). Personally, I see no (fundamental) difference between studying a Charles Dickens novel, for example, and studying a season of one of the Real Housewives of X. It just depends on purpose and methodology, in other words, I guess I'm also bothered by the article's assumption that these "zombie courses" aren't coming from the interests of the faculty or TAs who are teaching them as well. I feel like once you start critically and ideologically analyzing texts, it's hard to stop this process and most of the english majors and other grads I know are interested in talking about contemporary culture with the same critical eye as we talk about that which is likely to turn up on the gre subject test.

That was a very interesting article and I agree with what everyone here has been saying about the importance of flexibility in thinking about your post degree options. When I was talking to the director of composition during my MA program about grad school options, she definitely mentioned needing to be more interdisciplinary within even the program of study itself--so flexible during the program, flexible outside of it as well. But I'm thinking this breakdown of the "traditional" english major is related to the greater interdisciplinary reach within many universities and that also seemed to be what my DOC was talking about during that conversation as well. I'm not saying this would help with the post-phd job search, but it might open up some different avenues outside of english departments in the university. (Not sure I added anything there haha) Anyway, I don't want to derail the discussion about class and the english major (and feel free to ignore my response!), but did anyone else get kind of sad when reading the section about "zombie courses" in that article? One of my main research interests is popular culture, so these courses seem perfectly fine to me. I'm also slightly surprised to see an article that makes such stark distinctions between high and low culture like this, but I'm not sure about the author's background, so... I am wondering if anyone else feels similarly or do most people here see these courses as pandering to undergraduates? I could say more on this, but it's still early in the morning for me and I need more coffee

Congratulations to the OSU admits! (crossing my fingers that I hear one way or the other from them soon as well!)