Hannalore

That was me! But I turned down GSU too, so it will go to another deserving candidate. Speaking of which: there's now another position at Georgia State!

I'm one of the Vanderbilt rejects! Email came in around 6:20, not sure when those results went up. I haven't put it on the board yet.

Just received an email from UGA Housing: And then how to sign up for housing. I am speechless. It seems as though this is sent out to everybody who applied, AFTER acceptances already went out. So that means people who've been rejected but don't know it, who are still waiting on decisions, get an email with instructions about housing?

Finally got a response to my email from UGA. All it said was, "Yes, decisions have been sent out. If you were accepted, you would've gotten a letter in the mail." The last time I was applying, the season where I ended up taking a funded MA, UGA pulled this same thing. They would not tell me when letters when out and they refused to check my actual status. I just got this same line, over and over. They never sent a rejection. I called them in April, the person on the phone just repeated the same darn thing. This time around, if I hadn't emailed, I doubt would have ever received any notification of any kind. This method of rejection is so insulting and rude. Maybe I'm coming across as bitter, but I can't fathom why they would refuse to actually tell someone they're rejected, opting instead for this wishy-washy crap.

Is it too late to change my specialization to post-Milton badgers? I could write my dissertation on this: http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/badgers Thanks for the advice so far you guys, I am trying to incorporate it as I work through this first draft!

Oh wow angel_kaye, you are saying exactly the same stuff I've been saying about where I am in my studies, and how I compare to the other Anglo-Saxonists around here...it's kind of uneal! We in English studies are so neurotic, aren't we @_@! The program down at USC sounds amazing! I'm upstate in Clemson for my MA, and I know we all have quite a bit of respect for the work going on down there. Even if you feel behind now, you're going to have so much fun nailing down your research interests with the help of the professors down there, I wouldn't worry at all. At least, that's what I keep telling myself about my own anxieties. If we already knew exactly what we were going to be doing and researching 100%, we wouldn't need the help and resources being offered at these programs!

Hey all, So I've been nominated for a fellowship that I would very much like to receive from my first choice school. The thing of it is, those competing for it are nominees from the incoming graduate class of -every- department. Whether or not I get it will be judged, among a few other things, on a "professional goals essay" of around 750 words. That's all I know. I am grappling with how to handle this. I don't know how I should frame an essay encompassing my goals that will be judged alongside STEM applicants. I am assuming I can't be as detailed in my research interests as I was in my SOP, but I don't want to be too vague! I'm also not sure how far into the future I should be looking. Has anyone ever written something like this? If so, how did you manage it?

Which schools will you be visiting, Obrial?

Not only this, but we know how cutthroat the admissions process is and have seen it firsthand this cycle. You've got to remember that coming out of an MA, you'll be competing with other people who have all the great research experience, test scores, materials, AND teaching experience. That's not to say you can't compete with them on the basis of those other things, but it'll just make it that much harder. In addition, I imagine that programs that do not fund everyone they accept would be more likely to extend offers of TAships to people who have experience in the classroom.

I emailed UGA today to see about when decisions were going to come out/my status. I have a deadline to apply for a fellowship at my first choice that requires writing a 750 word...thing ("professional goals statement" what is that?) so I need to know what the deal is over there ASAP. I'll let you guys know what I find out, though I can't remember seeing anybody else waiting on news from them...

Congratulations Silenus, and to all the other new admits! I check this thread quite often, I love to see all the good news. I will be very interested to see this too. None of my decisions told me anything about these numbers, so I'd love to see what's going on in the field. I spoke to one of my advisors yesterday who specifically mentioned a colleague at UMD talking about how numbers were down this year.

Congratulations to morristr and allplaid! Yay Obrial, congratulations! We have so many of the same schools, and maybe we'll end up at the same place!

Thank you so much everyone! I'm so glad I started posting here, you guys are the best. I'll also have to get straight to work on transmuting decisions for everybody's remaining schools!

I am dumbfounded and crying with happiness. My first choice, Tennessee, accepted me, fully funded, with three additional fellowships and a nomination for a fourth. And there's snow on the ground outside. It's like the best day of my life.

I am sorry to hear it, Obrial. But I agree with this! Living here is pretty great. I don't know a whole lot about the RCID program itself, but I teach the same classes. Let me know if you have any questions about that or the area!

Edit: Sorry guys, I posted this in response to the MA stuff without seeing all the new posts. I think I've heard that things balance out in regards to whether or not its better to have an MA. I have heard that places like to have people straight out from undergrad so they can have a greater effect on their growth as a scholar, but I've also heard that they like MAs because of the experience. Not really sure what the truth behind that is, but I've heard both things (sometimes from the same people). I'm interested to see what happens with my next two schools (UGA and Tennessee) now that I am applying with an MA. I applied to both PhD programs right out of undergrad and am now doing it again. I was accepted to Tennessee, but too far down on the funding waitlist and rejected from UGA. Now I have an MA...we'll see if it makes a difference. It will be an interesting experiment, if nothing else.

Congratulations Cornell admits! How impressive!

Yup! Congrats on the waitlist, that's a good sign

Can I will a decision from Tennessee into being? Or perhaps produce one via alchemy?

I assume the same person as In Hac ended up with, I just sent an email straight to the English DGS.

Welp, I'm on "high on the waitlist" for funding at GSU. The DGS told me to pretty much expect things to work out, so for the sake of my continuing sanity I'm going to assume this means I will be starting a program in the fall. I have no idea where news like this goes, so I apologize if I have chosen...poorly.

Count me in, I would be totally down for something like this. And this is all such excellent advice, thank you guys! Hooray for communion with like-minded people!

Since it looks like I'm going to definitely be attending a PhD program in the Fall I know I need to immediately throw myself headlong into learning Latin. I have never had the opportunity to take a class in it, so all I have is the knowledge gleaned from attending Catholic school through my childhood. Does anyone have any tips for the best books or programs to use to try and get a leg up on this? My advisor has suggest Wheelock's Latin, but I wanted to see what the rest of you think. Similarly, as somebody who'd very much like Anglo-Saxon literature to be their specialty, are there any good resources available for learning Old English? I am obviously not in the same category as unræd and hreaðemus, but I find it so fun that I've "met" two other Anglo-Saxonists on this website when I was told they were so few and far between!

I find, and I think the suggestions already posted are along these same lines, that the best way to distract from something like this is, in the words of the great Donna Meagle and Tom Haverford, to "treat yo'self." There's much to be said for eating right, exercising, and staying generally healthy - this is how you stay sane long term. But with such a high pressure, high stress experience like this, a little self-love can go a long way.

Congrats, In Hac! That's excellent news, and I'm sure quite a load off your mind! May I ask how they notified you about the funding?