Pol4ris

Heyyyyy. I am currently at the STD conference in Albuquerque and figured a handful of you guys might also be around? Anyone interested in meeting for coffee or drinks etc.? Also let me know what papers or roundtables you'll be presenting at~

Sorry to bug, but does anyone know if Brandeis has released acceptances or rejections for PhD apps? I saw a few days ago that some MAs were admitted and was curious what the status was.

Sounds good. After I posted I thought about how I should've PMed but I got lost in my excitement~ Thanks! And congrats to the new admits

I switched so quickly into interrogation mode that I forgot to say thanks to everyone and to return the congrats~* Please forgive me.

Thanks so much I have a lot but I'll try to start off light! I suppose in general, what is the environment in the department like and how big is the cohort? Do most people get along, and if so, is it more in the spirit of coworkers or is there plenty of hanging out beyond the campus? What kind of opportunities are available during the summer? Are there classes to take, classes to teach, or any study abroad programs available to grad students who are studying English? From my understanding, ENGL 691 is required for all incoming MA students and ENGL 700 is highly recommended, is this correct? And if so, are we also expected to take the follow up ENGL 692? And how common is it for students to opt out of ENGL 700 and would doing so make me look like a twat (I took two classes in undergrad exploring the same themes and would prefer to take courses in my subject area)? Foreign Language. I know we have to pass the reading proficiency exam but does the department offer any resources (free audits of language classes, access to cd-rom or digital language software, etc.) to help us? If not, would taking a foreign language class count toward the 15 elective credits or would this be a class we took in addition and paid for out of pocket? Finally, there was some conflicting information regarding MA students and comp exams on the site. However, the impression I've gotten is that this practice is essentially being terminated (I believe you would have had the ability to opt out), correct? I'm sorry for so many questions but thank you for whatever information you can provide!

Thanks for the responses y'all. For future readers of this thread, Boston U also offered me an (unfunded) MA when I applied for PhD and Uni of South Carolina did the same (but with $$$).

I've never had to write one of these so the following is not life-tested advice. I think the big thing is to have a nice balance. Chances are, the readers on the committee are comprised of multiple disciplines so while STEM peeps may not entirely understand or care about your specific research interests, I think being too general won't reflect enough of you or your passion which, at the end of the day, is what makes you stand out from Joe Chemistry etc. I also think professional goals blends a certain expectation of sucess with where you specifically imagine yourself. Maybe the easiest way to go about it is to reflect on where you want to see yourself in 1, 5, 10, or 20 years and what goals you are going to use to benchmark the success of whatever your ultimate vision is for your professional career. From that perspective, I don't think you necessarily need to discuss in length your research into the manner in which the portrayal of badgers evolved in post-Milton literature (random example), but addressing professional goals specifically relating to English or the manner in which you anticipate approaching or safeguarding pitfalls common to humanities positions will illustrate an awareness for your field. Best of luck~

So as someone who days ago had steeled herself for another round of applications, it is with great pleasure I can say what a difference a few days makes. So far I've been offered MA slots at UVA, Boston U, and University of South Carolina. While the first two were unfunded and sent me into a fury of Scotch sipping and accounting tape, USC offered me very generous funding for their MA (50% tuition abatement year one, 100% year 2, and generous stipends for both years PLUS I GET TO TEACH IN YEAR TWO YAAAASSSSS). Honestly, I think I've learned a lesson in being humble. I applied to USC as my complete and utter everything-has-gone-to-shit backup (which is extra ridiculous because they are ranked #77 and have a great reputation). I was so grateful to get that e-mail and know that I don't have to sit out another year AND I won't have to be in debt $100k or $64k respectively for UVA or BU. More than that, now that the worry of finances is gone, I can see what an honor it was to get offered MA slots from UVA and BU. Yeah, it is somewhat a "consolation" and the lack of funding gives me sad face, but as someone coming from a generally unheard of SLAC with a 4 year gap in my undergrad career and a writing sample I now realize could've been stronger, I am impressed that my application was given such consideration. I'm now hoping that an MA at USC will further prove my track record in academia, prove I can cut my own at graduate-level work, and polish my skills up enough so that when the time comes for me to apply to PhD programs UVA, BU, and (god willing) a few others will offer me that golden ticket. Congrats to everyone and any Uni of South Carolina peeps hit me up~* P.S. Lesson to the kiddies - don't let something like a desire to get out in the world let you demean the value of local programs. Seriously.

I assume you mean Boston U? I heard from them on the 18th. I was rejected from PhD but offered an unfunded MA so my assumption was they already sent out PhD acceptances (but this could be wrong). The e-mail did say they were only enrolling 5 MA/PhD students and 5 purely MA students. Sorry I don't have better news.

So far this is the information I have received from schools. UVA - No idea how many applied but they only offered 12 PhD slots. I was offered an unfunded MA slot but they did not say how many of these were available. Boston U - "Received approximately 200 applications for our small program." E-mail from DGS stated they enroll 5 MA/PhD students and 5 MA students (the latter of which I was offered unfunded). USC (S. Carolina) - Reviewed "nearly 100 applications" for "approximately 10 PhD slots." I was not selected for a PhD but for a generously funded MA; however, they did not provide information on how many MA slots were expected. I will be going to the open house in late March and can update then. Wasn't there also a spreadsheet somewhere about funding or something? If so, we could probably link the sheets together for a master spreadsheet.

Just an FYI to anyone coming to USC for the 2015/2016 school year, I am a native and would be happy to answer whatever I can via the thread or PM.

So I know there is already a Plan B thread floating around, but I wanted to start a thread to discuss what those of us who might sit out another year can change/do differently/add etc. when we apply again next time. I'm not trying to be a melodramatic pessimist or anything but I know a few people are near being shut out completely (though don't drink the hemlock yet because miracles happen). Anyways, my best way of coping with potential failure or letdowns is to obsessively create proactive lists of what I can do going forward. So without further ado, here is what I have so far: Retake the GRE. My scores were pretty good (93% verbal) but seemed a bit below the average scores of accepted students at schools I applied to. Retake the GRE Subject Test. I hate to keep throwing $$$ at ETS but I did poorly (55%) on this one. Which shocked me because I had been studying for 2-3 hours everyday for months. I actually got my hands on tons of practice tests and using those got my score up from 23% on my first one to averaging between 75-86% on the last three. BUT THEN THE TEST WAS NOTHING LIKE THE PRACTICE TESTS/BOOKS/MATERIAL THAT ETS HANDED OUT. I wouldn't have been so pissed if ETS had updated their guidelines on the website but it was legitimately not what I was expecting. /rant Get my French back up to par and find a way to prove this to adcomms. My French was actually at reading comprehension on a literature level at one time but has faded. Unfortunatley, my grades in school don't reflect this. I've actually been brushing up and doing textbook exercises/reading news articles but I want to prove this academically. I don't really want to drop $1k on taking an upper level class now that I've graduated but I'm wondering if there is a recognized test that schools would value the scores on? Keep my CV updated. Inquire at schools that rejected me as to the weaknesses/strengths of my application. I know some will probably beg busy but if I have even one or two meaningful conversations, I think that can offer me invaluable insight. Edit my three best papers and shoot them off to journals immediately. I will actually start doing this no later than next Monday. Completely overhaul my SOP. I stupidly hoarded it to myself and only let two close people look at it but I'm actually thinking once the season is over I will post it on GC and let people xray it to understand where I went wrong and what I can improve. And while I mentioned POI's for most of my schools, I want to really work on customizing each statement heavily for each school. Madness, but if I start in April I should have *plenty* of time. Contact POI's I am really obsessed with and feel them out in terms of work and expectation of taking on students in the coming year. I didn't do that this year partially because I was overloading myself with school and partially because I felt awkward about it. But guess what. Being rejected feels more awkward. Lesson learned~ Create a new writing sample. I mean completely just write a new paper. While I've had a lot of freedom in terms of assignments I want this paper to be on something I am so intellectually passionate about that it just beams. Devour scholarship and journals from my field. This ties in a lot with above but I want to reread some items as well as keep up with current conversations. Luckily, Santa gave me a ton of critical essay books for Christmas so I have plenty to start with. Remain in contact with my current recommenders. One, because I will need their lovely words of support again and two, because I am going to ask for them to review the papers I intend to send off for publication and provide commentary on my new SOP. Create/update an Academia profile. Partially because there is a small chance it could help and partially because I want to obsess over people viewing it. So. Thoughts? Comments? Do you have a list? Or additions to mine? Or a way to dismantle the beast that is ETS?

Holy responses, Batman. I appreciate everyone's sentiments on this subject. I posted last night because I anticipated UVA might offer me the consolation MA. Which they did. And boy could I use those psychic skills to play the lottery so I can pay for the damn thing. I'm really quite torn atm - mainly because I've been floating in a sea of rejections and it's nice to feel wanted for once (sorry to paint you like an abusive and predatory lover, UVA). Pluses are that it's a really great program, one I feel I truly have a lot of fit with, and it would mean I wouldn't have to sit out another year (I took a four year break in the middle of undergrad so am *super ready* to get this show on the road). Plus I think it would prepare me for intense PhD work, give me a lot of resources to continue the work in my field, and put me in touch with professors whose LOR's have real weight. Plus the bulk of my schools accepted mostly people with MA's (even though they said that the credit wouldn't transfer and they preferred undergrads *shakes fist*). Honestly the only negative is the gajillion dollar price tag (disclaimer: price tag may or may not be one gajillion dollars). I've already got about $45k in debt from undergrad so I'm seriously not looking to court anymore. And when I guesstimated in my head that I'd probably have to take out a total of $60k to cover both years I managed to talk myself into it - but then when I looked at UVA's tuition and saw they anticipated costs of $49k PER YEAR (included living costs) I essentially laughed and ate an entire bag of dried cherries. That's literally like a house. Or a two year vacation in Europe. And while I totally have faith in myself and my future in this field, I don't want Future Amber to think I'm an asshole and be the reason why we can't have nice things and have to live off ramen noodles for literally decades. All that being said, turning it down would probably be shutting myself out this year (unless Rutgers, U Penn, Brandeis, or USC get drunk and accept me). But still, I think I'm leaning on turning this down just because $100k is way too much to justify to myself that I'm not a failure or placate my fear of wasting more time. Ugh. Someone pass me the Scotch.

Hey all. As I was going obsessively through the notification board I noticed that last year a lot of people who were rejected from the PhD program at UVA got offered MA slots (I believe most, if not all, were on a waitlist so not outright rejection). I think UVA's MA was unfunded but I noticed some similar scenarios for Uni of South Carolina where they actually offered partial funding for the MA for people who did not make the cut for the PhD program. Historically, what other programs tend to do this? I don't know if there is a master(s) [get it?] list floating out there but I figured it was worth asking the collective hivemind that is GC. I realize in many senses these offers are nothing more than cashcows for the department, but depending on the program, I thought it was definitely something to discuss/consider. In return, I leave you with this: (...and I haven't even gotten in yet~)

After an utterly crap day, this actually made me smile. Thank you.